Category Archives: Philippians

Conditions of the Cure

Posted on August 20, 2023 | Leave a comment

Acts 2:37 Now when they heard [“this Jesus whom you crucified” 2:36] they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” ESV

Jesus had said many times that “anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!”a  And with good reason! God’s truth demands more than a robotic response to powerful words and signs, even His own.  God had spoken that same challenge long before this day through Isaiah 6:10 “Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”  God made it clear “this people” was already in His sights.  His challenge was unless “this crooked generation” consciously chose to understand what their ears heard and their eyes saw of His truth it would never lead to their hearts being changed and an unchanged heart would never lead to His promise of healing and “the gift of the Holy Spirit.”  Peter stood before his brothers proclaiming God had satisfied His own challenge.  “Now when they heard” him say “this Jesus whom you crucified”…“they heard”…and “they were cut to the heart.”  

This Jesus/God, through His life and resurrection had done everything necessary to cure heavy ears, blind eyes and dull hearts.   Peter’s challenge to them was to “repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus for forgiveness of their sins. God had provided the challenge and the conditions of His promise to remove those barriers and breathe new life into a dull heart with His Holy Spirit so they could “understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”  

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.b  And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in [me] will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.c”

a Matthew 11:15
b Galatians 2:20
c Philippians 1:6 [you]

Leave a comment

Posted in Acts, Galatians, Isaiah, Light, Matthew, Philippians, Sunday

Tagged , , ,

The Hidden Treasure

Posted on August 16, 2023 | Leave a comment

Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”  ESV

POP QUIZ
1. Why did the man choose to cover up the treasure and then go buy the field?
2. What is the treasure?
3. Is the field the kingdom of heaven?
4. What makes the treasure like the kingdom of heaven?
5. Why purchase the field, not just take the treasure?  Matthew 7:21-23
6. Is Jesus challenging our greedy human nature wanting to own the treasure or is He asking us to do whatever it takes to make the treasure ours?   Matthew 6:19 or Matthew 6:21
7. Is the Word the treasure?  John 1:1
8. Is Jesus the treasure covered up in the flesh of man? Philippians 2:7

Think about these things.
“…God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Col 2:2b & 3

Leave a comment

Posted in Colossians, John, Light, Matthew, New Testament, Parables, Philippians, Wednesday

Tagged , ,

The Watchful Servant

Posted on July 5, 2023 | Leave a comment

Luke 12:35 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 

Jesus speaks the curious words of verse 39 about the Master not knowing the time the thief has chosen to break into his house.  Jesus is revealing the limitation of His human identity as “master of the house” until the moment He returns again to affirm His divine responsibility as Master over it which is equally curious.
— The Master has been away at a “wedding feast” but will return.
— The servants are responsible to the Master; t0 keep the “lamps burning” while they wait for His return.
— The servants must respond “at once” when the Master knocks.
— The servants will be blessed for “being awake” and prepared.
— The Master’s response to the servants on His return is to assume His divine responsibility as “server” to the servants.
— Jesus “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” (Philippians 2:7 ESV)

Leave a comment

Posted in 1 Kings, Light, Luke, New Testament, Parables, Philippians, Wednesday

Tagged , ,

FREEDOM

Posted on July 2, 2023 | Leave a comment

Colossians 3:2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

The phrase that got my attention this morning is “your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” It’s that word “hidden” that made me wonder – is it the old life, the new life, or both that’s hidden…And why?  Most of us would like at least part of our old life to be hidden. That’s where those “earthly things” before “Christ, who is your life” are. Why would that old life with those scars be worth hiding “with Christ in God?” Why not just throw them away?  Wouldn’t that be freedom?

How about that “new life?” We get to live with new realities and new options where our responses are based on transformation, not trapped in old information. Why would we want anything about this new life hidden?  Maybe God really does have a Safety Deposit Box where He keeps all the details of our progress toward freedom! It’s odd, but our scars may be part of the treasure that has been hidden by God “for” our future, not just “from” our past. God has found valuable purpose for our life even with scars.  

