Humility: Putting others first

Hey guys,

Mohammad Ali used to say he was the greatest. One time, on an airplane, a flight attendant told him to put his seatbelt on. He told her that he was superman and superman did not need a seatbelt. The flight attendant told him that superman also did not need an airplane so buckle up. Ali was not very humble. Are you humble? Do you put others needs ahead of your own?

Phil 2:3-4

3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

NASU

We are called to look out for the interests of others. In Matthew 22, Jesus told us the two greatest commandments. The first is to love God with everything that we are, and the second is to love our neighbor as our self. Loving our neighbor as our self means not feeling threatened when someone else receives praise. It means being happy for someone when they receive a blessing. It means that we listen to others more than we speak. It means we look for ways to encourage and build up others instead of ourselves.

A.W. Tozer, in his book, The Pursuit of God, says, “Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers [meeting] together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become “unity” conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.”

 

So if we love God with all that we are, which is the greatest commandment, then we will tune ourselves to Him. If we do that, we will be in tune with others. That will lead to entire congregations seeking to put others first. How great of a testimony would all be for God if we did that?

Serving Him,

Bro. Joey

 

Conduct yourselves worthy of His Call

Hey guys,

This passage reminds me of the Christian rap song by Tripp Lee. It is an exposition of Philippians. In the chorus he says, “Our life is nothing but Christ is all so conduct yourself worthy of His righteous call.” It is a great song and very theologically sound. Paul tell his readers in Phil 1:27, “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

As citizens of earth, we have to obey laws, pay taxes, and things such as these. However, as citizens of heaven, we have a much higher calling and standard. We are obligated to be obedient to God and defend His Kingdom. Paul is encouraging us to stand firm in one spirit, one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. He is rallying the troops so to speak. He tells us to work together and be unified in the faith.

He also tells us not to be alarmed by our opponents. Some of us might say that can be difficult. I can understand why we would think and even say that, but consider this, if you have a proper fear of the Lord then you need not fear anyone else. We know that God is in control and nothing can happen that He does not allow to happen. So, if we are in a situation against an opponent we can know that our God is still in control. Therefore, we have nothing to fear or be alarmed about.

 

Serving Him,

Bro. Joey

 

Paul knows, do you?

Hey guys,

Three men are talking one day about their funerals. More specifically, they are talking about what they would want people to say about them. The 1^st guy says, “I want people to say that I was a great humanitarian.” The 2^nd man says, “I want people to say I was a great family man.” The 3^rd says, “I want someone to say look he’s moving.”

What would you like people to say about you? What would you want written on your tombstone? This is a subject that many people do not like to talk about. It seems a bit morbid to discuss our death. Paul had a strikingly different view on this matter. Paul actually looked forward to his death.

Phil 1:21
21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
NASU

Paul has no fear of the possibility of death. He knows that he will be delivered. He may not know what form of deliverance he will receive. His deliverance could be release from prison, or it could be execution. The only concern that Paul has is that Christ will be exalted. Do we live our lives with this same attitude in our hearts?

I often wonder what it would be like if Christians today lived their lives with the exaltation of Christ as their only concern. We can not allow our actions to be dictated by earthly consequences. We can not allow our actions to dictated by fear. What do we have to fear? If we have a proper, biblical fear of God, we have nothing else to fear.

We should look at the life of Paul and be encouraged by the fact that even in the greatest of earthly trials, Paul exemplified the Christ like attitude that all believers should have. The trials and hardships that many of us go through today pale in comparison to the trials and hardships of the Apostle Paul. And yet, it seems as though the exaltation of Christ is the furthest thing from many Christians’ minds. Does your life exalt Christ when trials do not exist? If it doesn’t then how can you expect your life to exalt Christ during trials and hardships?

Serving Him,

Bro. Joey

 

 

Whatever the Motive

Hey guys,

Why do you do what you do? What is your motive? Do you do the right things for the right reasons? In Phil. 1:15-18, Paul deals with two groups of people that are preaching the gospel. They are preaching the gospel with two different motives.

Phil 1:15-18

15  Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will; 16 the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; 17 the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,

NASU

The 1st group of people were preaching the gospel out of envy, strife, and selfish ambition. The 2nd group were preaching the gospel out of goodwill and love. Now, I hope I don’t have to say which group was preaching from the right motive. We would all agree that group 2 is the group with the correct motive. However, it is interesting to point out that this is not the biggest point that Paul is trying to make. Paul states in verse 18, “whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice.”

