Philippians 3 -- Where Am I In The Race?

Paul was helping to clarify what the Christian life should be like.  We are to worship God through His Spirit and through our pride in Christ, never through pride in what we’ve done, for we can never trust in ourselves.  Just doing that likely means we are committing the sin of pride.

Paul says that he got over the so-called importance of the things he used to believe would draw him closer to God.  He found that there was really only one thing that could – knowing Jesus Christ.  And that knowing takes an eternity to accomplish.

Once he’d understood that, he realized that all those important things he’d lost and had once so highly valued were worth nothing after all.  He didn’t really lose, but instead infinitely gained by his choice to follow Christ.

Paul also realized that, although believing in Christ and His sacrifice for us on the cross gained us our salvation, there was still this lifetime of becoming like Him to be done, not out of duty but out of desire, and that became Paul’s life goal.  He saw it as a race – his only focus being what lay between where he currently was and his goal.  Everything that had happened before was past history.  It was only what he did before the end of the race that mattered.

That’s huge, because all too often we try to beat ourselves down and even disqualify ourselves because of sins in our past.  Yes, they had an impact upon us, but really all they did was affect where we happen to find ourselves at the moment in the race.  If we focus on Christ for the rest of the race, our sole desire will be to make up ground, not to stop the race and go back to examine where we started or ran off course.

What’s at the end?  Paul said, “Our homeland is in heaven.”  We started there and it’s important to finish there.  “We are waiting for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come from heaven.”  And when He does, by His power He will change our sin-filled human bodies into bodies like he now possesses, built to last for eternity and unsusceptible to the sin infection.

Father, thank you for reminding me that the only value in looking back is to worship and praise You for what You’ve done in my life.  The only things I’ve truly lost by following Christ are the things that didn’t matter in the least.  Keep my eyes on the goal, Father.  Don’t let me stray off course.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Philippians 2 -- Our Part In Unity

Paul was addressing selfishness, its effects on church unity, and how it doesn’t match up at all with the way Jesus lived.  My commentary said that unity is not uniformity, where we would all be made to believe the same thing.  “There may be minor matters on which we disagree, yet we can SUBMERGE our own opinions, where no real principle is involved, for the good of others.”

I think our real problem is this:  Our beliefs become our realities.  The same thing is happening in the lives of others.  Sometimes our reality doesn’t match others’ realities, and because ours was formed by our beliefs, we want to decide that others are flat out wrong.  They of course will probably be going through the same analysis.

So how do Christians in the local church resolve such issues?  Paul points us to Christ, who even though He was equal with God, chose to display love by not demanding His rights as part of the Godhead, but instead willingly chose to submit and to empty Himself out on the cross.  He made Himself nothing for us out of love.  We too often want to build ourselves up out of desire for self.  The thought of a church full of believers willing to do this is amazing!  Yet we would often rather fall far short of the impossible solely because we selfishly desire to build ourselves up.

Maybe that’s what Paul was hinting at in verse 12 when he spoke of working to complete our salvation.  We’re like a diamond in the rough that becomes polished by years of working outward the salvation we’ve received inside.  Someone once told me that this was the Second Great Commission, and we are to be about conquering our own Judea inside ourselves.  As my commentary noted, “People who are willing to die for others do not generally quarrel with them.”

Father, I know that I must decrease so that You can increase inside of me.  Our human selfishness fights us on every side about this.  Remind me to empty myself out, as Your Son did, especially on minor matters where our beliefs may have resulted in slightly warped realities.  Help me to see as You see.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Philippians 1 -- Joy Despite Frustration

It’s hard to imagine how someone like Paul, imprisoned in Rome and unable to be out among unbelievers leading others to Christ, could have such joy in his life!  Yet it oozes out from every word he writes.  What did he have to say in answer to every little thing that would set any of us off?  “It doesn’t matter.”  He didn’t let his circumstances or the actions of others dictate his happiness.  Even those people that others might have considered Paul’s rivals weren’t important to him, so long as people were led to Christ by whatever they were doing.

