Philippians 4: 4-7
Paul has been encouraging us to live our lives according to God's ways, following the pattern He gave us in Jesus and in Paul.
(4) Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!
When we live this way, giving grace to one another, then we will be able to rejoice in the Lord! We will be able to "practice the presence of God" in our lives continually, and the Joy of the Lord will fill us.
(5) Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.
Then God's gentle Spirit will show forth in our spirit, so that people will see the difference in us. Our whole attitude and thinking processes will be turned around, and others will see Christ in us. The Lord is near in us, and with us, and will soon come to be King over us.
(6) Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
So, we don't need to worry or be anxious about any of the chaotic panic that surrounds us; we can be protected from it all, sharing all our concerns and needs with God. Praying and talking with our Daddy about everything will open us up to His embrace as we curl up in His lap!
(7) And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
That's when the peace of God will overpower the effects of this world on us and we will experience release of stress. His peace, surrounding and permeating our hearts and minds, will be God's bubble shutting it all out. It is incomprehensible to those around us, who are still being battered by the storms; and we won't even understand it, even while we enjoy His sweet presence with us.
O my Father, You are God, You are Creator of everything that is. You know us down to the molecule, and Your love for us is beyond our understanding. Your care for us provides shelter in the storm, provision in our poverty, and protection from attack. You have already met all of our needs: physical, emotional, financial, social, spiritual, and eternal.
O Father, continue to hold us in Your arms, even as You send us out into the world to seek and save the lost. Lead us to Your embryonic children to bring them to the birth into Your family, and open the ears of every living being to hear and understand how You love us all.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come hastily, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Monday, March 30, 2020
"Help These Women"
Philippians 4: 1-3
(1) Therefore,
When there's a "therefore" we need to understand what it's there for:
We saw yesterday that we were to live our lives according to the pattern God has showed us in Jesus and in Paul.
my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.
These brothers and sisters in Philippi are so dear to Paul, he really loves them deeply. He misses them and wants them to grow into spiritual maturity.
(2) I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord.
These two women were apparently quarreling. He didn't ask them if they wanted to make up, he simply encouraged them to make allowances so they could live in harmony, as sisters in the Lord. To live according to God's pattern.
(3) Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel,
And he asked a brother there to counsel with them, and help them learn how to get along with each other. Both of these sisters had helped Paul in his founding of this church, and he knew they needed to resolve whatever issues they had and put aside anything that irritated each other; and that they could need counseling to work through this.
together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
Euodia and Syntyche and Clement and all the other Christian brothers and sisters there had been helpful to Paul in all the myriad and sundry things that needed to be done in the founding of the church there at Philippi, and Paul had come to love them all very dearly. He had won them to Christ and let them know that Jesus had put their names into His book of eternal life. And he wanted them to all get along as family members and be able to work effectively together in the work of the Lord.
When there are two people in the same congregation who are not getting along with each other, someone in that assembly needs to confront them and work with them to be able to get along and work together. Don't ask them if they want to work on it, encourage them to share what it is between them, and help them work it out. Counseling is sometimes necessary to help two people face what is separating them, and if it's really serious, they may even need to "agree to disagree" in an agreeable manner.
And if either has a bad attitude, then they sould be encouraged to forgive and give grace, and change their thinking to think God's thoughts.
We all need to submit to the Lord, and learn of Him as our example, and follow His attitudes with our own. Even if it means changing our thinking about some long-held views.
O my Father, please help us all to be able to get along with one another in this broken world. We all have issues because of the brokenness of our own human nature, and we need Your remedies for all of our maladies.
Father, I pray that You would reach Your healing hand down to Your children, and mend our deficiencies and shortcomings. Heal our physical and mental and emotional and spiritual ills, to mold and make us into the pure, perfect character of Christ.
Help us to live our lives here and now as royal children of the King, granting others the grace allowances to be able to get close enough to make a difference in their lives, to encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ to grow up into the full stature of the Son of God.
Then send us out, my Father, into all the world, broadcasting the good seed of Your gospel, so that everyone will know how much You love us all, and want every one of us to be in Your family.
