Skip to main content

Daily Devotion: Philippians 1:21-22

By

Philippians 1:21-22   "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (22) But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not."

"For to me to live is ________"

Fill in the blank. What is life to me? What do I want, or need, in life in order for it to be complete?  For some, the blank might be filled in with position, power, riches, or success in some area of life.

James had the same thought in mind when he asked, "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For WHAT IS YOUR LIFE? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that."  (James 4:14-15)

Seeking the will of God is the proper manner in which to answer the fill-in-the-blank in the first paragraph. Life is too short to try to find all the answers of life on our own. Paul was not trying to answer it by his own power and understanding. He had one goal in mind as he wrote concerning the meaning of life.

What was his goal in living a life of contentment?  "Christ shall be magnified in my body." (Philippians 1:20) I pray my life will be to that goal also.

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Daily Devotion: Psalm 88:1-4

By
Psalm 88:1-4  A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. "O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:  (2)  Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry;  (3)  For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.  (4)  I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength" I've said this before and I will say it again (and probably more times before we get to the end of the Psalms) - I love the Psalms because I can surely identify with them. Most Psalms start in a low place and as the writer expresses his thoughts, the Lord begins to lift him up out of that dry place.  Though this entire Psalm is a fervent cry unto the Lord, the Psalmist tells us specifically in three verses that he cried daily unto the Lord. Just a few Psalms ago, we were reminded that God always hears our prayers. ...
Read more

Daily Devotion (Video): I Will Fear No Evil - Psalm 23:4

By
Read more

Daily Devotion: Knowing God By Bearing Fruit

By
Some will notice the title is not “Bearing fruit because we know God,” so to avoid getting sidetracked with that, we can start with the fact that we won’t bear any godly fruit unless our heart has been changed and the Holy Spirit dwells within us. Also, to avoid confusion, I’ll be using the terms “bearing fruit,” “good works” and “service” interchangeably.  I took this article’s title from Part 7, of John Piper’s “Look at the Book” session on Colossians 1:9-12. I greatly encourage you to view that short video to get his excellent exposition on this subject.  When I saw the title of the video earlier this year, I got kind of excited because that’s the direction my thinking has gone in the past several years. My thinking was founded Biblically with verses on good works like Matthew 5:16 – “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father, who is in heaven.” But I couldn’t expand it to expla...
Read more