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 does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.
It seems weird that Paul would even have to say those words, but it happens. People take sides. People get jealous and want others to fail. Think about when people get in a physical altercation and others flock to it – often videoing for pure entertainment. Think about how people throw the word “karma” around.
God, please help me to love like you even in the hard situations. The right path is often the hardest path, but that is the only one I want to take. Help me to speak the truth in love in all situations. Help me to love like Jesus. Amen.
The two go hand in hand – truly the epitome of a viscous cycle. We already talked about that fact that love is indeed patient. Love helps those short fuses grow longer. Love also keeps bitterness at bay. Remember anger isn’t a sin, but how we handle that anger potentially could be. And harboring hard and hostile feelings won’t help any situation. In fact, harboring hostile feelings is a fiery, festering furnace ready to blow at any given minute.
God, I don’t want to snap at the people I love. I don’t want to be annoyed with them, and I certainly don’t want to make them feel like they are annoying.
And if anyone had the right to be resentful it was your son Jesus. He came down from a perfect Heaven to die an unimaginable death for imperfect people. People that shamed Him, deceived Him, and still to this day deny Him.
God, help us to do better. Help us to love better. Help us to be more like you. Amen
And He knew. He knew the whole time what Judas would do. He could have said, “No, you wash my feet. I am YOUR King.”
But He didn’t.
Oh God, help me to be more like Jesus. Help me to humble myself and “wash the feet” of others instead of demanding what I think I deserve. And let me remember what I truly do deserve – and that’s death on a cross.
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.
Envy in this verse takes the form of an onomatopoetic word mimicking the sound of water so hot that’s it bubbling or boiling over. Picture that! Being envious is no way to live life – no matter the type of relationship. Envy is a deep root that creeps and crawls through every other aspect of your life.
God, let us be so full of you, so confident in your love for us, that we know that we are not lacking. God, let us be so full of you that there are no missing parts that we covet from others. Envy is truly the lack of peace that only having a close knit relationship with God brings.
In the same manner, help us not to brag about the things – or the love – that we give others. Help us have true servant’s hearts that give without wanting anything in return. We don’t need praise. We don’t need glory. We don’t need the accolades. We just want to serve you all the days of our life.
God, help us to continue to grow closer to you so that we can in fact love others the way you do. Amen.
You’ve heard it a hundred times – actions speak louder than words.
Love is truly an action.
God, all throughout scripture you show us the true meaning of patience, of long-suffering. You’ve shown us through the many chances given to us and by the immense amount of mercy shown as time after time we have failed you. Thank you for your patience.
Love is also kind. It’s mild. It’s gentle. I read in one commentary that not only does love “wish well” but it also “does well”. God wants the best for us, and He certainly tries to lead us down that path – it is us that strays.
God, thank you for your patience with me. Thank you for being gentle and kind to me and for truly wanting what’s best for me. Help me to love the people you have placed in my life in the same way. Help me to live what true love is out loud and on purpose. Help me to be more like you. Amen.
We know of the common phrase from example in scripture that David was a “man after God’s own heart.” Many individuals take this out of context as we assume it is discussing the overall character of David. Although this may be some of the reasons with his overall character being loyal. The historical theology we find in 1 Samuel chapter 13 is the Lord is seeking out a man who is actually willing to keep His commands.
I want to be so on fire for Christ my goal and desire is to follow His law. To be obedient all while following the commandments. (Exodus 20) We have laws here on earth with the majority of them having the purpose of protecting us. Jesus loves his children. He wants to protect his children. There is such deep love and purpose behind scripture the Gospel reveals to us. May we grow so close to Jesus in our daily walk we instill a passion to draw closer to scripture. To read it, process it, and apply to our daily life. I want to be so on fire for Christ as he watches my steps and decisions everyday he knows my goal is to get closer to his heart. To fall short and go to Him for help and guidance. This year I’m so past the phase of wanting and seeking perfection. This year I’m fully aware of how deeply I need the Father’s love. How badly I need his forgiveness. I’m such a mess up, in a world that messes up. This world is the opposite of the Gospel. We need Jesus! To be the mother, wife, sister, friend, and disciple encourager I desire to be requires me to be a woman after God’s own heart. What an honor that is. What a great goal to strive for.
”She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.“ Proverbs 31:26-30 NIV
Following Jesus gives life hope and purpose. Today, & everyday I pray I never lose the burning desire to be a woman after God’s own heart.
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