Philippians 1:9-10 - "And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ."
Thoughts on today's verse:
Paul's prayer is worth taking note of. He prays that the believers in Philippi would increase in their love. Notice that he does not specify the object of their love. He does not say that he prays that their love toward God would abound, nor does he pray that their love toward other Christians would abound. No, he simply prays that their love would abound more and more. This is likely a two avenue approach, where they should grow and abound first in their love to God (vertical) with the result of an overflow toward other around them (horizontal), which is pictured well with the illustration of filling a cup. The level of the liquid must first rise vertically before it can begin to flow out and around. This is one way that we can pray for others.
Paul goes on to explain his prayer for their love, that it would grow in knowledge and discernment. Sadly, many in the world today think and teach that love is blind; in other words, that it can and possibly should, operate from ignorance.
Note that "A virtuous man may be ignorant, but ignorance is not a virtue. It would be a strange God Who could be loved better by being known less. Love of God is not the same thing as knowledge of God; love of God is immeasurably more important than knowledge of God; but if a man loves God knowing a little about Him, he should love God more from knowing more about Him: for every new thing known about God is a new reason for loving Him."(F. J. Sheed, Theology and Sanity (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1946), pp. 9, 10.)
When we specifically pray for others that they would abound in their love, we ought to pray that their love would increase according to knowledge, that their relationship with the Lord would grow and flourish and that their lives would be impacted by it.
How can one discern the things that are excellent and remain pure until the day of Christ unless he has knowledge?!
"Remember this: a superficial love for God is a sure sign of a superficial knowledge of God. This is why we must give priority to gathered worship with our Bibles and hearts open to God. This is why we must daily open the Scriptures for ourselves and teach them to our children. This is why we must read both the Old and New Testaments with our eyes wide open to Christ, whom God has made known (cf. John 1:18)." (Preach the Word: Philippians, Hughes, p. 42)
Friday, September 30, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
John 3:20-21 - "20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
Thoughts on today's verses:
John stated right before these verses that the Light (Jesus Christ) "has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." He then makes a correlary between their location and their deeds.
"The close connection between doing and being—namely, between practicing good or evil works and the nature of a person—is an important theological concept in John because believing is not merely a matter of mental affirmation but of life commitment. The world hated Jesus and continues to do so not merely because of some intellectual reason but because the deeds of world-oriented people are evil (John 7:7; cf. Col 1:21)." (NAC - John, p. 186)
What do you love? The light or the darkness? Do you like to cover up your deeds or do you come into the light so that they can be clearly seen with all glory given to God?
Thoughts on today's verses:
John stated right before these verses that the Light (Jesus Christ) "has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." He then makes a correlary between their location and their deeds.
"The close connection between doing and being—namely, between practicing good or evil works and the nature of a person—is an important theological concept in John because believing is not merely a matter of mental affirmation but of life commitment. The world hated Jesus and continues to do so not merely because of some intellectual reason but because the deeds of world-oriented people are evil (John 7:7; cf. Col 1:21)." (NAC - John, p. 186)
What do you love? The light or the darkness? Do you like to cover up your deeds or do you come into the light so that they can be clearly seen with all glory given to God?
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
1 Corinthians 2:14 - "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
Thoughts on today's verse:
Paul talks about the natural and spiritual man a fair amount in his writings. Here, the focus is on the man without the Spirit, or in other words - the natural man. Who is he?
"The natural man belongs to the world, while the spiritual man belongs to God. The one is an unbeliever and the other a believer; the one lacks the Spirit while the other has the Spirit; the one follows natural instincts (Jude 19), the other follows the Lord." (BNTC: 1 Corinthians, Kistemaker, p. 92)
Paul says to the Corinthians that the one who is unsaved does not accept as true, spiritual realities; and not only does he not accept them as true, he percieves them as foolishness and they are unintelligible to him because in order to understand them, one must have the Spirit of God indwelling him, which only occurs upon Salvation. We see Paul expounding on this idea in another letter that he wrote to the Romans, where he stated that the unsaved professed to wise and in doing so, they were cementing their own foolishness (Romans 1:22). You see, no person would admit that they cannot discern or properly understand the Word of God, so they mock it and consider it foolish and write about it as such, claiming to be wise. All along, however, they are merely confirming their foolishness before God.
Friend, if today, you are privileged to be able to discern spiritual truth, it is because of the Spirit of God in you, testifying to the truth you are reading, and that you have born from above.
Thoughts on today's verse:
Paul talks about the natural and spiritual man a fair amount in his writings. Here, the focus is on the man without the Spirit, or in other words - the natural man. Who is he?
"The natural man belongs to the world, while the spiritual man belongs to God. The one is an unbeliever and the other a believer; the one lacks the Spirit while the other has the Spirit; the one follows natural instincts (Jude 19), the other follows the Lord." (BNTC: 1 Corinthians, Kistemaker, p. 92)
Paul says to the Corinthians that the one who is unsaved does not accept as true, spiritual realities; and not only does he not accept them as true, he percieves them as foolishness and they are unintelligible to him because in order to understand them, one must have the Spirit of God indwelling him, which only occurs upon Salvation. We see Paul expounding on this idea in another letter that he wrote to the Romans, where he stated that the unsaved professed to wise and in doing so, they were cementing their own foolishness (Romans 1:22). You see, no person would admit that they cannot discern or properly understand the Word of God, so they mock it and consider it foolish and write about it as such, claiming to be wise. All along, however, they are merely confirming their foolishness before God.
Friend, if today, you are privileged to be able to discern spiritual truth, it is because of the Spirit of God in you, testifying to the truth you are reading, and that you have born from above.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Matthew 6:33 - "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."
Thoughts on today's verse:
Matthew just finished demonstrating what types of things can consume our priorities; basic things like food and shelter and clothing. It isn't necessarily that those things are unimportant, but rather, that, as he stated: the Lord knows that we have need of those things. He would have those who follow Him arrange their priorities so that He is first place, with the focus Christian growth, which we know as sanctification - or here: God's righteousness. We are to focus on living a life that is pleasing to our Creator God and our Savior, and we trust, by faith, that all of the other lesser necessities of life will be supplied, for, as Paul said: My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19).
Thoughts on today's verse:
Matthew just finished demonstrating what types of things can consume our priorities; basic things like food and shelter and clothing. It isn't necessarily that those things are unimportant, but rather, that, as he stated: the Lord knows that we have need of those things. He would have those who follow Him arrange their priorities so that He is first place, with the focus Christian growth, which we know as sanctification - or here: God's righteousness. We are to focus on living a life that is pleasing to our Creator God and our Savior, and we trust, by faith, that all of the other lesser necessities of life will be supplied, for, as Paul said: My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19).
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