Meditations

Read Philippians 4

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is
right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—
if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
(Philippians 4:8)

Thoughts… Do you want to know the key to everything in your life? Here it is: It is how you think.

The term Paul uses for “think” in this verse is from the Greek term is “logizomai”. It literally means to compute, to calculate—to think deliberately, proactively and strategically. It speaks of an exercise in mental reflection that affects one’s conduct.

Now herein lies an important truth about the human mind: What we do—our behavior—and what is done to us—our circumstances—do not produce what we think. Rather, what we think produces our behavior in any given set of circumstances.

Psychiatrist William Glasser, the father of reality therapy, discovered in his study of how the brain works that man isn’t controlled by external factors, but by internal desires. Furthermore, our desires are predetermined by our thinking. So he concludes that the mind is the command center determining conduct, and therefore, the critical issue for man is how he thinks.

Glasser only discovered what the Bible had long ago said—that we are the product of our thinking. Proverbs 23:7 says, “As a man thinks within himself, so he is.” We are what we think! That’s why Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart” — the heart in Hebrew thought was the center of thinking — “for it is the wellspring of life.”

So if you want to improve your experience of life, deliberately and strategically change your thinking. When Paul says, “think about,” he doesn’t mean leave it up to whatever pops into your brain. He’s saying to intentionally and rigidly allow only certain things into your mind. He is referring to the spiritual discipline of setting godly virtues and Biblical values as the gate-keeper of your mind. He’s not simply talking about positive thinking, mere optimism, self-hypnosis or silly mind-games. He’s saying to think deeply, rationally and habitually about the things of God.

God created us with a mind, and he commands us to think. Isaiah 1:18 says, “Come now, let us reason together.” And the primary path for our reasoning is to be God’s Word. When God gave us his revelation, he didn’t give us a movie, or a series of music videos, not even a book on tape with background organ music. He gave us the written Word, which by nature calls us and causes us to think.

In  his book, “Your Mind Matters, John Stott wrote, “Sin has more dangerous effects on our feeling than our thinking, because our opinions are more easily checked and regulated by revealed truth than are experiences.” That’s why Paul calls us in verse 8 to think deliberately, deeply, and critically about six things:

One, about truthful things—Jesus said, “Thy word is truth” (John 17:17). This calls for meditating on God’s Word.

Two, about noble things—the Greek term means “worthy of respect” and refers to what is noble, dignified, and reverent, as opposed to what is profane!

Three, on righteous things—this which is in perfect harmony with the eternal truth of Scripture.

Four, about pure things—that which is morally clean and undefiled.

Five, about lovely things—this word appears only here in the New Testament, and it means whatever is gracious, uplifting and ennobling.

Six, about admirable things—which refers to that which is worthy of veneration by believers and reputable in the world at large. In other words, things that are “excellent and praiseworthy.”

When you get serious about the spiritual discipline of right thinking, it will produce a new pattern of thinking. That new pattern of thinking will produce a new pattern of living. That new pattern of living will lead to a new experience of life, the abundant life, that Jesus said he came to give.

Everything God’s wants you to experience in this life is keyed by how you think. Ruthlessly tune out that which is inconsistent with your spiritual values and Biblical truth and practice thinking Christianly. Allow the mind of the Master to be the master of your mind. Then you’ll act Christianly and you’ll feel Christianly.

So start today—think about these things!

Prayer… Father, take my mind and let it be always, only thinking of you. Let your Truth saturate. Let your Word consume me. Let the mind of the Master be the master of my mind. Today, O God, guard my mind in Christ Jesus.

One More Thing… “Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow an act, and you reap a habit; Sow a habit, and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.”

Read Philippians 3

“Rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same
things to you again, and it is a safeguard to you.”
(Philippians 3:1)

Thoughts… Paul is saying that the joy of the Lord is such a critical piece to an authentic experience with Christ that he doesn’t mind reminding us of this truth over and over until we finally and fully “get it.” In fact, Paul says that Christian joy is so important that it actually serves as a guardrail to our faith.

Now just what is it that our faith needs to be safeguarded from? Simply this: Trying to achieve salvation—which is the fountainhead of our joy—through human effort. That is the crux of Paul’s attack in the next several verses.

The truth is, we can never achieve our way to either salvation or joy. So Paul launches an assault in verse 2 against those who teach that you can: “Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh.” He’s talking about a group of “false teachers” who came to be identified in the New Testament era as Judaizers. These folks believed that Jesus was the Savior, but they taught that true salvation was evidenced only as believers observed the Old Testament Law. In their theology, you not only had to believe in Jesus, but you also had to conform to the Jewish rituals, observe the Jewish feasts, follow the Jewish traditions, and above all, submit to the Jewish rite of circumcision. This was a very big controversy in Paul’s day—the first heresy the Apostles came up against.

Did you notice the “kind” words Paul uses to describe these Judaizers? He calls them “dogs,” and he is not referring to the kind of family pets we’re used to, but the kind of dogs you see a lot in the third world: mangy, flee-bitten, vicious, dangerous scavengers. Paul also calls these Judaizers “men who do evil.” That is, they pervert the Gospel of “salvation by grace through faith” by teaching that salvation is by grace plus by works of the Law. People who corrupt the truth that our good works are the result of and not the means to salvation are, frankly, evil! Literally, the Greek says they “promote evil.” And Paul takes it a step further calling them “mutilators of the flesh”. He is referring to the practice of circumcision and he uses a very descriptive and forceful word. The normal word for circumcision is “peritome”, but the word he uses in verse 2 is “katatome”, which some translations render as “false circumcision”, but the NIV translates with blunt and brutal accuracy, “mutilators of the flesh.”

