Tuesday, 15 July 2008

• Operation Memorization--Philippians

  All right, here are my first two memory verses from my morning devotions that I had this past weekend. (quiet time in the mornings was one of my goals, still working on it). I'm typing these from memory. And I think I have an NIV Bible.
  
  Philippians 1:9-11
  "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes from Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."
  
  Philippians 2:3-4
  "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit; rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others."
  
  note: I encourage you all to read and study Philippians on your own in order to draw your own conclusions and make it real to yourself. But here are my thoughts so far. I have more in a notebook that I will probably post later since I don't have it with me.
  
  Philippians is a letter that Paul wrote to the Christians in Philippi?? while he was in jail. Anyway, the first thing he tells them is that He is praying for them "with joy" for the things God is doing in their lives and He's encouraging them to continue in their faith. Philippians 1:9-11 is what He desires to see developed in their lives, this discernment and wisdom. He wants this for them so they can be better witnesses of Christ, so that people will see God in them, not for their own personal gain. He goes on to talk about his continual persecution but not because he's complaining or asking for a reprieve but because he wants them to see their persecutions as something good. Although he is, in reality, just talking about what has happened to him and how he has been debating whether it would be better for him to keep living or to just die already and go to be with his Father. He ultimately decides that it would be better to die and be with Christ, but he will continue to strive and keep living because it will serve to advance the gospel and help the newly established Church. I think that a deeper purpose for this is to just encourage them to keep striving to live for Christ no matter what difficulties they encounter. This is also emphasized by the final verses of chapter 1 in which Paul exhorts the Philippians to take heart in the persecution and suffering that they are facing. That, as a church and one body of believers, they must hold each other up so they can stand firm in their faith.
  
  I chose Philippians 2:3-4 because I think it sums up the next two sections of Paul's letter. In Chapter two, Paul continues his theme of one united body of believers. He reminds them that their faith and service to Christ is not about them because it is just this, service. Here we see another exhortation to imitate the life of Jesus because He set the ultimate example for how someone living a life for God should act. It is all about everyone else, never about ourselves. This means putting everyone else before yourself. It's crazy, try doing that for a day: they get the biggest piece of cake, they get to pick the movie even if you've already seen it, they get the best seat, they, they, they. But it's also not about doing this out of motives for our own honor. (aside: this reminds me that while we are called to be humble, pride can easily mask itself as humility. so, watch out for this) Then he goes on to tell of two of his helpers, Timothy and Epaphroditus, who are also committed to serving Christ. He emphasizes here their service and commitment to Christ and not to themselves (ie. Epaphroditus almost died because of serving God, yet who still is pressing on and willing to go back for more). I think this is another way of re-stating what he has just been talking about with putting others before yourself, pressing on in Christ, and not letting suffering get in the way.
  
  -Question: I'm curious about this so if anyone has an answer, please let me know. 14Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16as you hold out^[c] the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. 17But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.
  What does v 17 mean? I don't really understand what a drink offering is, was used for, etc. so this doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Any of you Bible history buffs, feel free to enlighten me! Thanks :D
  
  Personal revelation taken from Philippians 2:21:
  21For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
  My faith is not about me. It really isn't. Or, at least, shouldn't be. It is really about the purposes of Jesus. To focus on Him and on His purposes. As a believer, I have been entrusted with furthering God's purposes in the world and sometimes, lots of times, that means sacrifice. But that shouldn't matter because once I picked up that cross, I gave it all to Him who took my shame and my sin an made my life whole. I pray to be more like Timothy, and Paul, and Epaphroditus who took up the work of God even when they knew what they were risking, who looked to Jesus' interests by helping the church in Philippi and not to their own welfare.
  
  Again, these are my thoughts, but there's lots more in those two chapters. If anyone reads over them and thinks of something, please post it!
  
  A few years ago, what I called the "small books" in the New Testament seemed mostly like a bunch of rules and things for Christians to follow. And they do contain lots and lots of advice for how to be a Christian, but they are not rule books. They were letters written from one man to a bunch of people, usually newer bodies of Christians or churches that ran into problems in their faith. Now, I'm no expert, but here are some things that helped me to realize how I can get the most out of studying these letters:
            *read the entire thing out loud like the recipients might have done when they received the letters. Picture these Christians all gathered around to hear what this guy, Paul, whom they loved so much, had to say.
            *when you are reading, try not to pay attention to paragraph breaks, verse numbers, or headings. This is called manuscript study, and helps you focus on the original context and the flow and how sections interact. This was one big thought process not specifically designated, entitled sections.
            *try to get the context of the letter: who was it written to, when, why was the author writing these specific things (what purpose did it have)
             *remember that it was written in a totally different culture than today
            *ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS--this is equally important with any portion of the Bible you want to study
  
  Anyway, I hope you made it all the way to the end. I know it was long, sorry :)
  
  
  
  

  • 2:10 PM
  • 159 Views
  • 6 eProps
  • 7 Comments