Here we go guys! Challenge #2!18 But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice.
This verse has stood out to me in past because it really shows the power of God's word! Here, he is talking about those who preach Jesus out of selfish ambition and I would say, are the "hypocrites" of the church. I love Paul's attitude about the situation--"what does it matter? Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice." Sometimes seeing hypocrites in the church is something that tries to take your joy away...but we need to have the heart of Paul and rejoice, regardless of the situation...because it is Jesus that we put our trust in, not "mere" people.
27 "Only let your manner of life be worthy [fn] of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel..."
ReplyDeleteGod has been using this verse to absolutely revolutionalize my life. I want with every fiber of my being to live a life that makes sense (Or is worthy) of the Gospel. I have been examining my life this semester and have been asking the question: Does my life make sense in light of what I believe? The more I reflect the more I realize it doesn't...and I have been working wholeheartedly with God's strength to make the changes necessary to begin living the life I was created for.
3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace,4 both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus
ReplyDelete"Oh Lord that this will be true of my life. That I would recognize that you have done a mighty work in my heart for me to recognize my brokeness. From this place, let me love others in response to your love so much that you would be witness to seeing this as true. Let me by your grace trust you to do your work in others as you have done and are continuing to do in me."
________________________________________________This passage has been one that I have mediated on so much over the past couple years. In reading and speaking it, it begs questions for me about my trust in God to do his work.
"Thanksgiving...Because of your partnership (and faithfullness)in the gospel."
Do I really thank God for the people in my life mainly because of their partnership in the gospel? In other words, is the sharing of the gospel really that important to me? Has it changed me as it has changed Paul?
"with the affection of Christ Jesus, I yearn for you all....and God's my witness to that." Am I so desperately in love with Christ and his work in me? Basically, do I realize the depths of darkness that God has brought me, so that I can also have faith that God can also do the impossible and bring it to completion in others? God's my witness, so my love for Christ and others will not be a lie at that point as it will be an overflow of my heart. God searches the heart. PRAYER::LORD do a mighty work in me and renew my mind to be like that of Christ the author and perfecter of faith.
Do I bear the fruit of righteousness?
FInally now, I believe the next part proves how Paul places his trust in God to finish his work on this earth without Paul. This seen when Paul recognizes his position within the work of God. Paul demonstrates his trust in God, recognizing that God is sovereign over all even when he is in prison and is not able to preach to others confident that Christ is being proclaimed. He sees that every circumstance that he is brought through is for the glory of God in that many have become much more bold to preach the word without fear. This trust in God and recognition of place in God's plan shows that Paul did not do good works for himself but for the glory of God. Do I preach Christ from rivalry?
Prayer is dad-gum powerful...
His prayer for himself, is that he will be strengthened to not be ashamed of the gospel.
His listening prayer is for discernment of which world he'll live in. His response to the answered prayer is to live for Christ completely not half-heartedly while on this earth for the edification and salvation of others. What a heavenly mindset!!!
So then let us live our lives here on earth with the heavenly mindset that Paul has outlined, not worried about suffering, and unified out of reverence for Christ which Paul will describe more in Chapter 2. Let us trust God to complete His work which he has pleasure accomplishing in both myself and HIS people.
Not What My Hands...www.aaronkeyes.com
3-4 "I thank my God every time i remember you. In all my prayers for all of you I always pray with joy"
ReplyDeletePaul has set an amazing precedent in these two verses. The main point I would like to focus on is when he says "I always pray with joy." How often do we actual pray with joy. I know that some of us often go to the Lord in prayer when we are in need. Sometimes when our lives are rough we use God as our strength (which is a good thing), but we often forget we need him when our lives are going well. Our job as Christians is to glorify our Lord and what better time to glorify him than when he has provided us with what we need (and many things that we do not need, but only desire). How often to we sit in prayer and just thank God for all his gifts that we take for granted? How often do we pray out of pure joy for our brothers and the fact that they share the same love for Christ that we do? Isn't that just amazing?! How we have a fraternity of men who each share that same love we do for our Savior!? This is what Paul is talking about as he talks about his prayer and love for his brothers in Christ in Philippi. This is what we should strive for, not just as a fraternity, but children of God.
20-21: "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."
ReplyDeleteTo live is Christ and to die is gain. Man, how many times do we think that? To die is gain. A lot of times when we really think about death, we get nervous: am I ready to leave this place? Am I truly ready for eternity? Will I really be in Heaven? But look at Paul: to die is gain. He goes on to say in the next chapters he is torn between dying in order to be with Christ and continuing to live in order to help spread the gospel some more. But how often do we truly think, man let me die right now! It's super hard to reach out and say that.