Paul uses such graphic language here since what these false teachers were insisting on was akin to butchering the precious work of Jesus Christ on the cross to provide your salvation free of charge. Paul himself understood the folly of trying to gain salvation apart from grace. He describes his own well-intentioned but fatally flawed efforts in verses 3-9, which I will paraphrase this way: “I was a church member all my life. I attended church every Sunday—it was the biggest and best in town. I took notes, sang in the choir, served as an usher, taught junior high. I was a deacon, too! I was sprinkled as an infant, and just to make sure, baptized as an adult. I never missed communion and I always gave more than my tithe. I spoke in tongues and even interpreted my own messages. I was the model Christian. But it was all a waste…I was still completely lost!”

Paul had climbed the ladder of spiritual success, only to realize when he got to the top, his ladder was leaning against the wrong wall. All the accomplishments, awards, and applause that were once the foundation of his righteousness and joy were gone in an instant when he met Christ on the Damascus Road.

Here is what Paul is saying: The joy of our salvation that safeguards our faith from the devastating effects of trying to gain salvation by works is simply the pure pleasure of knowing—intimately knowing—Jesus Christ as our Savior—the one who saves us by his grace, and as our Lord—the one who rightly rules over our lives with love and mercy.

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss …to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.” (Verse 7-8)

You can safeguard your faith today, and each day, by making every other pursuit, every other effort, every past accomplishment, everything else, a distant second to the simple pleasure of just knowing Jesus. Rejoicing in the Lord places guardrails around your faith by reminding you of the powerful and profound fact that Jesus paid for your salvation in full—when you couldn’t pay a dime for it. The joy of the Lord will prevent you from steering into the ditch of human effort by keeping you focused on the fact that your salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone—and nothing else.

So I will join Paul and say it again—rejoice in the Lord!

Prayer… There is no greater thing than knowing you, Lord Jesus. You are first, you are best, you are the greatest, you are my all in all. And I lovingly give myself to you.

One More Thing… “Everything that Jesus did while He was here, He did it for you.” —Maze Jackson

Read Philippians 2

“Do everything without complaining or arguing…”
(Philippians 2:14)

Thoughts… Christian author Evelyn Underhill writes that a well-trained sheepdog will lay at the shepherd’s feet, looks intently into his eyes, and listen without budging until the dog has understood the mind of his master. Then the dog jumps to his feet and runs to do it—and all the while, the dog never stops wagging its tail.

That’s really the believer’s call to joyful obedience, as well. As Paul says, we are to do everything without complaining or arguing; we are to be ceaselessly grateful and boundlessly joyful!

Do you realize how unlike that most of us are? We’re a grumpy, dissatisfied race of people living in a culture of complaint. We’re the most indulged society in the history of the world, yet we’re the most discontent. The more we have the more we seem to be discontent with what we have and the more we complain about it.

I read some intriguing sociological research recently about this culture of complaint that tied our discontent, particularly among the younger generation, to the trend toward small families. The thesis is that in a materialistic society where families average two or less children per household, there you will breed self-indulgent kids.

Think about it: When you have two kids, mom asks them as they’re getting ready for school what they want in their sack lunch. One kid says he wants PBJ and the other says she wants a tuna-salad sandwich. So mom makes them their made-to-order brown-bag. As she drops them off at school, she asks what they’d like for dinner. One wants this; the other wants that. The kids are making the choice. They’re given a great deal of input in family decisions, big and small: Not only what they want to eat, but what clothes they want, where they want to go to school, even what church they want to attend.

Now if you were raised a generation ago and/or were in a large family, how much choice and control did you have in your home? If you were like me, mom gave you two choices for dinner, and everything else: Take it or leave it. Do you know what the difference is? Where you had larger families, the child bent toward the needs and values of the family. But for 50 years or so there’s been a sea change with small families and family systems that tend to bend toward the needs and wishes of the child. As a result, child-centered parenting and child-controlled families characterize the home in today’s society!

Social critic Christopher Lasch has observed that “every age develops its own peculiar forms of pathology which express in exaggerated forms its underlying character structure.” What is our culture’s exaggerated form? How about a pathology of Narcissism! Narcissus, you’ll recall from Greek Mythology, was the handsome youth who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. Narcissism is self-love and self-indulgence—the double-pneumonia of our day.

What happens when the child finally leaves his or her child-centered home into a society that doesn’t bend to that now adult-child? They find a world where they don’t get to be in control; where they are not indulged; where people don’t bow to their needs and wishes. As a result, what that breeds is what sociologists call “moody discontent”, a society full of sullen, discontented complainers. That’s our world today! Just look at the surveys. Poll after poll shows how richly blessed but increasingly unhappy we are—and willing to loudly express it!

Did you realize that few sins are uglier to God than complaining—especially among people who claim to belong to him. Just read Exodus and Numbers if you don’t believe me. The word for “complaining” here in Philippians, which means murmuring and giving voice to your discontent, is the same word used in Exodus and Numbers of the complaining Israelites. Do you remember what happened to them? God punished them severely. The second word Paul uses, “arguing,” actually referred to getting into an intellectual debate with God. It means to express joylessness and displeasure in the circumstances you are going through. In reality, that is to call into question the sovereignty and wisdom of the God who allowed you to go through those circumstances for his purposes. Both arguing and complaining have no business among God’s people.

On the other hand, few graces are more pleasing to God than joy and contentment. Why? While discontent and complaint exposes your lack of trust in God’s sovereign control, joy and contentment express complete trust that God is working things out for your benefit and for his glory.