So that all Your embryonic children will come to the birth, and no one will have any excuse.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
(1) Therefore,
When there's a "therefore" we need to understand what it's there for:
We saw yesterday that we were to live our lives according to the pattern God has showed us in Jesus and in Paul.
my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.
These brothers and sisters in Philippi are so dear to Paul, he really loves them deeply. He misses them and wants them to grow into spiritual maturity.
(2) I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord.
These two women were apparently quarreling. He didn't ask them if they wanted to make up, he simply encouraged them to make allowances so they could live in harmony, as sisters in the Lord. To live according to God's pattern.
(3) Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel,
And he asked a brother there to counsel with them, and help them learn how to get along with each other. Both of these sisters had helped Paul in his founding of this church, and he knew they needed to resolve whatever issues they had and put aside anything that irritated each other; and that they could need counseling to work through this.
together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
Euodia and Syntyche and Clement and all the other Christian brothers and sisters there had been helpful to Paul in all the myriad and sundry things that needed to be done in the founding of the church there at Philippi, and Paul had come to love them all very dearly. He had won them to Christ and let them know that Jesus had put their names into His book of eternal life. And he wanted them to all get along as family members and be able to work effectively together in the work of the Lord.
When there are two people in the same congregation who are not getting along with each other, someone in that assembly needs to confront them and work with them to be able to get along and work together. Don't ask them if they want to work on it, encourage them to share what it is between them, and help them work it out. Counseling is sometimes necessary to help two people face what is separating them, and if it's really serious, they may even need to "agree to disagree" in an agreeable manner.
And if either has a bad attitude, then they sould be encouraged to forgive and give grace, and change their thinking to think God's thoughts.
We all need to submit to the Lord, and learn of Him as our example, and follow His attitudes with our own. Even if it means changing our thinking about some long-held views.
O my Father, please help us all to be able to get along with one another in this broken world. We all have issues because of the brokenness of our own human nature, and we need Your remedies for all of our maladies.
Father, I pray that You would reach Your healing hand down to Your children, and mend our deficiencies and shortcomings. Heal our physical and mental and emotional and spiritual ills, to mold and make us into the pure, perfect character of Christ.
Help us to live our lives here and now as royal children of the King, granting others the grace allowances to be able to get close enough to make a difference in their lives, to encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ to grow up into the full stature of the Son of God.
Then send us out, my Father, into all the world, broadcasting the good seed of Your gospel, so that everyone will know how much You love us all, and want every one of us to be in Your family.
So that all Your embryonic children will come to the birth, and no one will have any excuse.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, March 29, 2020
According To The Pattern
Philippians 3: 17-21
(17) Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.
Paul has been seeking God and His ways in how to live his life, and now he's telling his hearers to live their lives also according to how He has learned, and to watch those who also have conformed their lives to God's ways instead of the attitudes of the world.
(18) For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ,
He's thinking of people he knows, who he's come to love, that have turned away from the Lord and are teaching other things than the Truth of God, to gain followers for themselves.
(19) whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.
If they don't turn back to the Lord as Paul preaches, because he teaches the truth, then they will be destroyed. Their first priority seems to be their own pleasure and comfort in material things and worldly activities.
(20) For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;
We know that we will only be here in this world temporarily, we're just passing through, on our way to our real home in heaven. Jesus will be returning to the Earth soon, to gather all of His people to carry us with Him into eternity.
(21) who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.
Jesus has been given Lordship over all Creation by the Father when He created everything. I see God the Father as the Brain, God the Son as the Brawn, and God the Holy Spirit as the Life and Light. This is my personal idea, and is very simplistic. But John says that God spoke and the Word He spoke is the Son who created everything that exists. And the life in Him is the light of mankind, the Holy Spirit He gives (John 1: 1-4; 14: 26).
