Tag: Hope

Elderly woman holding rosary beads sitting on a bench in a simple room with a candle, bookshelf, and cross on the wall

Morning Musing: Philippians 4:10-14

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“I rejoiced in the Lord greatly because once again you renewed your care for me. You were, in fact, concerned about me but lacked the opportunity to show it. I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me. Still, you did well by partnering with me in my hardship.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Some verses make good bumper sticker theology. That’s not to say bumper sticker theology is good—it’s not—but some verses fall to that kind of decontextualized packaging really easily. Philippians 4:13 is one of the best of those. All by itself it makes a great personal mantra, but it can easily lead to thinking about what we can do and the role Jesus plays in that that is rather far from anything Paul meant. In context, it’s even better and more helpful. Let’s talk about what it actually means and what we should really do with it.

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Group of people standing in a circle outdoors at sunrise reading and singing from Bibles

Morning Musing: Philippians 4:4

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“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (CSB – Read the chapter)

It case you were living under a rock, the U.S. Men’s and Women’s Olympic hockey teams both won the gold medal in this year’s Olympic Games. The women’s team has literally always medaled, winning gold three times. The men’s team hasn’t won gold in 46 years. Their victory was particularly impressive, including one of the greatest performances by a goalie ever. On the news of their victory, the whole country rejoiced (well, most of the country rejoiced; politics got in the way of the whole country’s rejoicing). It feels good to rejoice. That’s part of why Paul called the Philippian believers to rejoice in the Lord always. Let’s talk about why else he did.

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Glistening futuristic city with tall spires floating in clouds above a planet's surface.

Morning Musing: Philippians 3:20-21

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“Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject everything to himself.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Believers and unbelievers are not the same. Yes, we are all still people. We are equally created in the image of God and are both inestimably valuable because of that. Jesus died for both groups. God loves us the same. But the former group have been transformed by the grace of God into citizens of heaven while the latter are still in the flesh and denizens of this world. Their trajectories are not the same, nor are their ends. Having talked about the latter yesterday, let’s join Paul today as he reflects a bit about the former.

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Digging in Deeper: Philippians 3:10-11

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“My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What is it that matters most in the end? We can offer up all sorts of different answers to that question. Various folks have pointed to money or possessions in one way or another. Most people, though, generally have a sense that isn’t the right answer. We could also point to things like relationships, good works, or renown. Here, as Paul is talking about what matters most to him, he points to something we don’t think about—even as followers of Jesus—but which should fall a whole lot more centrally on our radar. Let’s take a look at what he has to say.

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Doomsday Prepping

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Jesus had a lot to say about the end of the world. He spoke of judgment as often as the prophets of old. That makes sense given that He was a prophet. He was far more than that, of course, but He wasn’t less than that. As we move forward with Luke in his story of sacrifice, we find Jesus having a conversation with the disciples about the future and judgment that was coming to Jerusalem itself and the world as a whole. It’s a wild picture. Let’s take a look at what He has to say and what it might mean for us with Easter in view.

Doomsday Prepping

Everybody knows the world is going to end at some point in the future. It’s not a matter of if; only of when. And I don’t say that simply as a Bible-believing follower of Jesus. Secular scientists tell us that at some point in the hopefully distant future the sun is going to go supernova, explode, and that’ll be the end of our solar system. Fun fact: that was not always the “common knowledge” that it is today. Used to be, all of the smartest people in the world “knew” the universe was eternal. It has always been here and would always be here. Christians with their beliefs about the end of the world with the return of Christ were so quaint and primitive. Albert Einstein famously introduced a made up fudge factor into some complicated equations he discovered that let physicists describe the universe in very mathematical terms that resulted in their showing the universe was eternal because if you solved them without that, they pointed to a finite beginning point of the universe, and he “knew” that wasn’t correct. Then science caught up with theology at about the same time that we invented weapons capable of utterly destroying the world several times over, and since then, everybody has known the world is going to end at some point in the future. 

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