Strength for Our Thinking
As Paul ends his letter to the Philippians he sends them off with words of encouragement in the Lord. Think about how often we choose words that are not encouraging and are condemning outside of what God wants from us. I often wonder if the words people say are what God wanted from them or what they just wanted to say themselves. But, in verse 8 Paul says, "Finally,
brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there
is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about
these things." He wants us (as it is God honoring) to focus on what is righteous and not unrighteous things.
How do we do that? What power do we pull from? In verse 13, Paul says "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." He shows us the source of his strength which is not his own. He relies in God/Christ/the Holy Spirit to give him the strength he needs. It is not will power, but God power.
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Shed Selfishness, Seek Sacrifice
For those who spent more time thinking about doing what makes them happy and doing what pleased them, they showed that they were not honoring the Lord. God is not waiting for us to find what makes us happy and just live doing that, but He is wanting us to sacrifice. Paul points out that some were focused on worshiping their bellies (literally and figuratively on living for self). Paul points them out in Philippians 3:19 and says their end is destruction (more figurative to eternal damnation). He says that since they worship their bellies, their minds are on earthly things. Look, we all slip up, but some are living lives of missing the mark when it comes to the target of seeking to be Christ like.
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From Selfish Ambition to Humility
We really can get off track when it comes to our walk in the Spirit with the Lord. In Philippians 2:3-5, Paul gives another solid direction for the church to follow. This is nothing new, just a new way for the church to hear. Paul says "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit..." How often do we act selfishly towards other and speak over them as if what we have to say is more important? Or When we drive and our destination is so much more important than everyone else's that we cut people off and don't let them in? What if we reverse that and started letting people finish talking or drove more lovingly. He continues "...but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." That is such a great way to look at humility. One might say, "But why would I do that?" That question itself is selfish in this context. It is asking "what can I get out of it?" It isn't about you. Our mind should be focused on how can I serve others instead of how can I be served. There is nothing wrong with taking a break and getting re-energized to serve the Lord (even God rested on the Sabbath). But if we are often focused on what we are getting from people, then our focus is off in life. Think like Jesus.
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A Good Work
The work has begun in you once you receive Christ through God's grace. That work is the Holy Spirit working through you to shape you to be more Christ like as the days pass. The time when that work will be complete is upon the Second Coming of Christ. This is what Paul is talking about in Philippians 1:6. He knows that God has started something good in the church (the people in the church) and that work will be completed upon Christ's return.
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Christ-like Valentine
Valentine's Day is this weekend, Sunday to be exact. This is the time of year that we tell our significant others how much we love them and buy them roses and chocolates and dinners and gifts and really try to impress them. We tell them that we love them. All those things are wonderful and you should absolutely tell those that you love, that you love them. But what about a real focus for Christ followers? Does your significant other have Christ-like character? That is something that we Christ followers need to look at.
When you communicate with your significant other, when you see them walk through life, is their focus on being of the same mind as Jesus? If you read Philippians 2:5 we see that we are to have the same mind as Jesus. This take effort, but overall through grace from God, it takes submission to God's will. Jesus was completely sold out for God and died as it was in God's will so that we could be redeemed through Christ with God. Is your mate completely sold out for God's will? If you are a Christ follower ask yourself that question. But also ask yourself, am I sold out for God?
Remember when Jesus gave us a new commandment? Do you remember what it was? It was that we love others as he (Jesus) has loved us (John 13:34). This isn't about religion and all of that, this is about dedication to Christ and being loving to others. Others is everyone. Loving others as God would have us love them. That means remove the condemnation. Remove the denigration. Remove the bitterness. Remove the hate. Add unconditional love. Add grace. Add respect. Add Christ-likeness to cover it all. If you really want to know if they are the "one" check their character against that of Christ. Check your character against that of Christ. If you are united in Christ's love that is a great start to this Valentine's Day as well as many others.
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Just Because You Can....
