Truly Concerned about You
Read: Philippians 1:8-11 I hold you in my heart. . . . For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all. (vv. 7-8) Sociologists have a theory called “the looking-glass self.” The theory suggests that we become what the most important person in our lives—parent, spouse, child—thinks we are. We live up (or down) to that […]
Finishing What He Starts
Read: Philippians 1:6-10 He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. (v. 6) Paul is not rolling the dice when he writes these words. When he notes that he “is sure” of this, he literally means, “I am absolutely convinced, I am absolutely certain.” Certain of what? Certain that what God […]
Spiritual Partnerships
Read: Philippians 1:3-7; Acts 16:6-15 I thank my God . . . for your partnership in the gospel . . . for you are all partakers with me of grace. (vv. 3-7) What kind of a spiritual partner are you? Are you a silent or limited partner? Or are you all in? When Paul thanked his friends, one of the […]
Joyful Memories
Read: Philippians 1:3-7 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you. (v. 3) Paul is grateful for his friends. Every time he thinks about them or prays for them he is thankful and joyful. No less than four times in verses 3 and 4, Paul uses the words “all,” “every,” or “always,” topping it […]
Everyday Saints
Read: Philippians 1:1-5 To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi. (v. 1) Sometimes when we think of a saint, we imagine some angular figure crystallized in stained glass or a person long dead who has been officially declared an ecclesiastical hero. Yet Paul identifies everyone in the church at Philippi as a […]
Finding Life
Read: John 12:20-32 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (v. 25) An oxymoron is a seeming contradiction, like “jumbo shrimp” or “clean dirt.” When Jesus says that in order to gain life we must first give up our lives (see Matt. 10:39, […]
Freedom in Surrender
Read: Galatians 5:1-15 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. (v. 13) Surrender. Slave. Servant. These certainly aren’t the first words most people think of when speaking of freedom. But as John Gill has said, “Love makes Christ’s […]
Slaves to Righteousness
Read: Romans 6:1-23 You are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness. (v. 16) Bob Dylan sang, “You gotta serve somebody. It may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” This is a […]
Surrender, Slavery, and Serving
Read: Luke 1:26-38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (v. 38) Ask a student what her goal in life is. I very much doubt you will hear her say, “My goal in life is to become a servant.” Most people don’t think […]