Rejoice!

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

4 Χαίρετε ἐν κυρίῳ πάντοτε· πάλιν ἐρῶ, χαίρετε.

What to choose from Philippians 4?  There are a lot of great passages, but this is the one that speaks most clearly to my heart right now because I needed to be reminded of this.  When are we to rejoice?  πάντοτε.  There is no getting around this word with exegetical gymnastics.  We are to rejoice always.  At all times.  No matter what is going on, we are to rejoice.

That does not mean that we rejoice in our circumstances.  I did not have a particularly good weekend for a few reasons.  I was not about to rejoice in the circumstances.  However, Paul does give me a legitimate direction for rejoicing.  I am not to rejoice in my circumstances, but ἐν κυρίῳ.  And just in case we missed it, Paul tells us again.

This is both convicting and uplifting.  It is convicting because I see how poorly I do this.  I get caught up in the moment, start to feel sorry for myself, and just generally spiral downhill.  It is uplifting because we would not be given a command that we could not obey by the power of the Spirit.  Why is it possible?  The Lord is always worthy of our rejoicing.  When He becomes our focus then the crush of the world becomes less important.

Where are you putting your focus?  Are you wallowing in your circumstances or are you focusing on the risen Savior?  Will you join me in repenting from looking at the world?

Ever Forward

Philippians 3:14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

14 κατὰ σκοπὸν διώκω εἰς τὸ βραβεῖον τῆς ἄνω κλήσεως τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.

I have used this verse in counseling more times than I can count.  Here Paul talks about how he does not look back, but presses on.  He realizes that he is not perfect, but he knows who is perfect.  That's why he keeps pressing on.  He has a goal in mind and he wants to push to get there.

When I read this verse, I think of part of this speech(apparently mirror-imaged to avoid being taken off YouTube).  I love the spot where he talks about how "we are advancing constantly and we are not interested in holding onto anything except...the ENEMY."  That's how I want to live my Christian life.

Are you pressing on?  Do you see the prize in front of you?  Or are you looking inward or backwards?  Paul makes it clear that the Christian is to be pressing on.  I pray that I would.

To the Point

Philippians 2:29 So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, 30 for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.

29 προσδέχεσθε οὖν αὐτὸν ἐν κυρίῳ μετὰ πάσης χαρᾶς καὶ τοὺς τοιούτους ἐντίμους ἔχετε, 30  ὅτι διὰ τὸ ἔργον Χριστοῦ μέχρι θανάτου ἤγγισεν παραβολευσάμενος τῇ ψυχῇ, ἵνα ἀναπληρώσῃ τὸ ὑμῶν ὑστέρημα τῆς πρός με λειτουργίας.

I was going to write about the earlier section in Philippians 2.  After all, that is where Paul exhorts us to the same kind of humility that Christ showed by coming to earth.  It's a wonderful passage and one that we should all meditate on.  It tells us how we are to interact with each other and it gives us tremendous insight into Christology.

I find that when I go through Philippians I tend to gloss over 2:19-30.  There Paul addresses the Philippians directly about sending Timothy and Epaphroditus to them.  On one hand, they seem similar to the end of 2 Timothy where he asks for his cloak.  But I want to comment on verse 30.

I've always marveled at how direct Paul is here.  If this isn't an appeal to make them feel a bit ashamed I don't know what is.  He writes about Epaphroditus, but then shames them about how he had to risk his life to complete something that the Philippians didn't.  I don't know exactly what that was.  I suppose that commentators have ideas, but I can't imagine it would go beyond conjecture.  The point is that Paul calls them out very directly.  He has lots of really nice things to write to the Philippians, but there is still this one verse that stands throughout time.

This tells me that there is a time for direct address like this.  We can't always dance around issues.  It is much easier to be passive-aggressive, but sometimes we have to be honest.  This is easier said than done though.  I know that is is easy for me to be too snarky, so I guard against this.  But Paul does give us a model, unless you need to be an apostle to do this.  I don't think so though, do you?

What is Life?

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

21 Ἐμοὶ γὰρ τὸ ζῆν Χριστὸς καὶ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν κέρδος.

This passage is part of a discourse Paul has about his life and ministry.  Paul's desire is to depart and be with Christ, but he concedes that God is keeping him around for the benefit of the Philippians.  Here he says that τὸ ζῆν Χριστὸς.  This is an infinitive, so the translation is very literal.  τὸ ἀποθανεῖν is as well. The process of living is Christ, but dying is actually gain.

This is one of those real gut-check verses.  When I read verses like this I wonder how well this applies to me.  Do I believe that living is Christ?  What does that even mean?  If we look at the surrounding verses we learn about the fruitfulness of Paul's ministry.  He is advancing the kingdom of Christ with his life.  That seems to be what he means.  Am I doing that?  Maybe a little, but as I wrote yesterday I am often convicted about how much more I could be doing.

And what about this dying business?  I'm 36, so death seems very far away.  However, I am aware enough of the news to know that I am one blown tire away from my death.  Or maybe I'm one reckless truck driver at a red light away from death.  Traffic accidents are the common example, but all kinds of things could happen to me.  I run a lot, but I could easily have a heart attack while climbing a hill.  These things happen.  Am I ready for that?

When I contemplate death I think of how I would leave my family behind and that is what bothers me.  However, the idea of meeting the Lord face-to-face excites me.  I do not look forward to dying and want to live as long as I can, but I have no fear of death either.  Why should I?  To die is gain!

Can you say that?  If not, I urge you to come to know Jesus.  There is hope for eternal life in Him.  Otherwise you are rightly afraid to die.