Jesus will transform our physical bodies into spiritual bodies of light, like His body as He appeared to John on the Isle of Patmos (Revelation 1: 13-15). This is His redemption: He has bought us out of the slave-market of sin, cleaned us up, put His Holy Spirit into us to make our human spirit alive, and severed the connection to the flesh body, so it has no more pull on us to sin. He is now leading us to live lives of purity and integrity.
That's why Paul advises us all to pattern our lives after his and others who live godly lives, so that we will grow up in Christ into the maturity of the full stature of the Son of God. We are His body, and the final Redemption will be completed when He returns to this Earth to set up His Kingdom here. We will rule with Him, sitting in His throne as He sits in the Father's throne as sovereign Lord and King and God over all.
O my Father, You gave Moses the pattern for the Tabernacle in the wilderness, and You gave us Jesus as our pattern for living. You taught Saul how to be Paul and live according to that pattern, and You want all of Your children to think and act as members of Your family.
Teach us all, Father, how to pattern our thinking processes and attitudes after Yours instead of our own. Your thoughts are not our thoughts, as so often our ideas are opposite to Yours, and therefore detrimental. O Father, our enemy has deceived the world so deeply, and blinded their eyes to see reality! Please help us, strengthen us to stand firm against the onslaught of negativity hurled at us constantly. Show us how to show the world Your ways, that will rescue them from the snares and traps that hold them.
Father, help us to reach out to all who are searching for You, that we might be able to teach them Your ways, how much You love them and care for them, and want to save them from themselves.
Fill Your house with Your uncountable children, my Father; surround Your grand Banquet Table with all of Your family, to feast and fellowship with You and one another forevermore!
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
(17) Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.
Paul has been seeking God and His ways in how to live his life, and now he's telling his hearers to live their lives also according to how He has learned, and to watch those who also have conformed their lives to God's ways instead of the attitudes of the world.
(18) For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ,
He's thinking of people he knows, who he's come to love, that have turned away from the Lord and are teaching other things than the Truth of God, to gain followers for themselves.
(19) whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.
If they don't turn back to the Lord as Paul preaches, because he teaches the truth, then they will be destroyed. Their first priority seems to be their own pleasure and comfort in material things and worldly activities.
(20) For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;
We know that we will only be here in this world temporarily, we're just passing through, on our way to our real home in heaven. Jesus will be returning to the Earth soon, to gather all of His people to carry us with Him into eternity.
(21) who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.
Jesus has been given Lordship over all Creation by the Father when He created everything. I see God the Father as the Brain, God the Son as the Brawn, and God the Holy Spirit as the Life and Light. This is my personal idea, and is very simplistic. But John says that God spoke and the Word He spoke is the Son who created everything that exists. And the life in Him is the light of mankind, the Holy Spirit He gives (John 1: 1-4; 14: 26).
Jesus will transform our physical bodies into spiritual bodies of light, like His body as He appeared to John on the Isle of Patmos (Revelation 1: 13-15). This is His redemption: He has bought us out of the slave-market of sin, cleaned us up, put His Holy Spirit into us to make our human spirit alive, and severed the connection to the flesh body, so it has no more pull on us to sin. He is now leading us to live lives of purity and integrity.
That's why Paul advises us all to pattern our lives after his and others who live godly lives, so that we will grow up in Christ into the maturity of the full stature of the Son of God. We are His body, and the final Redemption will be completed when He returns to this Earth to set up His Kingdom here. We will rule with Him, sitting in His throne as He sits in the Father's throne as sovereign Lord and King and God over all.
O my Father, You gave Moses the pattern for the Tabernacle in the wilderness, and You gave us Jesus as our pattern for living. You taught Saul how to be Paul and live according to that pattern, and You want all of Your children to think and act as members of Your family.
Teach us all, Father, how to pattern our thinking processes and attitudes after Yours instead of our own. Your thoughts are not our thoughts, as so often our ideas are opposite to Yours, and therefore detrimental. O Father, our enemy has deceived the world so deeply, and blinded their eyes to see reality! Please help us, strengthen us to stand firm against the onslaught of negativity hurled at us constantly. Show us how to show the world Your ways, that will rescue them from the snares and traps that hold them.
