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Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted Isa 53:4 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Thursday, July 16, 2026
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :Self and Others Bible Verse :Philippians 2:1-4 "Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. " Message:
Paul begins this section with four “if” clauses. In Greek, just as in English, an “if” clause always indicates a conditional meaning, but the assumption about whether the “if” will come true varies widely. A person might say, “if the Bengals win the Super Bowl, I'll shave my head.” He would be indicating a high degree of confidence — a practical certainty — that the Bengals would not win the Super Bowl. The expectation can be neutral: “If the coin is heads, I'll wash the car; if it is tails, you wash the car.” And at the other extreme, which Paul intends in Philippians 2, the speaker is absolutely certain that the “if” is true.
There is no question that the church members in Philippi found “encouragement in Christ.” The “if” clauses are a powerful rhetorical device, compelling the reader to acknowledge that he must also acknowledge the truth of the “then” clause. We see examples in English all the time, e.g., “If you want your children to be healthy, feed them Bovril.”
So Paul is essentially reminding the Philippians that they have found encouragement in Christ, fellowship in the Spirit, consolation in love, and affection and compassion for each other. He urges them to move forward in their faith by taking further steps, to make their life in Christ more complete, by taking specific actions.
fellowship in Christ
Paul then gives a number of related goals for our Christian lives, centered around the theme of pride and selfishness. This first sentence encourages them, and us, to unity. If we have the “same mind,” we demonstrate humility of opinion. We have ideas about Christianity (and a lot of other things), and guess what? Some of our ideas are wrong. And yet, we constantly ignore Paul’s clear warning here, and our churches are forever being torn into parts. In Russia, Orthodox Christians were persecuted (and some died) because they made the sign of the cross with three fingers, right to left, instead of two fingers, left to right!
Paul urges us to be of the “same mind.” How is this possible, though, given the persistence of our pride, despite our best efforts? By being intent on one purpose: the glorification of Jesus Christ. We have to stop looking at our own thoughts and face towards the cross, letting it fill our field of vision.
The second group of encouragements deals with selfishness, an easier fault to see. Paul thus encourages us to servanthood, echoing our Lord, who washed His followers’ feet.
Meditation : Prayer : Good shepherd, seek me out, and bring me home to your fold again. Deal favorably with me according to your good pleasure, until I may dwell in your house all the days of my life, and praise you forever and ever with them that are there. Amen. |
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