The Everyday Prayer

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

“I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;”  God’s grand design is on display in Paul’s mind and in his words. We all face suffering and difficulty at one time or another. Granted they may come in varying degrees, but the reality is that each of us has or will face suffering or difficulty or hardship.  Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5:11‬ ‭If we live worthy of the gospel (as Paul exhorts) suffering WILL come. To them. To us.
The secret to standing firm is as much about fellowship as it is about fighting. Paul’s words reveal God’s wisdom and plan. Steadfastness is grounded in unity- one spirit, one mind, striving together. Will you seek out fellowship with others?  Will you give and receive encouragement, accountability, and community to members the body?  Social distancing does not hinder the work of the Spirit!  Will you keep the unity of the church so that others may be able to “live a life worthy of the gospel” even in suffering?

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 1:27-30 (day three)

“…in no way alarmed…”

Did Paul ever panic? He never mentioned it if he did. But before he began learning from Jesus how to live, he demonstrated behavior that looked an awful lot like alarm or consternation, panic’s close cousins. He responded to the Jesus Way by attempting to eradicate it with terror – violent arrests, imprisonments, the casting of votes for death sentences. The safeguarding of his life’s foundation was a high priority. It is for you, too. And there are so many things which seem to threaten that foundation. Jesus knew that, of course. He taught Paul – and he teaches us – that when the terror rises, look at the birds, see the flowers. Feel the turning of the earth marking your days. The universe has been founded securely by God. So has your life. So has the church.

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

…so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit…vs. 27b

If you are a teacher or a parent you have probably experienced this scenario: You give an assignment or a chore and leave the children/students to their work only to come back into the room before the expected you to arrive only to find them doing anything but the work. Sound familiar? Paul is reminding us that we are to remain steadfast in our call regardless of our perceived audience. It does little good for us to only be about our task when the pastor is watching. You can understand how a child would be motivated by proximity, but we should remember that our work, our call, and service is always to be rendered unto the Lord. We shouldn’t seek a pat on the back, you will get your ‘well done’ later. What task have you been called to today? What are you waiting for? Keep pressing forward.

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?

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

“Right now, we see things as if we are looking through a dark piece of glass, but then we will see face to face.” -Paul, 1 Corinthians 13:12 (my paraphrase)

“For me, living is Jesus, and dying is gain.” -Paul, Philippians 1:21 (my paraphrase)

When I was a boy living in Lome, Togo, my parents bought an old but sizable telescope from a German man. It came in a large hefty solid wood box with latches on the side. Included with the telescope were a set of filters; one was used to look directly at the Sun. By the looks of it, it was virtually black. It was so dark a filter you couldn’t see anything at all looking through it, but when we put it over the lens of the telescope we could look directly at the Sun. It was marvelous.

With the filter, it was a marvel to behold the glory of the Sun; we even could identify sun spots on its surface. Of course, looking at the Sun without the filter would be dangerous; you can only handle the Sun filtered. You can’t really see it in all its glory.

That’s what Paul meant by dying is gain. He longed for the unfiltered gaze into the glory of the Son. He longed for the unfiltered life, and it came by dying (and resurrecting into new life).

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

“Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith,”. 

Are you sometimes leery when people offer to help you “make progress”? It usually means work and learning are ahead. Is there an agenda in their mind?  What am I doing wrong?  What am I not doing right?  On its own and by itself, progress is hard work, exhausting, and sometimes painful. But, if progress is combined with joy, it changes the equation all together. Yes, there is still difficulty. Yes, there is still struggle. Yes, there is still hard work to be done. Yet, when the facet of joy is added, the experience of making progress is life-changing and life-giving.   That’s what Paul has in mind, life-changing and life-giving exhortation and ministry with the Philippians. There is hard work (progress) to be done 1:6.  But God gives joy along with the work of progress.

“These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” John‬ ‭15:11‬ ‭.

Lord, give us grace as joy, that we would make progress in the faith!!

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

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

“To live is Christ.”

To comprehend, help, create, build, dream, celebrate, give, remember, participate, laugh, gather, hope, work – in short, to live – is possible because of the universe’s originating and animating presence, which is Christ. It is true of all persons, from the staunchest skeptic of God’s existence to the tiniest trusting child: Christ is behind all the living and moving and having being. The very act of disbelieving is possible because Christ has made it possible. And the act of asking, “What must I do to be saved?” is possible because Christ has made human beings with the capacity to see and yearn and wonder. Paul eventually learned that the one who enabled Stephen to die with such confidence is the one who enabled him (Paul) to live with such grace. So it is for us all.