Father, help us to reach out to all who are searching for You, that we might be able to teach them Your ways, how much You love them and care for them, and want to save them from themselves.
Fill Your house with Your uncountable children, my Father; surround Your grand Banquet Table with all of Your family, to feast and fellowship with You and one another forevermore!
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, March 28, 2020
Forgetting And Reaching
Philippians 3: 12-16
(12) Not that I have already obtained it (the resurrection, see yesterday's entry) or have already become perfect,
Paul is not claiming to have reached the goal of maturity, the word he used here for perfect is teleioo, which means "to finish," which he considers will be accomplished when he is resurrected.
but I press on
He will keep on keeping on.
that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
Jesus laid hold of Paul when He knocked him to the ground on the road to Damascus. Now Paul is working out what Christ worked into him.
(13) Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet;
Paul knew he still had a ways to go yet. As we all do.
but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,
He is single-minded and focused like a laser-beam. He doesn't let any distraction pull him away from his goal. He doesn't think about the past, he is stretching forward, to whatever God has placed in front of him, to go where He leads, and talk with the people He puts in his path. To share with as many as possible. And when he can't go, he writes. He never lets up.
(14) I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Paul is really longing for his Lord! He will stay here in the world as long as God lets him, doing everything he can, every way he can, to promote God's Kingdom, helping his brothers and sisters to grow and sharing with everyone else to draw them into God's family, also.
(15) Let us therefore, as many as are perfect,
Paul uses a different form of the word for perfect here, telios, that means "mental and moral character," which refers to their maturity in Christ.
have this attitude;
He wants them to focus on doing the Lord's work, not letting themselves be distracted by worldly things or opinions.
and if in anything you have a different attitude,
If anyone doesn't agree with Paul's mindset in this ...
God will reveal that also to you;
He trusts that God will get hold of them, if they are true Christians. We don't need to nag them.
(16) however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.
He says to be careful not to slide back into any less godly thinking. Continue to make your lifestyle as closely aligned with Christ as we can, and continue to follow His leading in the paths He is leading each of us in.
O my Father, thank You for all You are and all You do and have done already for us! You have taken care of all of our needs, even those we weren't aware of, and still aren't. You know us better than we know ourselves, and You love us more than we will ever be able to imagine!
Father, continue to be with us now. So many are floundering in this sea of confusion. Show us Your Truth in the midst of all the deception rampant in the world around us. Let us help one another whenever and wherever we can, to hold You close as You hold us.
Let our love for one another show the world that Jesus really did come to be their Savior, and draw all of Your embryonic children to the spiritual birth into Your family. And no one will have any excuse.
Every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
(12) Not that I have already obtained it (the resurrection, see yesterday's entry) or have already become perfect,
Paul is not claiming to have reached the goal of maturity, the word he used here for perfect is teleioo, which means "to finish," which he considers will be accomplished when he is resurrected.
but I press on
He will keep on keeping on.
that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
Jesus laid hold of Paul when He knocked him to the ground on the road to Damascus. Now Paul is working out what Christ worked into him.
(13) Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet;
Paul knew he still had a ways to go yet. As we all do.
but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,
He is single-minded and focused like a laser-beam. He doesn't let any distraction pull him away from his goal. He doesn't think about the past, he is stretching forward, to whatever God has placed in front of him, to go where He leads, and talk with the people He puts in his path. To share with as many as possible. And when he can't go, he writes. He never lets up.
(14) I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Paul is really longing for his Lord! He will stay here in the world as long as God lets him, doing everything he can, every way he can, to promote God's Kingdom, helping his brothers and sisters to grow and sharing with everyone else to draw them into God's family, also.
(15) Let us therefore, as many as are perfect,
Paul uses a different form of the word for perfect here, telios, that means "mental and moral character," which refers to their maturity in Christ.
have this attitude;
He wants them to focus on doing the Lord's work, not letting themselves be distracted by worldly things or opinions.
and if in anything you have a different attitude,
If anyone doesn't agree with Paul's mindset in this ...
