Paula Wiseman

Faith and life meet in a story

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Posts that reference the book of Philippians

Exploring Exodus: Stand Still

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Exploring Exodus Stand still title graphic

And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” Exodus 14:13-14

I love these verses.
Add them to your to-do list.

  1. Do not be afraid.
    I know it’s easier said than done.
    But you don;t have to be afraid or anxious.
  2. Stand still.
    Don’t run.
    Stand firm.
  3. See the salvation of the LORD.
    Watch for it.
    See His deliverance coming just like He promised.
  4. See the Egyptians.
    Oh we see the enemies, the problems,
    The difficulties, the struggles.
  5. Know the LORD will fight for you.
    See God said what He was going to do in verse 4.
    Moses was the only one who believed Him.
    Be like Moses.
  6. Hold your peace.
    Stay calm, the NLT says.
    Hold on to the supernatural peace (Phil 4:7)

Stand still.
God has your back.
Actually, He goes before you
And He guards your flanks.

Stand firm.
Hold your peace.
Let God be God.

Authority

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AUTHORITY title graphic

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Matthew 28:18

Authority. Webster’s defines it as the power to influence or command thought, opinion or behavior. In the Greek New Testament, the word is exousia, encompassing not just power, but the right and ability to accomplish something.

Jesus has all authority.

Earlier in Matthew’s gospel, a centurion came to Jesus because he understood authority. In his position, the centurion gave orders with the backing of the Roman emperor. When he ordered his troops, when he dispensed punishment, when he made routine decisions, everything was done the way he said. The centurion also understood what it meant to be under authority. When his superiors gave an order, or when the emperor issued a decree, he didn’t hesitate to obey because he knew their power over him.

He came to Jesus because he understood even disease itself is under Jesus’s authority.

Christ Jesus, our Lord

You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. John 13:13

We call Jesus Lord and by that, we acknowledge we are under His authority. That means He has sovereign control over all the circumstances of our lives. We retreat there when things go wrong and take comfort and reassurance in it.

But authority also carries the power and the right to command. When Jesus commands, “Go,” or “Don’t do this,” or “Love,” or “Give,” or “Give this up,” we’re not nearly as enamored with His authority. The two are inseparable, though. Lord is an all-or-nothing thing.

The reality is that Jesus IS Lord whether we acknowledge it or not. Philippians 2 echoes the truth of Matthew 28:18. Paul states:

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 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, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:9-11

The authority belongs to Jesus. We have the blessing and privilege of recognizing and attesting that now.

Signs of Hardness: Discontent

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Signs of Hardness Discontent title graphic

One of the memorable details in the Exodus is Pharaoh hardening his heart. Despite the miracles, the plagues, the pronouncements of Moses, he persisted, and the end result was God’s judgment on him and his nation. Pharaoh wasn’t the only one with a hard heart. Israel soon developed one in the wilderness. In the Old Testament and New Testament, we are warned not to harden our hearts. Of course, we would never … It doesn’t happen overnight though. It starts with an action or an attitude and before we know it, we are cold and indifferent to God and His word. We’ve begun considering some cautionary signposts that mean we are on the road to a heart hardened toward God. So far, we’ve discussed disobedience and wealth. Today, let’s look at discontent.

What is discontent?

From the dictionary, discontent is a sense of grievance, a lack of satisfaction with one’s possessions, status, or situation. It is rampant in our culture. We are taught to constantly take inventory, to compare and even disparage those who have what we believe we should have. We manifest our discontent through complaining. We probably don’t think of ourselves as complainers, but we probably know someone who is. (That was tongue in cheek.) Consider your daily routine. The traffic was slow. The coffee has too much or not enough whatever in it. The order wasn’t quick enough. The internet is slow (I’m repenting as I type). That person doesn’t pull their weight. Those rules are useless. That costs too much. And on Sunday, the sermon was too long, too shallow, didn’t address my needs. The music was dull. Or too loud. And on and on and on.

How does complaining produce hardness?

Theologically, it is borne out of envy or covetousness. It is an accusation that God is not good, that He is not fair, that His provision for us is neither adequate nor appropriate. It teaches us that we are the ultimate arbiters of good and right and not Almighty God. Because we don;t want to give up our position, we harden our hearts toward the True God.

“How long must I endure this evil community that keeps complaining about me? I have heard the Israelites’ complaints that they make against me.

Numbers 14:27

God does not tolerate any other gods.

How do you soften a heart hardened by discontent?

The New Testament has some advice for how to soften our hearts.

Service

“It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Matthew 20:26-28

Humility

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 2:3-5

Contentment

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,”

Hebrews 13:5

If your primary thought about others is how to love and serve them, there isn’t room for the envy that produces discontent. When we add to that the perspective that we have Christ’s presence with us, no material things can compare. Finally, our contentment is a powerful witness to the world around us. Paul explains:

Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.

Philippians 2:14-15

The Spirit Helps in Our Worship

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The Spirit Helps in Our Worship title graphic

The Holy Spirit plays an active role in the lives of believers from salvation to glorification. Sometimes, it’s not always evident or clear what that role is. Today we wrap up our look at what the Spirit does, learning how He helps us, and why Jesus said it was to our advantage that He go away and the Holy Spirit comes (John 15:7). We’ve looked at how He helps in our salvation, in our understanding, in our walk, in our witness. Last we saw how that Spirit helps in our prayers. We’ll conclude with how the Spirit helps in our worship.

The Spirit directs worship with the proper attitude.

In a conversation with the woman from Sychar, the subject shifted to worship. She tried to press Him about location while He countered with the condition of the worshipper’s heart. “But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him (John 4:23).

