Philippians. Knowing Christ is better than …
Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER:
Late have I loved you,
O Beauty so ancient and so new.
You called and broke through my defences
and now I long for you.
You breathed your fragrance on me,
and I drew in my breath and now I yearn for you.
I tasted you, and now I hunger and thirst for you.
You touched me and I yearn for your peace.
Augustine of Hippo (350AD)
Read:
Philippians 3:7-9 Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
7But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him,
(Philippians 3:7-9 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
One of the challenges for people who have been Christian a long time is this; do I love Christ more than something else? It is easy to love Christ and value who he is to you but Paul compares knowing Christ to other things he has valued in his life and so is able to say he loves Christ more than X?
Paul affirms this with an emphatic shout of joy that is very clear about what has less value to him now. Can you do the same? This is not an exercise in guilt or obligation but a seeking to put your love of Christ as a clear winner in your life. In this lies joy.
Philippians. What has Value to You?
Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER:
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his loving kindness endures forever.
I was hard pressed, and almost fell,
but the Lord helped me.
You are my God and I will praise you.
You are my God and I will extol you.
Psalm 118:1,13,28
Read:
Philippians 3:1-7 Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
1Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. 2Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. 3For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. 7But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.
(Philippians 3:1-7 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
Paul is obviously disgusted at a group of Jewish Christians who were teaching that nobody can be saved without being circumcised. It is a bit like those Pentecostal groups who taught that you weren’t a real Christian unless you spoke in tongues. It really upset Paul that people were undermining Christians’ simple confidence in Christ to save them. Paul is not being argumentative, rather, he is protecting those he loves from people who could really mess up their relationship with God. He is like a mother bear protecting her helpless cubs.
He showed what he really thought about the false teachers’ so-called “add ons” to faith by reminding them of how much of these valuable add ons in life he had. Then he showed how little he valued these same things as an example to the younger Christians to follow.
But the question for us is whether we are like Paul or those false teachers? Do we value Christ plus some extra thing to make us feel safe and at peace with God? What might an “add on” be in your life? Good deeds? Church attendance. Hanging out with only good people? Other ideas …
It is only by naming something that is wrong that we can begin to set it aside and be free of it. Then we find real peace as a gift from the One who love you.
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Philippians. Interests
Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER:
It is well and good, Lord, if all things change,
provided we are rooted in you.
If I go everywhere with you, my god,
everywhere things will happen for your sake: that is what I desire.
St John of the Cross (1542-1591)
Read:
Philippians 2:19-23 Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
19I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. 20I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. 21For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. 23I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me.
(Philippians 2:19-23 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
What was this deep bond between Paul and Timothy? It is not friendship because the thing that they share is not about them, it is about Jesus. Paul notices that for most people who become Christ followers they still find it hard to get rid of the old habits of self-interest (or just the interests of close friends and family). The person who gives their whole life to look out for Jesus’ interests before all else is a rare person. And Paul sees this in Timothy. What softens his old heart is not that Timothy is looking out for Paul’s interests but that he is looking out for Jesus’ interests. The very thing that Paul has given his whole life to. In that sense they are kindred spirits.
It is almost a rule of thumb that more you love and serve Jesus, the closer you are to those with the same love and purpose in life.
How can you be more like Timothy and Paul?
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Philippians. Working out your Salvation
Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER:
Lord.
You trust me,
you free me.
you love me,
you fill me,
you share your work with me,
you are my life.
Angela Ashwin “The Book of a Thousand Prayers”
Read:
Philippians 2:12-13 Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
12Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
(Philippians 2:12-13 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
“Continue to work out your salvation”? This is a very confusing saying if have been looking at salvation as a gift that Jesus won for us on the cross; the Son of God dying once for all. But I believe Paul is using this in the same way a prison guard might say to a prison on the day he has finished his sentence and is set free, “You are free now. What will you do with your freedom?”
What will the new life look like after you are saved by Christ? What will you make of it? It is tempting to think that God will guide us in what to do but Paul is putting the onus back on the Christian. We are responsible for our decision making in the new saved life. When we declare Christ is Lord we are not declaring that we have given up responsibility for our lives. Instead Christ guides our choices.
What will you do with your freedom?
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Philippians. Having the Mind of Christ
Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER:
Eternal Father,
whose Son Jesus was in the fullness of his power most gentle,
and in his greatness most humble;
bestow his mind and his spirit upon us,
who have no cause for pride;
that clothed in true humility
we may discern the way of true greatness.
Hear our prayer through the same Jesus,
who is now Lord and Christ.