God will reveal that also to you;
He trusts that God will get hold of them, if they are true Christians. We don't need to nag them.
(16) however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.
He says to be careful not to slide back into any less godly thinking. Continue to make your lifestyle as closely aligned with Christ as we can, and continue to follow His leading in the paths He is leading each of us in.
O my Father, thank You for all You are and all You do and have done already for us! You have taken care of all of our needs, even those we weren't aware of, and still aren't. You know us better than we know ourselves, and You love us more than we will ever be able to imagine!
Father, continue to be with us now. So many are floundering in this sea of confusion. Show us Your Truth in the midst of all the deception rampant in the world around us. Let us help one another whenever and wherever we can, to hold You close as You hold us.
Let our love for one another show the world that Jesus really did come to be their Savior, and draw all of Your embryonic children to the spiritual birth into Your family. And no one will have any excuse.
Every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Friday, March 27, 2020
Surpassing Value
Philippians 3: 7-11
(7) But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Repeating the verse we ended with yesterday, we will continue Paul's conversation.
(8) More than that, I count all things to be loss
Everything that comes between him and Christ is drawing him away from Christ, whether they are things that benefited him in the past or not.
in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,
There is no comparison between material, physical things and knowing that Christ Jesus has redeemed you. Nothing of this world has any value against the eternal, magnificent future He has planned for us.
for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,
Everything that gave Saul of Tarsis standing and respect has been lost to Paul the Evangelist, and he now sees all that as no more valuable than garbage. He now has standing and respect with the Son of God Himself!
(9) and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law,
All the righteousness he had been able to claim before was according to what he was able to do in following the Law of Moses, which is earned and not acceptable to God.
but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,
Because of his faith, his belief that Jesus took his death for him on the cross, he now has a righteousness that Jesus earned for him, placed on him by God the Father as a gift, on the basis of his trusting Christ.
(10) that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection
To know Him, not just know about Him; and to experience the power of Jesus' rising from the dead, the power to also raise us from the dead, with a spiritual body that is fit to live in the presence of God.
and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;
Everything Paul had to suffer, and everything we have to suffer in this life, is participating in the sufferings Jesus went through for us, human suffering and death.
(11) in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Now Paul is again considering that he may be put to death. As Christ died for us and was resurrected first, He showed that we also will be resurrected after we die. And Paul was looking forward to it.
O my Father, please help us realize that this physical life on this material Earth will always produce suffering in its brokenness. Let us feel Your presence with us, and strengthen us in all the trials and troubles and sorrows we face here. May we all grow up in Christ, to attain the spiritual and emotional maturity to the full stature of the Son of God.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
(7) But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Repeating the verse we ended with yesterday, we will continue Paul's conversation.
(8) More than that, I count all things to be loss
Everything that comes between him and Christ is drawing him away from Christ, whether they are things that benefited him in the past or not.
in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,
There is no comparison between material, physical things and knowing that Christ Jesus has redeemed you. Nothing of this world has any value against the eternal, magnificent future He has planned for us.
for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,
Everything that gave Saul of Tarsis standing and respect has been lost to Paul the Evangelist, and he now sees all that as no more valuable than garbage. He now has standing and respect with the Son of God Himself!
(9) and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law,
All the righteousness he had been able to claim before was according to what he was able to do in following the Law of Moses, which is earned and not acceptable to God.
but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,
Because of his faith, his belief that Jesus took his death for him on the cross, he now has a righteousness that Jesus earned for him, placed on him by God the Father as a gift, on the basis of his trusting Christ.
(10) that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection
To know Him, not just know about Him; and to experience the power of Jesus' rising from the dead, the power to also raise us from the dead, with a spiritual body that is fit to live in the presence of God.
and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;
Everything Paul had to suffer, and everything we have to suffer in this life, is participating in the sufferings Jesus went through for us, human suffering and death.
(11) in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Now Paul is again considering that he may be put to death. As Christ died for us and was resurrected first, He showed that we also will be resurrected after we die. And Paul was looking forward to it.
