Hey guys sorry i haven't posted in a while, but let's get right into this by reading our passage for today.
"So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."
Let's break this down starting with verses 1-2. Firstly, we see the words "so if". Some translations translate this as "since", or "because". Paul used this expression a lot to make a point. Instead of "if", we can read this as because. The encouragement in Christ is Christ walking beside us day by day encouraging us. The comfort from love is also God comforting us by His love. Participation in the Spirit is the partnership we have with fellow believers through the Holy Spirit. And lastly God has shown us affection and sympathy by forgiving us.
Verse 2 says "complete my joy". What does that mean? Well, by reading the rest of the verse we can understand what he meant. Paul strongly desired these believers to be unified in Christ. He wanted them to have the same mind, the same love, and to be unified in one purpose. That purpose being the glory of God.
Verse 3 is now starting to explain the practical way to be unified. If we all lived by this verse, i don't believe we would ever fight. If we never did things out of selfish ambition or deceit, and always counted others as more important than ourselves, we would have no problem living in perfect harmony.
Verse 4 continues explaining this concept of how to live in unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ. It says to not look after our own interests, but to look at the interests of others.
I went on a missions trip one time with my youth group and sometime during this trip, we came up with a concept. Well really it was more like we had a cool acronym and wanted a concept for it. But anyway, i still remember it. One word. Unicorn. Now you may be wondering, "what does unicorn have to do with being unified in Christ?" Well it's simple. Look at the letters. UN is for unified, I is for in, C is for Christ, and well we never really got to the ORN. (One of my friends said it stood for "our righteous nazarene" but we never really got that cleared.) Nevertheless, whenever i see unicorn it reminds me to stay unified in Christ. So never forget to be unicorn, regardless of the terribleness of the acronym. ^_^
Monday, August 13, 2012
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Philippians 1:19-26 ( To Live Is Christ)
Alright guys one thing, I'm posting this from mobile so I'm not gonna put the passage here. So either get your bible or just go to bible gateway and read from there.
This is quite possibly the passage of scripture that has influenced me more than any other. Verse 21 (For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain) is my life verse. It's on my youth room wall with my name under it, and it's on a necklace I wear everyday. I live by that verse because it sums up the Christian life. But let's start with verse 19. 19 and 20 actually should have been with the last section, but anyway they just speak more about what we discussed last study. Verse 21 is where we start the new section. Verses 21-26 must be talked about together to fully understand them. What does "to live is Christ" mean? Most of the time, we focus on the to die is gain part as almost a joke. But if you really look deep, this passage has so much more meaning. Paul I saying how much he wants to die to be with his Lord, but that he needs to stay on earth for the fellow believers and to continue God's work for him. He has such a strong desire to die and be with Christ, but he also has an equally strong desire to live for Christ and to give his all for Christ. His mindset should also be ours. How great a testimony? This sums up all of Christianity in one statement. To live is Christ, and to die is gain. Take that statement and live by it! Remember that nothing else matters in our lives except what we did for Christ! And that when we die, we're even better off because we're going to be with Him! I'm not saying by any means that I live this way, but I do try. I'm don't even know if it's possible to truly live like nothing matters except Christ, but we should all at least try right?
Sorry for the mini rant but this is one thing I'm passionate about. I absolutely live this passage of scripture and try to live by it. I hope you will all do the same. ~ The Disciple Jesus Loves
This is quite possibly the passage of scripture that has influenced me more than any other. Verse 21 (For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain) is my life verse. It's on my youth room wall with my name under it, and it's on a necklace I wear everyday. I live by that verse because it sums up the Christian life. But let's start with verse 19. 19 and 20 actually should have been with the last section, but anyway they just speak more about what we discussed last study. Verse 21 is where we start the new section. Verses 21-26 must be talked about together to fully understand them. What does "to live is Christ" mean? Most of the time, we focus on the to die is gain part as almost a joke. But if you really look deep, this passage has so much more meaning. Paul I saying how much he wants to die to be with his Lord, but that he needs to stay on earth for the fellow believers and to continue God's work for him. He has such a strong desire to die and be with Christ, but he also has an equally strong desire to live for Christ and to give his all for Christ. His mindset should also be ours. How great a testimony? This sums up all of Christianity in one statement. To live is Christ, and to die is gain. Take that statement and live by it! Remember that nothing else matters in our lives except what we did for Christ! And that when we die, we're even better off because we're going to be with Him! I'm not saying by any means that I live this way, but I do try. I'm don't even know if it's possible to truly live like nothing matters except Christ, but we should all at least try right?