God wants worship, but true worship is directed and initiated by the Spirit. It is an integral part of our lives as His redeemed children. Further, the underlying point is that living a life of obedience, motivated by love for Jesus Christ is the truest worship. We’ve already seen that our obedience and our love for Christ are works of the Spirit. So the Spirit both enables us to worship and then makes the worship acceptable to God.

The Spirit directs worship with the proper object.

Later in John’s gospel, Jesus explains to His disciples about the work of the Spirit. “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:14). True worship always has the praise and glorification of Jesus Christ as its goal. The Spirit has glorifying Christ as His mission. This means worship cannot happen without the Spirit. Here, it is through the revelation of the truth about Christ that worship happens. The more we learn about Christ and what He has done, how He has saved us, we will worship.

In our world, there is no end of things we COULD worship, no end end of people or things willing to RECEIVE our worship. Only ONE is worthy, and the Spirit helps our worship by ensuring we praise the One whose name is above all names.

The Spirit directs worship with the proper motivation.

Paul gives us one more insight. “For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and do not put confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3). Our worship doesn’t flow from a heart that trusts in itself– or in another person. We don’t trust that our worship is acceptable because of its contents, or its timing. We don’t worship because we feel guilty or we fear the consequences if we don’t. We aren’t looking to bolster our own popularity or standing.

We worship because it’s all we have to offer.

As Jesus repeated to the Samaritan woman, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). It is easy to get worship wrong. The truth is, we cannot worship God properly without the Holy Spirit. Thankfully, Jesus asked the Father to send the Spirit and the Spirit helps our worship. But as we’ve seen, the Spirit is there to help us with each step in our walk. We just need to learn how to follow.

The Spirit Helps in Our Salvation

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The Spirit helps in our salvation title graphic

The Holy Spirit plays an active role in the lives of believers from salvation to glorification. Sometimes, it’s not always evident or clear what that role is. Over the next few weeks we’ll take a closer look at what the Spirit does, how He helps us and why Jesus said it was to our advantage that He go away and the Holy Spirit comes. (John 15:7) How does the Spirit help in our salvation? The short answer is:

The Spirit accomplishes our salvation.

We rightly focus on the work that Jesus did on the cross. His willingness to die in our place resulted in God’s highest exultation (Phil 2:5-8). But without our regeneration, our rebirth, that sacrifice doesn’t help us. It is the Spirit who regenerates us. Jesus told Nicodemus as much.

Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:5-8).

We can’t give physical birth to ourselves. But once we are born, we are part of the physical world. Likewise, we cannot cause ourselves to be born again. The Holy Spirit does that, and once He does, we become part of the the Kingdom of God.

Jesus doesn’t just save us and drop us. A second way the Spirit helps in our salvation:

The Holy Spirit indwells us after salvation.

Paul drops some dense doctrine about the Holy Spirit in Romans 8. It is worth a long slow read. However, we’ll focus on just a few verses.

You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. Now if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his Spirit who lives in you (Romans 8:9-11).

There is an inseparable connection between new life, eternal life that is, and the Holy Spirit living in us. You cannot have one without the other.

One final, critical way the Spirit helps in our salvation:

The Holy Spirit seals us in our salvation.

In the first century, the seal was the sign of authenticity, that the document could be trusted. Paul uses that as a metaphor for the church at Ephesus.

In [Christ] you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed. The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:13-14).

The Holy Spirit is the guarantee that God will bring all His promises to pass. Our sins are forgiven. We will receive eternal life. We will live in heaven with Him. Not one of those promises will be rescinded or revoked. We can’t lose our salvation. We can’t lose our inheritance. And no one or nothing can strip them from us. The Holy Spirit is the seal. Nothing can overcome the Holy Spirit to undo the seal.

While it’s true that the Holy Spirit always points us to Christ, it is important to understand how active He is in our lives so we praise God for this amazing gift of the Helper He has given us. Next we’ll consider how the Spirit helps in our understanding.

Resolution: Honor God with Your Attitude

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Honor God with Your Attitude title graphic

It’s a new year. Perhaps you make resolutions. Here’s something to consider — A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot. Proverbs 14:30
Resolve to honor God with your attitude

Your attitude.
Your responses.
The things you think.
The things you feel.

How do we honor God with them?
Consider the following questions.

Does the way we think honor God?
Are we peaceful, positive, trusting?
Do we see our situations as an opportunity for God to work?
Are we confident knowing He is in control?

Do we apply ourselves to becoming more like Christ?
Or do we just react?
Do we seize the opportunity to grow through adversity?
Or complain about our lot?

Do we believe an easy life should be a perk of obedience?
Are we offended when things are hard?

Are we easily stressed?
Do we look at others and wish for their lives?
Do we measure ourselves against others
And find we come up short?

Do we long to be somewhere else, doing something else?
Do we feel a sense of accomplishment or frustration?
Do we sleep well and wake up recharged?

Are our prayers full of complaints, worries and demands?
Or are we more focused on praise and thanksgiving?

Have we absorbed the attitude of the culture we live in or the media we consume?
Do we surround ourselves with those who raise our spirits or those who weigh them down?
Do others see the love of Jesus in us and through us?

Resolve to “Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2:5

It seems like once or twice a year I have to fight with my servers and solve a series of website hiccups. Thanks to Covid, tech support has been impacted, so the solutions were a little slower coming this year. After lots of Googling and support tickets, I think we have figured out a workaround so that the posts actually post and get delivered to you. Fingers crossed! 🙂

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