Think about this: Both complaining and contentment reflect your theology—what you believe about God. I trust that your joy and contentment are making the people who watch want to follow your God. And if you are whining and complaining, call a stop to it right away. God deserves better representation than that.

So at all times, keep your tail wagging today!

Prayer… Lord, forgive the whining and complaining that I sometimes fall into. I have so many reasons to rejoice. From this time forward, I pray that everything that comes out of my mouth will be only that which brings praise and pleasure to you.

One More Thing… “Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor.” —Benjamin Franklin

Read Philippians 1

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you
will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 1:6)

Thoughts… I really love this verse—it is one of my favorites. You probably love it, too. If you don’t, just think deeply about it for a while and I have no doubt that you will add it to your list of best Bible verses.

So why is this such a fantastic verse? Simply this: God always completes what he begins. He never starts a project without bringing it to a successful close. That includes you—you are one of his favorite projects. And what God began in you when you committed your life to his Son, He, himself, has promised to see that it comes to a glorious conclusion. He completes you!

Several years ago a popular movie called Jerry McGuire came out, and in it was a line that became quite famous and oft quoted. Depending on your perspective, the line was either really sappy—that’s what the guys thought, or incredibly romantic—or so the ladies thought. The line came toward the end of the movie when Jerry, who had been struggling to express his love to his wife, walked into a room full of women and boldly declared to her, “You complete me.”

Sorry to take you down movie lane, but Jerry’s lame line was really stolen from the Bible. But in the Bible, that line is not lame, it’s powerful. In fact, next to God saying to you, “I love you” and “you are forgiven”, you saying to God, “you complete me!” is the best line in the story of human redemption:

God has promised to complete you. And since God doesn’t lie, since He has never broken a promise, since He has never abandoned one of his projects, the truth of this verse should be your source for inexhaustible joy, unshakeable confidence, indefatigable energy and inexpressible gratitude. Likewise, knowing that God will complete you ought to neutralize chronic sadness, vaporize whatever insecurities you may have, and motivate you to get off your duff of inferiority and unworthiness and get on board with the work that God is already doing in you.

Michelangelo, the great Italian Renaissance artist, once said, “Do not fret, for God did not create us to abandon us.” Michelangelo knew something about starting and finishing works of art, wouldn’t you say?

God leaves no work unfinished. The God who saved you, and who began a good work in you, will complete you!

Prayer… Lord, you give me joy unspeakable and full of glory. You have saved me from my sin and given me eternal life. You began a work in me, and you have promised to complete it. What you begin, you finish! I was a mess when you found me, and I still mess it up from time to time, but you are turning me into a masterpiece for your glory. What more can I say except “thank you!”

One More Thing… “By a Carpenter mankind was made, and only by that Carpenter can mankind be remade.” —Erasmus Desiderius

Read Philippians 4:1-23

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is
right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—
if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
(Philippians 4:8)

Thoughts… Do you want to know the key to everything in your life? Here it is: It is how you think.

The term Paul uses for “think” in this verse is from the Greek term is “logizomai”. It literally means to compute, to calculate—to think deliberately, proactively and strategically. It speaks of an exercise in mental reflection that affects one’s conduct.

Herein lies an important truth about the human mind: What we do — our behavior — and what is done to us—our circumstances — do not produce what we think. Rather, what we think produces our behavior in any given set of circumstances.

Psychiatrist William Glasser, the father of reality therapy, discovered in his study of how the brain works that man isn’t controlled by external factors, but by internal desires. Furthermore, our desires are predetermined by our thinking. So he concludes that the mind is the command center determining conduct, and therefore, the critical issue for man is how he thinks.

Glasser only discovered what the Bible had long ago said—that we are the product of our thinking.

Proverbs 23:7 says, “As a man thinks within himself, so he is.” We are what we think!

That’s why Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart” — the heart in Hebrew thought was the center of thinking — “for it is the wellspring of life.”

So to change one’s way of life, it was necessary to change one’s way of thinking. If you want to improve your experience of life, deliberately and strategically change your thinking.

Now when Paul says, “think about,” he doesn’t mean leave it up to whatever pops into your brain. He’s saying to intentionally and rigidly allow only certain things into your mind. He is referring to the practice or spiritual discipline of setting godly virtues and Biblical values as the gate-keeper of your mind. He’s not simply talking about positive thinking, mere optimism, self-hypnosis or silly mind-games. He’s saying to think deeply, rationally and habitually about the things of God.

God created us with a mind, and he commands us to think. Isaiah 1:18 says, “Come now, let us reason together.” And the primary path for our reasoning is God’s Word. When God gave us his revelation, he didn’t give us a movie, or a series of music videos, not even a book on tape with background organ music. He gave us the written Word, which by nature calls us and causes us to think.

In a his book, “Your Mind Matters, John Stott wrote, “Sin has more dangerous effects on our feeling than our thinking, because our opinions are more easily checked and regulated by revealed truth than are experiences.”

That’s why Paul calls us in verse 8 to think deliberately, deeply, and critically about six things:

One, about truthful things—Jesus said, “Thy word is truth” (John 17:17). This calls for meditating on God’s Word.

Two, about noble things—the Greek term means “worthy of respect” and refers to what is noble, dignified, and reverent, as opposed to what is profane!

Three, on righteous things—this which is in perfect harmony with the eternal truth of Scripture.

Four, about pure things—that which is morally clean and undefiled.

Five, about lovely things—this word appears only here in the New Testament, and it means whatever is gracious, uplifting and ennobling.

Six, about admirable things—which refers to that which is worthy of veneration by believers and reputable in the world at large. In other words, things that are “excellent and praiseworthy.”

