Category Archives: Bible Study

A PARTNER WITH GOD HIMSELF

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Philippians 4:8-9 NLT
[8] “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. [9] Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

Paul adds one final ingredient to the security of knowing and being protected by God’s peace… what we put into our minds determines our responses or reactions to the issues we face. What’s in our hearts determines who is in charge.

Our minds are like computers, or rather, computers are like our minds. What we put in will come out. If we put in fear, anxiety, and unbelief, these attitudes are sure to come out when we are tested. If we charge our minds with thoughts that rest in God’s Word, we are guaranteed a heavenly peace that guides, monitors, and protects us through our every thought and action and….God Himself supervises our lives!

Paul gives us this good counsel…

Colossians 3:15 NLT
[15] “And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.”

There it is again! Peace and gratitude, faithful bedfellows if we want to navigate this life without succumbing to crises.

God’s peace is part of our spiritual armour in our battle against the flesh. The war zone is our old human nature and the combatants are dark spiritual forces that try to influence what we say and do by reacting out of our sinful nature when we are challenged.

We are never called to fight the devil. Jesus fought him and won at the cross. We are called to apply God’s truth to ourselves in our hearts and minds so that believing the truth will protect us from Satan’s deception.

To change the metaphor, God’s peace is like the referee in a ball game. When we allow circumstance to tell us what to believe instead of God’s Word, our peace is disturbed. The “ref” blows the whistle, stops the game and tells us how to correct the error.

What is the truth we are to believe? Paul said that truth stands on two feet, giving us balance that makes it difficult for Satanic forces to topple us.

One foot is peace with God.

Romans 5:1 NLT
[1] “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.”

Peace with God takes care of our past. By faith, our debt of sin has been paid. We have been absolved of guilt. We are free to approach God with a clear conscience. There is nothing left to accuse us. We are at peace with God.

This is a strong foundation to stand on but, without the support of the other “foot”, we are still vulnerable to being upended.

The other foot, then is the peace of God.

This peace takes care of our present. As we learned in our previous post, we enjoy the peace of God when we play open cards with Him. We offload our anxieties on God; He replaces worry, anxiety, and fear with peace.

Now we have balance, two feet firmly planted on God’s Word. However, it’s what we continue to believe in our day-to-day living that maintains His peace.

How do we know we are believing the truth?

We are told that we must not believe our feelings. This isn’t true. Feelings are the monitor of our beliefs. When we believe what is not true about God and ourselves… for example, when we are afraid in our circumstances rather than trusting God’s promises, the fear we feel tells us that we are believing a lie.

By contrast, when we trust in God despite our circumstances, God’s peace confirms the truth we believe about His presence in the situation. So, God’s peace will keep us on track while disturbed emotions warn us that we are believing a lie.

The final ingredient that will guarantee God’s peace that never fluctuates with changing circumstances is God’s Word in our hearts. When we fail to arm ourselves with God’s truth, our minds are vulnerable to the devil’s influence. If we take the trouble to fill our minds with God’s Word, Satan’s lies will not find a place to settle in our minds and unsettle us. Since we cannot think two opposite thoughts at the same time, thinking God’s thoughts will immunise our minds against Satan’s lies.

Now, Paul tells us, to close the circle, when our hearts and minds… our hearts being who we really are… are full of God’s Word, we are full of God!

Philippians 4:9 NLT
[9] “Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

With us? What does that mean? I though Jesus said He would never leave us? True, but there is more to God being with us than just His passive presence.

This “with” is the same “with” as God’s “with Joseph”, and “with David”, for example.

Genesis 39:2 NLT
[2] “The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master.”

1 Samuel 18:14 NLT
[14] “David continued to succeed in everything he did, for the Lord was with him.”

Why was the Lord “with” these two men? Wasn’t it because they were “with” Him? When we choose to follow the Lord by living in the light of His Word, God Himself is present to support and bless us. This does not mean that everything will always go right for us. We will have hardships as Jesus said but…God will be there to see us through, securing and stabilising us with His peace.

It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the bad things that are happening around us. We can lose heart with the hopelessness of our circumstances but, if God’s Word is our foundation, we stand on the solid bedrock of truth, and God Himself, by His Spirit in us, is with and acting for us for our good and His glory.

