Philippians

For the month of October, I have been reading the book of Philippians. I started with reading it completely through 4 times in one sitting. (Why does 6 pages seem so long at first when I read way more in my text books every night?)

After reading it over and over again, I read each chapter and prayerfully asked God to reveal to me themes and key passages that would help me understand Paul's heart for writing to the Philippians.

Encouragement stood out like a soar thumb....

I love how Paul uses circumstances and struggles in his own walk to relate too and encourage the believers in Philippi. He's confident in his walk with the Lord, yet reveals that he to struggles at time. (Phil 1:23-26, 3:3-11) I can't help but wonder if Paul wrote to people as a way of reminding himself of the truth that laid inside him. As I read each chapter I see a man that is full of the truth and has tons of examples of that truth being poured out and walked out in his own life and writing to people of that truth helps make it real.

I can only image Paul sitting by candle lite writing these words, "Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others." (Phil. 2:1-4)

We don't need to read tons of books to learn what it means to be whole, or set up boundaries, or even to learn how others want to be loved. We need only to read passages like these ones and ask the Spirit to help us soak in the truth of it all. As we do this passages like this one will help us learn what it means to be whole, to have Christ's boundaries and love for others.

Application so far:

First, ask yourself.... if there is any consolation in Christ....
Second... any comfort of love...
Third,,, any fellowship of the Spirit
Fourth... any affection and mercy

Well then our response should be to joyfully striving to obtain like-mindedness, love for each other, and actively laying aside our own selfish ambitions and conceit for others benefits.

How you may ask?
Well, by esteeming others better than ourselves. Looking out for our interests more so, looking out for others interests.

Simple right?
How often do we forget the how part of this passage. We feel consolation in Christ, comfort of love, the fellowship of the Spirit, and the affection and mercy of Christ's blood shed for us, but we don't bother to go beyond that. To recognize the joyful response that Paul is calling us to seems to be the last thing on our minds. Is this, mainly because we don't recognize our own selfishness or if we do we don't care to change it or lay it down.

I have one more week in this book and could probably spend a whole lifetime learning from the truth that Paul writes to the Philippians. What a rich letter!

May God be revealing himself to you through passages like these. "And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Chirst, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." (Phil. 1:9-11)

Walking In The Here After...

"We ordinarily can't know why particular individuals suffer the way they do. But in the light of God's revelation in Christ, our assumption should be that their suffering is something we should oppose in the name of God rather than accepting it as coming from God. Hence, the only relevant question disciples of Jesus should consider is, What can we do to bring God's redemptive will into the situation, to alleviate suffering and to glorify God? How can we respond in such a way that God's will is further accomplished "on earth as it is in heave"? Instead of asking, "Who sinned?" we should ask, "How can we bring glory to God in this situation?" (Jn 9:1-3)

Is God to Blame? by Gregory A. Boyd

Just 6 weeks after losing someone very dear to me and my family, I struggle internally to move forward. My life seems to be moving along just fine externally but underneath this calm, collected exterior is a very fragile human being grappling with the real questions that surface during times of great trails. Times like; when family members respond differently to grief, friends walk away when you need them most, and tasks seem to pile up on ones desk, only make my own humanity more apparent. I can't keep pretending that I am fine. I can't hold it all together for the world to see only a small portion of the true me. What about the emotions that rage within me and demand my constant attention. Nagging all day long... screaming out that life is not fine.

No, these emotions are not rooted in the death of Brian but rather the biggest paradox in all history. What is God's role in my life? I had a friend ask me if I really believed that God cared about each individual that roamed this earth, if I did how could he let all the horrible things happen to them. I can only answer that question with the truth that I get from mediating on who God is. I have come to cherish my heavenly Father not because I can answer all of life's questions but because I have come to know who he is. And as I go through this time I realize that I need to draw from that knowledge and ask the Holy Spirit to strength, deepen, and grow my knowledge of who He is. This is why for the next several weeks I am going to be going back to who Jesus Christ is and how his birth, life, death, and resurrection reveals the character and nature of the triune God.

My first quality that I want to look at is God's goodness.

Good: He is totally aware of and considerate of the needs of all His creatures. All that He does is with absolute excellence.
Scriptures:
"As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil. He brought me to the high position I have today so I could save the lives of many people." (Gen. 50:20 NLT)

"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!" (Matt 7:11 NASB)

"And no doubt you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the Devil, for God was with him." (Acts 10:38 NIV)

"But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the Hope of eternal life." (Titus 3: 3-7 NASB)

These are just four of the multitude I found that point my thoughts to God's goodness in my life rather than the internal chaos that seems to only die down when meditating on who Christ is to me.

So... it is my prayer that as I process and start to honestly answer your question of "How am I doing?" that you will continue to pray for me. That you would pray that my heart would turn towards the Lord, that my thoughts would be transformed by the working of His Holy Spirit, and that I would be a vessel willing to be molded into the women that He knows me to be.

And in return I can only promise vulnerability; an approach that requires a piece of my heart to be exposed, but is well worth the risk.