When you get serious about the spiritual discipline of right thinking, it will produce a new pattern of thinking. That new pattern of thinking will produce a new pattern of living. A pattern of thinking that follows what Paul has taught in this verse will produce a new pattern of living that Jesus described as the reason he came to earth: to give us life, and life to the full.

Everything God’s wants you to experience in this life is keyed by how you think. Ruthlessly tune out that which is inconsistent with your spiritual values and Biblical truth and practice thinking Christianly. Allow the mind of the Master to be the master of your mind. Then you’ll act Christianly and you’ll feel Christianly.

So start today—think about these things!

Prayer… Father, take my mind and let it be always, only thinking of you. Saturate me with your Truth. Consume me in your Word. Let the mind of the Master be the master of my mind. Today, O God, guard my mind in Christ Jesus.

One More Thing… “Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow an act, and you reap a habit; Sow a habit, and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny”

Read Philippians 3:5-21

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake
of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared
to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,
for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish,
that I may gain Christ and be found in him…”
(Philippians 3:7-9)

Thoughts… “What is more…” Those three words in the Greek language of the New Testament are an untranslatable string of five participles used to introduce the next thought. Literally, Paul is saying, “but indeed therefore at least even!”

What was he doing? He’s contrasting in the strongest possible way what he previously did to find significance and satisfaction in his life with the joy that he discovered on that Damascus Road when he dramatically met Jesus Christ. And having met Christ and made him Lord of his life, Paul now considers all of his previous efforts to gain righteousness pure rubbish.

That word in our modern translations for “rubbish” is far too nice. The Greek word is “skubalon” — the strongest word Paul could think of. It literally meant dung, waste, or manure, and that’s still too nice. It was used for human excrement. Get the picture yet? In graphic honesty, Paul says when he met Christ, “skubalon hit the fan!”

That day on the road to Damascus, Paul discovered a new purpose in life which he now describes in verses 10-11, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

“To know” is from the Greek noun, “gnosis”, which describes a transcendent communion with Christ compared to an intellectual or even an experiential knowledge. The Hebrew counterpart to the word is “gnosis” is “yada” — which for our benefit, helps explain what Paul was getting at.

“Yada” was often used to denote an intimate knowledge or even a love bond. It was sometimes used in the Old Testament euphemistically for sexual intercourse: “Adam knew his wife and she conceived…” for example,

You read that a lot in some translations, like the King James Version: So and so “knew” his wife and she conceived…then he “knew” his wife and she conceived… again he “knew” his wife…”yada, yada, yada”. But “yada” also described God’s intimate love bond with Israel. Amos 3:2 says, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth.”

So Paul says, when it came to his previous efforts at righteousness, it was a no-brainer to flush them down the toilet—because by comparison, that was what they were worthy of—in order to exchange them for a true righteousness that comes from God solely on the basis of faith.

In other words, righteousness—right standing with God, the pinnacle of success and the zenith of joy—comes by relationship, by knowing—not knowing about, not knowledge of—but an intimate love-bond with Jesus Christ.

Paul wants to know Christ in a personal and deep way. He is no longer trying to earn points, he is trying to know Christ. He wants to know the power of Christ’s resurrection. He doesn’t want to wait till heaven, he wants that resurrection power to impact now!

But he also wants “to know the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” He’s not is saying that he wants to suffer. But he understands that following Christ will inevitably bring some suffering. Paul wants to face the sufferings and even death with the same kind of perspective that Jesus had. Scottish clergyman Robert Murray McCheyne wrote, “You will never find Jesus so precious as when the world is one vast howling wilderness. Then he is like a rose blooming the midst of the desolation, a rock rising above the storm.”

And finally, Paul says he hopes to “somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” That is not a statement of doubt— it is a statement of humble gratitude to God for the grace and mercy that has made it possible to know Jesus Christ and Savior and Lord. Through God’s grace and mercy, Paul knew who he was and he knew where he was going!

Back in 2000, 80-year-old Billy Graham was honored at a banquet in his home state, North Carolina. His Parkinson Disease was worsening, making it increasingly difficult to stand and speak. After a glowing introduction, Billy stepped to the podium, looked the crowd over, and said, “I’m reminded today of Albert Einstein, the great physicist, who has been honored by Time magazine as the Man of the Century. Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the passenger’s tickets. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket, but he couldn’t find it. So he frantically search his pants pockets, he looked in his briefcase, he checked under the seat, but he couldn’t find his ticket anywhere. The conductor said, ‘Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. I’m sure you bought a ticket, don’t worry about it.’

“Einstein looked at him and said, ‘Young man, I too, know who I am. What I don’t know is where I’m going.’”

Billy then said, “See this suit I’m wearing? It’s brand new. My family tells me I’ve gotten a little slovenly in my old age…So I went out and bought a new suit for this luncheon and one more occasion. You know what that occasion is? This is the suit in which I’ll be buried. But when you hear I’m dead, I don’t want you to remember this suit. I want you to remember this: I not only know who I am … I also know where I’m going.’”

Billy Graham could say that because he had made his highest pursuit in life to know Christ. Nothing else compared to that. So had the Apostle Paul. Everything else was “skubalon” compared to intimately knowing the Savior.

If you want the joy of knowing who you are, and where you’re going, then make every other pursuit, every other effort, every past accomplishment, a distant second to knowing Jesus.

Prayer… Father, thank you for the mercy and grace that saved me. Thank you for the promise of eternal life. Thank you that I don’t have to earn it—Jesus earned it for me on the cross. I humbly accept it with gratitude and with the promise to never forget the gift of love that brought me to you.