Paul Iles (adapted)
Read:
Philippians 2:3-11 Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
5In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
(Philippians 2:3-11 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
To have the same mindset (attitude to life) as Christ. Can you imagine that? How might your life be different if you had more of this mindset?
Find one small thing you would like to change in your thinking and acting that would let you more closely align with the mindset of Christ. Pray for this now.
What are some ways your thinking and acting does reflect the mindset of Christ. Give thanks.
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Philippians. United with Christ
Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER:
I ask for that quietness of mind and spirit
which reflects the stillness in the heart of God,
as a calm sea reflects the shining stars.
Enable me, Lord, to hear the still small voice of eternity
speaking through the sounds of time,
that I may dwell in your peace,
and be one with your love,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Based on words by Raymond Hockley
Read:
Philippians 2:1-2 Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
1Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.
(Philippians 2:1-2 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
If …if …if… if…. It is a rhetorical but do these four statements apply to you?
Part of the joy of being united with Christ.
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Philippians. Coming to terms with your Mortality
Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER:
Lift up our souls, O, Lord,
above the weary round of harassing thoughts,
to your eternal presence.
Lift up our minds
to the pure, bright, serene atmosphere of your presence,
that we may breathe freely,
and rest here in your love.
From there, surrounded by your peace,
may we return to do or to bear whatever shall best please you,
O, blesse, Lord
Edward Pusey (1800-1882)
Read:
Philippians 1:18b-26 Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.
20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labour for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!
23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;
24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.
25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith,
26 so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.
(Philippians 1:18b-26 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
Paul is in Caesar’s prison in Rome awaiting trial. He could be executed or exonerated. Death is now one of the futures that awaits him. He has some anxiety as he hopes he won’t embarrass himself but will be courageous in the face of a possible public execution. In his musings about what awaits him he acts as if he has some choice about it in v22 but I expect his only choice is about whether he mounts a good defence in court.
But his thinking shows that there is some benefit in dwelling on your own mortality. He realises that there are people worth living for who he loves very much. He also realises that there is a Lord who loves him very much and who he will see face to face on the other side of death. So death loses its sting.
We are a death denying society and sometimes you and I have that attitude too. But Paul shows us that there is much to be gained by sometimes reminding ourselves of our mortality. It resulted in life being more focussed on what matters, and death losing its sting.
Will you allow yourself some space to think? Or talk it through with someone you trust?
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Things Are Not What They Seem
Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER:
Lord, grant me I pray,
In the name of Jesus Christ, the Son,
That love which know no fall,
So that my lamp
May feel his kindling touch
And know no quenching;
Burning for me
And giving light for others.
St Columbanus (c.543-615 AD)
Read:
Philippians 1:12-14 Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
12 Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.
13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.
14 And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear
.
(Philippians 1:12-14 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
Paul is in Caesar’s prison in Rome awaiting trial. He could be executed or exonerated. However, the legal system then like now takes forever to get to trial. In the meantime, Paul lives in a low security prison for months (years?) with a 12-hourly rotation of guards next to him. It would appear that Paul’s enemies have succeeded in stopping his evangelistic ministry and trapping him in misery. But things are not what they seem. Paul does not see himself as trapped or snookered. Instead, he seems himself in the midst of opportunity. He is able to share about Jesus with people he would not normally meet; the guards. And he gets to meet a lot of guards over time!
Paul learnt to see that ‘roadblocks’ were only roadblocks if you thought there was only one way to do things. A roadblock may in fact be a gift from God that frees you from being stuck in a rut. It makes you ask the question, “Is there another way?”
Strangely, the covid shutdown has forced all of us to ask this question repeatedly. God always has another way.
Do you have a roadblock in your life that stops you doing what you think God wants you to do? Is there another way to achieve this goal?
Prayer for You
Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER:
Great God,
Your love has called us here
As we, by love, for love were mad.
Your living likeness still we bear,
Though marred, dishonoured, disobeyed.
We come, with all our heart and mind,
Your call to hear, your love to find.
Brian A. Wren
Read:
Philippians 1:7-11 Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
7It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.
8God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,
10so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
(Philippians 1:7-11 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
Paul really loves the Philippian church community. It is strange that Paul is not thought of as a man who wears his heart on his sleeve given how often he tells church communities how much he loves them, misses them and prays for them.
But given how deep his feeling is for them, what is it that he prays most for them? What would he really love God to provide in their lives? It seems love tempered with wisdom is his prayer for them.
When you pray for your church family, what do you pray for? If this has not been your habit then using Paul’s prayer as your own might be a good place to start.
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