I'm sure you have heard of that saying "just because you can, doesn't mean you should." We can apply that saying to so many different areas of our life, but there is one area it needs to apply to. It needs to apply to our walk with Christ. In Christ we have freedom from condemnation and from the death of sin (death in connection to God), but that does not mean that just because we can seek forgiveness we should just go and sin anyway? I was confronted a couple of different times by an atheist and by an agnostic and they both said that since I can be forgiven by God, I should just go an sin intentionally or else I am wasting what Christ did on the cross. Wow. Seriously? What a ridiculous statement.
First,
I needed new people to hang out with. I needed new people to hang out
with and as a Christ follower, I needed to be around other Christ
following men. That didn't mean that I no longer spoke to those guys,
but I need men in my corner who also follow Christ. If we look at
Proverbs (great book) but specifically the wisdom contained within
Proverbs
13:20, then we see we need to be around those who are wise. Not
so much worldly wise, but also wise in the Holy Spirit so that he can
assist me in my growth and I can assist him as well. If I am attacked
by a man (or sin in this case) a brother in Christ can help me up if
I fall and stand with me as we fight with the Holy Spirit against
Satan's temptations (Ecclesiastes
4:12).
Man
understands things a certain way and outside of the Holy Spirit they
will not know what God has for them in life. Proverbs
14:12
tells us people think a certain way and think it is okay, yet they
have no idea that death is inevitable in that way. Maybe you are so
accustomed to being isolated. In isolation, no one can keep you
accountable about the sinful ways that you succumb to. No one can
love you in isolation. No one can hold you in isolation. While
isolation may seem like it is "drama free" it is also void
of love, accountability and growth. Just because it seems okay for
you doesn't mean that God wants that for you.
A
common thing I see is people who control others. They are always
taking charge and always the boss. If they don't get their way they
become the take my ball and go home type or the "it's my way or
the highway." Not everyone, but there are those that feel like
they should control what is going on. Why? It seems right to do so,
but why? Is it a lack of faith in others to do their part? Is it to
hard to trust others? Or maybe the faith that God isn't going to
provide you with what you need? If we read the word we know that God
provides for those doing His will (Philippians
4:19). It doesn't mean life will be perfect. There will be some
bumps. That's life. But just because you are comfortable controlling
everything doesn't mean that is how it needs to be or even what God
wants from you. If you aren't asking for His guidance before and
during a task, then that is part of the problem (Psalm
32:8). You need to submit to God's will and let Him show you what
it is that needs to be done. Not just on the surface, but also on the
inside of you. Your spirit is important and it needs to be in
conjunction with God's will.
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It Is Time for Something Better
Some relationships are a mess. There is constant bickering and long droughts of bitterness. You want to be supported and they want to be right. You love them too much and they don't love you enough. There just doesn't seem to be a future. But I can almost guarantee you there is a disconnect. Staying disconnecting from God is like not recharging your smartphone after using it all day. It will DIE!!! You have to plug back in to reading the word (2 Timothy 3:16-17), yes the Bible. Start with a chapter a day. Read Proverbs. There are 31 chapters. you can read one chapter per day for a month.
We also need to submit to God's will (Psalm 143:10). How do we know what God's will is? If you don't read God's word and let that marinate and you think on it and apply what you read, then it would be hard to know what God wants from us. We are making decisions that are not conducive to our spiritual growth which is affecting our relationships. Before you check everyone else, check yourself. What else could you be doing on your side in the effort of change and relational growth with God in order to have better relationships with others?
Don't forget about prayer. When things go wrong we can find ourselves trying to fix everything and everyone. We feel like we are shaped to help, which can be true, but it is not your responsibility to fix. Our responsibility is to pray and include God (Philippians 4:6). Isn't that part of the reason why there is an issue any way? We try to fix things separate from God. We need to include Him and let Him do his work.
And also there is accountability (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). How can we grow spiritually all by ourselves. If there isn't someone that you can confide in and have walk with you through your life, it makes things that much harder. We need to be able to check in with people and have them check in with us and keep us accountable for what we want to be different in our lives according to God's will. That accountability with another Christ follower and you allows God to be present in the relationship in order to help the other parts of life benefit as well. It isn't easy, but it can be be done.
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