One More Thing… “Jesus Christ is not valued at all until He is valued above all.” —Augustine

Read Philippians 2:19-3:11

“Rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same
things to you again, and it is a safeguard to you.”
(Philippians 2:14)

Thoughts… Paul is saying that the experience of authentic joy in the Lord is so important to the believer that he’s going to keep saying it until we get it. And in fact, Paul says, Christian joy safeguards our faith.

Now just what is it that our faith needs to be safeguarded from? Simply this: Trying to achieve salvation—the fountainhead of our joy—through human effort. That’s the crux of what Paul goes on to attack in the next several verses. Last

The truth is, we can never achieve our way to joy. So Paul launches an assault in verse 2 against those who teach that you can: “Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh.”

He’s talking about a group of “false teachers” who came to be identified in the New Testament era as Judaizers. These folks believed that Jesus was the Savior, but they taught that true salvation was evidenced by observing the Law.

In their theology, you had to conform to all the Jewish rituals, observe the Jewish feasts, follow Jewish traditions, and mainly, submit to the Jewish rite of circumcision. This was a very big controversy in Paul’s day—the first heresy the Apostles came up against.

Notice “kind” words Paul uses to describe these Judaizers: They’re “dogs.” Not the kind of family pets we’re used to, but the kind of dogs you see a lot in the third world. They’re mangy, flee-bitten scavengers. They’re filthy, vicious, dangerous and to be avoided.

Paul also calls these Judaizers “men who do evil.” That is, they pervert the Gospel of “salvation by grace through faith” by teaching that salvation is by grace plus by works of the Law. People who corrupt the truth that our good works are the result of and not the means to salvation are, frankly, evil! Literally, the Greek says they “promote evil.”

And Paul takes it a step further calling them “mutilators of the flesh”. He is referring to the practice of circumcision and he uses a descriptive and forceful word. The normal word for circumcision is “peritome”, but the word he uses in verse 2 is “katatome”, which some translations put, “false circumcision”, but the NIV renders with blunt and brutal accuracy, “mutilators of the flesh.”

Paul’s language is so graphic because what these false teachers are insisting on is akin to the pagan religious practice of cutting the body, a practice that did nothing to transform the heart. And as strong as Paul’s indictment was here, he takes it a step further in Galatians 5:12 by saing, “As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!”

Here he uses an even stronger word that meant to castrate. Paul’s point is that if these Judaizers believed that the mere outward ritual of circumcision is what pleased God, why didn’t they take that devotion all the way and castrate themselves. Using circumcision, or any other religious act, to feel good or be good before God, is just abhorrent to God. True righteousness and real joy comes from putting our confidence in Christ alone—not from cutting ourselves.

Paul knew this from first-hand experience, which he describes in verses 3-9,

“For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh…”

In other words, who come to God because of a relationship, not through ritual…

“…though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more…”

Then Paul goes through a litany of efforts people sometimes rely on the impress God:

“…circumcised on the 8th day [rituals], of the people of Israel [race], of the tribe of Benjamin [rank], a Hebrew of Hebrews [reputation]; in regard to the law, a Pharisee [rules];

In other word, he was depending his religious past and pedigree…

“…as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.”

In other word, he was depending his reputation for passion and perfection.

Let me paraphrase what Paul is saying, “I was a church member all my life. I attended church every Sunday—it was the biggest and best in town. I took notes, sang in the choir, served as an usher, taught junior high. I was a deacon, too! I was sprinkled as an infant, and just to make sure, baptized as an adult. I never missed communion—red juice only, and I always gave more than my tithe. I spoke in tongues and interpreted my own messages. I was the model Christian.”

Paul had climbed the ladder of spiritual success, only to realize when he got to the top, it was leaning against the wrong wall. All the accomplishments, awards, and applause that were once the foundation of his righteousness and joy were gone in an instant when he met Christ on the Damascus Road.

What is Paul saying? That the joy of our salvation that safeguards our faith is simply the pure pleasure of knowing—intimately knowing—Jesus Christ as our Savior—the one who saves us by his grace, and Lord—the one who rightly rules over our lives with love and purpose.

Why don’t you safeguard your faith today by making every other pursuit, every other effort, every past accomplishment, a distant second to knowing Jesus.

Prayer… There is no greater thing than knowing you, Lord Jesus. You are first, you are best, you are the greatest, you are my all in all. And I lovingly give myself to you.

One More Thing… “Everything that Jesus did while He was here, He did it for you.” —Maze Jackson

Read Philippians 1:27-2:18

“Do everything without complaining or arguing…”
(Philippians 2:14)

Thoughts… Christian writer Evelyn Underhill describes the believer’s call to joyful obedience this way: A Christian should be like a sheep dog. When the shepherd wants him to do something, he lies down at his feet, looks intently into the shepherd’s eyes, and listens without budging until he has understood the mind of his master. Then he jumps to his feet and runs to do it. And at no moment does the dog stop wagging its tail.”

Do you realize how unlike that most of us are? We’re a grumpy, dissatisfied race of people living in a culture of complaint. We’re the most indulged society in the history of the world, yet we’re the most discontent. The more we have the more we seem to be discontent with what we have and the more we complain about it.

I read some intriguing sociological research recently about this culture of complaint that tied our discontent, particularly among the younger generation, to the trend toward small families. The thesis is that in a materialistic society where families average two or less children per household, there you will breed self-indulgent kids.

Think about it: When you have two kids, mom asks them as they’re getting ready for school what they want in their sack lunch. One kid says he wants PBJ and the other says she wants a tuna-salad sandwich. So mom makes them their made-to-order brown-bag. As she drops them off at school, she asks what they’d like for dinner. One wants this; the other wants that.

