To die is to gain.

When we look at Philippians and we try to understand what Paul is getting at when he says in 1:21 “For me to live is Christ and to die is to gain” – we see a man who has had the opposite. He has had a full and complete life. When we look later in Philippians 3 we see a bigger picture of Paul’s life.

He was a “Hebrew among Hebrews”, he was zealous in the way he tried to protect the Jewish law and culture even to the point of persecuting the Church. He was blameless in the view when you looked at his righteousness. He was from the tribe of Benjamin, one of the most respected tribes of Israel.

But he says “I count it all loss for the sake of knowing Christ” and he’s right. When we look at what we have and what we put in our life to try and fulfill it, it’s a loss when we put it to scale with Christ.

So, when Paul writes earlier in the letter saying “To live is Christ and to die is gain” – he means it. And he knows that for the sake of knowing Jesus that it is worth his life and worth all these possessions, statuses, and accomplishments Paul had previously had in his life.

So when we look at our lives in the next month, let’s think of Paul and his call to see our lives as nothing even close to comparable to knowing and sharing Jesus with others!

My absolute favorite song right now is, “Woke Up This Morning (With My Mind Stayed On Jesus)”. I like the version by Tamesha Pruett-Ray and her sons! I listen to it multiple times a day to remind me to keep my mind where it needs to be, on Jesus!! It has led me to question what it really means to keep our minds stayed on Jesus? The definition of stayed is to remain in the same place; to not move away from or leave a place or situation. Isaiah 26:3 says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

Who doesn’t want perfect peace? We as humans have a nature that longs for peace. Our minds are bombarded with constant attacks from the enemy, constant demands and anxieties that stem from numerous uncertainties in our daily lives. So how do we train our minds to stay fixed on God?

We have to first realize that we must take every thought captive. 2 Corinthians 10:5 “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

We have the power through the help of the Holy Spirit to control our minds. We have to trust God’s character and faithfulness in our lives. He is sovereign and highly capable to guide, provide, and stand true to His promises. When we put our total trust in Him it allows us to surrender our fears,worries, and anxieties to an all-knowing, all powerful God!

We will have trials and tribulations until eternity, so we have to learn to give God control. In the midst of our trials it is hard to see what good can come from them, but in the end we can always look back and see what God did for us. He supplies us with the strength to endure whatever comes our way.

We need to be in constant communication with God. It is a vital part of the life of a christian to meditate on God’s word and seek him daily. This allows God to help us align our thoughts and concerns with His will! His word gives us the guidance and help we need to fight off the attacks of the enemy. It gives us the mindset and very character of Christ. It is good to memorize scripture so that even when you don’t have your bible you can meditate on the word.

When we give Him full control of every thought or situation in our lives it brings us peace. We will experience more joy, happiness, laughter, and we will love others like Jesus does! We can have clarity and calmness in every situation which will lead us to make wise choices and help our minds to be stayed on Jesus!!!

Doubt. Contradiction. Worry. Trials. Misfortune. These things are challenges that are presented to us frequently. Peter reminds us of this in 1 Peter 1:6: “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.”

Oftentimes, we are faced with circumstances that seem impossible to overcome.

Let’s look at Abraham. When we first met Abraham, then Abram, he had become very wealthy in all things, but lacked a child. He and his wife, Sarai, were considerably aged, and remained barren. Even though almighty God promised Abram that his descendants would be many nations like the stars in the sky and the grains of sand. He doubted this miraculous proposition and used sinful cunning to make his own way. He and his wife decided to turn to alternate plans to bear a child, thinking they needed to assist God in His plan.

After Abram’s stumbling, the Lord remained faithful and re-established His covenant changing Abram to Abraham. He then promises the couple that Sarai, now Sarah, would bear a child in the next year and they will name him” Isaac.” By the grace of God, this promise was fulfilled just as God had foretold. 

After this Abraham was totally joyful and faithful. To test Abraham’s commitment, God calls Abraham to sacrifice his only begotten son. As any rational creature would surmise, this appears to be contradictory to the promise of Isaac bringing forth many nations as how could someone be dead and produce such fruit? I think that it is reasonable to attribute this suspicion to Abraham. 

Considering the fact that when he was at the foot of the mount, Abraham telling his  servants that he and the boy would return leads me to believe that something greater is at play such as resurrection or just not killing Isaac. So in the face of contradiction, Abraham puts his faith in God’s word and abides.

     Then came the binding of Isaac. After telling his servants a brief, Abraham went up with his son and the supplies. Isaac was puzzled at the fact that they lacked an animal to offer but Abraham informed him that God will provide a lamb for himself. They got atop the mountain meaning the time had come. Abraham bound and placed Isaac upon the altar. Abraham then readied the knife in order to sacrifice him. Suddenly, the angel of the Lord appeared, stopping him and commending him for proving his fear of God.

 To hark back to Peter ”so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.“ ‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬

The Lord might not command you to murder your offspring, but He will call us to follow Him through the fire. We must, therefore, persist towards the Lord through pain in fear and in trembling.

Love is not arrogant; Love is not rude.

Arrogance. Thinking you are more important than others – maybe thinking you are the “catch”. 👀

I read it this way, “In pride we become the objects of our own life.”

God, please help us not to be that way. Help us to stay humble like Jesus. Help us to keep YOU the center of our love and our life. Help us to look around us and to truly see the people around us and their amazing qualities. Help us lift them up – not ourself.

God, as children of yours help us also to not be rude. Most of us learned manners and how to treat others from a very young age. We should care about how our words and actions affect others. As we speak, please keep that at the forefront of our thoughts and our tongues. Let us communicate in words and actions that are not crass, but that carefully portray our Savior’s attributes. Amen.