A PARTNER WITH GOD’S PEACE

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Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
[6] “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. [7] Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

Peace…what the world lacks most. Peace…what Jesus said the world cannot give. His Peace…what Jesus bequeathed to His disciples on the eve of His death.

One attitude Jesus always exuded was peace, even in the darkest hour of His life. The religious leaders, the Jews, the Roman soldiers, Herod, and Pilate could not destroy His peace. How could anyone in the circumstances Jesus faced remain calm and unfazed when His life was at stake and threatened in the most extreme way? His confidence lay in His union with the Father.

Isaiah painted a word picture of the supernatural peace which held Jesus steady in the face of extreme suffering…

Isaiah 53:7-8 NLT
[7] “He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. [8] Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people.”

… a peace so remarkable that the criminal dying beside Jesus realised that Jesus was no ordinary man.

Luke 23:42-43 NLT
[42]” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” [43] And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

This is the peace Jesus promised to His disciples but…how can we experience this peace that steadies and supports us throughout our lives?

Paul said it’s simple. Make an exchange! Worry and anxiety are expressions of doubt and unbelief and they neutralise peace. So, Paul says, give God your all the issues that trouble you and He will give you His peace.

Psalms 55:22 NLT
[22] “Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

When Paul says, “Pray about everything,” he doesn’t mean waffle about how bad things are. He means, in down-to-earth language, “Spill your guts to God.” Now that might sound rough but it works.

God isn’t fazed by anything we tell Him. He doesn’t hear pious, insincere prayers but He does listen to an honest confession of what’s going on inside.

David understood this principle. He was aware of God’s absolute knowledge of his innermost being. He knew he could hide nothing from Him so, he invited God to open his soul to himself and show him what was inside.

Psalms 139:23-24 NLT
[23] “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. [24] Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

This is the kind of prayer that invites God’s scrutiny and allows us to dump all our issues on Him. It’s the honesty that enables us to trade anxiety in whatever form it takes for the peace that Jesus promised.

Jesus’ peace, which is an integral part of who He is, becomes ours only through the absolute trust in Him that abandons on Him our reasoning, our logic, our tumultuous emotions when stuff happens. This is the faith that refuses to entertain anything other than the love and goodness of God in every situation.

John 14:27 NIV
[27] “PEACE I leave with you; MY PEACE I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

John 16:33 NIV
[33] “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have PEACE. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Jesus’ peace keeps us rock-solid steady no matter what happens because He is its source and He can never fail us.

Now, there is a key to this kind of immovable, indestructible, what someone called, “furious serenity”…

“Peace is a furious serenity that refuses to submit to chaos.”

I love that, don’t you?

Paul inserted two little words into his prescription for God’s peace…”with thanksgiving.” Gratitude neutralises all doubt, unbelief, anxiety, and fear. It is impossible to be thankful and anxious at the same time. Every time we thank God for his love and goodness in all circumstances, we drive anxiety out of our souls.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT
[18] “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

Now, let’s look at Paul’s way of experiencing the “furious serenity” Jesus promised to give us.

Show God you have an honest heart. Then cultivate a thankful heart. Give God your stuff with a willing heart. He will respond by giving you a peaceful heart.

The peace Jesus gives us is so strong and real that it will post an impenetrable guard around our hearts and minds, protecting who we are and what we think against all enemy intrusion.

PARTNER WITH JOY

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Philippians 4:4-5 NLT
[4] “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! [5] Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon….”

Paul adds some final touches to his picture of partnership in this letter. He has highlighted the place of love…unity, faith, and perseverance in the family of believers, and the importance of overcoming selfishness for the sake of the body.

Now he focuses on joy and peace, the two other “fruits of the Spirit” that Jesus gave to His disciples before His death, and the evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work in them.

How do we maintain our joy in the midst of our suffering? Paul said and repeated, “Rejoice in the Lord.” The problem is that we rejoice in so many other things rather than in the Lord. Other “things” change…and so our happiness fluctuates. Notice I said “happiness” because circumstances influence our state of happiness but cannot touch our joy.

Joy is different.

I believe, from Scripture, that joy is related to our confidence in Jesus and the promise of our future. Look at this verse…

Hebrews 12:2 NLT
[2] “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.”

An unshakeable confidence in God produces joy despite our suffering because our future is secure.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NLT
[16]”That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. [17] For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! [18] So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”

With a promise like that, who would not be joyful!