God’s Safety Deposit Box is where every proof of our inheritance, our treasure and our healing are hidden and protected from ever being lost. Freedom continues to grow and we continue to receive it’s dividends because God has kept every detail of our journey safe. This morning before July 4, 2023 here is the evidence of real Freedom to celebrate.

“-I have been  crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me, and the life I now live in the flesh I live by [the faith of] the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
-For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
-So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.
-He who began a good work in you, will be faithful to complete it!
-For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”a

a “Galatians 2:20 [“the faith of” from the old KJV],  Romans 8:2, 2 Peter 1:12, Philippians 1:6, Colossians 3:3”

Leave a comment

Posted in 2 Peter, Colossians, Galatians, Light, New Testament, Philippians, Romans, Sunday

Tagged , , , ,

Riches

Posted on April 2, 2023 | Leave a comment

It was kind of you to share my trouble. I’m thankful for your gift because it confirms our partnership in the beginning of the gospel.  I received your sacrifice as full payment and more because it came with the sweet aroma of the fruit of God to your credit and my benefit.  God was pleased, along with me, to accept your gift.  You are His riches in glory in Christ Jesus, and according to that He will supply every need of yours.  To our God and Father be glory forever and ever!

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
be with your spirit.
❤️

Leave a comment

Posted in Light, New Testament, Philippians, Sunday

Tagged , , , ,

Rejoice!

Posted on March 26, 2023 | Leave a comment

Can I do all things through Christ?  Is it my strength or His? What have I learned?

I learneda a Greek word [αὐτάρκεια] which in English letters looks like “autarkes.”  According to Strong’s Concordance it comes from autos (“self”) and arkein (“sufficient”). It’s the word Paul used that is translated in Verse 11 as “content.”  The link I put at the end of the post is a good explanation of why Paul would choose a word that mentions “self” in relation to Christ, or being strengthened and being content.  The secret lies in three other words I want to share with you today that do relate to self — “I have learned…”   The Grace of God and daring to trust His Providence over every circumstance of life is the secret of being “autarkes.” 

The “secret” is the mysterious and wonderful reality that within myself God has placed HimSELF to help me learn “in whatever situation I am to be content”…because I am SELF-sufficient.  May it be so!

 a John Piper 

Leave a comment

Posted in Light, New Testament, Philippians, Sunday

Tagged , , ,

It’s Personal [Full Stop]

Posted on March 19, 2023 | Leave a comment


It seems radical to edit Paul, but if I were his editor I might advise him to begin with “The Lord is at hand” and then carry on with his first truth that connects “rejoice in the Lord” to reasonableness.  Then I’d suggest he connect “Let your reasonableness be known to everyone” directly to “by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.” Right there, after “thanksgiving” I’d ask him to place a big “.” [a full stop].  There’s something  holy about connecting rejoicing to our “reasonableness”…reasonableness to our “prayer and supplication with thanksgiving”…and “prayer and supplication with thanksgiving” to our belief. Those are the connections of holy truth that verify we do believe “the Lord IS at hand” in our life for his purpose .

Did you notice how personal everything Paul writes is, even without my editing?  It’s about your rejoicing, your reasonableness, your prayer, your supplication and your thanksgiving.  Today if you dare to believe that, use my “full stop” and take a moment to rejoice over the Godly reality that sometimes His truth really is about you!  Then read on.  Paul is going to make your rejoicing even more personal with God’s promise to “guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus“.”

That’s very personal for God too! “Again I will say, rejoice!” Take my dare! “Rejoice” over what He is making known to, and about, you.  Rejoicing is reasonable evidence that you’re practicing “what you have learned and received and heard and seen” in your personal relationship with Him“.”  He’ll love it!

