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DAILY WORDS OF HOPE
BY PCG, HOPE CONGREGATION–SAK. EST
FRI. 12.03.2021
TODAY’S VERSE: PHILIPPIANS 3:15-21
THEME: MATURING IN THE LORD
WORDS OF HOPE:
Those who are maturing in the Lord are conscious of the fact that one needs to become more Christ-like. The mature Christian is that person who deeply understands that maturity cannot be achieved overnight, but it must be pursued through the practice of Christian virtues in Christ; and even then it will not reach perfection until the day we are called heavenward in Christ.
Paul says those who are maturing in the Lord “take such a view of things”. He meant that they know that we all ought to run the race together with him, pursuing Christ-likeness in every way possible. Such people want to be like their Lord in his humility, in his suffering, in his life, in his death, in his resurrection. Their goal is gain Christ and to be found in him. They have no greater goal in life. He again called the church to imitate him just as Timothy and Epaphroditus were already doing.
Paul’s life itself was the closest thing to what the gospel life was all about. In his life, the Lord Jesus manifested all the virtues of the Christian life, Christian love, Christian faith, and Christian hope. Paul himself lived according to one example or pattern and only one. It was the example and pattern of the gospel and of the new life we have in Christ Jesus. So Paul told the Philippian Christians to join others who were following his example and pattern of life.
Additionally, he also warns the Philippians to be careful of the false teachers. In Paul’s time, there were mainly Judaizers, Gnostics and Liberals who thoroughly poisoned people’s minds and corrupted the gospel message to the detriment of their hearers. The only way to protect oneself from the errors of false teachings is to
(1) know the truth,
(2) embrace the truth, and
(3) to practice or live the truth found in the gospel in your life.
Those who know and embrace the truth but do not practice the truth become the hypocrites of the church. These people are the enemies of the cross. Mostly, the enemies of the cross are those who
(1) live by their appetites,
(2) whose glory is in their shame and
(3) whose minds are set on earthly things.
It is important that as Christians, our lives will glorify God and by so doing, others will come to the saving grace of the Lord.
PRAYER TOPICS:
• Pray for the grace to mature on daily basis in the Lord
• Lord, grant me the grace to embrace the life of the cross
• Lord, keep my mind on you always
PRAYER:
I pray in the name of Jesus that the grace of the Lord will be abundant upon my family and I. Amen
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