O my Father, please help us realize that this physical life on this material Earth will always produce suffering in its brokenness. Let us feel Your presence with us, and strengthen us in all the trials and troubles and sorrows we face here. May we all grow up in Christ, to attain the spiritual and emotional maturity to the full stature of the Son of God.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Use These Times We're In
Philippians 3: 4-7
We were just told yesterday that our flesh was cut away from the new Spiritual life we have now, so we're not to depend on the flesh, the physical world for anything.
(4) Although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more:
Paul will now list all his achievements, his resume:
(5) circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee;
(6) as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.
All these things were expected of a good Jewish boy growing up in Israel to advance, to climb the ladder of success. And he succeeded.
The "dogs" he warned them against in v. 2 have nothing on him; if they are claiming authority to teach, then Paul has more credentials than they.
(7) But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Everything that gave him standing and prestige in society is what he is now saying is actually detrimental to him. It is a loss. It is what he depended on instead of Christ, which makes it all an idol.
So are we not to seek advancement in our society today?
Not if we're focusing on it instead of on Christ. Not if it is a substitute for the Spirit. Not if we're just looking to be admired by other people, instead of honored by God.
Physical things are not evil in themselves, it's our attitude toward them that determines if they draw us toward or away from God. We can use the things of this world in the power of the Spirit to promote the Kingdom of God, or we can use them instead of the Spirit and idolize them.
Like the internet: whatever you are looking for, you will find: from the very best, God-honoring content, like your church service on Sunday morning, all the way down to the most depraved and twisted porn. And everything in between. It's all there.
So when we try to get ahead in business, is it because we want more and more of this world's luxuries to spend on ourselves, or is it to increase our ability to finance God's Kingdom by giving more to the church and missionaries who are preaching the Gospel?
It all starts in our minds, our thinking processes and attitudes. How do we see things? Do we look at all the chaos and get depressed? Or do we see God using all these chaotic times to draw people to Himself, a great revival?
Do we criticize our government leaders for their totalitarian edicts? Or do we see how to use them for sharing the Gospel? How will we respond as we live through these times?
When people are in need, they're looking for an answer. Will they find it in the world's systems, or will we give to them out of God's bounty?
O my Father, please open our eyes to see how You are working in all these things that are happening all over the world. It looks very negative and dangerous, but that is just the time a hero is needed; and Your Holy Spirit in Your children makes us all super-heroes, supernatural warriors.
Father, show us how to be Your hands and feet in these changing times. Teach us how to minister to our neighbors in safe and helpful ways. Let us show Your light in these dark times.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
We were just told yesterday that our flesh was cut away from the new Spiritual life we have now, so we're not to depend on the flesh, the physical world for anything.
(4) Although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more:
Paul will now list all his achievements, his resume:
(5) circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee;
(6) as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.
All these things were expected of a good Jewish boy growing up in Israel to advance, to climb the ladder of success. And he succeeded.
The "dogs" he warned them against in v. 2 have nothing on him; if they are claiming authority to teach, then Paul has more credentials than they.
(7) But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Everything that gave him standing and prestige in society is what he is now saying is actually detrimental to him. It is a loss. It is what he depended on instead of Christ, which makes it all an idol.
So are we not to seek advancement in our society today?
Not if we're focusing on it instead of on Christ. Not if it is a substitute for the Spirit. Not if we're just looking to be admired by other people, instead of honored by God.
Physical things are not evil in themselves, it's our attitude toward them that determines if they draw us toward or away from God. We can use the things of this world in the power of the Spirit to promote the Kingdom of God, or we can use them instead of the Spirit and idolize them.
Like the internet: whatever you are looking for, you will find: from the very best, God-honoring content, like your church service on Sunday morning, all the way down to the most depraved and twisted porn. And everything in between. It's all there.
So when we try to get ahead in business, is it because we want more and more of this world's luxuries to spend on ourselves, or is it to increase our ability to finance God's Kingdom by giving more to the church and missionaries who are preaching the Gospel?
