Bottom Line Up Front: There are occasions when we will face undesirable or confusing circumstances. Our attitude(s) are largely comprised by our spiritual quality. We should strive towards developing the spiritual composition of Christ. This in a natural sense but through a supernatural occurrence, shapes the quality of our heart and therefore feeds our mind(s). We can be sure that if we are participating in the service of Christ Jesus (whether in or outside of the church building), it is His will and desire to fill us with joy by continually sanctifying our attitudes. Our attitudes demonstrate how we feel in large part. God is not satisfied with works only. He wants us to experience the essence of His love through joy so that we can be blessed and bless Him while operating. When we develop an ability to demonstrate the attitude of Christ, we extend ourselves to the furtherance of His mission with us as brothers and sisters yoked to Him by the Spirit of God. True fellowship with God is the source of both joy and peace. This means that joy and peace are not subject to circumstantial thought or emotion, but they can empower a believer regardless of circumstance. This is a powerful component of God’s love. This is liberty in a very practical sense. Practicality in our faith is required to be free.
Key Verse: Philippians 1:6 (Letter/Epistle)
“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Author(s): Paul the Apostle & Timothy
To Whom: Believers (Christ-followers) in the church of Philippi in Macedonia
When Written: AD 60-62
Target Words: confident (certain that something will happen or that something is true, work (a task, duty, function, or assignment often being part or phase of some larger activity), perfect (lacking in no essential detail)
Biblical Context
Example: It is easy to walk into a new or existing life situation with the wrong attitude. Anyone reading either associates themselves with Christ as a friend by following Him or does not associate themselves as a friend of Christ by not following Him. These are the two categories. Part of understanding the scripture is to understand which category we are in on a particular day. Though He will never leave or forsake us, we are charged with making the decision daily to work with Him so that we can experience the goodness of the biblical promises. Although Paul and Timothy penned this letter to be read and experienced by believers (followers of Christ) to a specific church body, the Word is the same. This letter and specific passage was intended to encourage those who pursue Jesus by the Spirit and therefore, in their hearts and minds. This is an encouraging piece of truth that should prompt the reader to pursue the attitude of Christ so that they can experience the joy of Christ. Everyone wants to experience true joy. We can find ourselves navigating the obstacles of life or taking on new ones without pursuing the attitude that should accompany them. This is a disconnect between the work of Christ and the Spirit of Christ. Think of something that you are involved in that may be categorized as the work of Christ. Think about how you generally feel or represent yourself while you are trying to faithfully purse this undertaking. If you are happy with the internal picture, you are most likely in a great place. If you would assess that your attitude is effecting you in a negative way, let us dissect this scripture together to see how Christ wants to tweak our perspective for our good. Understanding the context helps us to see what our expectations should look like according to God’s Word. Mismanaging our expectations often occurs when we try to manipulate a verse in such a way that the integrity of it’s message becomes a stranger to truth.
Application: This verse tells us a couple of things that we should note before trying to figure out how to apply it into our journey successfully. I have heard many take this verse out of context to encourage Christians that God through Christ will fulfill the things we categorize as necessary, of importance, or satisfy all of our desires. We just need to have faith that God will grant us what we want if we wait. That can sound good but it is incorrect. The writers are being inspired by God Himself to emphasize that those involved in the work of God should expect that God will be faithful to His own work and provide what is necessary, both tangibly and intangibly until completion. Completion of “a work” generally exceeds our personal understanding. This is because we tend to think in a very linear way. God works in cyclical processes and His ways and purposes are not those of men. We often set goals based on our own interpretation of what success looks like. Sometimes those goals are good but not the complete fulfillment of what Christ is trying to accomplish. One of the harder components of a true Christian walk to accept often times is the following fact. We are on a path of submission to God so that we can do the work of God. We are no longer dwelling on this earth to achieve the fulfillment of our fleshly desires. Outside of doing God’s work, we have nothing to give us joy. The further we stray from doing the work of God, the more the product of those decisions will impact our attitudes. Deciding to work with God so that our perspectives can be formatted according to his outline of success undoubtedly takes strength, courage and commitment to be selfless, while enduring personal disappointment. Then, we have the choice to decide as to whether or not we will allow that disappointment to grown or capture it as sin and release it to God with an eye on eternity. Paul wrote this letter of encouragement to the first church he planted as an Apostle in Macedonia approximately ten years prior. He was joined by a faithful brother (Timothy) in a Roman prison for preaching and living the word of God according to the responsibility given to him by God. Things were looking grim for Paul and Timothy. That is, from an outside perspective, many assumed that Paul was done fulfilling the work of God and bound by his circumstances. Pull! Boom! Dead wrong. Paul managed to concentrate on encouraging fellow believers in one of his most beloved churches while facing tremendous hardship. He was eventually executed. Timothy was too. Let’s sit next to Paul and Timothy in that cell. We know we are there for doing God’s work. We know that God has allowed us to experience the drafty, dark, smelly consequence of being faithful. The food is terrible. The future is unknown. We contemplate if something has gone off course. We look back over the timeline of events leading us to this place and we analyze with a microscope. Then, we come to the conclusion after much prayer and fellowship with Christ that He loves us, is pleased with us and has let us become prisoners of men so that we can continue to be slaves of Christ as volunteers or friends. Blessed is he who gives his life for his friend. Christ is our friend. He is our best friend. We become filled with joy and peace and find ourselves being lead to comprise this letter to Philippi where we know that those outside of the bars and chains could use some spiritual clarity and encouragement. That is gangster faith. That is unbreakable faith. That is the essence and attitude of Christ. No me but you. Not me Lord but them. Imagine receiving this letter at Philippi. Your mentor is doing time for the absence of a real crime and he is concentrating on loving you without asking for anything in return. It took Paul and Timothy many trials and hardship to get to this point. They were humans as we were with special appointments to fulfill specific work for God. Though they walked through this valley of the shadow of death, they would fear no evil. For the One that lived in them was and is more powerful than the world around them. No one could take that. This is a strength that supersedes human understanding. Achieving this brand of strength lends itself to many of the more realistic situations we face in everyday life. It helps us to remember that it could be worse and that Christ will continue to work in us so that we will have the composition of Christ to do what it is He has on the target deck for us. This means we have to stay on His course. We cannot expect to go off his course because we let the circumstances break us and receive the joy through His grace that He is promising here. A major part of doing this well is to accept that we do not have control but He does. This is to accept that everything is designed to present us with options to pursue the narrow path of Christ. The problems and frustrations of life become much more insignificant when our perspective and attitude is mimicking that of Christ. When we stay concentrated on Him, He helps us not to concentrate on the distractions, things we cannot change and works of the enemy to consume us with many different spirits of darkness. Christ throws down for those who throw down for Him. Let’s work with Christ to redefine and strengthen our perspectives so that we can walk confidently in His attitude and experience His joy. There is nothing greater that the joy and peace of God. The rest is the rest…
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we are faithful that the Word is You and that what you have spoken is unbreakable. We acknowledge the good works you did in Paul and Timothy and ask you to strengthen us with Your attitude so that we can experience Your joy. Help us not to be slaves to circumstantial happiness but live in the purity of joy that only comes through you from the Father. Show us how to operate and manage our expectations so that we can live in the blessings of being centered on you. In you victorious name we pray. Amen.
KingsPath 