Author: Larry Soape

Re:Verse passage – Philippians 4:1-9 (day four)

If I am a true believer, won’t I have good relationships with other believers?  Not necessarily!  Paul has taken the time and love to correct a broken relationship between two…no three…fellow believers.  He says their names are written in the book of life.  Somewhere along the way, Euodia, Syntyche, and Clement have lost sight of the importance of harmony and peace.  They have not lost their salvation though.  They are secure in their eternity, but misguided in their discipleship.

Believers are not always perfect.  Even though we have victory over sin, we still retain residual effects of the sin in our lives.  It would be nice to be instantly sanctified when we are instantly saved.  We are grateful for repentance though.  When we lose our way and fall into sin, we have a path back to a right relationship with God…we can repent and be restored.  During this season of Thanksgiving, let’s thank God for repentance and forgiveness.

Re:Verse passage – Philippians 3:17-21 (day four)

Was Paul being judgmental?  In today’s ‘woke’ society, passing judgment on someone is taboo.  That is…unless it is the ‘woke’ person who is doing it.  They have the proper facts to accurately discern the situation and arrive at ‘truth’. (tongue in cheek!)  Paul would not have fared well in our society.

Many who condemn other’s judgment…while expounding their own…use themselves as examples of what is right.  Paul set the example, but his life had been totally and completely changed by Jesus Christ.  Paul was transformed by the cross so that he was no longer set on earthly things but rather on heavenly things.

How about you?  Are you seeking to conform to the world around you?  Are you guided by the opinions of others instead of the opinions of God?  Are you so invested in the Word of God that you recognize false truth when you hear it?  To follow Paul’s example is to follow Christ’s example.  Choose God’s glory…your citizenship must be in heaven!

Re:Verse passage – Philippians 3:12-16 (day four)

Paul says, “forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on…” We are grateful for the lessons of the past and, hopefully, learn from our experiences.  Paul is admonishing the believers in Philippi not to focus on the past or allow the past to hinder their future.  Setting goals and moving forward should guide us rather than the past.

This counsel is much easier when you are young and looking forward to your whole life.  What about when you have several (meaning a lot!) of decades behind you?  It is easier to live in the past.  Stop and think about Paul’s circumstances as he wrote these words.  Not only was he in the waning years of his life, he was in prison and had been abandoned by all but a few close associates.  It would have been easy for despair to set in and for him to live on his past accomplishments.

Christ changes all of that!  With Christ, we have purpose…with Christ, we strive for sanctification…with Christ, the very best years of our lives may lie ahead.  Paul says, “Press on!”  God’s call is upward!

Re:Verse passage – Philippians 3:1-11 (day four)

Paul tells us that there are only two types of people…the false circumcision and the true circumcision.  The false circumcision depends on the law to achieve righteousness.  The true circumcision depends on faith in Christ.  Paul is telling the church at Philippi that regardless of which standard you choose, he (Paul) would be at the top of the list.  Even though he would be the best on the false circumcision list, he could not receive forgiveness and eternal life through this path.  Forgiveness, salvation, reconciliation, and resurrection are only available through faith in Christ.  Righteousness cannot be earned, it is a gift from God through His Spirit.

Paul’s goal in life was resurrection and eternity with God in heaven.  What is your goal?  If you have the same goal as Paul, then the only path is faith!  For the false circumcision, their plan was to work to earn their salvation.  For the true circumcision, righteousness came as a gift and they worked to please God as a gift back to Him.

Re:Verse passage – Philippians 2:19-30 (day four)

Just because Paul wrote about having joy in all situations, does not mean he did not have strong feelings that caused him great grief.  Verse 27 tells us that God spared Epaphroditus so Paul would not have sorrow upon sorrow.  What was causing Paul’s sorrow that would have been double sorrow with the loss of his friend?  Paul was in prison…he could not visit the people he loved and he could not spend time teaching them about living the Christian life.  How could he have joy and sorrow at the same time?

Paul’s joy was not dependent upon the circumstances surrounding his life…imprisonment, separation from loved ones, etc.  His joy was the result of his relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  Nothing could change that relationship.  Sorrow comes based on our circumstances.  For Paul, it was his imprisonment, separation from loved ones, etc.  Even though he had deep sorrow, he could have a sustaining joy in Christ.

