Philippians 3:12; Press On

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”

Paul says that he has not already obtained all this…what “this” is he talking about?  In the previous passage he talked about his desire to know Christ, to share in the fellowship of his sufferings and to attain to the resurrection from the dead.  That is Paul’s goal and when he wrote this letter, it had yet to be attained.

Paul shouldn’t be too hard on himself because I don’t know if anyone could ever fully obtain that goal, at least on this side of heaven.  The gospel is boundless, we can never comprehend it in its all-encompassing complexity.  But isn’t that the type of goals we should set?  Grand, sweeping goals that are worthy of our time and our effort?  As followers of Christ, I think we forget that we have the Spirit of God residing within us to empower and enable us so that we are able to do all things through Christ.

We should dream big dreams.  We should reach for things that far exceed our abilities.  We should step into life boldly knowing that the Creator of the Universe is on our side.  If God is for us, who can be against us?  We should love extravagantly, serve ridiculously, and give hilariously!  Isn’t that what God has done for us?

At Christmas we celebrate the birth of a child in a manger who would grow up to live the perfect life we could not live, die to pay the penalty for our sins, and rise again to defeat death so we can have a relationship with God for now and evermore.  And that same Jesus says these astounding words,

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” – John 14:12

Um, what?  We were created to do good works which God has planned in advance for us to do. (Eph. 2:10)  Those works will be along the lines of what Christ did and some will be even greater.  Not because we are so awesome, but because the Holy Spirit resides within us doing the work of Christ through us.  Astonishing! 

Paul knows that he has not arrived, but instead of lowering his expectations or giving up, he pressed on.  He spent his time and energy taking hold of the gospel of Christ that had taken a hold of him.  Are you spending your time doing the same?  Or are you distracted by the thousands of things that divert our attention away from Christ? 

This Christmas I challenge you to pray one prayer over and over until you get answer.  “How can I be used to spread your word and bring glory to your Name?  What good works do you have for me?”  And if you are really bold, a second one, “What am I doing that is distracting me from that?” 

Pray bold prayers and see how the Lord comes through.  Have a very Merry Christmas!

“My hope and prayer is that the body of Christ in America will awake with holy boldness, a boldness content neither with silence nor mere words but that backs up those words with action and results.” – Frank R. Wolf

Philippians 3:10-11; To Know Christ

“I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.”

“I want to know Christ.”  If you are looking for a good New Year’s Resolution, there it is.  The older I get, the more I realize that knowing Christ is not my primary desire.  I want to do things for Christ.  I want to learn more about Christ.  I want blessings from Christ.  I want to become more like Christ, or at least less sinful.  I even want to be obedient to Christ. 

While there is nothing wrong with that list, they put other things – good things – ahead of a growing, intimate relationship with Christ.  I am beginning to realize that part of me would rather have religion than a relationship.  Religion is so much easier: do that, don’t do this, make sure you are on the right side of the bell curve and you are good to go.  Relationship is a little messier and much less defined.

This is a truth that has challenged me for years: you can do all sorts of things for Jesus without ever knowing Him.  Matthew 7:21-23 speaks clearly to that:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Religion leads to self-righteousness, judgment, bitterness and ultimately death.  But relationship is where you find love, joy, peace, and intimacy – it is well worth the work! 

Perhaps, like me, you need to reorder your priorities.  As we get closer to Christmas, spend more energy getting to know Jesus through quiet times in prayer, worship, and studying His word.  You may need to step back from a commitment or two to do that – and that is okay. 

We let the urgent overshadow the important; it is time to make the import urgent.  Start today!

“It is the things that are right and noble and good from the natural standpoint that keep us back from God’s best.” – Oswald Chambers

Philippians 3:10-11; Dying to Self

“I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.”

“Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.”  You may remember that line from a David Crowder song a few years ago.  I believe it is a pretty accurate statement.  We want the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow but we don’t necessarily want to chase the leprechaun to find it. 

This plays out in our lives in lots of different ways:

• I want to learn to play the piano…but I won’t commit to practice or pay for lessons. 
• I really need a new car…but I won’t cut back on my spending to save money. 
• I desperately want to get in shape…but I don’t want to change my eating habits or work out.

This plays out in our spiritual lives as well:

• My heart’s desire is to have an intimate relationship with Jesus…but I won’t discipline myself to spend quality time with Him.
• I want my friend to know Christ…but I don’t want to risk offending her to bring up spiritual things.
• I need to break a certain sin that has a hold on me…but I don’t want to share it so others can pray for me or sacrifice the time to pray and fast.