It all starts in our minds, our thinking processes and attitudes. How do we see things? Do we look at all the chaos and get depressed? Or do we see God using all these chaotic times to draw people to Himself, a great revival?
Do we criticize our government leaders for their totalitarian edicts? Or do we see how to use them for sharing the Gospel? How will we respond as we live through these times?
When people are in need, they're looking for an answer. Will they find it in the world's systems, or will we give to them out of God's bounty?
O my Father, please open our eyes to see how You are working in all these things that are happening all over the world. It looks very negative and dangerous, but that is just the time a hero is needed; and Your Holy Spirit in Your children makes us all super-heroes, supernatural warriors.
Father, show us how to be Your hands and feet in these changing times. Teach us how to minister to our neighbors in safe and helpful ways. Let us show Your light in these dark times.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Spiritually Circumcised
Philippians 3: 1-3
(1) Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.
No matter what is going on around us, we all who are Christ's have the joy of the Lord, which should display even in the middle of the mess. We can't be reminded enough to continue to rejoice in the Lord. This is our "normal" state of mind.
(2) Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision;
Even in our positive mindset, we are to be wary of all the false teachers. They claim to be Christians, but their teachings are not according to the Truth. Their circumcision is only done in the flesh, their flesh has not been separated from their spirit.
We see how God cut away our flesh from our life in His Holy Spirit, cutting off the connection so that our flesh has no more addictive pull on our life (in Colossians 2: 11-14).
(3) for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.
We who have been born into God's family have been spiritually circumcised. When God cleansed us and put His Holy Spirit in us, making our dead human spirits alive, he cut the connection between the flesh and the spirit, so we are free to do what is right, and not go back to the old bad habits that had trapped us before. So we put no importance on the flesh, since our life is spiritual, and we live our lives in worship of our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
O my Father, You are so good, and great, and gracious to us, to provide the means of breaking the addictions and bad habits that were destroying us, and teaching us how Your Holy Spirit is our life now.
Father, Your Spirit gives us the strength and power to live our lives in positively joyful days, even when the world around us is swirling negativity around us. We are still in the world, but we are not of the world. We're in it, but it's not in us any more. You have cut off that connection to the flesh that pulled us down and unshackled us; now we can fly!
Send us out, Father, to show the world how much You love them, too, and want to unshackle them also from their destructive ways. How You want to give them Your joy, to wipe away their tears and depression. To redeem them also into Your glorious paradise.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
(1) Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.
No matter what is going on around us, we all who are Christ's have the joy of the Lord, which should display even in the middle of the mess. We can't be reminded enough to continue to rejoice in the Lord. This is our "normal" state of mind.
(2) Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision;
Even in our positive mindset, we are to be wary of all the false teachers. They claim to be Christians, but their teachings are not according to the Truth. Their circumcision is only done in the flesh, their flesh has not been separated from their spirit.
We see how God cut away our flesh from our life in His Holy Spirit, cutting off the connection so that our flesh has no more addictive pull on our life (in Colossians 2: 11-14).
(3) for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.
We who have been born into God's family have been spiritually circumcised. When God cleansed us and put His Holy Spirit in us, making our dead human spirits alive, he cut the connection between the flesh and the spirit, so we are free to do what is right, and not go back to the old bad habits that had trapped us before. So we put no importance on the flesh, since our life is spiritual, and we live our lives in worship of our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
O my Father, You are so good, and great, and gracious to us, to provide the means of breaking the addictions and bad habits that were destroying us, and teaching us how Your Holy Spirit is our life now.
Father, Your Spirit gives us the strength and power to live our lives in positively joyful days, even when the world around us is swirling negativity around us. We are still in the world, but we are not of the world. We're in it, but it's not in us any more. You have cut off that connection to the flesh that pulled us down and unshackled us; now we can fly!
Send us out, Father, to show the world how much You love them, too, and want to unshackle them also from their destructive ways. How You want to give them Your joy, to wipe away their tears and depression. To redeem them also into Your glorious paradise.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)