Sorry for the mini rant but this is one thing I'm passionate about. I absolutely live this passage of scripture and try to live by it. I hope you will all do the same. ~ The Disciple Jesus Loves
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Philippians 1:12-18 (Prison is Awesome!)
Hey guys! Let's go ahead and start off by reading the entire passage for context.
Alright so let's go ahead and dive in with verse 12. What does Paul mean by "what has happened to me."? Well, we know from the following verses that he is talking about his imprisonment. So he is saying that his being in prison is a good thing because the gospel in being spread. In verse 13 he says that all the guards and "all the rest" (almost everyone) knew he was imprisoned for Christ. And it is understood that Paul means that all these people are hearing the gospel. Also in verse 14, Paul says that most of the Christians that knew of his imprisonment were being encouraged and spoke even more boldly now! So because of Paul's testimony, the other Christians were becoming that much bolder! That is amazing when you think about it. If one of your friends is talking about Jesus at Starbucks, and he gets kicked out for it, i don't think you're going to immediately start witnessing there. But that's exactly what happened! Paul got thrown in jail for sharing the gospel, and then all the brothers in Christ were encouraged to be even bolder!
Verse 15 says that some were preaching from envy and rivalry. What does that mean? Most people were doing it for the sake of Christ, but others didn't do it to follow Jesus. They were doing it to try to gain more fame than Paul. Verse 16 gives more information on the people doing it for Jesus. It adds that they were also doing it out of love for Paul knowing that they needed to keep strong while Paul was in prison. Verses 17-18 are interesting. We see what I stated above that some people were spreading the gospel out of envy for Paul, but verse 18 is powerful. Paul is saying that it doesn't matter that he's in prison, or that the gospel is being proclaimed out of that envy, he says that as long as Christ is proclaimed, he will rejoice. Wow! We see so many examples from Paul in his letters that are great for us to follow. We should always rejoice no matter what affliction comes our way if Christ is being proclaimed.
So in conclusion, Paul's main point in these verses (paraphrased obviously) is, "Dude I'm in prison, but it's awesome because 1. the gospel is being shared, and 2. most of the brothers are being even more bold than before! Some people share just because they don't like me and they're jealous, but it doesn't matter because Christ is being proclaimed! So while im sitting in this jail cell, I'm just gonna keep rejoicing while the gospel is being preached!" I'm sorry, but i don't believe i could write that from jail. I would be too caught up in the badness of jail instead of the good that comes out of it. But this is just another example of Romans 8:28 :) (If you don't what that verse is, google it ;) Thank you guys for studying with me again, and i can't wait to start on the next section! ~ The Disciple Jesus Loves.
"12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice," ~ Philippians 1:12-18
Verse 15 says that some were preaching from envy and rivalry. What does that mean? Most people were doing it for the sake of Christ, but others didn't do it to follow Jesus. They were doing it to try to gain more fame than Paul. Verse 16 gives more information on the people doing it for Jesus. It adds that they were also doing it out of love for Paul knowing that they needed to keep strong while Paul was in prison. Verses 17-18 are interesting. We see what I stated above that some people were spreading the gospel out of envy for Paul, but verse 18 is powerful. Paul is saying that it doesn't matter that he's in prison, or that the gospel is being proclaimed out of that envy, he says that as long as Christ is proclaimed, he will rejoice. Wow! We see so many examples from Paul in his letters that are great for us to follow. We should always rejoice no matter what affliction comes our way if Christ is being proclaimed.
So in conclusion, Paul's main point in these verses (paraphrased obviously) is, "Dude I'm in prison, but it's awesome because 1. the gospel is being shared, and 2. most of the brothers are being even more bold than before! Some people share just because they don't like me and they're jealous, but it doesn't matter because Christ is being proclaimed! So while im sitting in this jail cell, I'm just gonna keep rejoicing while the gospel is being preached!" I'm sorry, but i don't believe i could write that from jail. I would be too caught up in the badness of jail instead of the good that comes out of it. But this is just another example of Romans 8:28 :) (If you don't what that verse is, google it ;) Thank you guys for studying with me again, and i can't wait to start on the next section! ~ The Disciple Jesus Loves.
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