The secret is…rejoice in the Lord. He is the unchanging constant in a changing world. Remember the old chorus?

” Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same;
All may change, but Jesus never,
Glory to His name…”

Why can we be so sure of Jesus? Paul said, “He is near,” not “coming soon,” as the NLT translates. Jesus is at hand, available, always near. He hasn’t left us. We can call on His name and He will be quick to respond. He promised His presence with us always, so near, in fact, that His Spirit is in us.

So, Paul directs his readers to the source of true joy, “the Lord”, and to the way to remain joyful, “always”. We can partner with joy as a constant companion if we keep our gaze on Jesus even in our storms because He is nearer than our breath.

PARTNERS IN GIVING AND RECEIVING

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Philippians 4:10, 14-17 NLT
[10] “How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me….
[14] Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty. [15] As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I first brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. [16] Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. [17] I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness.”

Paul is drawing his letter to a close, tying up loose ends before he sends it to his beloved fellow believers in Philippi. He has one or two things on his mind before he signs off.

This church family was the only one that helped him financially. It was time to mention their kindness and to put it in its correct perspective, a good opportunity to teach these people the real meaning of generosity.

One thing Paul had never done in all his ministry across Asia Minor and Europe…he had never exercised his right to financial support from the churches. It was a principle he taught…

Galatians 6:6 NLT
[6] “Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them.”

… but never demanded or expected. In fact, since Paul was a tent maker by trade, he spent many days and nights making and selling tents to support himself so that he would not be a drain on the churches. Like Nehemiah, he didn’t demand his right to be paid for his work in the service of the Lord.

Acts of the Apostles 18:1, 3 NLT
[1] “Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth…
[3] Paul lived and worked with them, (Priscilla and Aquila), for they were tentmakers just as he was.”

1 Thessalonians 2:9 NLT
[9] “Don’t you remember, dear brothers and sisters, how hard we worked among you? Night and day we toiled to earn a living so that we would not be a burden to any of you as we preached God’s Good News to you.”

Acts of the Apostles 20:34 NLT
[34] “You know that these hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs and even the needs of those who were with me.”

Why did Paul forgo his right to financial support? Was it because the believers were experiencing severe hardships? Even government policy descriminated against them by denying them access to the markets if they refused to offer sacrifice to Caesar.

Paul chose to suffer hardship himself rather than put fellow believers under pressure to support him. So, he recognised the sacrifice they made by collecting and sending money to him more than once.

However, was their gift a sacrifice just for him?

Philippians 4:18-19 NLT
[18] “At the moment I have all I need—and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing TO GOD. [19] And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.”

No, far from it! Paul recognised, in their sacrificial giving, that God, not he, was both the source and the goal of their sacrifice. As in all of life, their union with the Father through faith in Jesus was the centre of their existence. No matter what they did, it was through Him, for Him, and to Him.

Romans 11:36 NLT
[36] “For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.”

Sacrifice of any kind, then, is not about giving up or giving away. Sacrifice is always about making an exchange, less for more, the material for the spiritual. Paul stated this principle clearly. Their sacrifice was not for him but to the Lord, and the Lord would reward them with His own abundant supply.

Unfortunately, as often happens with Scripture, many people claim part two of Paul’s teaching and ignore part one. No, God doesn’t willy-nilly supply all our needs just because we ask Him. He has promised to meet our needs as we offer Him the sacrifice of generosity, meeting the needs of others.

What a difference! God is not just a benevolent billionaire “Santa Claus” who dishes out money when we need it. He works according to His divine economic system, using currency to create a current.

Jesus set this plan in motion in the context of the New Covenant.

Matthew 6:7-8, 33 NLT
[7]“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. [8] Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!…
[33] Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

The trouble is that we tend to treat God like a vending machine rather than a loving Father. If God is truly our Father, then all our interactions with Him must be as children with a perfect Father.

As the Father of a global family, God wants us to care about one another. He gives us opportunity to show our love to Him by caring in practical ways for His children. By giving to others in their need, we create a current of our currency that keeps God’s resources circulating.

2 Corinthians 8:13-14 NLT
[13] “Of course, I don’t mean your giving should make life easy for others and hard for yourselves. I only mean that there should be some equality. [14] Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need. Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it. In this way, things will be equal.”