The kids are making the choice. They’re given a great deal of input in family decisions, big and small: Not only what they want to eat, but what clothes they want, where they want to go to school, even what church they want to attend.

Now if you were raised a generation ago and/or were in a large family, how much choice and control did you have in your home? If you were like me, mom gave you two choices for dinner, and everything else: Take it or leave it.

Do you know what the difference is? Where you had larger families, the child bent toward the needs and values of the family. But for 50 years or so there’s been a sea change with small families and family systems that tend to bend toward the needs wishes of the child. As a result, child-centered parenting and child-controlled families characterize the home in today’s society!

Social critic Christopher Lasch has observed that “every age develops its own peculiar forms of pathology which express in exaggerated forms its underlying character structure.” What is our cultures’ exaggerated form? How about a pathology of Narcissism!

Narcissus, you’ll recall from Greek Mythology, was the handsome youth who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. Narcissism is self-love and self-indulgence—the double-pneumonia of our day.

What happens when the child finally leaves his or her child-centered home into a society that doesn’t bend to that now adult-child? They find a world where they don’t get to be in control; where they are not indulged; where people don’t bow to this needs and wishes.

As a result, what that breeds is what sociologists call “moody discontent”, a society full of sullen, discontented complainers. That’s our world today! Just look at the surveys. Poll after poll shows how richly blessed but increasingly unhappy we are—and willing to loudly express it!

Did you realize that few sins are uglier to God than complaining—especially among people who claim to belong to him. Just read Exodus and Numbers if you don’t believe me. The word for “complaining” here in Philippians, which means murmuring and giving voice to your discontent, is the same word used in Exodus and Numbers of the complaining Israelites. Do you remember what happened to them? God punished severely.

The second word Paul uses, “arguing,” actually referred to getting into an intellectual debate with God. It means to express joylessness and displeasure in the circumstances you are going through. In reality, that is to call into question the sovereignty and wisdom of the God who allowed you to go through those circumstances for his purposes. Both arguing and complaining have no business among God’s people.

On the other hand, few graces are more pleasing to God than joy and contentment. Why? While discontent and complaint exposes your lack of trust in God’s sovereign control, joy and contentment express complete trust that God is working things out for your benefit and for his glory.

Think about this: Both complaining and contentment reflect your theology—what you believe about God. I trust that that your joy and contentment are making the people who watch want to follow your God. And if you are whining and complaining, call a stop to it right away. God deserves better representation than that.

Prayer… Lord, forgive the whining and complaining that I sometimes fall into. I have so many reasons to rejoice. From this time forward, I pray that everything that comes out of my mouth will be only that which brings praise and pleasure to you.

One More Thing… “Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor.” —Benjamin Franklin

Read Philippians 1:1-26

“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy…”
(Philippians 1:4)

Thoughts… Anyone who reads Philippians quickly realizes that “joy” is the overriding theme in Paul’s letter.

As the letter begins, Paul is filled with joy in his prayer for the Philippians because of their willing partnership with him in the proclamation of the Gospel. Not only had they heard and received the Good News, they had joined Paul in the mission of proclaiming and advancing the Good News. They had even helped Paul finance his missionary efforts (4:15-16). There was a wonderful partnership between this pastor and his people that was a source of great joy for Paul.

Now that doesn’t imply that everything was perfect in Philippi! It wasn’t. But Paul was still full of joy.

That’s interesting because the circumstances of both the writer and the recipients were not the kind you would expect to produce much joy. Paul wrote this letter while he was in jail of all places. In fact, there was very little of Paul’s post-conversion life that would have been expected to produce joy. From the outset, Paul had experienced:

…Rejection from his countrymen

…Caution from his new Christian friends…

…Beatings and imprisonments (one of which happened right here in a Philippian jail)

…Shipwreck, backstabbing, abandonment, stoning and a death sentence…

In fact, as he writes Philippians, he is in his fourth year of Roman custody, awaiting Emperor Nero’s final decision.

Yet Paul had everything he needed for joy! How could that be? What was the secret to Paul’s joy?

Paul didn’t confuse happiness with joy. Happiness is based on happenstance, on happenings; joy is based in God. If the fleeting feeling of exhilaration we call happiness is elusive, joy is not. Biblical joy is the settled conviction that God sovereignly controls the events of life for the believer’s good and for God’s glory. This is the kind of joy Paul had, and it is the kind of joy that is the theme of Philippians.

And these Philippians have had their share of problems, too:

…They are desperately poor, so much so that Paul was surprised at their contribution to the offering he was collecting for the poor in Jerusalem. (II Corinthians 8:1-5)

…They were being persecuted for the cause of Christ. (vv. 27-30)

…They were being assaulted by false teachers. (3:2, 18-19)

…The unity of the church was being threatened by two prominent women who were at odds with each other. (4:2-3)

Yet Paul tells these hard-pressed believers that they have everything they need for joy.

In spite of these circumstances of both writer and recipients, joy permeates so much of Philippians that it has become known as the letter of joy. One commentator, R.C.H. Lenski, writes, “Joy is the music that runs through this epistle, the sunshine that spreads over all of it. The whole letter radiates joy…”

And so should you! Your whole life should radiate joy!

So just how is joy produced in our lives? It is said that as Benjamin Franklin concluded a stirring speech on the guarantees of the Constitution, a heckler shouted, “Those words don’t mean nothin’. Where’s all the happiness you say it guarantees us?” Franklin replied, “My friend, the Constitution only guarantees the right to pursue happiness; you have to catch it yourself.”

The Bible speaks of seven ways you can catch joy.

