Philippians 4:8-9

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

Encouraging Words

“And the God of peace will be with you.” So, in the previous verses, we found out how to live our lives in order to receive true peace that can only come from God. Now Paul tells us what to do to have the God of peace ever present in our lives. We are to meditate or occupy our minds with the following things: truth, nobility, just living, purity, loveliness, good report from good behaviors, virtue, and anything praiseworthy, Doing this prepares our hearts, minds, and souls for the God of peace to be with us. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Encouraging Words

One thing that so many people are looking for is peace. Sometimes it is finding a place of peace away from our job, or the activities of the world that are weighing us down, or maybe even from our families. However, this kind of peace is temporary and shallow. The peace of God is something that God, Himself, is trying to bestow upon us. How do we get to a place where we can receive this peace? Rejoicing in the Lord…always. Being gentle toward our fellow human being. Don’t be anxious about anything, and by praying all the time with a spirit of thanksgiving. If we are willing to do our part then God will give us a peace that surpasses all understanding and will guard our hearts and minds through His Son. Glory be to God!

Philippians 3:12-14
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Personal Challenge

Anything worth having is worth struggling and fighting for. This is why we fix our focus on the prize of the resurrection that our living and loving God has promised us. With this prize in mind, we push forward through every obstacle, challenge, and difficulty that comes in our way. We know that we can hold on to our Christ because He has promised to hold on to us. The prize is worth it. Glory be to God!

Philippians 3:8-11

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Personal Challenge

We live in a day, and a location, where we are extremely blessed. Our blessings exceed virtually all of the generations that have gone before us and the majority of the world around us. It is the things that make up these worldly blessings that I must count as loss compared to the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. If I am willing to set aside all of my earthly wealth and blessings for the sake of Christ and His heavenly kingdom and blessings then I can use them for His glory and edification. Through the faith the He has given me, I can serve Him unencumbered by the earthly blessings bestowed upon me. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Philippians 2:14-16

Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.

Personal Challenge

So, if we are supposed to be working out our salvation for the remainder of our lives, how do we do that? The scriptures teach us a lot about this, but these three verses that follow the admonition to work out our salvation focus on our behavior in difficult times. We are to work through these difficult times without complaining and disputing. We do this with the joy that we have from knowing that our salvation is in Jesus Christ and so that we can be blameless and harmless amongst those around us, especially those who do not know our Lord. We do this so that we may shine the light of Christ into the dark, dreary, and lost world. We do this so that our labor for God is not in vain. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.

Philippians 2:12-13

Therefore, my beloved, as you 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 who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Personal challenge

It is clear in the scriptures that we are saved only by God’s grace and mercy through the Work of our Lord Jesus Christ. But our salvation does not stop there. We are to be spending the remainder of our lives working out our own salvation by living for Christ, pursuing Him, and striving to be like Him. This is a process and our God is active in this process working within us. Glory be to God!

Daniel 6:5-6

The administrators and governors sought to find some charge against Daniel, but they could find no charge or wrongdoing or fault against him because he was faithful. Then the administrators said, “We will find nothing against Daniel unless we find it in the laws of his God.”

Personal Challenge

This little tidbit about Daniel speaks volumes about who he was and makes me wonder if someone would ever look at my life this way. Unfortunately, I know that I could never rise to the level that Daniel had achieved in his life. So what is the backstory here? Daniel was another one of the young Jewish men that was taken into captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar, given a new name, and merged into the Babylonian empire. However, the king never realized how committed Daniel, and his three friends Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego were to their God, Yahweh. Not only were they committed to their God, but they lived their lives in their new roles in such a way that both glorified their God and honored the ruler that they now lived and served under. Daniel was so faithful to his God and living a godly life, that those in the courts where he was serving the king could find nothing that they could accuse him of to get him out of his position and good graces with the king. The only way that they could find to trap Daniel was to use one of the laws of his God. And this is what they did. Read the rest of the story, you will love it. My prayer is that someday I will be living my life in such a way that I could be seen as a Daniel. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Philippians 2:5-7

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

Personal Challenge

Throughout the expanse of eternity, Jesus is and has been God the Son, past, present, and future. However, a little over 2,000 years ago, in a small and obscure village, Jesus humbled Himself and became a little child, born of a virgin, into poverty and oppression, and grew into a man. He lived a humble life that was comparable to being a servant, submitting to God the Father and His fellow human being oh love, even unto a horrible death. He arose from that death, victorious over the gates of hell paving the way for each and every one of us to receive eternal life in His kingdom. We are reminded by Paul in this letter to the Philippians that we are to be like-minded with Christ and to be willing to give our lives, humbly and complete to Him and our neighbor as He did. This is being a Christian. This is being a follower of Christ, loving our God above all else, including life, and loving our neighbor above ourselves. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Daniel 3:40

So let this be our sacrifice before You today,
And may it be accomplished for those who follow You;
For there is no shame for those who trust in You.

Encouraging Words

Daniel is another one of those books in the Old Testament that is different in the Septuagint versus the version used in the Western church. Inserted between the accounting of the three young men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, entering into the fiery furnace and their coming out, is the prayer of Azariah. Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael were three young Israeli men that were taken into captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar, along with Daniel and other young men. Nebuchadnezzar gave them new Babylonian names as part of his indoctrinating them into his kingdom. Hananiah was renamed Shadrach. Azariah was renamed Meshach. Mishael was renamed Abednego. In verses 26 through 45, we have this prayer of Azariah (Meshach). This verse pops out to me as a reminder that everything that we do in our lives should be a sacrifice for our God. We do these sacrificial offerings to our God out of our love for Him and our appreciation for all that He has done for us, and we know that there is no shame before Him and His great love and mercy. Glory be to God!