To continue today in the book of Philippians, chapter 1:12-26 gives us the foundation of the author, his desires and his mission.

As we know the book was written by Paul and sent from prison to his favorite church that he planted outside Athens, in a Roman dominated community of Philippi.

Paul’s Joy That Christ Is Preached

¹² And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. ¹³ For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. ¹⁴ And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear.

¹⁵ It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. ¹⁶ They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. ¹⁷ Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. ¹⁸ But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. ¹⁹ For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.

Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians from jail and the church had concerns about him. They knew he had been arrested and were concerned about him. But in his response to them, he sets aside what he has gone through (Acts 21:17—28:31) and shares about how things are currently going.  There is a time and situation to share our whole story, but it is not always necessary for the ones that know the story.

When Paul was initially in Philippi, Claudius was Emperor of Rome and by the time of the letter being written power of the world had shifted to Nero, who opposed the Christians greatly. The situation was that Paul did not want to focus so much on what he had been through but encourage them that the Gospel was still powerful, regardless of the current situation.

To many, Paul’s situation would have looked like failure, but not to Paul. He had a “single mind,” concerned with sharing Christ and the gospel. Paul did not find his joy in ideal circumstances; he found his joy in winning others to Christ, even in his worst circumstances.

His thought was that the situation he was in could  promote the furtherance of the gospel, that was all that mattered! It is always easier for all of us to focus on our situation, our challenges, setbacks and oppositions and not poke our head out of our hole to see Christ in everything.

How is the Gospel in your life and community. Despite your immediate circumstances, what is the Holy Spirit up to? Are you seeing spread, solidifying or diminishing?

Paul’s Life for Christ

²⁰ For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. ²¹ For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. ²² But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. ²³ I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. ²⁴ But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.

²⁵ Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith. ²⁶ And when I come to you again, you will have even more reason to take pride in Christ Jesus because of what he is doing through me.

Shame and guilt are some of the most powerful emotions a person can face. In this NLT translation it says ‘fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed’, in our generation this is almost a statement of risk, that maybe his decisions might be wrong. But we know that in the time of the letter, the Greek word for hope in this case was “the general feeling that some desire will be fulfilled”.  This was not stated in uncertainty, but in confidence. Put in other terms to Timothy, Paul wrote.

The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. – 2 Tim. 4:18 ESV

Life and death are common among us all. We we are younger we have no real concept of life ending, it is just experienced and the goal is to soak it all in and avoid downfalls, but as we get older, and wiser, our thoughts shift. We begin to realize there is a timeline. Some people as they get older, they get a bucket list, things they want to accomplish while they still have time. Goals and desires are healthy when put into context.

Do you have a bucket list? (official or unofficial LOL).

Now the challenging question to all of us would be, if we don’t get any of those items checked off, would we feel bad? Disappointed? That should give us some in sight to the thoughts Paul had. He was not torn between a person bucket list, as he was for serving Christ. In our times we would see someone like Paul, retiring and taking it easy. His work was done. He had planted many churches and helped many people, and now he should just rest here on earth. Maybe retire at the beach or just settle down in some small community and relax. But Paul knew is retirement and time of rest was going to be with Jesus and he would not have any regrets. It was not about his personal accomplishments here on earth, but the joy and peace he soaked in while here.

If you could describe “soaking in joy and peace”, what would that be like?

This week be alert to your mental awareness of where you are and what the Holy Spirit is up to. Don’t fall victim to getting bogged down in the details, but keep an eye on the horizon, use your Jesus’ eyes to give insight to the bigger narrative going on.