DATE WRITTEN: Wednesday, 2020-07-29
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

BIBLE REFERENCE: Philippians 2:1-5
TRANSLATION: Good News Translation (GNT)

BIBLE TEXT:  ¹ Your life in Christ makes you strong, and his love comforts you. You have fellowship with the Spirit,^[a] and you have kindness and compassion for one another. ² I urge you, then, to make me completely happy by having the same thoughts, sharing the same love, and being one in soul and mind. ³ Don’t do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble toward one another, always considering others better than yourselves. ⁴ And look out for one another’s interests, not just for your own. ⁵ The attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had:

OBSERVATION: In most aspects of businesses today, we look for ways to improve our own businesses by listening closely to advice from another who has been successful in the same field. Paul’s way of trying to help the church at Philippi was to share a few tried and proven principles from the most successful man on earth, Jesus Christ. I wonder if we do enough of this when trying to resolve issues in our church families today? Do we check in with Him, through His Word, before we speak or act? Do we imitate the attitude of Christ in our relationships? Perhaps this is something to consider as we meditate today on the Word today.

APPLICATION: Unfortunately churches find that they are not exempt from the challenges many employers, social clubs, or other companies encounter in dealing with disgruntled employees and customers. In fact, it seems like where humans are involved, there will be challenges. There was a point in my career where I wished that I was able to just do my work, and not have to deal with the Human Resources aspects and challenges with my employees, for it often became very stressful to discipline an adult worker. Based on Paul’s dealings with the church, he encapsulated the whole resolution to this whole issue into one thing – just have the attitude that Jesus had. But that may seem vague to some, and useless to others who may not know about the attitude of Jesus. And although the verses succeeding our focal verses today go into depth explaining the humility, caring and loving attitude of our King, Paul gave the church a few things to work on, and I believe this might be useful for us individually today. For you see, when we talk about the church, we are referencing the corporate body of believers that meet together in a building for the purpose of uplifting the name of Jesus Christ. So let’s look at Paul’s warnings in theses verses: 1). Your life in Christ makes you strong – In other words, a life without Christ will result in stumbling, and basing your decisions and actions merely on what you see in this old wicked world. Alternately, a life in Christ means a life supported, strengthened, guided and encouraged by the Holy Spirit; 2). His love comforts you – Life is anything but easy at times, and like I indicated above, it is often very stressful when dealing with the peculiarities of other individuals. There is no greater comfort than knowing that God’s love surrounds us, fills us and comforts us in every circumstance of life; 3). You have fellowship with the Spirit – The Comforter, or the Spirit, was given to us at the time of our conversion. Having sweet communion with the Spirit is the same as His counterpart Jesus Christ, who assured us that we could do all things through Himself! 4). And you have kindness for one another – I believe this assures us that as we experience the first three things mentioned, our hearts will be molded into the image and attitude of Christ, and we will then be capable of kindness towards one another. Friends, please read all the verses again, for Paul goes on to admonish us not to act selfishly, for when we get our minds off self, we will then have a heart to bless others, and love on them with every fiber of our being. This is especially what Jesus demonstrated for us throughout the New Testament. He spent His time helping others and showing His disciples and followers the right way to deal with others. As we conclude, let me encourage you to think seriously about this question: How will you expect others at your church to act, if they were following your example? You know, Paul said later in Scripture that we could follow him, as he follows Christ. Wouldn’t you think that our relationships would be a whole lot more like God expects of us, if we could honestly have the attitude of Christ and if we tried harder to please others more than ourselves? Oh that we might become so much like Christ that we could offer others to follow us, as we are determined to follow our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ in all that we do and say.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, we are so prone to wander and we so easily mess up when dealing with others, especially those who are very challenging. Your Word is clear, that we are to think of others more highly than we think of ourselves. You have assured us that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. So please cause us to stop our evil minds long enough to truly concentrate on You, seek Your face and beg for Your strength and guidance so that we might have the attitude of Jesus Christ. It is unfortunate, but we live in a world where we might be the only Bible that some may read. Oh that they may see Jesus, and may You be glorified because of all they see! AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog at https://NuggetsFromGodsWord.org that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading or listening to this devotional, please go to the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and see all of my posts, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. I would encourage you to find a church home near by your home, and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God, and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!