Phillipians 1

Philippians 1:1 > Slaves of Christ Jesus? See 1 Corinthians 7:17-24 Philippians 1:1b > Writing to: God's holy people ... including the elders (overseers, bishops) and deacons Philippians 1:4-5 > What brought joy to Paul was that the Philipian believers shared the Gospel of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 > Called to evangelize? Paul says this to the Philippians, who were sharing their faith, God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Philippians 1:7b > Have you ever wanted to take part of someone else's special favor? of a blessing they might be enjoying? Here Paul states that the Philippians have shared with him such a blessing, the blessing of his imprisonment, and of defending and confirming the truth of the Good News. How do you share in someone's imprisonment? You visit them, you take any possible commodities, and most importantly you pray. Sometimes when we defend the Truth, its when it is most confirmed. Philippians 1:9 > Paul would pray for the Philippians to grow ... in love, knowledge and understanding. Do you pray for others? or do you get annoyed easily? See Job 28:28b to know what true wisdom and true understanding really are. Philippians 1:10 > God many times over and over again will transform our thinking. With it, we mature and see this world, life, people and situations differently. Fashion and fun, for example, will take third, fourth, fifth place... you get the picture! Lately, this has happened to me, no I don't try to walk out of my house wearing pijamas, and i dont just walk out of my house to get the mail, I do go out with friends, and I do need a little make up but the difference is that now I consider. Consider what? If the time spent out will be productive, beneficial, and if the clothes I am wearing will get me the wrong attention or will anyone would actually pay attention to me if I spoke to them. Philippians 1:11 > Fruit of righteousness, it is only a fruit Christ Jesus gives us when we believe in Him. Don't let anyone/anything take it from you, this is one of the many joys God gives you and in this verse it says that not only does God give you this fruit through the sacrifice Christ Jesus suffered for us, but that it brings God MUCH glory and praise! Philippians 1:12 > Talk about being confident not only of God's promise in Romans 8:28 but that God will use all circumstances in your life to not only bring Him glory but do His will through your life experiences. God's will through Paul was to defend the Good News (Philippians 1:16). Philippians 1:13 > Do ALL those who surround you in your circumstances, whether good ones or bad ones like imprisonments, including those who imprisoned you and guard your imprisonment, know that you are imprisoned, bound in chains, because of Christ? And this verse does not blame God for the imprisonment, it defines God Sovereignty - meaning that He is ALWAYS in total control. No matter if it makes sense to us or not, no matter if for us it seems to contradict something, God does not contradict Himself, but our brains do have limitations to understanding. So God allowed Paul to be imprisoned in order for guards and others to see how someone who has the joy of salvation will and can endure hardships for his/her faith and still remain in peace and with much joy. Philippians 1:14 > Have you ever considered that if you go through a trial, or in Paul's case, imprisonment, you will bless other believers by encouraging them, strenghening them and God using your circumstance to give them boldness to share their faith in Christ Jesus? Many times we selfishly pray for God to spare us from trials. Philippians 1:15 > Good an bad motives for sharing the Gospel of Christ Jesus. What are your motives? However, the motives of others do not burden Paul much as we will see, he focuses in his personal relationship with God, and his personal motives that he will give an account for to God. Philippians 1:16 > Do you know your purpose? do you know what God has called you to do? Not that God NEEDS you or NEEDS you to do something for Him, no not at all. God blesses those who serve Him, and grace is given something that we do not deserve, and so, its through grace that God allows you to serve Him. If you don't know what God would like to bless you through serving, ask Him to let you know where He wants you, what gifts He has given you, etc. Philippians 1:17 > We saw what brough joy to Paul, now we see what brings him pain... selfish ambition when spreading the Gospel of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:18 > Philippians 4:4 says that we should rejoice in the Lord always and again (Paul) says rejoice! So what would bring such rejoicing for Paul? That the message about Christ be preached! Philippians 1:19 > Prayer is important to those imprisoned. Also, and most importantly, it is good to note that the Holy Spirit helps us in all of our circumstances we face in life. Philippians 1:20 > Boldness and humility. We know us better than others know us, not more than God know us though. In this verse, Paul says that he expects and hopes never to be ashamed but to always stand up boldly for Christ. Do you have this boldness? if not, pray and ask God for it for God's glory. Also ask others to pray for you in regards to this, see Philippians 1:21 > Who do you live for? Maybe you are not only not living for Christ, but we might be living for something. Philippians 1:22 > Though Paul holds tightly to our promise to go straight to heaven, a promise for those who have called upon Christ Jesus to be their personal Lord and Savior and have turned their backs to sin, in verse 21, Paul says that the blessing of remaining here on Earth is to do more fruitful work for Christ. Philippians 1:24 > Is your service to God making someone else's life better? It should, whether they admit it, notice it, etc. Philippians 1:27a > Does your life bring honor, respect and does it reflect that one day you will walk as a citizens in heaven? More importantly, are our lives bringing honor, respect, and does it reflect that we believe in Christ Jesus, that we love Him, that we follow Him? Philippians 1:27b > Integrity: whether others are watching you or not, will we be doing what is pleasing to God? Remember, He sees us at all times Psalm 139. Philippians 1:28 > Are you terrified, afraid, anxious... take this verse to heart and remember it. Pray God gives you in His grace and for His glory this faith ... a faith that reminds me of the faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, see Daniel 3:17. Philippians 1:29 > Have you been priviledged to be a bridesmaid, a flower girl, a wedding dress train holder? Priviledges in our minds seem to paint a beautiful picture, not of suffering. In this verse, God tells us that when we suffer for Him, the King of kings and Lord of lords, our Savior, our God, our Lord, our King, that we are priviledged. Imagine getting priviledged by royalty. Well whom else would you like to be priviledged from but by God the King of kings Himself. See Matthew 5:3-12. Philippians 1:30a > Have you ever fallen into the lie that what you are going through that you are the only one going through that? Here Paul shares one of his struggles and mentions that it is a struggle that at least him and the Philippians were sharing. The struggle: living out our faith. Brother, sister, we are in this struggle together. Philippians 1:30b > Have others seen you in your struggles? If its family, meaning the church of Christ, do not let that bother you or discomfort you. Allow them to not only see you in the midst of it, but allow them to pray and comfort you as much as they can.