God's Word For Every Day

In Philippians 2:8, we read of Jesus going into “the far country” (Luke 15:13) – “He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!” – so that we might have an even greatest Homecoming of all – Christ has been “exalted … to the highest place.” He has been given “the Name that is above every name.” What a day it will be when “at the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).

Philippians 1:1-2:11 Do you feel like you can`t go on? Do you feel like giving up? Here`s God`s Word of encouragement for you: ‘He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the Day of Jesus Christ’(1:6). God finishes what He starts - ‘He didn`t bring us this far to leave us. He didn`t teach us to swim to let us drown. He didn`t build His home in us to move away. He didn`t lift us up to let us down’. In all the changes of life, we must remember this: God is faithful. His love is unchanged, unchanging and unchangeable. We don`t keep going because we are strong. We are ‘kept by the power of God’(1 Peter 1:5). In ‘humility’ let us live ‘to the glory and praise of God’(2:3; 1:11). ‘Jesus Christ is Lord’(2:11) - He will give you the strength to keep going when you feel like giving up.

Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon - These letters are known, collectively, as the prison letters. They were written by Paul during his time of imprisonment in Rome. In Philippians, we see God's kingdom as a kingdom joy: "Rejoice in the Lord always, and, again, I say, rejoice" (Philippians 4:4). When the Lord reigns as king in our  lives, he gives us his joy. This joy doesn't depend on our circumstances. It comes to us from the Lord. In Philemon, we see the kingdom of God as the kingdom of fellowship: "that you might have him back for ever, no longer as a slave, but as a beloved brother" (15-16). In Colossians 1:13-14, we have a marvellous statement of what God has done for us in Christ: "He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Through Christ's redemption, we are     now in the  kingdom of God...

Philippians 4:1-9 Joy (Philippians 4:4) and peace (Philippians 4:7) are grounded in God's love for us, not our love for Him. Perfect joy and perfect peace (1 Peter 1:8; Philippians 4:7) - but this is not our experience. Here, we must note the difference between God's love for us and our love for Him. His love for us is perfect. Our love for Him is not perfect. If our love in the Lord, our joy in the Lord and our peace in the Lord are to grow strong, we must feed on God's love. His love is faithful. His love endures forever. This is where our love, joy and peace come from.

The Humbled and Exalted Christ  5  Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,  6  who,  being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,  7  but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form  of a bondservant,  and   coming in the likeness of men.  8  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and  became  obedient to  the point of  death, even the death of the cross.  9  Therefore God also  has highly exalted Him and  given Him the name which is above every name,  10  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,  11  and    t hat   every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ  is  Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:5-11). It's a long time ago since the first time I studied the...

" ... not having  my own righteousness, which  is  from the law, but  that which  is   through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith" (Philippians 3:9). What a difference there is between "my own righteousness" and "the righteousness which is from God"! When we "stand amazed in the presence of Jesus", we realize that "all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 54:6). All our attempts to please God end in failure. None of us can reach the standard He has set for us. We fail  miserably - again and again and again ...  Our situation is not, however, hopeless. God has done something about it. He has provided, for us, His perfect righteousness. We cannot earn His righteousness. We can only receive it as His gift. Trying to keep "the law" will get us nowhere. There is, however, another way of receiving God's righteousness. We receive it "by faith." In faith, we look away from ours...

Philippians 1:1-2:11 Lord, there are times when we feel like we can’t go on, times when we feel like giving up. When we feel like this, speak to us Your Word of encouragement: “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the Day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). Philippians 2:12-3:11 Lord, we have Your command – “Work out your salvation.” We also have Your promise – “God is at work in you” (Philippians 2:12-13). Help us to obey Your command, and trust Your promise. Philippians 3:12-4:23 “Christ Jesus has made me His own” (Philippians 3:12). How wonderful this is, Lord! In these words of Paul, we hear an echo of Jesus’ great words: “You did not choose Me … I chose you” (John 15:16). Your love for us is so much stronger than our love for You. May Your love – the greatest love of all – inspire us to love You more.

