Category: Thoughts and Meditations

“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” – Philippians 3:8

Knowing Christ. Do you know Christ? That doesn’t just mean do you know about Christ. Do you know Christ? Knowing Christ may be the supreme treasure of the Christian faith, though one too-seldom talked about.

When we embrace Jesus as Lord and Savior, we don’t simply change our eternal destination. We enter into an ongoing and eternal relationship with Jesus Christ. Do we realize this? Do we treasure this?

We’re adopted by God and thus become siblings to Jesus. We become His friend. His Spirit lives within us and we are united with Him. He promises that He is with us all of our days. Do we take time to notice, appreciate, and treasure this reality?

We’re able to talk with Him in prayer. We walk with Him. We experience His love and His transforming power. We have the opportunity to get to know Him better each day as we read of Him, meditate on Him, pray to Him, worship Him.

Do you know Christ?

“Do everything without grumbling and arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world, by holding firm to the word of life.” – Philippians 2:14-16a

Are we in a crooked and perverted generation? Yes! Therefore we must confront this reality that as followers of Christ we’re required to be blameless, pure, and faultless. And we have to do EVERYTHING without grumbling and arguing. That’s a tall order!

As the world crumbles, we must commit to proclaiming Christ by our words, actions, and character. We must shine the light of Christ by our good deeds so that people will take notice and praise God. When every temptation and frustration of the world is calling for us to just slide into our culture’s ever-growing cesspool of complaint, bitterness, and ugliness, we must resist forever. We are to be faultless – beyond reproach in the eyes of the world.

That’s true in our homes, on the road, in the office (or on Zoom), on our phones, and on the internet. All this sounds impossible in such a frustrating and maddening time. It is impossible if we rely only on our own strength, virtue, and self-discipline. We will fail in our humanness, which is why Paul says we must do this by holding firm to the word of life.

We must hold firm to God’s Word, the Bible, and we must hold firm to the Word Made Flesh, Jesus Christ. We must embrace His Spirit Who lives within us, comforts us, strengthens us, corrects us, and transforms us. We are to be better than this messed up world around us, but only by the power of Christ within us!

“Has a nation ever exchanged its gods?
(But they were not gods!)
Yet my people have exchanged their Glory
for useless idols.
Be appalled at this, heavens;
be shocked and utterly desolated!
This is the Lord’s declaration.”
– Jeremiah 2:11-12

In the New Covenant, God’s people are those who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith. The application is no longer to a nation state, but to Christians individually and churches collectively. Unfortunately, we can still make the same mistakes. As God’s people we must be on guard not to repeat the errors of ancient Israel!

We must not exchange the Glory of God in Jesus Christ – His truth, His character, His Word, His will, His design, His power, or His presence for anything. As churches and individuals, we may be tempted to exchange God’s glory for the useless idols of popularity, social acceptance, comfort, legal protection, political influence, earthly power, safety, wealth, nice buildings, large congregations, temporary fame, or earthly reputation. We must always resist this temptation!

We must never let our desire for these things, even when they are good things, outweigh our living and proclaiming the true Glory of God in Jesus Christ, no matter the cost!

“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ” – Philippians 1:9-10

Christian life is meant to be a journey of growth every day from the moment of our salvation to the day we pass into glory. A Christian never gets to say “I’ve arrived”, “I’m good enough”, or “Now I can focus on something else for awhile”. We’re meant to grow and grow in the character of Jesus Christ.

While we’re saved and united with Christ the moment we put our faith in Jesus, our spiritual formation has just begun. Thus Paul writes to Christians of his prayer for continual growth in love and passion for God, Christ, and each other.

Love is the defining quality of the Christian life (at least it should be) and we must be growing in it. However, it’s helpful to note that our love is not in isolation, which could result in loving a Christ of our own imagination. Our growth in love must come with growth in knowledge and discernment. We must grow in our knowledge of God as we love Him more (and we will love Him more as we grow in our knowledge of Him!). We grow in our knowledge and love of Him through regular prayer every day and throughout the day. It’s hard to love someone we don’t talk to! We must come to know the Lord personally through our quiet times of prayer and listening and also through our times of public worship.

However, we must also come to know Him through daily time invested in reading, studying, and meditating on His Word, the Bible. He has revealed Himself to us and much of our growth in knowledge and discernment comes as we let His Word soak into our souls. By His Spirit, by His Word, and by His presence God reshapes our character, sometimes gradually and sometimes suddenly, purifying our hearts and lives as He prepares us for the day of Christ. That doesn’t happen by accident – it comes through diligent effort to grow in knowledge, discernment, and love. Friends, we all have work to do!

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” – Ephesians 4:29

God’s Word is pretty clear on this one! During this hyper-partisan, hyper-vitriolic, hyper-sensitive, hyper-divided time in our culture, Christians don’t get to participate like everyone else! We don’t get to pile on, belittle, express contempt, arouse anger, sow division, spread untruth, inflame passions, air grievances, or proclaim conspiracy theories. It would be so easy to do so and it’s incredibly tempting. Too bad! We don’t get to do it. Ever. As the people of God, we must not bear false witness. Ever. The words we speak, write, tweet, or re-post must build up, must be timely and appropriate, must be true, and must give grace to all. When those who disagree with us hear our words, they should still smell the sweet aroma of heaven, not the bitter sulfur of the other place!