Scroll down to see and play Audio.
Good Monday morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends, today we’re looking together at a very powerful few verses in God’s Word, Philippians 2:1-4.
May I begin with a good Monday morning question… what is your life purpose today, this week, this month? Why get out of bed this morning? By the time we get to this next weekend, and you reflect back on this week, what would you like to see that will give you a sense of contentment?
Listen to what Paul writes: “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from God’s love, if any fellowship with the Holy Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.” (Phil. 2:1,2)
By the time Paul wrote this little letter in about 60ad, the Gospel had spread from Jerusalem all the across the Middle East and Central Asia, into Europe and to Rome and beyond. We have no way of knowing, but I suspect there may have been at least 50,000 or more Christians. It appears Paul sometimes reflected on what it might be like, if all these Christians were connected, perhaps similar to a modern day Facebook group! His hope was that their common experience of salvation, by God’s grace through their faith in Jesus Christ, might unite them into a movement of people, radically transformed by the power of God, who were making a significant difference, in the communities in which they lived and worked. If that were true, Paul imagined the entire Roman Empire could be changed, by the Power of God unleashed through His people. Could you imagine that?
I don’t mean some type of great political movement, nor do I mean a ‘coup-d’etat’ uprising or revolutionary war. I think Paul imagined a total transformation of the human race, from the inside out, as more and more people became “new creations in Christ… the old is gone and the new has come, and all this is from God.” Paul had written that to the Christians in Corinth (2 Corinthians 5:17,18), and I believe it became for him a hopeful vision, of what God might accomplish in his generation.
Thus each day for Paul was another opportunity to explain Jesus, to those who visited him in his Roman prison-house, or write another few paragraphs in these letters to his friends, back in the towns and cities he had visited.
Because of Paul’s remarkable education and achievements in climbing the ladder of leadership as a Pharisee in Jerusalem, he had to battle with pride from time to time. I see that again in verse 3 where Paul writes, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others.”
Now let me ask an obvious question… how different, would our world be if these two verses became the standard of attitude and behavior for all of us? No pride, no boasting, no selfish ambition, no vain conceit, no advancing myself ahead of anyone else, no pursuing my own interests… but always living my life, for the purpose of serving other people, encouraging others, comforting others, saying and doing only that which would be helpful and benefit others. Just ponder that a moment.
What would your family be like if that was how everyone lived? What would your neighborhood or school or town be like? What would your church be like? What would your country be like if this was the normal way we all lived? So here’s the big, two word question… WHY NOT? What prevents you and me, let’s just start with the two of us… you and me. What prevents you and me from living like this?
And what might happen if we asked God to do such a radical work in us, just you and me, that we lived like this for the rest of our lives? I’m going to ask you to read these first 4 verses again, slowly, and then just sit with Jesus, and ask Him to show you HOW He wants to make these four verses come alive in your life. More than that, how He’d like these to become our defining life-style! Ask Jesus to explain what He wants to do in your life, to make this your new reality. . .
I think I’m going to stop right here for today. I’d like to give you some other verses that might help us as we talk with Jesus and listen to what He tells us through His Holy Spirit about Phil. 2:1-4…
“Search me O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in Your way everlasting.” (Ps. 139:23,24)
Here’s another verse…
“The LORD detests all the proud of heart,
Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.” (Prov. 16:5)
“The LORD abhors dishonesty… When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
but with humility comes wisdom.
The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity…
The LORD detests men of perverse heart, but He delights in those whose ways are blameless.”
(Prov. 11:2,3,20)
And this last one. . . Isaiah 66:1,2 God says…
“Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool…
This is the person I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit,
and trembles at My word.”
Now, Lord Jesus… help us understand how you want Philippians 2:1-4 to become our new way of living every day, as men and women transformed by Your power, as we live our lives ‘walking with Jesus’.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
Archived back issues of “Walking with Jesus” and other resources are available by clicking here to open our ‘home page’ (or go to HOME at upper right of this page).
Share with friends. Subscribe below for daily “Walking with Jesus”.