Philippians 2:12-3:11 God’s command- ‘Work out your own salvation’- must never be separated from His promise - ‘God is at work in you’(12-13). We do not save ourselves - We ‘put no confidence in the flesh’. We are saved by the Lord - We ‘glory in Christ Jesus’(3). We are to ‘shine as lights in the world’, directing attention away from ourselves to Him who is ‘the Light of the world’- our Lord Jesus Christ (15; John 8:12). We have this testimony: “I have ‘no righteousness of my own’. ‘Through faith in Christ’, I have received ‘this righteousness from God’”(9). We are living in difficult times. This is ‘a crooked and perverse generation’(15). We are called to ‘hold fast the Word of life’(16). It will not be easy. We will face many difficulties. We must take encouragement from this: ‘God is at work in you’(13).

Philippians 3:12-4:23 ‘Christ Jesus has made me His own’(3:12). In Paul`s words, we hear an echo of Jesus` words, ‘You did not choose Me... I chose you’(John 15:16). Christ has claimed us for Himself. He has laid claim to every part of our life. We are to ‘rejoice in the Lord always’(4). We are to bring ‘everything’ to Him in prayer (6). We are to be ‘content in all circumstances’(4:11-12). We are to face every challenge with confidence in His strength - ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’(4:13). We are to trust Him to ‘supply’ our ‘every need’(4:19). In every situation, we can come to the Lord, trusting in His promise: ‘the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus’(7). Whatever is happening, take it to the Lord in prayer and let Him give you His peace.

In the Gospels, we read about Jesus and his disciples. They were slow learners - but he was a very patient teacher. He didn't give up on them, and he doesn't give up on us. In the question, "Will we  ever learn?", there is more than a hint of frustration - we want to learn, but will we ever learn? Learning to follow Jesus is a lifelong process. Sometimes, we make some progress. Often, we are a big disappointment to our Lord. We may be a disappointment to him, but he will never be a disappointment to us. We may not always be his faithful followers, but he will always be our faithful Saviour. When we ask the question, "Will we ever learn?", we know, in our hearts, that the answer has to be "No." Thank God - there are some other questions which must be answered with the word, "No." When we fail Jesus, will he fail us? No - he will never fail us. When we let him down, will he let us down? No - he will never let us down, he will lift us up. Wh...

Often, we find ourselves thinking,  “What if our life had turned out differently.” What are we to say about this way of thinking? It’s a distraction. It takes our minds off the real world. The only world we have is the world of right now. We can’t turn the clock back. We can’t rewrite our life story. God is calling us on from where we are now. Whatever our past may have been, God is calling us on into his future.We’re not able to change our past, but the Lord is able to change our future. We do not know what the future holds, but we do know who holds the future. “What if” thinking can shape our future. We can be at worried about what might happen. When we’re thinking like this, we’ll be filled with anxiety. When we feel like this. The Word of the Lord has something wonderful to say to us: “The Lord. is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will gu...

I can't cope! These are desperate words. They're words that say, "There's  no hope." How can hope break  into our desperate situation? Hope comes to us when we learn to say something more than "I can't cope!" - when we learn to say, "I can't cope - without you, Lord." When a cry of despair becomes a prayer to the Lord, everything changes. What is it that changes everything? It's been said that "love changes everything." Again, there's something we must add to this. We must learn to say, "God's love changes everything." Love isn't something that comes from within ourselves. Love comes to us when the Lord comes to us. That's when our "I can't" becomes "I can." We can say something more than this. It's not so much "I can." It's "Christ can" and "Christ will." Can I cope? Will I cope? When we look away from ourselves to Christ, we receiv...

"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 through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God" (Philippians 1:9-11). Our love for the Lord comes from His love for us. His love reaches us. His love changes us. With Jesus as our Saviour, our life changes direction. It's less of self - and more of Him. We're moving towards "the day of Christ." We're not there yet. We've got a long way to go. We find it so difficult to look beyond where we are right now. Jesus is very different from us. He looks right on to the end. He sees as we will be at the time of His Return. Now, we catch only a glimpse of the glory of Christ. Then, we will see Him in the fullness of His glory. What we shall be is still to be fully revealed to us. Saved by grace...

In the Lord - This is the important thing. Poverty with the Lord is better than prosperity without Him.

Knowing the Lord Jesus Christ is more important and more wonderful than everything else (Philippians 3:8). Paul's testimony lifts us above the shallow superficiality of the worldly way of thinking. Too often, we attach too much importance to the things that aren't really that important. We need to be reminded that Jesus is the most important Person of all. No-one else can ever be more important and more wonderful than Jesus.