Category: Philippians

Philippians 4

3/18/2012

Philippians 4:4-5 “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again – rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.”
How important is that? When we are always joyful because we know the Lord the world sees that we are different. When we say we are Christians and our lives don’t look any different, then the people of the world don’t think God makes a difference. We should be different because we know Jesus Christ and have accepted Him as Lord and Savior. We have joy because we have eternal life through Him and that is better than anything on earth.
We are called to be a light and share the Good News about Christ, how does that look when everything that happens to us makes us worry or afraid? Verse 6 says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done.”

It is so important that we talk to God and have a relationship with Him. We can’t expect growth and understanding when we are not willing to be different and pray. Verse 7 is a key component t verse 6, it says, “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

What’s important is that when we live in Christ Jesus our hearts and minds will be guarded. When we live in the world they are not guarded and we struggle more with our own desires and we choose our will and not His. When we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior and we are working on being different and new creations our thoughts change and we can see what is good for us. Verse 8 says, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

When we are in God’s word and praying and living in Christ we know that we are secure and we act differently in all things and our trials don’t crush us and people see us as appealing because of our strength which comes from the Lord. Verse 9 is so important, it says, “Keep putting into practice all you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

When we open our hearts and let God’s word fill us, the Spirit will lead us and we will continually practice what we learn and be a disciple maker and have peace. Amen

0 Comments

Philippians 3

3/15/2012

0 Comments

Philippians 3:12-13 “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.”

This inspires me to work and learn. Paul says, “…he is not perfect but he presses on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.” We are not perfect but we shouldn’t use that as an excuse to why we mess up, we should press on to be perfect. Studying God’s word and praying for transformation which keeps us from feeling satisfied. We see how Paul says he forgets the past and he looks at what lies ahead. What are we holding onto that keeps us stuck in the same spot? I say give it to God and move on learning to be better and different.

There will never be a day that we can coast in our walk, we must be willing to learn and grow seeking God’s will and living it out. Verse 14 says, “I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”

To me press on doesn’t mean sit back it means keep working actively pursuing Him always. Don’t get caught up in the world, focus on what we have in Christ and focus on our new home. Then continue to build on what we know so we always are moving towards Him.

I want to end with verses 19-20 and I want us to really think about these verses as we read them. “They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only of this life here on earth. But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for Him to return as our Savior.”

Where are we focused? What is appealing to us? We must know that we are citizens of heaven and we must live a way that shows it. Amen

0 Comments

Philippians 2

3/13/2012

0 Comments

Philippians 2:12-13 “Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.”

This is the transformation that is so important for us to have when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. Paul says “work hard to show the results of your salvation,” by reading and praying we learn what God desires and we equip ourselves with the wisdom that He gives so we can live our lives differently. It says for us to, “…obey God with deep reverence and fear,” He wants us to be with Him for eternity. He shows His love constantly by giving us His word and His Spirit to help guide us so we have the hope to follow Jesus. Are we willing to accept what He has given and then surrender what we want to do with what He desires? That is exactly what Jesus did and we are called to be like Him.

Look at what Paul says in chapter 1 verse 27, “Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ.” We need to move past belief and move to belonging, seeking change and transformation so we can make a difference. This comes from us relying on what Christ did and what God has given us.

Chapter 2 verse 16 says, “Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless.” When we start to feel our hearts change we will really have joy that comes from the Lord and we will shine in all circumstances. Then our lives will make a difference and we will help the kingdom of God. We all need to be humble and open our hearts so people can notice our lives and we must always know that the devil is going to try and make us stumble so we need to constantly equip ourselves for battle. Amen

0 Comments

Philippians 3

10/26/2010

1 Comment

Philippians 3:10-11 “I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead. I want to suffer with Him, sharing in His death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!”

This is amazing when you stop and think of it, Paul says he wants to “experience the mighty power” are we trying to do that? I don’t want to just know about Christ, I want to live and experience Him. We need to truly surrender and dig deep into all God shows us and have a passion to learn all we can.

In Isaiah chapter 38 at the end of verse 1 it says about King Hezekiah, “…This is what the Lord says: Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness.”

I love what King Hezekiah does in response. In verse 2 he says, “When Hezekiah’s heard this, he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord.” Then the Lord tells Isaiah in verse 5, “Go back to Hezekiah and tell him, ‘this is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor, David, says: ‘I have heard your prayers and see your tears. I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will rescue you and this city from the King of Assyria. Yes, I will defend this city.”

Instead of the King finding out he was going to die and being miserable he prayed. To me that is experiencing God’s power and totally surrendering to His will. We need to remember how amazing God is for sending His Son to give us a chance to live for eternity with Him.

I would like to end with what Paul says in Philippians 3:13-14, “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” That heavenly prize is life and Jesus is the way. Amen

1 Comment

Philippians 4

Philippians 3

Philippians 2

Philippians 3

Archives

Categories

Books to Read: