KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Saturday, December 17, 2016
Chapters: The Book of Philippians
Message: Press Toward The Mark
Hello My Friend,
The Book of Philippians was written by Paul and transcribed by Epaphroditus from Rome to the church of Philippi, in approximately 64AD. The purpose of the letter was to bring unity, to the church and encourage them to keep going for the gospel of Christ, and to express gratitude for their Christian liberty. What we are to learn from the book is that unity with Jesus brings us joy in all that we do. “Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” – Philippians 2:2.
Philippians is another one of those books that hits the heart and opens up all sorts of emotions when you read it, especially when facing some kind of suffering. The Church at Philippi in Macedonia was planted by the Apostle Paul around 53AD, the Philippians were greatly dedicated to Paul, and showed their affection by sending him supplies wherever he went. When they heard that he was imprisoned in Rome, they sent Epaphroditus, one of their pastors, to check on him, who then sent him back with this letter to thank them for their concern for him.
“According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith; That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again. Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;” – Philippians 1:20-27.
“so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body,” There are things that God allows us to go through so that Christ can be magnified through us. Let me tell you, life has a way of getting us to ease back on our time with God so He is not seen as much in the things we do, even when we are faithful, but when affliction comes we are more inclined to draw closer to Him, revealing His Son. We should never be ashamed of our past or what we are dealing with, if we keep our eyes on Jesus it will all come to pass, and even if our last days on earth come with great pain, we can rest in hope that once we God is done with us here we will be with Jesus. Paul encourages them to keep going on the same faith, even though they do not see him, and reminds them that they too will face affliction, but are the lights needed to shine Christ on the world.
“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.” – Philippians 2:12-16.
“work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” We all must come to a point in our lives where we truly understand what we are being saved from through Christ. Suffering is used to draw us closer to Him, if one has backslidden He will use it to draw them back, if one is faithful He will use it to shine through them. An amazing thing happens when we start handing everything we deal with over to God, God starts blessing us. Yes, we are going to face a lot of affliction in our faith, but if we hand it all over to Him, without complaining, the blessings start pouring out, so much so that it overwhelms you. It took me two years to let go of my pride and just hand my problems over to God, the second I did one of my prayers got answered, then another, and another. And it is not the earthly things that you are receiving that has you an emotional wreck, it is the fact that you realize how much mercy and grace God has toward you, and while you do not deserve any of it, He gladly supplies.
“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 3:7-14.
“forgetting those things which are behind,” You know, God forgives and forgets the things we have done in the past, yet somehow we find ourselves being persuaded to think that we will be judged for our past over and over again. Okay, we must all stand before Christ, and I get that we will be so overwhelmed when we see Him that we will be on our knees, and I for one believe that if we have sin in our lives we will be judged before we see Jesus, but we are forgiven, that means our judgment is not of conviction, but of merit. We will be rewarded for the things we have done after we are saved, but also reminded of what we lost out on. No matter what life you choose you are going to face some challenges, you cannot change yesterday, you cannot even change today, but you can change tomorrow. The past is there for a reason, to help us learn and grow from it, but we must move forward, let all of the past go, and not let people bully us into believing what they clearly misunderstand.
“Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” – Philippians 4:4-9.
“shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Let me tell you, there truly is nothing more rewarding in anything we do when it is being guided by Christ. Everything, and I mean everything, has success when we let Him guide us. Of course, we are going to have set backs, of course, we are going to face some trials, but remember, we cannot get to the top of the mountain unless we keep climbing, and we must also come down from the mountain at some point. We can do all things through Christ! Never forger that. “As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:36-39.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” – Philippians 2:10-11.
Today’s Prayer: God, There have been times when I was so overwhelmed with things that I just wanted to walk away from everything, but You proved to me time and time again that You are always with me and take care of me. Lord, when life tries to knock me down, the past tries to haunt me, or people try to convince me that You are condemning me for something, remind me of Your promises and how much You have done for me as I endured my trials, even when I made silly decisions that caused some pain. I ask these things in Jesus’ name, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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