I believe it is human nature to want a shortcut, to get a result without going through the process.  The majority of us are lazy and undisciplined by nature.  Why is it so hard to wake up early to spend time with the Lord?  Because we would rather sleep.  Why is it next to impossible to eat a healthy diet?  Because we like to eat junk.  As I write this I am eating handfuls of Puppy Chow, aka, Muddy Buddies; Chex cereal dipped in peanut butter and dunked in powdered sugar.  It’s one of my favorites, but definitely not conducive to a healthy lifestyle.
We’ll continue with this next week, but until then, Paul was not afraid of the process to become like Christ.  His desire was to know Christ, to be acquainted with his suffering and death so that He might also experience the resurrection as well. 

Paul knew that to get the result you HAVE to go through the process.  You cannot have resurrection until death has occurred; both physically and spiritually.  Instead of dodging that truth, Paul embraced it.  Have you embraced it as well?

“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” – John 12:24

Philippians 3:7-9 III; In Jesus

“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.”

There is so much in this passage that I can’t leave it just yet!  Today I want to talk about the phrase, “that I may gain Christ and be found in him”.  The phrase “to gain Christ” is in contrast to “consider everything a loss” – a well-worded phrase.  Christ is not “gained” by giving everything away – He is gained through grace by faith alone.  But once we have Christ we discover that Christ IS gain and everything else is loss. 

“To be found in him,” or “in Christ” has become church-speak at its finest.  We kind of know what it means, but not really.  Being “in Christ” implies a complete reliance and dependency on Him.  Think of Wren before she was born, Wren was literally “in Lynda” and completely dependent upon Lynda for sustenance, protection, housing and everything else. 

Do you realize that you are dependent on Jesus for absolutely everything?  In the physical realm: the next breath you take, your next heartbeat, your next thought, the earth’s next rotation, that photosynthesis is occurring – all of that is dependent upon Jesus.  In the spiritual realm: grace, mercy, forgiveness, sanctification, justification, glorification, righteousness, prayers on our behalf, advocating for us before the Father – everything!

We are righteous in the eyes of the Father not because we worked really hard and were super disciplined, but because Christ gave us His righteousness.  This is called imputed righteousness, we don’t earn it or grow into it; it is His righteousness that becomes ours at salvation.  We wear His righteousness like a cloak that completely covers us – we are in Him.

One last picture, when God flooded the earth, the only people to survive were the people who were in the ark.  Only those IN the ark survived God’s judgment.  Which is a perfect illustration of Christ; only those IN Christ will survive God’s judgment.  “In the ark” really helps me picture “in Christ”. You are either floating along, safe in the ark or not; just as you are either in Christ or not.

How about you?  Is Jesus your only hope for…everything?  Or as we talked last week, are you still trying to earn your forgiveness, to pay your own way, or to put God in your debt?  Are your decisions today placing you more firmly in Christ, or are they drawing you out of Christ?  Good questions to ponder…

“Christ is not valued at all unless He is valued above all.” – Augustine

Philippians 3:7-9; Balance Sheet

“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.”

Paul was an achiever, maybe even an over-achiever.  He was probably president of his senior class, member of every club and committee, and voted most likely to become High Priest.  He spent his life climbing the religious ladder, reached the top, and realized that the religious ladder didn’t reach God.  Actually, Paul didn’t realize that – Jesus had to get his attention.  Paul remained blind to the truth until Christ blinded him.

At some level, we all need to be knocked in the dirt by Jesus to break us from our performance-based faith.  That term is a bit oxymoronic – if it is “performance-based”, it isn’t much of a faith – but I think you know what I mean.  When Paul emerged from his hotel room after Ananias laid hands on him to restore his sight; Paul was a new man.  I often wonder what conversations Christ had with Paul during those sightless, but insightful days.

Whatever else happened, we know that the direction of Paul’s life changed.  He went from persecuting Jesus to preaching Jesus.  Paul looked at all of his hard-earned accomplishments that had allowed him to rise through the ranks of Judaism and he tossed them in the trash.  All his gain he now considered loss – a waste of time.  He lost all things to gain the one thing that mattered: Jesus.

Does that sound familiar?  Jesus told a story about a man who found a treasure in a field.  He went home, sold all he had, returned and purchased the field.  Ditto for the pearl of great price.  When you find the only thing that matters, the only logical thing is to give up whatever it takes, even everything you have, to acquire it.

Have you realized that Jesus is the ONLY thing that matters?  Or are you still chasing after things that you think will bring you happiness or peace or approval or whatever it is that your soul desperately needs?  By the way, what you are chasing is probably the very thing that is getting in the way of your relationship with Jesus.