Group one most definitely had a less than admirable motive for preaching the gospel. They were seeking to look good by making Paul look bad. Paul does not harp on this though. He is glad and rejoices because they are still preaching the gospel. It is through the preaching of the gospel that people realize their need for a Savior. It is this very thing that Paul is striving to accomplish. Therefore, he can take joy in the fact that Christ is being proclaimed.

This does not mean that our motives do not matter, but even when a person’s motives are not completely pure, God is being glorified in their message.

 

Serving Him,

 

Bro. Joey

 

May your love in Christ continue to grow

May your love in Christ continue to grow.

 

May your love in Christ continue to grow

Hey guys,

I heard a story about young man named Jimmy. He had been dumped by his fiance. She wrote him a letter detailing how sorry she was for breaking his heart. She talked about what a huge mistake she had made by breaking off the engagement. She goes on to beg Jimmy to find it in his heart to forgive her and take her back. She tells him that he is the love of her life. At the end of the letter is a P.S. which says, “by the way, congratulations on winning the lottery.”

Now that’s true love. Not really. Who and what do you love? Why do you the the who’s and what’s that you love? Paul loved the church at Philippi and he loved Jesus Christ. He also knew how much the church at Philippi loved Jesus Christ, and yet his prayer was that their love would abound still more and more. Phil 1:9 says, “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment,” NASU

Paul had a genuine love for the Philippians. They were fellow partakers with him in the gospel. They had been a genuine help to him and his ministry. He knew how genuine their love was for him and for Jesus Christ. And yet, he prayed that their love would abound more and more. His prayer was that their love would over flow and still continue to grow. Paul gave them two areas that he wanted their love to continue to grow.

He wanted their love to grow in real knowledge. It is so easy to get caught up in things that don’t have real knowledge if we are not careful. There are so many that claim to have real knowledge, but it is really counterfeit. They disguise it by using sly speech, and putting on a big show that will draw a crowd, but if it does not line up with God’s Word, whether we like it or not, it is not real knowledge.

He wanted their love to grow in all discernment. As we immerse ourselves in the only real knowledge, which is God’s Word, our discernment will grow. We will be more able to distinguish what is truth from what is error. I have heard many people listen to sermon from a Godly preacher and then talk about how they heard a particular T.V. preacher preaching, and they would say they loved both. The problem is that one is preaching truth and the other is preaching error. How is it possible for a Christian to hear both truth and error and enjoy both? The answer is simple. They have not immersed themselves in God’s Word and thus been able to discern the truth from a lie. Paul prayed that this would not be so.

Paul prayed these things because he wanted them and us to be able to approve the things that are excellent. He wanted them and us to be sincere and blameless. We should not be a people that lead ourselves or others into sin.

When we receive Jesus Christ, we are filled with the fruit of righteousness. It is only through Christ and for the praise and glory of God. Our lives should resemble that. Our life’s goal should be to know more about God every single day. If you told someone that you loved them, and then never tried to get to know them, would they really believe you? How can we say we love God, and not want to get to know Him more?

Make it your life’s mission to get to know God more and more every day. You do that by reading and studying His Word. You do that by memorizing Scripture. You do that by prayer and meditation. You do that by living out the Christian life practically. In other words, by serving Him.

Does your love abound more and more?

 

Serving Him,

Bro. Joey

 

We are a work in progess

Hey guys,

Isn’t it great to know that we are a work in progress? One of the most encouraging verses in Scripture has to be Phil. 1:6 which says, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. NASU What an encouraging and powerful statement that the Apostle Paul made to the church at Philippi. When God saved us, He set us apart for His service and His glory. Paul tells the Philippian Church that God will perfect (complete) the work that He has begun.

I am so glad to have the promise of God that I am not complete yet, but He is going to complete me. Every time I stumble and every time I fall, Satan uses that as a means to discourage me from the truth in this promise. This discouragement is nothing more than Satan’s attempt to render me an ineffective witness for Jesus Christ. However, I can take joy in knowing that the temptations of Satan, while they appear to slow me down, will not prevent God from keeping His promise. I can take joy in trials, as James tells us we should, because I know it is through these trials that God is bringing me closer to Him. He is molding me and keeping this promise by continuing His work in me.

We are told, in the 2nd chapter of Philippians, to work out our own salvation. This means carry out your salvation until completion. In other words, live out your Christian life in a real and practical way. In our life, we have tremendous potential for Christ. Actively work that out. Give all of yourself to the work of Christ knowing that God will complete it in you.

I hope you will join me as I walk through Paul’s letter to the Philippian Church. There are many struggles in this life. Paul’s encouragement to the Philippians is an encouragement to us as well.

Serving Him,

Bro. Joey