First, you catch joy by practicing God’s presence. David declared in Psalm 16:11, “In your presence is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forever.”

Second, you catch joy by hearing God’s voice. Jesus told his disciples, “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)

Third, you catch joy by obeying God’s Word. David begins the Psalms by writing, “Happy are those who reject the advice of evil people, who do not follow the example of sinners or join those who have no use for God. Instead, they find joy in obeying the Law of the Lord, and they study it day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-2)

Fourth, you catch joy by yielding to God’s Spirit. Paul says in I Thessalonians 5:6, “you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.” And we know from Galatians 5:22 that “the fruit of the Spirit is…joy…”

Fifth, you catch joy by sharing God’s truth. John wrote in I John 1:3-4, “We saw it, we heard it, and now we’re telling you so you can experience it … Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!” (The Message)

Sixth, you catch joy by embracing God’s plan. And that includes embracing the part of his plan that includes trials. James writes, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.” II Corinthians 4:17 says, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”

Seventh, you catch joy by trusting God’s work in your life. Right here in this first chapter of Philippians is one of the outstanding and most profound thoughts in the Bible, “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (v. 6) God always finishes what he begins, and that should be a cause for great joy in our hearts.

Michelangelo, the great Italian Renaissance artist, once said, “Do not fret, for God did not create us to abandon us.” Michelangelo knew something about starting and finishing works of art. God leaves no work unfinished. The God who saved you, who begin a good work in you, will complete it!

And because of that, you have everything you need for joy!

Max Lucado tells the moving story of a man named Robert Reed, who was fond of saying: “I have everything I need for joy”, which was amazing given that he had cerebral palsy. He couldn’t bathe or feed himself, or brush his teeth, comb his hair or put on his underwear. His shirts were held together by Velcro strips; his speech was slurred

Yet Robert from graduated Abilene Christian University with a degree in Latin. After college, Robert moved to Lisbon — alone — rented a room and begin studying Portuguese. He found a restaurant owner who would feed him and a tutor to help him master the language.Then he stationed himself daily in a park, where he handed out Gospel tracts. In 6 years, he led 70 people to Christ, one became his wife, Rosa.

Robert became a motivational speaker. Whenever he spoke, he would have to be carried in his wheelchair onto the stage, where he would lay his Bible in his lap, and force his stiff fingers to open the pages as he began to force the words from a mind and a mouth that weren’t in sync. But each time be began to share, invariably his audience would have to wipe away their tears as they listened to a man who could have given into despair and misery, yet instead would thrust his bent hands into the air and shout, “I have everything I need for joy!”

And so do you!

Prayer… Lord, you give me joy unspeakable and full of glory. You have saved me from my sin and given me eternal life. You began a work in me, and you have promised to complete it. What you begin, you finish. I was a mess when you found me, but you have turned me into a masterpiece for your glory. Because of you, I have everything I need for joy.

One More Thing… “When was the last time you laughed for the sheer joy of your salvation? People are not attracted to somber doctrines. There is no persuasive power in a gloomy and morbid religion. Let the world see your joy and you won’t be able to keep them away. To be filled with God is to be filled with joy.” —Anonymous

“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.” (Philippians 2;12-17)

Food For Thought... I thought about entitling this blog “Put Up or Shut Up” …after all Paul does say that: in verse 12, “Work out your salvation”, and in verse 14: “Quit your complaining!” But being the kind and gentle pastor that I am, I decided a more appropriate and accurate title would be “Making It Real,” which is really the thrust of this text: This is about moving our salvation from the realm of the theoretical and making it practical in the real world of our daily faith.

Please note that he didn’t say work for your salvation. Don’t get tripped up on that! You cannot work for what you’ve already received. To try that would be wasted effort and an offense to the God who saves you by grace through faith … not by your righteous works, religious acts, or pious efforts

So, “working for” is pointless; but he did say to work out your salvation. Salvation is a multi-dimensional concept…And one of the dimensions of our salvation is the effort that we must give to aligning our personal conduct to our spiritual identity and our eternal destiny. I’ve got to align my words, arrange my actions, adjust my attitudes and set my heart so as to match the example of Jesus and the teaching of Scripture. My part of the salvation equation is to get serious about connecting my theology with my daily living. That’s what Paul means when he says “with fear and trembling…” We need to be serious about the things that God takes seriously.

So when God, through his Word, says, “do this”, then, if we want to “become pure and blameless children of God”—notice that phrase in verse 15. “Become” is used in the sense of proving that you are, or becoming the kind of child that God deserves and desires—then we’d better figure out how to put into practice what we know and believe to be true. Very simply put: You are to live what you’ve been taught; be a doer of the Word; match your belief with your behavior; walk your talk…“Put up or shut up!”

Now let me give you a really practical and specific application of how you can do this: Paul gives example of the “salvation work-out” in verses 14-16,

“Do everything without complaining or arguing…”

The idea is that working out our salvation is to be a rejoice-in-the-Lord-always experience, not something we grit our teeth and do. Not like the child who, for punishment, was told to sit in the corner. The child obeyed, but shot back at the parent, “I’m not sitting down on the inside.” Christian writer Evelyn Underhill describes the call for joyful obedience this way: A Christian should be like a sheep dog. When the shepherd wants him to do something, he lies down at his feet, looks intently into the shepherd’s eyes, and listens without budging until he has understood the mind of his master. Then he jumps to his feet and runs to do it. And [importantly] at no moment does the dog stop wagging its tail.”

Do you realize how unlike that most people are? We’re an obstreperous race living increasingly in a culture of complaint. We’re the most indulged society in the history of the world, yet we’re the most discontent society. The more we have the more we seem to be discontent with what we have and the more we complain about it.