God’s economic policy does something even bigger than taking care of financial needs. It binds people together in love and unity and…God gets the glory.

2 Corinthians 9:7-8, 13-14 NLT
[7]” You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” [8] And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others…
[13] As a result of your ministry, they will give glory to God. For your generosity to them and to all believers will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. [14] And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the overflowing grace God has given to you.”

This whole process is a God-idea! And it works! Paul himself expressed gratitude for this “gift”, not the gift of Jesus, which is not the context, but the gift of giving that produces such an amazing outcome. God does everything in and for Christ’s body that will result in… more love… greater unity…and worship that belongs to Him alone.

One last comment. Notice how Paul is also a grateful recipient. Some of God’s children love to give but they don’t like to receive. When we refuse to receive with the same happy attitude as we give, we rob the giver of the blessing of giving.

So, let’s enter into the flow of giving and receiving, beimg a part of the current that flows in God’s kingdom, and contributing to the strength of the love and unity in the body that glorify the Lord.

PARTNERS IN GOD’S KINGDOM

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Philippians 3:20-21 NLT
[20] “But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. [21] He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.”

If the counterfeit Christians demonstrated by their behaviour that they were citizens of this world, by contrast, said Paul, “We are citizens of heaven.”

What’s the difference?

First, heaven is the realm or dimension of God’s presence and rule. Where is heaven? As difficult as it is to explain or describe heaven, we know that heaven is, in a sense, everywhere since, if heaven is God’s dwelling place and God is omnipresent, then heaven is where God is.

Heaven is a spiritual dimension which we cannot see because we are physical and sinful. However, we can live in the realm of heaven by faith through God’s Spirit in us since He reveals God’s kingdom to us and administers God’s rule in us when we have submitted to Jesus as Lord.

Jesus told Nicodemus that he could not see or enter this realm unless he was born from above by the power of the Holy Spirit.

John 3:3, 5 NLT
[3] “Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”…
[5] Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.”

This new birth gives us the ability to perceive the spiritual dimension of God’s realm and relate to Him through faith in Jesus. New birth also provides a new nature that loves and responds to God and desires to do His will.

In the spirit, we are given citizenship in this kingdom, with all the benefits and responsibilities of citizenship. We are no longer citizens of the world and under the world’s dominion. We live under Jesus’ supreme authority as Lord and submit to Him in all things.

When we were spiritually dead because of our sin, we were cut off from the realm of heaven but…

Colossians 1:13-14 NLT
[13] “He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, [14] who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.”

This transfer means that…

Ephesians 2:6 NLT
[6] “… He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.”

The realm in which we now live is God’s realm, under His rule and according to His standards. The Holy Spirit in us guides and helps us to live under His government and teaches us what His standards are and how to apply them in our lives day by day.

Everything that has happened in the lives of those who have believed in Jesus and submitted to Him as Lord because of the cross is supernatural. They have become new people.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT
[17] “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

This new life means… new Master, new meaning, new thinking, new behaving, new attitudes, new standards, new direction, new motives, new destiny, a complete 180 degree about turn!

Now, anyone who has not experienced the new birth can never mimic the transformation to a new life which happens through faith in Jesus. This change begins on the inside and shows on the outside. Pseudo Christians can copy this new life but only for a short while because their inside is unchanged and still rotten.

Jeremiah 17:9 NLT
[9] “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?”

In conclusion, we can only become partners in God’s kingdom if and when we enter it God’s way. No one can gate crash the kingdom. We must enter through Jesus.

John 14:6 NLT
[6]”Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

Acts of the Apostles 4:12 NLT
[12] “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”

Unsaved people may accuse Christians of hate speech, of intolerance but…the Bible declares that salvation is exclusive and inclusive, exclusive because there is salvation in no one else, and inclusive because whoever believes in Him will be saved.

Romans 10:9, 12 NLT
[9]”If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved…
[12] Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him.”

To be a citizen of heaven ultimately means that heaven, not earth, dominates our thinking and determines the way we live.

Colossians 3:1-3 NLT
[1]”Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. [2] Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. [3] For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Our citizenship in heaven, said Paul, also guarantees an eternal existence in a resurrected body like Jesus body which is perfectly suited for heaven. All this, and more, is part of God’s promise of eternal life for those who have entered by faith in Jesus into His eternal kingdom.