But Paul did it. That's how Paul lived. And that's how we need to model our lives. We shouldn't be scared or nervous to die at any moment. We should look forward to it (not in some sick morbid way) but in the way of finally being face-to-face with Christ, removed from the pleasures the world has to offer. We need to make certain we are followers of Christ. Confirm your faith. That way you should have no reservations upon whether or not Heaven truly awaits you.
In my study notes, it says, "If you're not ready to die, then you're not ready to live." That is a quote that will knock you backwards. We've always heard it said, such as in that KC song, live like you were dying. But when you think about the reverse, and die like you lived, how would your death be? Would it be consumed by the world, without Christ? Or would your death welcome you into Heaven, into eternity with God? Live for Christ. Do not be afraid of death; rather, look forward to it, knowing you will have peace in God.
20 "I eagerly expect, and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death."
ReplyDeleteI feel that this is a verse that a lot of Christians, myself included, don't fully live out. If we are as on fire for God and Christ as we say we are, and if the Cross is at the center of our lives, where it's supposed to be, then we should daily be living with an eternal mindset, mindless of the toll living such a life should have on our Earthly body. Scorn and ridicule should wash off us like rain falling from the sky. When the devil knocks us down, we should stand up, dust ourselves off, and keep walking. Personally, that doesn't happen. I get caught up in the day-to-day things like school. But this verse has inspired me to reflect on how I've been living and make changes.
27 "Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ."
This verse goes alongside the earlier verse. I don't always live in "a manner worthy of the gospel." I would like to think that myself and the rest of the brothers in Theta Xi will strive to make this verse a reality in our lives, though.
Lol........didn't mean to copy you Stiles :) I didn't see your post before I started writing.
ReplyDeleteverses 4-5:
ReplyDeleteIn all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,
So to me this verse embodies what unity is all about. First of all, he prays for his brothers. This seems to be one of the most important things to do to support your brothers in Christ. Christ says that they will know we are Christians by our love for one another. How better to truly love your brother than to pray for him?
Secondly, he prays joyfully for his brothers. This sounds like he is not dwelling on any differences that they may have had but is truly thinking of their well-being. There is no self-righteous or self-serving attitude to his prayer. If there were, he might say that he joyfully prays grudgingly that so-and-so might stop doing such-and-such.
Finally he acknowledges that they are partners and so edifies them. Paul, being one of the most well-known apostles, could easily have taken a haughty attitude towards the people that this was written to but decides instead to encourage them by humbling himself.
Basically, all of this comes back to love. The unity that this simple sentence promotes can only exist if loving your brother in Christ comes before loving yourself. I find this especially convicting because it is far too easy to look down on my brothers that I think are not living out their faith as they should. Any approach I make towards them in spiritual matters could easily come across as arrogant. I am also convicted that I don't always pray for my brother as well. I think that this unifying love should begin there for me.
In reading this passage, on thing that has always struck was verse 18 as Tito mentioned. I feel like it is important to follow this, not so much as a hypocrite necessarily, but if you are in a position to show Christs love and your not really "Feelin' It" that day it is important to continue to share about Christ.
ReplyDeleteA Second thing Paul goes into i find interesting is how he feels it is more necessary for him to be on earth than to be in Heaven, that it would almost be selfish to not stay and proclaim the gospel to those who need to hear it on earth.(verse 24)
Finally, it is incredibly awesome to hear Pauls prayer over the church in Philippi that he is overflowing with love for these people, and how he would have this same emotion for anyone who would choose to follow Jesus today.
Philippians 1:20
ReplyDeleteIt is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
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Can we really say that in life or death we have honored the Lord with our bodies? I hope that this word will take root in my heart, so that my life can be looked upon from the outside, and others will say, "Surely, he loves the Lord". God has a purpose for us. Pray always, and look for it, so that you may say with confidence, that your life is worthy of the grace God gave us.
It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives.
ReplyDeleteOne that that has always struck me is honesty. Whether it sucks for the person or not, I always advocate honesty. As a kid who grew up in church, I saw alot of preaching for the wrong reasons. Stuff like people raising hands not to worship, but to be seen worshiping. That's a very basic example, but it all goes back to honesty. A preacher should only preach out of pure motives, which to me goes back to honesty. Honesty is something that has been instilled in me my whole life and definitely something I love to see in others
verse 19:
ReplyDeletefor I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.
We all have at least some idea of the opposition Paul faced while he spread the Gospel. Philippians, among many other letters of his, was written while he was "in chains for Christ." He endured shipwrecks, riots, and all manner of mishaps just so that the world could know about Jesus. While he never seemed to show fear or uncertainty, he attributes his strength and the knowledge of his salvation to the prayers of others, as well as God's grace, which everything can be traced back to. This verse really underscores the power and importance of prayer, while also giving us confidence that the trials we face while living for God will only further guarantee our reward in heaven.