9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
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Andy and I were talking about the name of Jesus and the name of God the other day. I feel that we've come to a time when the name of God is not revered anymore...and the very name of Jesus is disrespected left and right. Here it says that God gave Jesus the name above all names and that even at the mention of the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. Do we really revere the name of Jesus and hold it above all other names. And more importantly do we revere Jesus himself with our lives? This is all for the glory of God our Father!
5 "Have this mind among yourselves which is your in Christ Jesus."
ReplyDeleteDo I have the mind of Christ? as it is put in other letters of Paul. We have are a new creation in Christ, so then it is only through Christ that we might have his mind and then be able to live as Jesus did. A transformation of the mind is then followed by humility, boasting only in God. My soul makes its boast only in the Lord.
Finally..."yourselves" a transformed mind for the Church, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
"Oh Lord thank you for making me into a new creation, continue to transform my mind so that I might love you with all of my heart all of my soul and all of my mind and then that I might love others as myself."
4 "Each of you should look not to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."
ReplyDeleteAs a follower of Christ, we are called to be a servant leader, to put others before ourselves just as God and Christ have put us before themselves. This kinda goes with the idea of the outward manifestation of an inward change that should be evident in each of our lives. I strive to be a servant to others, but I find myself acting selfish at times. Yet in the long run, I should serve others with all my heart, regardless if it causes me to miss my favorite t.v. show.
verse 12-13:
ReplyDeleteTherefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
This verse stood out to me because I have heard it quoted many times. I find it interesting how this calls us to make an effort for our faith while at the same time acknowledges that it is God who actually works in us. This says that it is a team effort. God will work in our heart while we struggle after him. Jeremiah 29:13 comes to mind when I read this: When you seek me with your whole heart, you will find me. What these verses suggest to me is that faith is a matter of turning our hearts to God and letting him make the changes. When we turn to God, we will become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).
29 So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him, 30 because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me.
ReplyDeleteThese verse to me are very convicting, as Paul is describing the kind of person Epaphroditus is, that he is risking everything because I am not there to share in the mission of God, that because i am not being the Christ Like person i should be striving to be i am bringing down other people, not only myself in that.
"Have this mind among yourselves which is your in Christ Jesus."
ReplyDeleteEven though Christ is deserving of all glory, honor, and praise he humbled himself taking the form of a servant. I am called to be conformed into the image of Christ, so how often am I seeking to humble myself by serving those around me. If the God of the universe who was seated on the throne humbled himself for my sake, how much more should I humble myself in pursuit of him and in loving those around me?
Philippians 2:13
ReplyDeleteFor it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
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Isn't it just amazing that the Lord God uses us for his own glory? Psalm 50 says, " Every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills... If i were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine and all that is in it."
He has no need of us. The is nothing that we can offer to him that he does not have. He is the Sovereign One. But he chooses to use us for his glory.
5 - Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus
ReplyDeletePaul could not have put it any simpler. We are all taught to "act" like Christ and "do" as Christ does. As children we had the WWJD bracelets, but doing and having the mind set and attitude are two very different things. How often do we have a Christ like attitude. It says later in the chapter that "he humbled himself and became obedient to death even death on a cross". Hopefully none of us will die on a cross, but figuratively we should be humbled and die to our sins. Being reborn in Christ should humble us as well as bring us joy and give us that attitude that Christ had. Jesus stepped down to become man, probably the most humbling thing one can do, to be all powerful and mighty and then become the weakness that is man. Man that is subject to sin and evil, pain and suffering. How often do we step down from the high position we put ourselves on and become humbled that we are all equal in Christ? How often do we truly have an attitude comparable to our Lord's?
3 - Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
ReplyDeleteThis is something that we all know is a good thing to do, but it can be incredibly hard to not even have the slightest hint of pride or self-consciousness. It is difficult for us to let down our guard or to risk seeming uncool to people that we don't know well (and oftentimes even to people we do know well). Paul lays it on the line here by saying that the Christian thing to do is to view everyone else as better than you. No one is completely good or bad; we are all sinners. Those who wish to follow Christ must imitate him by being willing to rid themselves of pride.
14-15: "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe."
ReplyDeleteHow do people know yourself? How do people know the church you are a part of? How do people know Theta Xi? Do they know you or your associated places as a place of great debate, arguments, or complaints? Or is it a place of unity? With arguments and complaints, one or a church or even a fraternity cannot be united- especially in the power of Christ which it needs to be. We should each individually and fraternally and also as the body of Christ be focused on spreading the good news of the gospel, not bickering over small issues. We live in a depraved world; we should look to aid it, not add to it. We need purity. We need to be blameless. We are all sinners, but we should still strive for that blamelessness and purity that Paul preaches in these verses and throughout his letters. We need to shine for the Lord; we need to be beacons of light. Not only will this greatly better our relationship with the Lord but will also better our relationships with fellow Christians and non-Christians around us, as we reach out to them to try and show them the love, power, and light of Christ that everybody in this depraved world needs.
God bless.