Have you discovered the secret of true joy?  Have you been distracted by your circumstances and allowed them to steal your joy?  We see in verse 1 of chapter 3 what Paul admonishes…”rejoice in the Lord.”

Re:Verse passage – Philippians 2:12-18 (day four)

D. Sanctification –work out your salvation. We never arrive at the place where we have done all we need to do in our Christian faith. It takes a lifetime of moving toward holiness.  Believers are doers…we are always working, planning, serving, and becoming.  It is not by our own initiative or diligence though.  Verse 13 says it is God who shapes our will and drives us to work.  God calls us to obedience and holiness and then empowers us to respond.  It is out of His love and His good pleasure that God is at work in us.  The result of His work is that we appear as lights in the darkness…truth in the midst of evil!

How do we accomplish this obedience and holiness in our lives?  Does God just zap us with His will?  Spending time in God’s Word and Prayer gives God an avenue into our lives.  Seeking and finding causes us to have the mind of Christ and to bring pleasure to God!

Re:Verse passage – Philippians 2:5-11 (day four)

“At the name of Jesus every knee will bow”…Isaiah was the first to say this.  People of all ages have had idols…made of wood, iron, silver or gold.  The idols each represent some area of rebellion against God.  What Isaiah…and now, in our passage, Paul…is saying, is that there will come a day when the truth will be known.  People will recognize that God is the one righteous, creator God.  All of their pretense and sin will be stripped away and they will see clearly their folly in opposing God.  They will fall to their knees in fear and shame and guilt.

Where are the idols in your life?  Where have you opposed the truth of God?  What is blinding you from the glory of God?  Ask God to search your heart and reveal to you where your idols are hiding.  It is much better to surrender to God voluntarily rather than wait for the day when shame is forced upon you on the day the name of Jesus is proclaimed in heaven and earth.

Re:Verse passage – Philippians 2:1-4 (day four)

Paul uses a rhetorical ‘if’ in our passage this week.  If there is encouragement, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if there is any affection and compassion…he seems to shout out the answer…”AND OF COURSE THERE IS!”  We are to be like Christ because He is all these things.  To be like Christ, we must put aside selfishness…we must put aside personal interests…we must practice humility.

To put this Christ-like attitude into practice, what might it look like?  During this pandemic when many people are cut off from others and unable to interact, we could look for ways to reach out to them and challenge them with interactions.  Many of our senior adults are having cognitive failure because they lack interaction that makes them think.  Paul would say, “don’t think about what you have lost during this lockdown, think–how can I encourage and love and show compassion, and share fellowship with someone else?”  Look at this pandemic as an opportunity to minister and serve others.  Sounds like what Christ would do!

Re:Verse passage – Philippians 1:27-30 (day four)

Suffering is something most of us go to great lengths to avoid.  There is nothing enjoyable or exciting about suffering.  “The words pain, uncomfortable, and avoidable come to mind.  Yet, in verse 29, Paul says it has been ‘granted’ to you for Christ’s sake.  ‘Granted’ carries the connotation of a reward, an honor, a gift, or ‘bestowed upon with preference.’

Suffering, for Paul, was not to be avoided.  He took it in stride as an opportunity to reveal God’s grace or deliverance, or glory.  Paul saw every activity of life to be an open door to share the gospel.  How many doors were open to him to share the gospel through his suffering?  How many people came to know Christ because Paul witnessed to them through his suffering?

Are you on the search?  Do you view all of life as an opportunity to magnify God and give witness to His atonement?  The world needs to see the grace of God lived out in your life!

Re:Verse passage – Philippians 1:12-19 (day four)

Paul would never fit into our present day ‘cancel culture’.  Rather than rejecting the ones who were preaching Christ with the wrong motives (i.e. – out of envy, selfish ambition, or impure motives), Paul trusted in the Holy Spirit to take the name of Christ and use it for the spread of the Gospel.  What seems to be obvious to our human reason or logic can completely change when the Holy Spirit enters the picture.  Joseph recognized this truth when his brothers sold him into slavery.  “What you meant for evil, God intended for good.”  Joseph recognized that God can use any circumstance for His Glory!

Today, we are often very hard on TV preachers, celebrities, politicians or social media influencers who may use the name of Christ but do not believe or live exactly as we do.  We need Paul’s perspective so we can rejoice that Christ is proclaimed…our prayers and Christ’s Spirit can use all circumstances for God’s Glory and His purpose.