How has your week been?
Mine has been laden with a stress mine field and...
I stepped on a couple of them this week!
So, let's start off with some laughter,
which God has given us to relieve that volcano-erupting-feeling inside.
I promised some more of my favorite comedian,
Chonda Pierce, so may I present Chonda in "Weird Things Happen to Me"...
(plz excuse the "fuzziness")
No...nothing weird like that has happened to me...what about you?
Okayyyyy...now that we have laughed and are stress free, (?)
let's keep digging in our glorious treasure mine of God's Word.
strengthen us
and give us wisdom. Amen.
Philippians 2:12 (New International Version)
(12) "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling..."
≈≈Therefore≈≈in other words,
- because Jesus gave His life for us
- because He humbled Himself
- because He became a Servant
- because He became obedient to death (previous posts ~ verses 5-11)...
here is how you should live...
With Integrity...!
"Integrity in the faith is something that is revealed in the hidden times more than in the public times. Bill Hybels had a great title for one of his books, "Who You Are When No One's Looking".
It is the reminder that who we are when no one is looking is who we really are. We can all maintain a certain image when we are in church. But the real test of faith is when we are outside of the church. The goal of the Christian is to live consistently. Will Rogers perhaps summed it up well, "Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip." (Bruce Goettsche)
I have been in situations before and thank the good Lord
that I had the presence of mind to ask myself...
"How would you act if you knew a camera was recording
your every move and spoken word ~
and could be REPLAYED back to the person you were talking about? "
Not always...
but more and more the Holy Spirit is prompting me
with this thought.
A good description of "integrity" is:
"The state of being whole and undivided."
Paul goes on to describe exactly what he means,by listing 3 life principles that all truly appreciative Christians should embrace,
starting with verses 12-18.
For today's post, we will discuss the first principle:
"...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling..."
WORK OUT not WORK FOR...
Many have misinterpreted this Scripture to mean that you have to work FOR
your salvation. Paul was talking to Christians here in Philippians...
(Chapters 1:1 & 3:20)
Martyn Lloyd Jones writes that
"Working out what God has worked in...is the practical exhortation of the New Testament gospel to us today. I must now perfect this thing which has been given to me. The seed has been planted; I have been given it in embryo. My business is to allow and to encourage this gift to grow and develop, until it comes to its final perfection and full maturity. I have got the gift: I need not be worried lest God is not present and not with me. God is working in me and I must develop it all I can."
J. Vernon McGee writes:
"Salvation needs to be worked in before it can be worked out.
After you are saved, God will talk to you about works."
Let's look at the exact meaning of the words, "work out"
and you'll see what Paul is getting at.
This little word is translated from the Greek word "katergazesthe"...
and it was the same word the Roman historian STRABO,
used when he gave an account of the once-famous silver mines of Spain.
Strabo wrote of WORKING OUT these mines,
meaning that the owners were to operate the mines
in a manner that would gather the utmost value from them.
Understand-the mine's owners already had the mines in their possession.
But now they were to derive the full benefit of their ownership by WORKING OUT
all the ore from the various shafts and tunnels.
(Seems like we are talking a lot about mines this time!)
Question: How are practical ways we "work out" our salvation today?
"Fear and trembling..."
The fear of the Lord is ~ reverential trust.
Trembling here expresses profound reverence and respect.
Do you worship God for His attributes?
Don't know them?...look in the back of your Bible
and see if you have a "Subject Index" or "Subject by Topics".
Or you may own a Topical Bible ~ same thing.
(This is not a Concordance which is an alphabetical list of words in the Bible.)
Search for "God" and look under the sub-title of "attributes".
Don't have one? Email me and I will be happy to help you.
Do you trust God with your life, or have reverential trust, no matter what?...
No matter what the doctor says,
No matter what your parents may have said or not said about you,
No matter what your spouse says or doesn't say about you,
No matter that you are having trouble with your children or grandchildren,
No matter that your life has not been the "dream" you thought it would be,
No matter that you are worried about your finances,
No matter that you are worried about your future,
...Do you trust God with your life, no matter what???
Until next week,
Go with God and He will go with you,
Debbie G.
(Resources used: http://www.preceptaustin.org/
blueletterbible.org/commentaries)
