Welcome to Bible at the Beach. Today we'll be in Philippians chapter 1 verses 12 through 21.
I'm so glad that you can join me today.
Paul writes, I want you to know dear ones what has happened to me is not hindered
but helped my ministry of preaching the gospel causing it to expand and spread to many people.
What's important in life is not always our story.
It's the story that we tell ourselves about our story. A lot of it has to do with
perspective and
seeing life from
50,000 feet really God's view versus getting stuck in the weeds and seeing life
just based on what's going to happen to you in the next minute the next hour the next day the next week the next month
versus how life unfolds
month by month year by year decade by decade.
This was Paul's perspective. He had an incredible perspective on life and he says listen,
I'm in prison and you need to understand that what has happened to me has only
happened for the furtherance of God's mission. You know if we will learn to accept
difficulty as
a refining process
life really opens up.
Most of us look at difficulty or perceived setbacks or things that don't go the way that we want them to as
failures and they're not. They're learning opportunities and it's often
your
interpretation of difficulty that allows you to have a godly perspective
about life. Paul was in prison writing his most positive, encouraging and
inspirational letter. If that isn't all the evidence that you need that
circumstances don't dictate your peace and your happiness in life. I don't know what else to show you
in regards to the scripture.
He says for now the elite Roman guards and government officials overseeing my imprisonment have plainly
recognized that I'm here because of my love for the anointed one. So
you'll find yourself in places and spaces that you didn't expect in your life because you're supposed to talk to
people that you didn't plan to talk to.
This was Paul's process. Paul was put in front of prison guards and prominent officials
so that he could share the Lord with them. Maybe
nobody would have had the opportunity that Paul had and you need to ask yourself in your life who
are the people that I'm around in my life that I didn't expect to be around?
Who are the people that are in my path now? A, I never expected to be on this path and B,
I don't even know what to say. God will give you the words to say and God will often find you in
unpredictable
places and spaces because he wants you to represent him well wherever you find yourself.
He says in verse
14 and what I'm going through is actually caused many believers to become even more
courageous in the Lord and to be bold and passionate to preach the word of God all because of my chains.
So when you have courage and you have a
bold perspective in spite of your circumstances,
this is what is infectious.
Courage is infectious. When people see you face
life and the difficulty that it's given to you in a bold courageous way, this provides
the necessary inspiration for other people. You see courage through adversity is a perspective
that we need in every chapter
of life that we find ourselves.
Now verse 15 says it's true that there are some who preach Christ out of competition and controversy
for they are jealous over the way that God has used me.
Many others have pure motives. They preach
with grace and love filling their hearts because they know I've been destined for the purpose of defending the revelation of God. Now Paul's pointing out a lot here.
You don't have to serve God for 10 minutes to figure out some people view it as a competition. It's not.
We're not here competing against other believers.
That's silly. That's immature and that's a very finite way of viewing. By the way, a fellow brother and sister in Christ, we're not in competition
with each other at all.
We're simply
trying to find ourselves faithful
in the place that God has put us.
That's the goal of every believer. Are you being faithful in the place that God has put you?
We often want God to change the place that he's put us so then we can start being faithful. God goes no, no, no. You go first.
You be faithful in the place that I put you and then I'll determine how
I want to use you
in your life. Now Paul dealt with jealousy. I was just texting someone yesterday.
Dealing with jealousy, dealing with adversity, dealing with opposition.
There's not a day that goes by in my life I don't deal with jealousy, opposition,
and
people that are mean. I just
ignore it.
That's all you can do.
And you stay focused on the life that God's called you to live and be faithful to what you're supposed to do.
You don't have to respond.
And you need to know that. It's okay to ignore
controversy, attacks,
criticisms,
people that are mean.
And what do you what do I mean when I say
that I ignore it? Well,
I don't respond and I choose to be kind and loving
and I don't want to be
too kind and loving
to all people in all circumstances. That's what you do.
Then you stay focused on
what God's asked you to do. This is what Paul's doing. And Paul, by the way, very astutely says, look at motives
don't even matter. What matters is that Jesus preached. Are there people that preach
Christ differently than the way I do it? Of course, of course, and that's okay. That's a beautiful thing.
There are people that preach in a way that I would never do it because that's not my style. That's not my practice.
That's not my preference. Listen,
Jesus and the Bible are the preeminent apex assets of life. Jesus and the Bible.
Our
practices and our preferences are secondary. Those are just
cultural things that we choose. You have to ask yourself the question.
A. Is Jesus and the Bible the most important things in my life? B.
Do I have practices and preferences that I like and that I enjoy when it comes to how I live out my faith?
You should be able to say yes to that. If your practices and preferences of how you
celebrate Jesus and the Bible in your life aren't exciting, go change them. Do yourself and everyone a favor.
Go change them. You don't have to propagate
perspectives and practices that you don't even like. Don't do that.
Don't do it to yourself and don't do it to the people that you're supposed to help and that you're supposed to minister
to in your life. You're wasting your time and their time.
And God has a better plan for you.
Verse 17, those who preach Christ with ambition and competition are
insincere. So that's the wrong motive. The wrong motive for ministry is not ambition and competition. Paul's pointing this out.
They just want to add to the hardships of my imprisonment. Some people,
when they're going through difficulty, they just want to make life more difficult for those around them.
He says, yet in spite of all this, I'm overjoyed.
What doesn't matter as long as Christ is preached? If they preached him with mixed motives or with genuine love,
the message of Christ is still being preached. So here's Paul with a godly perspective.
He's even saying motives don't even really matter.
And I will continue to rejoice because I know that the lavish supply of the spirit of Jesus, the anointed one,
and your intercession will bring me about my deliverance. Now Paul switches here
to
our outlook. It's an abundance outlook.
Paul goes, look, there's enough of God's love to go around. There's enough of God's grace to go around. We don't
control the supply of God's love.
And the supply of his favor. It's unlimited.
Unlimited. So why would you try to control an asset or a resource
that has an
infinite value to it and an infinite supply?
What a waste of time. There's plenty of God's love to go around, plenty of his grace to go around, plenty of ministry to go around.
So let's quit competing with him, being ambitious with, and let's just engage in the spirit of God.
Quit competing with him, being ambitious with, and let's just encourage each other and having a good time the way that God designed us to do it.
He says,
no matter what, I'll continue to hope and passionately cling to Christ. That's the goal. We passionately cling to Jesus
so that
he will be revealed through me before everyone's eyes. That's the goal of every believer.
That Christ would be revealed through us and in us and through us to the people that we interacted through the relationships that we have
in our life. So that I will not be ashamed in my life or death that Christ will be magnified in me.
My life, my true life is the anointed one and dying
means gaining more of him. So we live on
on earth in this life for our life to be an invitation and a demonstration of the love of God, Jesus flowing innocent through us.
Wow, God's so awesome. Let's pray together. God, give us your eyes. Give us your ears. Give us your heart today.
In Jesus name. Amen.
Thanks so much for tuning in. Until next time. Hope you have a beautiful day.