A lesson In Humility

“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-4 NKJV.

I couldn’t have found a better verse for my life right now. It’s funny, when I write these blogs I always pray that they could help someone out there that may stubble across them and be struggling with something. Or for those of you that do follow them, a verse or phrase that could shine a little light in your life and brighten your day. It seems that lately though, God has been using my own blogs to help me through issues. Chapter 2 in the book of Philippians is a very humbling read. Paul says in verse 5, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,” that’s the official “W.W.J.D.” message. In all seriousness though think about how the world would be today if everyone thought as Jesus did. Imagine the change that would take place in our homes, at work, at school, or even in the political offices. It’s not always easy to think with a “Christ-like” mentality though, I’m pretty sure Jesus Christ would not have been as excited as I am about double xp weekends. Chapter 2 was a real gut check. Verse 14 says, “Do all things without complaining and disputing,”. All things? There are a lot of things I can do without complaining, but one thing I really and truly despise, is shopping for home decorations. Maybe it’s because my wife doesn’t let me turn our living room into the batcave, or maybe it’s because it doesn’t take me 4 hours to pick out a lamp. Regardless the reason, I will seriously find every excuse I can possible can to avoid going to places such as The Old Time Pottery Barn. Now if Paul, who happened to be imprisoned in Rome at the time, can tell us to “do all things without complaining” while he was in shackles and chains, I could probably go look at some mirrors for a few hours without saying too much. Right after Paul tells us not to be a Debbie-Downer, he continues in verse 15, “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,”. Our world was crooked and perverse then, and it’s crooked and perverse now. We as Christians, must shine God’s light on this dark world. Paul describes his brother, Epaphroditus, as a fellow worker, a fellow soldier. That’s the mentality I try to have when I think about my duty as a Christian, the same as Paul’s, a soldier of Christ in His holy army. We fight a battle everyday on this earth. There are dark forces working against us, not trying to sway our beliefs, but to eliminate them all together. Organizations such as the Freedom From Religion group, are doing everything they can to eradicate God in every sense of the word. I’m pretty sure Jesus Christ took a stand for what He believed in when He chased the money changers out of the temple. We can’t just sit back and shake our head when there are groups actively trying to erase God from our lives, and in many cases, succeeding. I pray that we would all start to seek things which are of God, instead of our own selfish desires.

Pray For Me

I think it’s safe to say that most people know Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Even if you don’t know very much about the bible, you have probably seen that verse on a t-shirt, bumper sticker, or wrist band. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to knock the verse. I think it’s a very powerful and meaningful verse, and it just so happens to be written by one of my all time favorite people in the bible, the apostle Paul. Having just finished the book of Luke, I’ve been trying to find a good place to pick back up. I really wanted to read about David, but something kept telling me to keep searching. I happened to find a wristband with Philippians 4:13 on it and I thought to myself, hmmm, all the times I have heard this verse or even prayed and said this verse, I have never really read the book of Philippians. Before I go any further, I want to get something off my chest. Lately, I have been feeling pretty far from God. That raging inferno of passion I had for Jesus has turned into a nice, quiet, cozy, gas log fireplace type of fire. I don’t want to have a nice, quiet, cozy, campfire of passion for God. I want to be raging out of control for God. A fire so intense that it can’t help but be spread to everyone that I come in contact with. Well, needless to say I have been feeling kind of down about the fact that I have sort of drifted off from my daily devotions and prayers. Before I opened my bible today, I prayed that God would give me a message. That He would lay something on my heart that I could put into words to move someone out there that might be reading my blog. I wasn’t expecting to be the one that God moved. When I opened my bible case today, a bracelet fell out. That bracelet had Philippians 4:13 written on it. Being that I hadn’t read it yet, I decided to start from the beginning so could really get the meaning behind the verse. Once I started reading I felt like God Himself were talking to me directly through Paul’s message. “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:9-11 NKJV. For some reason this message really hit home for me. Like Paul himself were praying directly for me. If I could ask one thing of my readers, it would be to pray for me. To send out a prayer for “that blogger guy”, that those prayers would fan my flames for Jesus. “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,” Philippians 1:6 NKJV.

Words To Live By

I haven’t written a blog in quite a while. I recently started a new job and it has really been my main focus lately. I’ve had a number of people message me to say they miss my blogs and that reading them has really helped them get back on track. The truth is that since I have started working, my priorities have shifted, and not necessarily in the right direction. As I was doing my daily devotion, which has really turned into a once every other day or so devotion, I came across a verse that put everything back into perspective. Luke 21:34-36 NKJV, “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” The verses that came before this one in Luke 21 were talking about signs of the “End Times”, and to be honest, it’s a little scary. I hope that this verse has the same impact on my readers as it did for me.