Philippians - More Joy Less Stress

For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. Philippians 1:29-30 I am sure you all have come across the roly-poly toys. You may not recognize it with this name but I am sure you know these toys. These toys had it a face painted on it. And no matter what you do to that doll, it always comes up, upright, because it's weighted. So you can punch it. It'll fall down but it comes right back up. You can kick it. It'll fall down, come right back up. You can do it repeatedly. It keeps coming back up. I picture Paul like that. Lock him up in prison and he'll say, "I'll preach to the guards". He comes back up. Get him out of prison and he'll say, "I'll go visit the Philippian church and encourage them". He comes back up. When they are ready to kill him he'll say, "OK, k...

and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. Philippians 1:28 " Courage is not limited to the battlefield or bravely catching a thief in your house. The real tests of courage are much deeper and much quieter. They are the inner tests, like remaining faithful when nobody's looking, like enduring pain when the room is empty, like standing alone when you're misunderstood ". Charles Swindoll Paul tells the Philippians that courage is a necessity in the gospel-worthy life. You can’t stand firm and united with your Christian brethren without courage. You can’t strive in defense of the faith, let alone sometimes carry some of your brothers and sister in Christ as your strive together, without courage. The word frightened refers to horses that easily get spooked and throw their riders off . We all know, sometimes a horse will become afraid or terrified by me...

with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel Philippians 1:27d Michelangelo was not the best painter of his time. He had a bad back and a sinus condition. No one else was willing to do whatever it took to succeed. He laid on his back painting a ceiling for nearly 2 years and completed the Sistine Chapel. All the other “great” painters of his day are forgotten in obscurity. In 1949, Jonas Salk wanted a cure for polio. He worked 16 hours a day, six days a week for five years and gave us the now-famous Salk Vaccine against polio. Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketball players in history, played the 1997 Championship Game against the Utah Jazz with the flu even when he could have stayed at home. What made these people different from the others? They were willing to strive to reach the maximum. The Greek word Paul uses, which is best translated as “ striving ,” carries the idea of fighting, battling, and contending . A gospel-worthy lif...

I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, Philippians 1:27c Charles Spurgeon once said the following about perseverance:     “Conversion is a turning into the right road; the next thing is to walk in it. The daily going on in that road is as essential as the first starting if you would reach the desired end. To strike the first blow is not all the battle; to him that overcometh the crown is promised. To start in the race is nothing, many have done that who have failed; but to hold out till you reach the winning post is the great point of the matter. Perseverance is as necessary to a man’s salvation as conversion.”     “But some, who do run well at first, have hardly breath enough to keep the pace up, and so turn aside for a little comfortable ease, and do not get into the road again. Such are not genuine Christians; they are only men-made, self-made Christians; and these self-made Christians never hold on, and never ca...