Leave a comment

Posted in Light, New Testament, Philippians, Sunday

Tagged , , ,

Imitating

Posted on March 12, 2023 | Leave a comment

Today is a word salad of definitions. I sometimes use definitions to help me see the truth of familiar words in a new and meaningful way.  Paul was not patting himself on the back when he said “imitate me.”  In fact his life was filled with circumstances no one would want to imitate.  These are the words that stood out to me that defined what Paul asked as the inspiration of his ministry, not his self-promotion.

Join: connect
Imitating: using someone as an example to follow
Keep: continue in a specified way
Example: characteristic of its kind
Citizenship: legal status and relation with specific rights and duties
Await: to be in the future of someone
Transform: a thorough or dramatic change in character
Subject: cause to undergo a particular experience
Stand: maintain a position
Beloved: cherished

Friends, connect with me to the truth I have shown you. Specifically continue to walk according to the characteristics of Jesus you have in us.  For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our legal status in heaven comes with specific rights and duties that insure our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ is our future. He will, by a thorough and dramatic change in our character, cause our lowly body to be like His glorious one.   He’s the power that enables our heart to undergo the particular experience that draws it to Himself.   Therefore, maintain your position in the Lord, my cherished friends.

Leave a comment

Posted in Light, New Testament, Philippians, Sunday

Tagged , , , ,

One Purpose

Posted on March 5, 2023 | Leave a comment

There is no more important truth than the one Paul writes here: Jesus came to offer His own perfection, not ours, for one purpose — to make us His own.  It was God’s perfection that redeemed the imperfect faith of clay-footed heroes in the Bible.  It was God’s perfection that urged them to “press on.”  Could I have understood there is transformation and forgiveness for unwilling prophets, errant kings, guilty persecutors, and even for willing followers whose failures break God’s heart as well as their own without their stories?  The answer is so obviously no!  

My story begins way back in Genesis with an evil serpent who’s goal was to teach people how to curse themselves. Throughout both Testaments of the Bible I see how well mankind learned that lesson. Thank God for His never-wavering faithfulness to His one purpose — to make us His own.  Without reading of the redemption of those other clay-footed heroes, would I ever have recognized that “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to the promise of what lies ahead” is what I needed to “press on toward the goal…the upward call of God in Christ Jesus?”  The answer is so obviously no!  That is the prize!

Leave a comment

Posted in Light, New Testament, Philippians, Sunday

Tagged , ,

Seeking

Posted on February 26, 2023 | Leave a comment

This is the topic of the day…seeking!  [Use an exclamation mark at the end of a strong command, an interjection, or an emphatic declaration.]  Seeking has come up over and over these last couple of weeks in my own study, in Bible study and in external reading.  When that happens I know this is not coincidence or an accident, it’s the Holy Spirit putting an exclamation point on the word of God so I’ll pay attention. 

Paul hasn’t used that exact word but it’s surely implied in this passage.  Isn’t the usual response to losing something to seek or replace it? He’s had his own exclamation point on the Damascus Road that has changed his focus from what he already knew from the Hebrew code of Jewish law that those who don’t believe in resurrection have no share in the world to come. His spiritual pedigree was beyond question but that has become “rubbish” to him now.   What he had lost has become his personal desire to seek — to “gain Christ and be found in him with “righteousness from God that depends on faith.”  Paul has reminded me seeking is much more than an other worldly goal, it’s “the power of [Christ’s] resurrection” at work in my everyday life, here and now.  [see Galatians 2:20]

How tragic that we in this dark day have had our seeking done for us by our teachers. Everything is made to center upon the initial act of ‘accepting’ Christ . . . and we are not expected thereafter to crave any further revelation of God to our souls. We have been snared in the coils of a spurious logic which insists that if we have found Him, we need no more seek Him. This is set before us as the last word in orthodoxy, and it is taken for granted that no Bible-taught Christian ever believed otherwise. Thus the whole testimony of the worshiping, seeking, singing church on that subject is crisply set aside. The experiential heart-theology of a grand army of fragrant saints is rejected in favor of a smug interpretation of Scripture… [A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God]

Leave a comment

Posted in Galatians, Light, New Testament, Philippians, Sunday

Tagged , ,