Author: Rick Henderson

Rick Henderson is the Associate Pastor for Students.

Spooked

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

“in no way alarmed by your opponents…”

Have you spent much time around horses? This word here for “alarmed,” is the word also used to describe a spooked horse. Horses get spooked when something happens that they don’t understand. When really spooked they tend to jump sideways and change course from where they were going. A good rider refocuses the nervous energy of the horse onto keeping him moving around the object. In doing so, the horse has to pay more attention to the rider than what spooked him.

Spooks are going to happen, just like opponents to the gospel. When opposition arises, our job is not to worry about the opponent. This would cause us to jump off our course. When opposition arises, we are to refocus our energy and lean into the Master. He will take the reigns and guide us safely through.

Cause and Effect

Re:Verse passage – Philippians 1:20-26 (day seven)

Do you see the cause and effect in this statement? “to live is Christ and to die is gain.” If living is for Christ, then death is gain. Francis Chan and Tony Merida in their commentary on Philippians showed this cause and effect in through fill in the blanks.  To live is ______ and to die is _______.  Christ is the only thing that could fill that blank for death to result in gain. If living is for fame, then death is disgrace. If living is for wealth, then death is poor. If living is for power, then death is weak. We could keep going down the list, and anything we fill in that first blank that is not Christ, can never get us to gain.

Christ gives us meaning. Christ gives us purpose. Christ makes life joyful. Christ is gain!

How do you fill in the blank?

Rejoice

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

“Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice” vs 18

The thing that was most important to Paul is that the Christ is being proclaimed. Paul doesn’t care that he is imprisoned. He doesn’t care that others are trying to compete with him. He doesn’t care about the things that could hold him back, because nothing is holding God back. Christ is being proclaimed. That is worth rejoicing.

What does this teach us?

  1. Trust God. Even when the plans we made don’t work out, God has a plan. Lean into this plan and watch God work.
  2. Proclaim Christ. When our plans don’t work out, lean into God’s plan by making the Gospel known.
  3. Rejoice in the Lord. God’s plan is at work no matter what. Find joy in watching the Gospel progress.

Participatory Joy

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

“always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now.” vs 4-5

Joy was in every prayer that Paul prayed for this church. Why? Because they were faithful to the call of spreading the gospel. Paul recognized something that every minister knows so well: it is so rewarding to watch someone you have discipled begin to disciple others. This is the mission of the church and the call that Jesus has placed on every one us; to go and make disciples who go and make disciples. This participatory work brings joy and energy. This is not a one man show. It is not just the pastor’s job. Nor is it the work of only a few people. Everyone is called to make disciples. This is why Pastor Chris has called our church to Repent, Witness, and Disciple.

If you want to feel this same type of joy that Paul has been given by serving with the Phillipians, answer these questions Pastor Danny often asks in Logos: Who are you doing life with? Where are you serving?

Baby Steps

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 5:22-25 (day seven)  

When people notice the deficiencies in their fruit, they attempt to add more things into their life to try to bring the fruit out. This becomes difficult because fruit is not a direct product of works.  However, Paul cleverly shows us how we can produce more fruit. Both the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit are sandwiched between two very important commands.

Verse 16 “walk by the Spirit”

Verse 25 “keep in step with the Spirit”

If you want to produce more fruit, you follow the Spirit. The more we follow the Spirit, the more we will be transformed into His likeness. As we become more like Him, our fruit will naturally become more prevalent. It doesn’t take more works to become more like Him. Scale back, listen, wait, watch, and follow. It’s just baby steps: put one foot after the other and follow the leading of the Spirit. Baby steps in the footprint of the Spirit will cause leaps in our production of His fruit.

The Spirit of Thankfulness

Re:Verse passage – 1 Thessalonians 1:2-6 (day seven)

“We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers;” vs 2

Through this series on the Holy Spirit, we have covered what it looks like to be filled with the Spirit. We see joy, hope, love, conviction, and power through the Spirit, but one of the biggest signs of a Spirit filled life is an overflow of thankfulness.

Gratitude is the “gateway” spiritual discipline. When we begin to implement gratitude more often into our prayer life, we become much more aware of our soul’s neediness. When we are filled with the Spirit, we are keenly aware that we are not deserving of the love and grace that we have been given by God. Gratitude leads to humility. Then Proverbs tells us that humility leads to wisdom (Proverbs 11:2). Here’s the correlation: Thankfulness leads to humility, humility shows us our need to be filled by the Spirit, the Spirit grants us wisdom and discernment. The next time you are in need of wisdom from the Lord, begin with thankfulness and watch as God meets your needs.

Taste

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 5:18-19 (day seven)

And do not get drunk with wine – Ephesians 5:18a

It all begins with a taste. One taste, one drink, one more… dissipation and drunkenness. Could it be that restoration begins with a taste?

O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! – Psalm 34:8

[…] like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. – 1 Peter 2:2-3

When we taste the goodness and kindness of the Lord, two things happen. One, we clearly see that we will never be able to replicate the same type of goodness. We see our brokenness. Two, we long for more. When we taste that goodness, our brokenness begins to be put back together, and we realize it is through more of that taste that we will be restored. Taste and see!

Bad Talk

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 4:25-32 (day seven)

“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth…” vs 29a.

Have you ever mistakenly took a bite out of an apple that has gone bad? You go in for a big bite of what you expect to be a crisp, juicy apple, but you are left with a mushy, bland mouthful of something you just want to spit out. Jesus uses this analogy on multiple occasions to describe our lifestyles.

“A good tree cannot produce bad fruit…” Matthew 7:18.

The interesting thing is that the same word that Jesus uses to describe bad fruit, is the same word that Paul uses in our passage to describe bad talk (unwholesome). This isn’t just cursing. Bad talk is gossip, slander, crude joking, roasting (making fun of others). Words can go bad quicker than fruit. After they have gone out, we immediately want to retract them, but it is often too late. We are left with a mushy mouthful of bad fruit.

If a good tree cannot produce bad fruit, what do the words we use tell us about the state of our tree?

Down Payment

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 1:13-14 (day seven)

“who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” Vs 14

The word pledge here can also be translated as down payment. We are more familiar with this terminology. A down payment on a home, car, or other large purchase is a way for us to enjoy the fullness of an item before we are able to have complete ownership. The seller allows the purchaser to pay for a portion of the item up front and will finance the rest of the payment, so that over time, the item will eventually come under the complete ownership of the purchaser.

The Holy Spirit is given to us as a down payment of our inheritance to God’s Eternal Kingdom. The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to participate in the fullness of God’s love, mercy, and work here on earth until we achieve complete ownership of this inheritance in heaven.

Cherished

Re:Verse passage – Romans 14:17-19 (day seven)

I love how verse 18  is paraphrased in the NLT:

 If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too.

Have you ever been around a person who could minister to your heart in such a way that they made you feel like you were most important person in the world? A person who you could feel their love and care for your soul the moment you met them? I had a Christian studies professor like this who could call you into his office to tell you that you were failing a class and you could come out feeling like you won the lottery. We have all had these type of people in our lives: pastors, professors, teachers, Sunday school workers. What made these people different? It is evident that they are living in harmony with the Holy Spirit. Our passage uses the words peace and joy. When we allow the Spirit to permeate every part of our life in this way, not only will we be pleasing to God, but we will be cherished by others.