Philippians:130 Transformation

“Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.” Philippians 1:30

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As extraordinary as he was, he lived on this planet. 

The apostle had no greater access to grace. Nor had he greater wars to fight than we.

Same war. Same conflict.

Same grace. Same victory.

Only because He’s the same Savior.

Paul fought a good fight.

He finished his course.

He followed the light-

Which brings no remorse

He looked unto Christ,

The Author, the End,

Whose grace had sufficed

To always attend.

How daring and bold!

How valiant his heart!

But scripture has told

Of a different start.

For Paul had been Saul,

A leader for wrong.

And yet came the call,

"With Me you belong."

So if you, like me

Are not yet a Paul,

By faith look and see

What God did to Saul.

Through conflict and grief,

Through trial and test,

God granted belief

Where there'd been unrest.

Our Savior is true.

His grace is the same.

For Paul, me and you

Our Lord overcame!

And so we may walk

In newness of heart,

Secure in the Rock

No more to depart.

Though through desert storm,

And darkest of days,

God's grace can transform

In marvelous ways!

Philippians: 101 Submission

“Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.” Philippians 1:1

…the servants of Jesus Christ… 

What gave Paul and Timotheus, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Job, Jacob, Daniel, John, James, Epaphras, and Peter, distinction as the “servant” of God? Is it any coincidence that these, among the strongest leaders for Heaven, are called servants?

Moses, the meekest man on planet earth; Job who trusted God, though he should be slain at His hand; Abraham who obeyed, not knowing the way that he went, and  who yielded to the command of God, though it should cost him everything. As in Hebrews, time fails to tell of them all. 

Their lives speak of submission: of bold acknowledgement that God is great, and I am not; of full surrender to the only One worth surrendering to; of simple, genuine obedience. It’s a sermon of subservience born of love for God —any other motive of action would have melted in the fire of their afflictions. The power of their lives was not from within. Their leadership did not begin with public posts and google+ counters. The strength of these giants grew out of quiet submission in the audience chamber of the King of kings. 

It is no different now. Submission is the foundation for leadership; subservience to God, prerequisite to greatness. Service, in fact, is not optional. Every choice we make carries with it the signature of the one we serve. 

Who is that for me? Or for you? Who is your master? Who has your thoughts? Who has your desires? Who has your talents? Who has your heart? Whose are you?

My prayer is that we would be the submissive servants of Jesus Christ.

Reflections on His Heart

Though disease obeyed His voice
And the blind received their sight,
Though the deafness had no choice
But to hear without a fight,
Though the waves of Galilee
Could not rise against His word,
Yet their minds refused to see
What the lake itself had heard.

Though He took the servants' role
Grasping not for wealth or fame,
And though while a King paid toll
When the crown, His right to claim,
Though His kingdom was not of
Earthly prowess, strength, or throne,
Yet rejected was His Love
For it "seeketh not her own."

Though He read the traitor's heart
Though He knew that base design,
Yet He bore it from the start
Yes, both Judas' sin, and mine.
Though He saw His love refused
As a millstone in a stream,
Yet He chose to be thus bruised
That some soul He might redeem.

Heaven's Mending Basket

      I looked in surprise at my bedspread, needle and thread in hand. I knew it was coming apart, but not quite that much! :| The ever so small section of a separating seam no longer was. All the more reason to mend it, I mused. 

      Mending is a task that proffers ample opportunity to think, and as duty called to the former, I settled in to do some of the latter. 

      First of all, I knew the condition of my bedspread. It had had a hole. Yet this knowledge was not sufficient stimulus for correcting said deficiency right away. So finally, priority has uncovered it. How often do I wait for a more convenient season to attend to a hole in the soul? How often do I brush aside the knowledge of my flaws with the self-assurance that it will be okay for today? ...that it is "good enough"?

      Secondly, I did not know the condition of my bedspread. The true state of its disrepair might as well have been a mystery. What's startling about this is that the hole was right under my nose. Literally. Top blanket, middle section, as plain as stain. Getting worse all the time, but yours truly was in complete oblivion. Let me just say that naturally, I am conscious of such things... all the more reason this comes home. "Because thous sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; (my blanket is practically fine, really!) and knowest not that thou art wretched” (your blanket really is not fine). - Revelation 3:17. The holes may be unknown or ignored, but that by no means alters the reality of their presence, or the progression of disintegration. 

      Lastly, I know the condition of my bedspread is better than it used to be. It had had a hole, but no more. “…He which hath begun a good work in you will be faithful to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” - Philippians 1:6. There is a solution to the pollution of a soul. We don’t have to remain in stained, hole-ridden garment. There is a robe to be had of one piece, purest white, no cuts, no stains. But we have to buy it. There is a price. It is costly. Obedience, not ours, but Another’s obedience, molded out of our life. The Amen, the beginning of the creation of God, the first and the last, the I AM, He, humbled Himself; the One who was, and is, and is to come, He, “became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” - Philippians 2:8. … so that He could give us a garment without holes… a character that won’t fray… an obedience above compromise.  Amazing doesn’t begin to tell it.

      Well, the stitchery is done, but the character is still in the making. In the mean time however, praise God for heaven's mending basket! :)