I read some intriguing sociological research recently about our culture of complaint that tied our discontent, particularly among the younger generation, to the trend toward small families. The thesis is that in a materialistic society where families average two or less children per household, there you will breed self-indulgent kids.

It’s really interesting—think about it: When you have two kids, mom asks them as they’re getting ready for school what they want in their sack lunch. One kid says he wants PBJ and the other says she wants a tuna-salad sandwich. So mom makes them their made-to-order brown-bag. As she drops them off at school, she asks what they’d like for dinner. One wants this; the other wants that.

The kids are making the choice… they’re given much input in family decisions, big and small: What clothes they want, where they want to go to school, even what church they attend.

Now, if you were raised a generation ago and/or were in a large family, how much choice and control did you have in your home? If you were like me, mom gave you two choices for dinner, or anything else: Take it or leave it.

Do you know what the difference is? Where you had—or have—larger families, the child bends toward the system. For 50 years or so there’s been a sea-change toward small families… and family systems that tends to bend toward the child. As a result, child-centered parenting and child-controlled families characterize the home in today’s society!

Social critic Christopher Lasch observed, “every age develops its own peculiar forms of pathology which express in exaggerated forms its underlying character structure.”

What is our cultures’ exaggerated form? How about a pathology of Narcissism! Narcissus you’ll recall from Greek Mythology, was the handsome youth who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. Narcissism is self-love and self-indulgence — the double-pneumonia of our day.

What happens when the child finally leaves home—finally—is a society that doesn’t bend to that adult-child. It’s a world where the adult-child can’t be in control. So what it breeds is what sociologists call, “moody discontent” … a society full of sullen, discontented complainers. That’s our world! Poll after poll shows how richly blessed but increasingly unhappy we are … and willing to express it!

But few sins are uglier to God than complaining—just read Exodus and Numbers if you don’t believe me. And few graces are more pleasing to God than joy and contentment. Why? Discontent and complaint exposes a lack of trust in God’s sovereign control. Joy and contentment express complete trust that God is working things out for your benefit. Even when God is not the conscious object, both complaint and contentment reflect your theology, your trust in God.

Now how does this fit with Philippians? Look at the first two words in verse 14: “Do everything…”

…Everything involved in working out your salvation — which is everything you do — “…without complaining or arguing.”

The word for “complaining” is the same word used in Exodus and Numbers of the complaining Israelites, whom God punished severely. It means murmuring … giving voice to your discontent.

The second word, “arguing,” actually referred to getting into an intellectual debate with God…Which is typically expressed by joylessness in the circumstances you’re going through.

Though all complaining and arguing are harmful, Paul is specifically referring to our attitude toward God.

Now the idea here, which is consistent with what we’ve been learning so far in Philippians, is that we’re called to accept the providential plan that God has ordained for our lives not with complaint, but with joyful contentment.

And then Paul gives three reasons why:

First, it’s for your personal growth. Verse 15 says, “that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault…”

I mentioned earlier that the word “become” refers not to the act, but to the process of becoming. Don’t complain—don’t argue with God! Endure life’s challenges with joy in order that the process of life-transformation can work. The word “faultless” is the same word used in the Greek Old Testament to describe an unblemished sacrifice. It’s the kind of sacrifice worthy of offering to God. Complaining short-circuits your growth; contentment, gratitude and trust keeps you in the process of becoming.

Second, it’s for your public witness. Verses 15-16 says, “…in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like the stars in the universe, as you hold out the word of life…”

Evangelism is a primary purpose for God’s children. And both the character of our lives and the content of our message are central to our Christian witness. When we complain, we sink to the same level as this “crooked and depraved generation.”

The Greek word for “crooked” is skolios, from which we get scoliosis—which meant bent out of alignment…“Depraved” is an even stronger word which mean severely twisted and distorted.

When we complain, we blend into the darkness; when we’re content and joyful, our lives shine…

And then, Paul says, we can “hold out the word of life” —that’s the same verb is used in Homer’s Odyssey referring to holding out a gift of wine for someone to drink. You cannot hold out this gift of grace while you are grumbling and expect people to take it.

Paul says when we offer gratitude instead of griping, we become living proof of a loving God to a lost world. But if we whine, we lose our shine.

Third, it’s for your pastor’s benefit. Sounds kind of self-serving for pastor like me to say that, but look at verse 16, “In order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.”

Paul wants them to do this, not to make his life easier, but to give him greater joy on the day he stands before Christ to give account of his spiritual stewardship for their lives.

Your pastor, like Paul, is running a race…and his goal is not just to get himself across the finish line, but to get you across that line as fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. He doesn’t want to run in vain. The word Paul used described runners in a stadium who gave maximum effort to win their race. Your pastor wants to get to the end of his race as your pastor and know joy as he stands before Christ that his efforts counted.

In the Message, verse 16 reads, “You’ll be living proof that I didn’t go to all this work for nothing.”

So as a pastor, let me say on behalf of all pastors, that you will encourage your shepherd’s heart throughout all eternity as you give serious effort to making your salvation real in your everyday life.

So work with him…

Put up or…

Prayer…  Lord, I really do want to be living proof to the world of your redeeming love in my life.  In everything I do, I want to reflect your grace, holiness and power.  I want to be an example of salvation that has been fully worked out in the life of a human being. You have already redeemed me and given me eternal life, now I want to do my part to show what that looks like in my daily life.

One More Thing… The German philosopher Heinrich Heine said, “Show me your redeemed lives and I might be inclined to believe in your Redeemer.”