Category: Philippians

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

“however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.” vs 16

First off, what is this standard? I believe Paul is finishing his defense of the statement he made in verse 10, “becoming like [Jesus].” This is our standard as Christians. Our goal first and foremost is to be conformed more and more into the image of Christ every day.

Here is the catch: Not only are we attaining a standard, but we as Christians are the standard. As the gold standard is to currency, we are the value by which the world measures morality. If Christians are not keeping the standard constant by speaking truth and shining a light in the darkness, then the morality of the world inflates and deflates based off societal norms. If Christians are not there to point to a moral law giver then there is no need for morality, or if our standard becomes corrupted, then people will look for morality in other places. We are to be the standard by attaining the standard, which is becoming like Christ.

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.-Paul, Philippians 3:13-14

One of the most unpleasant experiences I’ve had on a plane was our descent into Kunming, China. The turbulence was unlike anything I had experienced before, at times feeling like we are free-falling the length of a football field. Everyone was anxious, wide-eyed and white knuckled, while doing their best to appear as if this were normal. Truth be told, I was barley holding it together, one hand gripping the armrest, the other grasping for the barf bag in the seat pocket in front of me. I had traveled the world, but never like this.

30 minutes…20 minutes…10 minutes…5 minutes…the landing gear drops, and a few minutes later, touchdown. Phew. I had made it unscathed. My seat-mate, wasn’t so fortunate.

The journey is not the destination. In fact, the journey is sometimes downright unpleasant, with its various stops and diversions along the way, like turbulence on my descent into Kunming.

But it is the destination that sees us through to the end of journey. The destination is what helps us press on.

…let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. ² We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus (the destination), the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.  Hebrews 12:1-2

 

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

“I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.”  No getting around Paul’s clear teaching that  BOTH the Lord and humans are active participants in spiritual growth. In chapter 2, “work out your salvation” (man) “because God is at work in you” (God).  There is a responsibility and accountability for each of us in our spiritual growth. There is a dependency on the Lord required for spiritual growth.

I am reminded of the helpful illustration that Jerry Bridges shares in his book, The Pursuit of Holiness.

A farmer plows his field, sows the seed and fertilizes and cultivates—all the while knowing that in the final analysis he is utterly dependent on forces outside of himself. He knows he cannot cause the seed to germinate, nor can he produce the rain and sunshine for growing and harvesting the crop. For a successful harvest, he is dependent on these things from God.

Yet the farmer knows that unless he diligently pursues his responsibilities to plow, plant, fertilize, and cultivate, he cannot expect a harvest at the end of the season. In a sense he is in partnership with God, and he will reap it benefits only when he has fulfilled his own responsibilities.

Farming is a joint venture between God and the farmer. The farmer cannot do what God must do, and God will not do what the farmer should do.

We can say just as accurately that the pursuit of holiness is a joint venture between God and the Christian. No one can attain any degree of holiness without God working in his life, but just as surely no one will attain it without effort on his own part.

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 3:12-16 (day three)

“If in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that to you as well.”

Jesus’s table is always too big for some people’s liking. How about you? Who’s not going to want you around that feast? Think about it long enough, and it’ll break your heart. With Jesus, everybody’s invited, and he notices who’s not there. He made that clear in the parables he told. You’ll think one way, I’ll think another, and pretty soon we’re trying to save seats for our favorites. We’ll make all kinds of logical defenses for our attitudes, but the one attitude that will rescue the celebration is that of Christ himself. Your place around his table is no less an act of mercy towards you than it is towards anybody else. When you and I start thinking like that, we’ll need a bigger table.

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

Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. vs. 13-14

Today is an important day. Many have looked to this day for quite some time for release from, or recognition of the current political climate. We have heard words like, unprecedented, critical, crossroads when describing the place this election plays in our national psyche. The end of this day will bring little in terms of reconciliation of the political narrative that we have digested over the last several months and years.

This morning I read an essay by C.S.Lewis written in 1940 titled “The Danger of National Repentance.” One of his assertions is that when some people call for repentance, they are calling for others to course correct, or to align with a differing ideology that is currently trending. Too often, a nations citizens are reaping the consequences of decisions made before they were born, or before they were a part of the conversation. Rarely, if ever, when we call for national repentance have we effectively taken inventory of the part that each of us play in the rhetoric of divisiveness; in our homes, families, work places, and churches. What we see nationally is, too often, a reflection of our own hearts towards our neighbors.

For this, we must repent. We must take the words of Paul as a harbinger of hope. We must forget what is behind, in this case the anger and hurt, and we must press on towards the upward call of God. This morning, with all the possibilities that lie before you, pray that you will move and react as the Holy Spirit calls you. Pray for each other, for your political enemy, for the candidates, and their advisors, and for all who would seek public office. Pray that they would seek God’s will and guidance.

I leave you with the closing words of Lincoln’s first inaugural address.

In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to “preserve, protect, and defend it.”

I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

 

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

Wouldn’t it be nice if becoming a Christian meant that we were perfected in that moment? No more sin, no more trials, and no more pain. In salvation, our past has been forgiven, but a life in the flesh leaves remnants of itself hiding in the unwanted places of our mind. What we see is that though salvation is instantaneous, sanctification is continual.

The problem is that in a fast food, high speed internet society, we expect everything to be instantaneous. We want it here, and we want it now. We want instant righteousness. Like those to whom Paul was referring to in Philippians, we attempt to prove our own righteousness through legalistic measures, and look for ways to show how great we are. Paul tells us that righteousness doesn’t come this way. It “comes from God on the basis of faith” (vs 9).  Sanctification is a lifelong process of spending time in a relationship with God.  The longer you spend, the more He will carve out those remnants of the flesh that bubble back up post-salvation, and He replaces them with His righteousness.

Re:Verse passage – Philippians 3:1-11 (day 6)

Jesus was no stranger to difficult and interesting conversations. Often enough, the locals, including the religious leaders, would try to trip Him up; other times Jesus would throw a wrench in their thinking, never shying aware from saying something truly offensive.

This account makes its way to the top of the list:  After a brief exchange with local Jews, Jesus declares, “You people are from your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires.” (John 8:44)

Can you imagine how offensive this statement was to descendants of Abraham? 

But Jesus was driving home the same point Paul is making to the Philippians. Your spiritual heritage (or righteousness) is not determined by externals, where you were born, who your parents are, how well you follow the law, etc. Your heritage is determined by who you love.

“If God were your father, you would love me…”-Jesus, John 8:42

Re:Verse passage – Philippians 3:1-11 (day four)“More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,”
‭The first half of chapter three helps us understand what happened to Paul’s heart, mind, and life when he met Jesus on the Damascus road. Priorities, values, and passions changed dramatically.  Paul lists those, and remembers when those were the most valuable things. In and through the process of salvation as sanctification, Paul’s “life economy” changes dramatically. Loving and knowing Jesus moves into that list. As Paul’s faith grows and strengthens, his relationship with Christ, quickly climbs the list and revolutionizes the way he thinks about those previous achievements.  Not only did they move down the list, they moved off the list on Paul’s “profit column”. His life was so changed, he vowed that nothing could/should ever be in that column except knowing and loving Jesus.

Maybe it’s time for an “internal audit”. Where is faith in Christ on the spreadsheet of your heart and life?  Where is everything else?