One particular thing he said gripped me:  “I expect and hope that I will not fail Christ in anything but that I will have the courage now, as always, to show the greatness of Christ in MY life here on earth.”

He simply wanted the courage to let Christ leak out of every pore, knowing that others would be seeing Christ through him.

Father, I want that, too.  I know that I’m not imprisoned, yet I can let frustration, more than probably anything else, lead to anything but joy leaking out of me, and when it does, others don’t see Your Son.  Please help me to see that the tedium I often feel is nothing compared to what Paul could have felt being imprisoned with a guard chained to him.  Help me never to take for granted the opportunities You give me to reflect Your Son to others.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 Thessalonians 1-3 -- Encouraging Me (And Others) Today

Someone needed encouragement, and I imagine this letter from Paul accomplished just that:

“This is proof that God is right in His judgment.  He wants you to be counted worthy of His kingdom for which you are suffering.  God will do what is right.  He will give trouble to those who trouble you.  And He will give rest to you who are troubled … We always pray for you, asking our God to help you live the kind of life He called you to live … Brothers and sisters, whom the Lord loves, God chose you from the beginning to be saved.  So we must always thank God for you … Stand strong and continue to believe the teachings … The Lord is faithful and will give you strength and will protect you from the Evil One … May the Lord lead your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s patience … Never become tired of doing good.  If some people do not obey … then take note of them … But do not treat them as enemies.  Warn them as fellow believers.  Now, may the Lord of peace give you peace at all times and in every way.”

Father, that’s the kind of pick-me-up I needed to hear today.  I know others are needing to hear it, too.  Don’t ever let me be tempted to give up on You when things get tough, for You are my Rock, and my Anchor.  You are the Cleft I hide in, my Protection and my Friend.  Thanks for the encouragement I needed today!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

1 Thessalonians 4&5 -- Every Little Action Makes Or Unmakes Character

“We taught you how to live in a way that will please God, and you are living that way.  Now … live that way even more.”

My commentary said, “Holiness is a process, not an achievement … The will of God for His people is their sanctification … their setting apart for divine use … all believers have been set apart from the world to the service of the Lord … However, in another sense, believers should sanctify themselves from all forms of sin … The specific sin against which Paul warns is unlawful sexual activity …”

In 4:4, we read, “He wants each of you to learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable.  Don’t use your body for sexual sin like the people who don’t know God … God called us to be holy and does not want us to live in sin.”

Oscar Wilde, a famous British writer, is quoted in my commentary about how he fell into sexual sin and ended up in prison and disgrace, and he amazingly nails it on the head:

“Tired of being on the heights, I deliberately went to the depths in search of new sensation … I grew careless of the lives of others.  I took pleasure where it please me and passed on.  I forgot that every little action of the common day MAKES OR UNMAKES CHARACTER, and that therefore what one has done in the secret chamber, one has someday to cry aloud from the housetop.  I ceased to be lord over myself.  I was no longer the captain of my soul, and did not KNOW it.  I allowed pleasure to dominate me.  I ended up in horrible disgrace.”

That just about says it all.

Father, You fearfully and wonderfully created us as sexual beings, and Your ideal is for us to live in a marriage as husband and wife until You call us home.  The fires of passion do burn hot in us, and if we do not control them, they can destroy us.  Help me to never tire of being on the heights.  Give me the strength to not travel to the depths in search of new sensation.  Keep teaching me to control my own body in a way that is holy and honorable.  You’ve called me to be holy and not to live in sin.  Remind me every minute of every day that every little action makes or unmakes character, and that I need Your wisdom, guidance, and strength in the smallest decision.  This will protect me in the larger decisions.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

1 Thessalonians 3 -- In The Heat Of Battle

Paul was concerned about the new Christians in Thessalonica, for they were now encountering strong persecution.  He worried that, as the devil turned up the heat, he might also trick them into giving up their aggressive Christian testimony in exchange for his relaxing of the persecution, my commentary said.  Even today, we can find ourselves tempted to swap loyalty to Christ for personal comfort.

