PRESS ON
Philippians 3:18-19 - For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.
The first thing that jumped out to me in these verses is where Paul, who was a pretty tough guy, says he was telling us this with tears. Think about the times when we shed tears and cry. For me, it's been in moments of pure joy, the birth of my son, my wedding, things like that. Or it has been in times of just extreme pain like the passing of my grandmother. Men, the stereotypical "real men", don't cry over little things so Paul felt this was of utmost importance to communicate to us.
Why do we glorify sin in today's world? Homosexuality, pre-marital sex, alcohol/drug abuse, foul language, the list could go on and on of things that are sinful but are glorified in today's society. If something is a sin, it is shameful and we should be ashamed of it. Coming to church on Sunday mornings and hearing the Word of God preached then living like the rest of the world Monday - Saturday is shameful. There's no debating sin, though many in the world today seems to think that we can. A sin is a sin, and should especially not be glorified on social media or TV. We should set our minds, hearts, ears, and eyes on knowing Christ and learning more about him, not on our physical desires of this world.
Philippians 3:20-21 - But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Paul starts out here discussing citizenship. For people who have attended different schools, are you proud to be a Yellow Jacket, a Blue Hose, or some other mascot? When the United States suffered the terrorist attacks of 9/11 were you proud to be an American? We had more flags flying and people in church then than in any other time in my recent memory. When are proud of our citizenship, we stand up for it and take pride in it. How much more pride should we have in our heavenly citizenship?
Jesus Christ has control over everything, He can bring everything under his control. Romans 8:28 says 'And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose." Verse 31 goes on to say "If God is for us, who can be against us?" This does not mean that we will never face hard times or adversity. It means that God is working thru those difficult times to make us stronger. Going back to the point I made earlier from Charles Stanley, "Whatever drives you to God is good". Sometimes we get so confident in our own strength that we stop relying on God for guidance and begin to fully trust our own abilities. Bad things happening to you does not mean that God has left you, it means he is preparing you for something else in the future. It may be to face a more difficult situation along the same lines, or to be able to witness to someone going thru a similar situation. We don't know God's plan but we do have to believe it is good.
We are being transformed daily. Recent high school and college graduates are being transformed from their previous level into their next level of education or into the work force. As you progress to that next step you are becoming one step better than you were before. While these are momentous steps, how much more amazing will it be when we are transformed into a glorious body like Jesus? Our earthly bodies, minds, desires, and flaws will be made perfect as take a step toward our heavenly bodies. If we will set our hearts and focus on Jesus' return, then much of our worry about little things of today will disappear. It reminds me of a quote my dad has always told us, "You won't know it in a hundred years". In 100 years, our earthly bodies, bank accounts, cars, houses, etc. won't be of any importance to us. What will matter is our personal relationship with Christ, and how we've impacted those around us thru relationships and witnessing to pass that down thru generations.
Philippians 3:18-19 - For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.
The first thing that jumped out to me in these verses is where Paul, who was a pretty tough guy, says he was telling us this with tears. Think about the times when we shed tears and cry. For me, it's been in moments of pure joy, the birth of my son, my wedding, things like that. Or it has been in times of just extreme pain like the passing of my grandmother. Men, the stereotypical "real men", don't cry over little things so Paul felt this was of utmost importance to communicate to us.
Why do we glorify sin in today's world? Homosexuality, pre-marital sex, alcohol/drug abuse, foul language, the list could go on and on of things that are sinful but are glorified in today's society. If something is a sin, it is shameful and we should be ashamed of it. Coming to church on Sunday mornings and hearing the Word of God preached then living like the rest of the world Monday - Saturday is shameful. There's no debating sin, though many in the world today seems to think that we can. A sin is a sin, and should especially not be glorified on social media or TV. We should set our minds, hearts, ears, and eyes on knowing Christ and learning more about him, not on our physical desires of this world.
Philippians 3:20-21 - But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Paul starts out here discussing citizenship. For people who have attended different schools, are you proud to be a Yellow Jacket, a Blue Hose, or some other mascot? When the United States suffered the terrorist attacks of 9/11 were you proud to be an American? We had more flags flying and people in church then than in any other time in my recent memory. When are proud of our citizenship, we stand up for it and take pride in it. How much more pride should we have in our heavenly citizenship?
Jesus Christ has control over everything, He can bring everything under his control. Romans 8:28 says 'And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose." Verse 31 goes on to say "If God is for us, who can be against us?" This does not mean that we will never face hard times or adversity. It means that God is working thru those difficult times to make us stronger. Going back to the point I made earlier from Charles Stanley, "Whatever drives you to God is good". Sometimes we get so confident in our own strength that we stop relying on God for guidance and begin to fully trust our own abilities. Bad things happening to you does not mean that God has left you, it means he is preparing you for something else in the future. It may be to face a more difficult situation along the same lines, or to be able to witness to someone going thru a similar situation. We don't know God's plan but we do have to believe it is good.
We are being transformed daily. Recent high school and college graduates are being transformed from their previous level into their next level of education or into the work force. As you progress to that next step you are becoming one step better than you were before. While these are momentous steps, how much more amazing will it be when we are transformed into a glorious body like Jesus? Our earthly bodies, minds, desires, and flaws will be made perfect as take a step toward our heavenly bodies. If we will set our hearts and focus on Jesus' return, then much of our worry about little things of today will disappear. It reminds me of a quote my dad has always told us, "You won't know it in a hundred years". In 100 years, our earthly bodies, bank accounts, cars, houses, etc. won't be of any importance to us. What will matter is our personal relationship with Christ, and how we've impacted those around us thru relationships and witnessing to pass that down thru generations.
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