PHILIPPIANS 4:8-9; 2 PETER 1:1-9 A good exercise is to analyze the kind of thoughts you have been thinking. Some will be spiritual thoughts that make a positive contribution to life, others will be thoughts about things that are not necessarily good or bad, and there will be thoughts that...
PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7; MATTHEW 6:24-34 There are at least three characteristics, or marks, that indicate we have excessive care. The first is being more concerned about things than about God’s will for us. We will never have peace by acquiring things; peace comes only by being in God’s will, with or...
PHILIPPIANS 3:12-14; 1 TIMOTHY 1:12-7 The word “moderation” (Phil. 4:5) emphasizes pliability and agreeableness. It is a special consideration given to other people, and it is to be the additive that causes a believer to patiently forbear under injury without desiring revenge. It is a spirit that is ready to...
PHILIPPIANS 3:17-21 All of us who have believed in Christ, like the patriarchs, are “looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb. 11: 10, NASB). Believers of old were “seeking a country of their own” (v. 14, NASB), and we, too, are seeking a...
PHILIPPIANS 3:1-11 Paul said about himself, “Concerning zeal, persecuting the church” (Phil. 3:6). This reveals the pride of personal devotion to his religious choices. In a sense, it was Paul’s pride of reputation. He was more devoted than any of his contemporaries. He was not only a Pharisee, but he...
PHILIPPIANS 3:12-14; 1 TIMOTHY 1:12-17 We can do nothing about the past except make necessary confession. And when confession is made, the Bible promises: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). By...
PHILIPPIANS 2:15-16; PSALM 119:9-16 Never forget the centrality of the Word of God to the believer’s witness. The Christian is to study the Word, apply it to himself and then translate it into daily living before a crooked and perverse world. And every believer may be assured that as God’s...
PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11 It is apparent that there was some element of Jesus’ equality with God that He was willing to set aside during His earthly ministry. One cannot give up the qualities of his inner nature, but he can relinquish the right, in some respects, to outwardly express his inner...
PHILIPPIANS 2:1-5; PSALM 133 The Christian life is not a stereotyped life composed of rules and regulations. It may involve rules and regulations, but the Christian life is essentially the presence of Christ in the believer. This is why Paul said, “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord,...
PHILIPPIANS 1:12-21 The life of the indwelling Christ enabled Paul to be free from worry and self-care during his imprisonment, which could have led to death. Paul was bold and unashamed and was concerned only that Christ would be magnified in his body regardless of what awaited him—life or death....