Because of Christ, we don’t have to be an achiever – in fact, we cannot be an achiever.  We cannot achieve anything when Christ has already achieved everything for us on the cross.  Compared to the work of Christ, our good works are good only for the trash.  And that is a good thing!

“(Paul’s) balance-sheet has on one side ‘all things lost,’ on the other ‘Christ gained,’ and that is profitable trading.” – Alexander MacLaren

PS - In and of themselves, things (success, finances, relationships, accomplishments, etc.) are not bad.  Things become bad when you place your value and worth in them instead of in Christ.  Our souls will never be satisfied until Christ is the most important thing in our lives.  The world is too much with us…

Philippians 3:7-9; Accomplishments

“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.”

Last week Paul told us about his boast-worthy accomplishments.  A very impressive list too.  In today’s vernacular it would sound something like:

“I was raised in the church, my dad was a deacon and my mom taught Sunday school and sang in the choir.  I was baptized at 9 years old, active in the youth group, went on mission trips, and was a leader in my college ministry, I helped with the poor and other charities, started bible studies in my dorm room, graduated from seminary and worked for a para-church organization after graduation.”

Like Paul’s list, these are all very good things.  You should be involved in the church and help with the poor and be a leader.  But the million dollar question is this: Deep down, do you do these things to earn God’s approval?  Do you feel you NEED to do them or God will be angry or disappointed?  Do you draw your self-worth and identity from the things you do?

You can do all the right things for all the wrong reasons.  Relationship with Christ is not about what we do for Him, it’s about what Christ has already done for us.  We are saved by grace, sustained by grace, and one day will be glorified completely because of grace.  We cannot earn it and we cannot pay it back.  We are totally, completely, utterly and absolutely dependent upon the grace of God for everything…and I mean EVERYTHING!

Paul looked at his accomplishments, his diplomas and degrees and said, “They are garbage.”  The Greek word for garbage means literally, “waste thrown to dogs, like filthy scraps of garbage (table-scraps, dung, muck, sweepings); refuse, what is good-for-nothing except to be discarded.” Our accomplishments apart from Christ are just that: waste thrown to dogs.

I challenge you to dive deep into your motivation for serving Christ.  Are you working to earn God’s approval or are you serving because God has already approved you?  Freedom, joy and peace are the byproduct of serving out of love; bitterness, fatigue and resentment are byproducts of working out of obligation.  Which of those sound more like your life?

And honestly, I operate out of both…often in the same day. I am wildly inconsistent in this area.  But that is okay – God’s grace covers that too.  We’ll dig into this passage a little more over the next couple of weeks, but a quick summary: cling to Christ, not your accomplishments.

“All outward things, unless He work in them and by them, are in vain.” – John Wesley

Philippians 3:4-6; Jumping

“…Though I myself have reasons for such confidence.  If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eight day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church, as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.”

Image you lived in Hawaii – if you are like me, you may have often imagined that.  Now imagine that one of the volcanos on your island was in danger of erupting.  Not just a little eruption with some ash and lava, but a cataclysmic eruption; think Krakatoa, Mt. St. Helens, and Pompeii rolled into one.  At that point your only hope for survival is to get off the island and to California. 

So you figure, “I’ve always been a really good jumper”, so you start working out.  Squats, lunges, box jumps, P90X in the morning and Insanity at night.  Others are practicing with you, but you can jump further than all of them.  But you are careful to share your knowledge and techniques, you want to be encouraging.

The day of the eruption arrives and all the jumpers stand on the beach facing California.  As the explosion rocks the island and plumes of smoke shoot into the sky, everyone begins running toward the water.  As they reach the water each person jumps for all they are worth – and land 3 feet, 4 feet, 5 feet into the water. 

But you are the best of the best, you can jump farther than anyone because you are dedicated and fit and talented.  You have completed every workout, watched every video, read every book and even did yoga!  You take off – a picture perfect jump, you are soaring with the birds…and land 8 feet in the water. 

Shocked, you turn around and look at those in the water with you.  Nobody says nice jump.  Nobody says that they wish they had worked as hard as you did.  They all are staring at the wall of rock, ash, and lava rapidly descending upon you and wondering why they didn’t just get on the plane that would have carried them safely to California.

A ridiculous scenario isn’t it?  Who would think they could jump from Hawaii to California?  Well, who would think they could be good enough to attain the perfect righteousness of God based on their own merit? 

That is what Paul is discussing in this passage; the utter foolishness of propping yourself up according to your works.  Do you ever do that?  Or more accurately, how often do you do that? 

