I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord (Philippians 4:2-3).
When believers argue and fight
the lost mock
and laugh
and everyone
loses.
They will know we are Christians by our love,
Beloved.
Happy Tuesday
Therefore, my brothers, you whom I long for, my joy and my crown, this is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends! (Philippians 4:1).
Stand firm in your own power.
Nope
Stand firm in the glory of your vast intellect.
Yeah…no
Stand firm in the light of our benevolent government and its great wisdom.
Um, you’re kidding, right?
Beloved, we of all people anywhere, are able to stand firm. We’re the only ones with a foundation that won’t crumble right out from under our feet.
Remember that.
Whatever personal earthquakes you endure today, your feet are planted on solid rock.
The Solid Rock.
Stand firm today, Beloved.
Happy Monday.
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body (Philippians 3:21).
Paul isn’t trying to body shame you.
He has no idea when you last went to the gym, or Fatty Burger Barn, and he doesn’t care.
His point is, when Jesus comes for us we will be transformed. The aches, the pains, the flab, the laugh lines, the frown lines, the receding hairlines, the fading eyesight, the flaring back pain, the bags, the sags, the general raising of our cholesterol and lowering of our center of gravity–all of it will be gone.
Poof
We will be given a body like Jesus has.
I don’t know exactly what that will be like, but my extensive research and decades of Biblical education lead me to this deepest of theological insights:
It will be better.
So, as you haul your bacon out of bed today, remember the promise:
You are going to be amazing.
You are going to be glorious.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I need a donut.
And a nap.
Happy Friday, Beloved.
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, (Philippians 3:21).
He has the power.
As in…all the power.
He has everything under control.
And…he likes you.
So take a deep breath, and walk in confidence today.
Happy Thursday, Beloved.
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ… (Philippians 3:20)
Eagerly
Like a little kid on the last day of school
Like my pooch at the back door when the neighbor’s cat is in the yard
Like an office worker at 4:59
That’s how you think I’d be, contemplating the arrival of the Most Important Person Ever.
But I’m not…at least, not often.
Not enough
Oh, the reasons are many–busyness, stress, the surreality of it all.
But the fact remains
I’m not.
How about you?
Hey, whoa, look, I’m not going for guilt here. You manufacture enough guilt on your own; you definitely don’t need my help. Besides, we serve a God of redemption, of transformation, not of guilt.
Then what are you doing, Michael?
I’m trying to remind you–us–that we can have that eagerness. We can have that excitement. You see, the kid on Christmas morning is excited because he has been obsessing about these presents for months. He has been thinking and wondering and imagining and picturing himself with his new Nifty Zoom 3000. It’s filled his eight-year-old brain, the same way the neighbor’s cat fills my dog’s brain.
Such as it is.
So here’s the challenge, Beloved of Christ. Think about him today. Not only in prayer, but in your mental down time. Your in-between moments. Imagine what it will be like when he comes to you, when he transforms you, when you stand before him clean and whole and forgiven and bathed in his perfect love. Dwell on it today, and see if that doesn’t produce a little eagerness.
But don’t drool. Dogs can get away with it–you can’t.
Happy Wednesday, Beloved
But our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20).
I teach a class for my local community college. It’s for immigrants who want to become U.S. citizens. We work on English, US History, Civics…that kinda thing. One of the questions I ask is why they want to become citizens in the first place. The best answer I’ve ever received is this:
I want to belong here.
Ya, you betcha.
Citizenship means I belong, that no one can force me to leave this place that I call home. There is no danger of being kicked out, because this is where I am supposed to be.
We are citizens of heaven, Beloved. We belong there. No one can force us out or take away our right to an eternity with the One who knows us best and loves us most. We have the right to enter boldly, because it is our home.
I could make an illegal immigration analogy here, but I’ll resist…except to say that God’s border security awfully tight. There’s only the one way in.
Enter boldly, Beloved. It is your right.
Happy Tuesday
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).
We are called to remember.
So…remember.
Remember the One who died that you might live,
who was bound that you might be set free.
And remember those who have followed His example, leaving their homes behind to travel to foreign soil, where they give their lives that you and I might be free.
Right now, as I write this, some warrior shoulders a rifle, or climbs into a chopper, or races toward a bomb blast, knowing that today could be the day that they are called to give “the last full measure of devotion.”
They may be terrified.
They go anyway.
For you
and me.
Remember, Beloved.
Happy Monday
For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is their shame. Their mind is on earthly things (Philippians 3:18-19).
Even with tears.
That’s the part that gets me.
Paul was not exulting over his enemies. He wept over them, because he knew the truth.
They weren’t really his enemies.
They were Christ’s.
And as such, they were utterly, thoroughly lost.
We all know people like this, folks who are far more concerned with their stuff life than their spiritual life. We shake our heads in their general direction, we sigh at their shallowness, we may even pity them.
But do we weep?
Do I weep?
Father God, give me your eyes, your tears, your heart today. Let me care–no matter how much it hurts.
Happy Friday, Beloved
Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you (Philippians 3:17).
To live a life so focused, so devoted to God, so dominated by His grace and His love that you can confidently call others to follow your example…
I want that.
At least, I want to want that.
For now, I’m still more of a “way pointer” than a “trail blazer.”
For now, but not forever.
That’s my prayer this morning.
Care to join me?
Happy Thursday, Beloved.
Only let us live up to what we have already attained (Philippians 3:16).
So, this could be my life verse.
Except I hate it.
It’s way too specific.
And reasonable
I like vague. Vague is safe, because it keeps me from having to do anything.
Vague, and somewhat ambiguous–that’s my favorite kinda verse.
Beloved, what would our life be if we stopped worrying about the things we don’t understand or can’t explain and just followed what God has made abundantly clear?
Yeah…I know.
Let’s consider it our challenge today, ya?
Happy Wednesday, Beloved.