Meditations

Philippians 2:1-18

Surrender, not study, leads to the mind of Christ.

Lordship, not learning, leads to the life of Christ.

Though we can certainly learn about the mind of Christ, His mind is not something we acquire by learning. And though we definitely can learn from the mind of Christ, His mind does not infuse and become our own through mere study and self-effort.

The mind of Christ is a gift we receive when we yield to His Lordship. The mind of Christ comes freely through redemption and regeneration. Unless we have the Spirit of Christ, we cannot have the mind of Christ. Unless we live our lives by Him, we cannot think as He thinks. To have His mind we must have His life. Read it all

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Evangelism and nurture are the two basic ministries of the church. I wonder what kind of grade we would get if we scored all our church activities by these criteria. Would we fare any better in thus evaluating our personal activities?

Why bring up evangelism and nurture in the context of spiritual gifts? Because we need to see gifts as given to fulfill these callings. God gave gifts to the church so that we might be equipped to evangelize the world and edify His people wherever they may be!

Alas, gifts also have the potential for misuse, misapplication, and division in the church. Imagine that! What God has given for blessing, equipping and unifying could actually become a curse, a hindrance, and a source of contention. Like this, “I have no need of you” and this, “Since I am not…I am not of the body.” I suggest to you that this superiority and this inferiority both equally reveal an independent spirit.

An independent spirit pulls away from the whole as well as from individual elements of that whole. The sense of superiority draws away toward independence because it esteems itself as self-sufficient and self-contained. The perception of inferiority, on the other hand, chooses independence by being unwilling to contribute even the little it thinks it has been given. Read it all

Philippians 1:12-18; 4:10-19

What weed seeds contribute to a poor crop of contentment?

• Forgetfulness — when it sprouts, squash it with a generous dose of contented remembering.
• Unthankfulness — uproot it with the proverbial attitude of gratitude.
• Comparing — instead of bottom-up comparing, try the hoe of top-down gratefulness.
• Materialism — don’t live for the present; establish your treasures in Heaven.

Read it all

3 John

“Beloved, you conduct yourself faithfully when you render some service to the brethren, especially to the unknown ones” (my translation 5 from Spanish of 3 John 5).

Gaius sounds like a great brother in the church.

• Well loved (1)
• Prospering soul (2)
• Good testimony (3,6)
• Had truth (3)
• Walked in truth (3)
• Helpful, servant heart (5)
• A loving man (6)
• Helped traveling Christians (6)

God’s people do well to be loveable (1).

Those who work would work together for the truth must love one another in the truth (1). Read it all

Philippians 1:3-11, 19-26

If I am not living in Christ, I will not be living for Him.

“He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). I am so blessed and encouraged by Christ’s tenacity in His work in me! He will not abandon His work in me so long as I remain yielded to Him. I. Am. His. Workmanship.

“Be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ” (Philippians 1:10). There’s that day again. Well, I want to be holy and without blame before Him on that day. And from now until that day as well. And I want to be “filled with the fruits of righteousness” (Philippians 1:11).

So I must “approve things that are excellent.” And I must yield to Him and His work in me. And I must abound in love (Philippians 1:9). And I need my fellow believers to pray for me (Philippians 1:9). And Christ must “be magnified in my body” (Philippians 1:20).

Living must mean Christ for me (Philippians 1:21). Christ must be my life. I must live by Him.

Anything less is nothing. Worse than that, actually. Because negative is worse than zero. Read it all