andimburke

Those 2 scriptures say to me that the very second I die, I am in Jesus' arms. That is a comfort to me because I was brought up in a religion that believes in purgatory... I haven't believed in it for over 30 years, since I really began my relationship with the Lord and started reading the bible. I can't imagine how hard it is for people who don't know where they are going when they die. It energizes me because it makes me want to bring lots of people with me. It makes me want to let others know the TRUTH.

Fear can keep us from being a bold witness if our eyes are not on the Lord, but on US or the world around us. We will always have the "father of lies" whispering in our ear lies like "You're going to look stupid!" "You're not going to know the answers to the questions they ask you," "They're going to laugh at you or reject you or - (you fill in the rest)." So, what's the answer- part of the answer is to KNOW the Word of God and believe it. We have the mind of Christ. That's the truth. Fear of people binds our tongues because when we have a fear of people and we care what they think of us then we don't have much fear/faith in God. i keep going back to this: we have a fear of people because our eyes are on people and not on the Lord. Losing our life for Christ's sake gives us an abundant life because losing or life means WE no longer live... WE are crucified and Christ lives IN us. He walks through us, and talks through us. He is in control- not us. And, when He is in control, we have HIS peace, joy, love, etc. which IS the abundant life.

Our ability to rejoice is dependent upon our faith that God is in control, working even in the midst of difficulty because if we truly believe that God is in control and He is out for our best interests, then we can leave it in His hands, trusting Him. If we did not believe that God was in control... if we did not have faith, then we would have no hope. We would have no joy. But, we HAVE faith! We KNOW that God IS in control. We stand on the scriptures knowing that "all things work together for good" for us when we are in Christ and called according to His purpose. And knowing that, we can choose to be joyful, to be faithful, to walk in peace.

If we can witness in spite of our difficulties, it means that we are seeing the bigger picture. It's not all about US. It's about God, and how He can use us anytime anywhere anyhow. It means we are keeping our eyes on the prize... we are running the race FOR Him. We are depending on Him... HIS power, HIS peace, HIS joy to get us through. We don't complain. We don't try to squirm out of it- because there IS a bigger picture. And when people are looking at this, they are seeing the Christ IN us. They know it's not us. It's God IN us. And, that's a credible witness. Christians and nonChristians need to know that we go through hard times. We're just like them, but we know that God is in control- and that makes all the difference. Paul's witness was powerful because he was in prison- perhaps facing his own death, and yet he was keeping his eyes on the prize. He knew where he was going, and he knew that either way- dead or alive, life was good.

Paul wants the Philippians to have discernment so they will be able to discern the good from the best. The result will be that they may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ and ultimately bring glory and praise to God. Selfishness clouds discernment because when you are being selfish, you are walking in the flesh and not in the Spirit, so you cannot "hear" anything from God or discern anything at that moment. The good is the enemy of the best because the good is not necessarily what God wants for us, He wants the best. We have to remember that we are not "of this world." We are really walking and living in the Kingdom of God, and as such we should always be looking at the eternal vision for everything. The "good" can get you sidetracked off what God wants for your lives.

Paul expects that God will keep working on us (perfecting us) til the day we step from this world into eternity with Him. Paul is convinced that God is faithful. He has seen God work in his life. Paul knows that salvation isn't dependant on works, but on faith. We, too, know that God is faithful. He will never leave us or forsake us. So, we also can stand with Paul and confidently say, "He Who began a good work in ME will carry it on to completion til the day of Christ Jesus!!"

When we are partners in a ministry, as we bless them, God blesses us! We can't outgive God. He will never let us down financially, spiritually, etc., when we open our hearts to bless others. When we give "financially," we are giving UP some of our money (actually it's ALL God's money, isn't it?). We can also "pray" for the ministry. That would mean giving up some of our time to pray- perhaps even giving up some of our sleep. We can "fast" for the ministry... perhaps a meal once a week, or fasting from food one whole day each week. Or maybe we choose to fast 3 days in a row from food. Another choice might be to fast from chocolate or TV for a week or month.

A "slave" is one who gives himself wholly to his master's will- not because he HAS to, but because he chooses to out of love. A "saint" is one who is set apart from salvation to serve the Lord. They (slave and saint) are saying the same thing, but from 2 different outlooks. They are both about serving the Lord, and belonging to Him, but as a slave, it is the Christian's choice. And, as a saint, it's something God does to the Christian at salvation.