Something to contemplate until next time.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9

Philippians 3:2-3 II; Circumcision

“Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. (3) For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh –“

The practice of circumcision was given by God to Abraham as a symbol of the covenant between them.  It was an outward expression of their inner commitment to God, but for many it became a source of unhealthy pride, “I am a child of Abraham – circumcised on the eighth day…” without any thought given to their inner obedience and relationship with God.

Paul says that just because you are physically circumcised does not mean that your heart and spirit are right before God.  Just like your church attendance and outward activities don’t necessarily mean that your heart and spirit are right before the Lord.  As 1 Samuel 16:7 reminds us, “The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

With that as a starting point, let’s look at the rest of this passage.  Paul says the following about the members of the Philippian church:

-          We are the circumcision – Our hearts and spirits are submitted to the will of God and we live our life in obedience to Him.  Children of God obey externally and internally.

-          We serve God by his Spirit – We serve God through His strength and for His glory, not so we will feel good or that others will be impressed.

-          We who boast in Jesus Christ – We give Jesus the glory for the things he does through us and we intentionally talk about him.

-          We who put no confidence in the flesh – We understand that we can accomplish nothing apart from Jesus and that we live and breathe solely because of his grace in our lives.

Do those four statements resonate with your life?  I will artfully dodge that question and say that I very much want my life to look like that. 

Too often I spend more time looking “good” than being good.  Too often I serve according to how and where I like to serve instead of where the need is greatest.  Too often I don’t speak about Jesus when I have the opportunity.  And far too often I feel I can accomplish things on my own.  

How about you?  I challenge you to pray through those statements by Paul and ask that God will instill these traits in you.  Each of those statements are based in humility, so in humility confess that you cannot live up to Paul’s teaching.  We can only become like Christ through the work of his Spirit in our lives. 

"You might as well try to see without eyes, hear without ears, or breathe without lungs, as to try to live the Christian life without the Holy Spirit." -  D.L. Moody

Philippians 3:2; Word for the Day: Pernicious – 4.9.2014

“Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. (3) For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh –“

Have you ever heard of the Judaizers?  They’re not that new band you’ve been hearing so much about (at least I don’t think they are)…they are actually who Paul is talking about in this passage. The Judaizers were a group of people who believed that Gentile believers (and Jewish believers) had to follow the Jewish Law in addition to following Christ.  They would say, “You believe in Jesus – great!  Now go get circumcised, put down that bacon sandwich, follow the rest of the Jewish Law and everything will be good.” 

Paul attacked this belief vigorously any and every time he ran across it.  Why?  Because in essence, this view says that salvation is not by Christ alone.  You must believe Christ AND follow the Jewish Law.  The Judaizers were Legalists – you must DO this and this and this to be accepted by God. 

The Gospel – the Good News – is that Jesus has accomplished everything to restore relationship with God by His sacrifice on the cross.  Ephesians 2:8-9 says,

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. ⁹Not by works, lest any man should boast."

There is nothing we can do to save ourselves; salvation comes only through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.  If we begin to require additions to Christ, we say that His sacrifice was not sufficient to save us.  The entirety of scripture teaches the exact opposite – salvation is by grace alone, not by works.

My question for you today: are you adding something to the sacrifice of Jesus so that you can be acceptable to God? 

Is faith in Christ enough?  Or do you have to read your bible every day for Jesus to accept you?  Do you have to attend church every week so God will be happy with you?  If you forget to tithe do you think that God is angry at you? 

This plays out in our relationships with others to.  Do you judge other believers because they don’t listen to Christian music or go on mission trips or attend a small group or do things that you don’t or don’t do things that you do?  Do you pay more attention to what others do instead of who they are?

Have any of those thoughts taken root in your mind?  Legalism is a sneaky trap to fall into.  Ask God to point out any area in your life where it has taken hold, repent, and ask God to wash you clean in the freedom of Christ that was purchased with His precious blood…

“We insist that God must surely lead everyone as we believe He has led us. We refuse to allow God the freedom to deal with each of us as individuals. When we think like that, we are legalistic.” – Jerry Bridges

Philippians 3:1; Rejoice

“Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.”

According to the on-line Merriam-Webster Dictionary:  “Rejoice – to feel or show that you are very happy about something”.  Paul says rejoice in the Lord!  Do you feel a sense of happiness and joy that you have a personal relationship with Jesus?  Would those around you say that you are filled with joy about Jesus?  I’m afraid more often than not, my life has nothing to do with “rejoice”.

While we are defining things, how about this one: Perspective – the ability to see the true relationship between different objects, ideas, or circumstances.  Perspective is one of the most underrated component of life.  Our perspective determines our attitudes which determines our actions.

