Wisdom of Solomon 5:15-16

But the righteous live forever,
And their reward is with the Lord;
And their care is by the Most High.
Therefore they shall receive a kingly dwelling of dignity
And a crown of beauty from the hand of the Lord,
Because He will shelter them with His right hand
And protect them with His arm.

Encouraging Words

Living a life for Christ gives us blessings that far exceed our time here on earth in our temporal bodies. We must always remember that our journey goes on through the remainder of eternity and that the choices we make on this side of eternity do have an impact on our heavenly future. Now is the time to be pursuing Christlikeness and His righteousness. Glory be to God!

Philippians 1:15-18

Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.

Personal Challenge

In all that we do, we are to be proclaiming or preaching Christ. In most cases, it is our behavior that preaches the loudest. This is our personal challenge, to be living our lives in such a way as to glorify God. We also need to recognize, as Paul did, that sometimes others preach Christ differently than we do and that we should take joy in that because Christ is still being preached Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Wisdom of Solomon 4:7-9

But though a righteous man may die before his time,
He shall be at rest.
For old age is not honored for its length of existence,
Nor measured by its number of years;
But discernment is gray hair for mankind,
And a spotless life is the maturity of old age.

Encouraging Words

Throughout the entire history of mankind, we have spent so much time and wealth looking for that allusive fountain of youth. People do all kinds of things to stay forever young. Here is a reminder of the beautiful and glorious aspects of old age. With gray hair comes discernment, due to the many experiences of a long-lived life. With maturity of old age, if we have grown in our relationship with God, our life becomes more spotless and purer, in Him. Glory be to God!

Philippians 1:3-8

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy,
for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now,
being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace.
For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.

Encouraging Words

This set of verses from Paul, written first to the people of Philippi, and secondly to all of the followers of Christ that have the opportunity to read this letter, is such a blessing to us. I specifically call out verse six because of the power in that verse as it relates to each of us individually and collectively. When we answered the call of Jesus to follow Him, He began a work of transforming us into an image of Him. He will never abandon that work, no matter how much we resist. He will continue working within us until we are mirrors of Him to the needy world around us. Why resist? Glory be to God!

Wisdom of Solomon 4:2

When virtue is present, people imitate it,
And when it goes away, they long for it.
Throughout one’s lifetime,
Virtue leads the struggle for undefiled prizes,
Wearing a crown and conquering.

Personal Challenge

What a beautiful explanation of virtue. It is such a shame that we live in a day where virtue is no longer present, especially amongst so many of our political leaders. It has become acceptable to lie, cheat, steal, verbally abuse everyone that disagrees with us, and commit many other forms of debauchery, without any remorse. We must all proclaim, “Lord, have mercy!”, and seek our Father’s forgiveness for falling in line behind those who perpetrate these acts. Let us, those who proclaim to be followers of Christ, seek His forgiveness and pursue those virtues that glorify Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Philippians 1:2

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Encouraging Words

Paul often started off his letters to the first century churches with greetings like this one. We must also remember that by the grace of God, these letters are also written to us. He is calling upon our God to give us grace and peace as we read through this letter. What a joy to know that this 2000-year-old greeting is still called for us. Glory be to God!

Wisdom of Solomon 3:9

Those who trust in Him will understand truth,
And the faithful shall continue with Him in love,
Because grace and mercy are upon His elect.

Personal Challenge

Real truth comes from the right entity that we put our trust in. If we desire to receive godly, righteous truth, then we must put our trust in God, the only source of this kind of truth. If we put our trust in men who proclaim their tainted version of the truth, then all that we receive is corrupted truth, lies painted to look like the truth. The same goes for organizations or parties or institutions that pander unfounded, ungodly lies painted as the truth. True truth only comes from God. Lord, have mercy!

Ephesians 6:10-18

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

Encouraging Words

This passage stands on its own and needs no additional commentary. We are commanded to be strong in our faithful commitment to our Lord and to stand in the breach of the spiritual battle that rages on around us. The encouraging part is that God gives all the battle gear that we need to wage this war. Glory be to God!