Philippians 4

The Secret

This is the 4th and final post on the Philippians stud. I mentioned several themes in my first post about Philippians. The first of course was joy. Another was Pail's constant reminder to keep a Kingdom mindset, or remembering "What really matters." The final theme was having the attitude or mindset of Christ. Well now that these ideas are back in our mind lets get started.

Verse 4 reads:
"Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!" So once more there is that reoccurring theme about rejoicing. Always be full of Joy! When I read that, I was like always? Even when things aren't going my way? Always? Paul is reminding us that being joyful or rejoicing is a choice. Here is imprisoned Paul writing to the Phillipian church about choosing to be joyful when he had every excuse to complain, gripe and be depressed. Instead he said to make the choice to rejoice. Paul wants us not to rejoice in the things that are going on in our lives but rather rejoice in the Lord. He's also not saying that our joy's are in the trial, nor is he saying that our joy is in the trouble. He's saying our joy is with the Lord. It's important to know that joy in the original language is Chara (pronounced hara). In Greek the word for grace is Charis (pronounced harice). Now you may be asking why is this significant? It's important because our joy is directly connected to God's grace in our lives. For us to experience joy we must understand that its not human based happiness that can be up one day and down the next. Our joy has divine origins. Our joy is directly connected to God's grace, mercy and what Jesus did on the cross for us. What he's saying here is that regardless of the circumstances if we pause and remember that we are loved and we are forgiven and we're accepted because of what Jesus did, then there should be no reason to not find joy. Paul says because of those things you can find joy in any situation.

Verses 5-6 read:
"Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done." Paul is once again saying don't worry. Paul addresses worry a few times in Philippians so they must of had a lot to worry about. Remember Phillipi was a very prosperous place, lots of wealth and business. It might be that they were worrying about finances, businesses, or families, they had lots to worry about. Just reading those things sounds like a lot to worry about. Paul says don't worry about it instead pray about it. So when you look up the symptoms of worry on the Internet you see some pretty interesting stuff but none the less here are some of the common symptoms; sleeplessness, headache's,and heart palpitations, belching, nausea, and diarrhea, blurred vision, shortness of breath, and being constantly irritable. Now a few of you might be thinking Oooooooohhhhh that's their problem. I thought they were just cranky I didn't know they were just worried. God doesn't want us to worry. He tells us to be anxious about nothing. God tells us "fear not." So here's what I'm convinced of fear and faith don't and can't coexist in a believers heart. You can't be full of faith and be fearful. Fear and faith simply cancel each other out. Paul says don't worry, but instead pray about everything. Even the small stuff? Yes, God cares about the small things in our life. What about the big things? God specialises in the impossible. What about the stuff I get myself into, wouldn't he just say I told you so? No, God wants you to pray about everything, because he cares about everything. So here's a secret, prayer leads to peace. If you have worry pray about it. If you have troubles pray about it. Then you will receive peace.

Skipping to verses 8-9. They read:
"And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you." Paul's talking about how we fix our thoughts in this little section. What are you thinking about? What fills your "thought life" in the middle of the week? We can't live our lives with one foot in the door of the church and the other in society. We can't just focus on worldly things and go to church it just doesn't work that way. Paul says to fix our minds on what is pure and true and lovely that's where our thoughts should be.

Verse's 10-13 read:
"How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn't have the chance to help me. Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ,* who gives me strength." As I read these verses and the secret of contentment, I'm reminded that were not naturally contented people. We always want a little bit more. We naturally have "a desire to acquire." Humans are not the only ones to do this though. Dogs collect bones, squirrels collect nuts, women collect shoes. It's the same idea. We have this desire, and its not all bad. It's only bad when those desires get out of control and our focus is put into other things. When all we're really focused on is satisfying our needs, and satisfying our own desires, that's when things are not good. Paul explains the secret to being content. Contentment is learned. So 3 ways to be content are:
1.) Develop an attitude of Gratitude. It simply starts by being thankful for what you have.
2.) Put our trust in Christ not in circumstances. The secret Paul learned was that he wasn't depending on himself for strength, his hope was not in his possessions, his hope was not in his wealth or anything that he had. His trust and hope was without a doubt placed in Jesus.
3.) Live with eternity in view. Remember we only really get 100 years here on earth to prepare us for eternity. So here's some questions for you to think about as we end this awesome study on Philippians. Am I living with a Kingdom perspective? Is my heart and my mind focused on "what really matters" and/or the Kingdom of God? Or am I consumed with this world and what I want and what I need so much that I miss out on God's Kingdom and his purposes for my life? So once again I ask you. Do you have a Kingdom perspective?

Thanks once again for reading these. Remember there is only 1Way2Live and that's for.....Christ!