Perspective is what allows you to be upset that your computer crashed, but to get over it because you know you are blessed simply to have a computer. It allows you to persevere through years of school because you will have better opportunities in the future.  And perspective is what allowed Paul to write a letter encouraging the church to rejoice while he was rotting away in prison. 

Life can be incredibly hard.  People get sick and people die.  Relationships fall apart and dreams don’t come true.  People lose jobs, lose their way, and lose hope.  You can fill in the blanks – you know that life is hard. 

We shouldn’t be surprised, Jesus promised that in this life we will have trouble.  But in the next breath he stated that he has overcome the world (John 16:33).  And keeping that perspective in mind is the key to rejoicing.

It is that perspective that allows you to say, “You know what, my life is a train wreck right now.  But God is on His throne, my name is written in the Lamb’s book of life, Jesus is interceding for me at this moment, God has a good plan for my life…today still stinks, but everything is going to be okay.” 

It sounds like a platitude, but that is how you rejoice in the midst of trials.  When we keep Jesus at the forefront of our minds and remind ourselves of the unfathomable blessings of life with Him, we will rejoice in our heart and that inward expression of joy will manifest outwardly through our actions and attitudes.  Rejoice because Jesus is yours for eternity…the rest is just a moment.

“Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." – Nehemiah 8:10

Philippians 2:25-30; Serious

^"But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. ²⁶ For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. ²⁷ Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. ²⁸ Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety. ²⁹ So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him, ³⁰ because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me.”

William Borden graduated high school in 1904.  As heir to the Borden family fortune, the world was at his feet.  Literally.  For graduation, his parents gave him a trip around the world.  As he travelled to country after country, his heart was burdened for the poor and disadvantaged.  He decided that after college, he would become a missionary to the Muslim Kansu people of China.

Long story short, he did amazing ministry while studying at Yale (wait actively!) then at Princeton Seminary and upon graduation set sail for China.  He stopped in Egypt to study Arabic, caught spinal meningitis, and died one month later.  Many thought that he threw his life away, but William Borden did not.  He lived his short life in obedience to Christ and that was all that mattered to him. In his bible were written these three phrases: “No Reserve. No Retreat. No Regrets”. 

If you would like to read more about William Borden, I encourage you to read this short synopsis of his life: http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/regret.htm. 

Doing God’s work does not guarantee you safety or health in this world.  Poor Epaphroditus nearly died taking care of Paul.  Joseph and Jeremiah were both tossed into cisterns, many of the prophets died brutal deaths, as did most of the apostles.  And right now, Pastor Saeed is wasting away in an Iranian prison.  Serving God faithfully often brings trouble, not peace.

What is my point with this discussion?  One thing really: Please pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ who are serving God as missionaries or simply trying to follow Christ in areas that are hostile to believers.  Not everybody has it as easy as we do…and following Christ is going to get more challenging for us in the coming years. 

“Prayer does not fit us for the greater work, prayer is the greater work.” – Oswald Chambers

Philippians 2:19-24; Timothy
 

“I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. ²⁰ I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. ²¹ For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. ²² But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. ²³ I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. ²⁴ And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon.”

Reread that passage and replace Timothy’s name with your name.  Go ahead…

Are you the type of person Paul would want to send to the Philippians?  Do you have a genuine concern for others welfare?  Do you look out for the interests of Christ instead of your interests?  Have you proven yourself in the work of the gospel?  A pretty steep job description…

But one that we can fulfill.  Timothy was just a plain ole person like you and me, so was Paul for that matter.  What makes them seem so amazing is that they allowed God to do amazing things through them.  They focused on following Jesus and doing what He called them to do – not on what they could accomplish under their own power for their own designs. 

That is the same recipe that creates the Billy Grahams, Louie Giglios, Tim Kellers, Mother Teresas, and countless other “heroes” of faith.  A normal person submitted to Jesus Christ = someone God will use in a mighty way.  That can be you too…

To care for the interests of Christ, you must care about other people.  Jesus came to seek and save the lost, to proclaim freedom to the prisoners, to bring sight to the blind, to serve, to preach the Good News of God’s Kingdom, and to take away sin (among many others).  All of these activities are “others-focused”; if we are to be like Christ, we must consider others more important than ourselves.

So…how much of your time is spent caring for others?  Would your friends, coworkers, and classmates consider you someone who serves and cares for them?   Could you care for others more than you do at present?  Jesus poured out His life for us in obedience to his Heavenly Father – we are called to do the same.

“A good character is the best tombstone.  Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered.  Carve your name on hearts, not on marble.” – Charles H. Spurgeon