“They needed encouragement not to buckle under the pressure of opposition.”  We have to remember that opposition is not always a sign that God is displeased with our direction.  Instead, it’s more likely that we are walking in His will and Satan is trying to throw us off.  According to Paul, trials are a discipline in our lives that:

1)       Prove the reality of our faith

      2)      Enable us to comfort and encourage others going through similar trials
      3)      Develop certain graces, such as endurance in our character
      4)      Make us more zealous in spreading the Gospel, and
      5)      Help us remove the dross from our lives.

They are almost like spiritual fitness programs.

For me, yesterday was certainly a day filled with trials.  The only thing I can remember specifically praying was, “God, I trust you.  Help me to know what to do.”  Paul revealed so much more about his prayer life in this chapter.  He prayed night and day, out of habit, and I’ve felt lately that I’ve gotten out of this habit to some extent, even though one of my boys mentioned to their friends the other day about how well it worked when I prayed about even the small stuff, such as finding a lost item.  Thank You that they’ve taken notice, Father.  Paul’s prayers are intensely fervent.  You can almost see the sweat forming on his brow from the effort.  His prayers were very specific.  This not only focused God’s power and attention, but it also allowed Paul to more easily see the results of his praying.  His prayers were also altruistic – praying for the needs of others more than his own needs.

Father, the trials seem to have been dialed up a few notches yesterday, and they’ll probably continue for awhile at this higher level.  In the heat of it all, I’ve not taken as much time as I should to cry out to You.  Strengthen my faith.  Allow me to encourage others.  Give me more endurance.  Clear the spiritual barnacles out of my life, and use this as a story someday of how You picked me up and carried me through the trials.  I really need to be more like Paul in my prayer life.  I pray now that You help me to do that, Father.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

1 Thessalonians 1-2 -- The Way To A Person's Heart

I think all too often I worry that if I confront someone about sin in their lives, I will anger them and they will have nothing more to do with me.  My opportunity will be lost.  Paul wrote something here that showed how he approached that task.

First, in 2:6 he says, “We were not looking for human praise …”  He wasn’t too worried about everyone liking him.  “But we were very gentle with you, like a mother caring for her children.”  He wasn’t spouting out hellfire and damnation and pronouncing “sin” as a two-syllable word, but instead was showing genuine caring for the person he was talking to.  He said that he even shared his own life with them, helping and working alongside them, building personal relationships that showed how much he cared.  I’ve heard it this way:  They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

He “lived in a holy and honest way, without fault.”  He was practicing what he preached so they could see he wasn’t hypocritical and so they could know that it was possible to lead such a life.  Then he treated them “as a father treats his own children,” but encouraging them, urging them, and (probably the tough part for fathers) insisting that they live good lives for God.  I say that’s tough because fathers do have to pick their battles.  As teens grow up, they naturally take on independence as they become their own persons.  But were a father to say nothing, his children would starve emotionally and spiritually, for they see boundaries as evidence of love.  Discipline indicates the fact that we care.

Often, the person God has placed in our path knows he’s committing sin and doesn’t particularly even like it that he is doing so, but he has no impetus to quit, much like someone who’d love to have a reason to lose weight and tone up, but who has no one to encourage them to do so.  There’s often relief that finally someone has had the courage to discuss the 500-lb. elephant in the room.

Paul seemed to do all of this in a way that wasn’t offensive and that didn’t come off as holier-than-thou.  And people responded.

Father, I thought about praying that You would get me over my fear of confronting sin, but then it seemed that You were saying that confronting was a negative first step.  So I pray instead that You will help me first to invest myself in the lives of those You place before me, building relationships as Paul did, which does wonders in building the bridge to their hearts so that they will be accepting of correction from You through me.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford