EXPAND TO READ: PHILIPPIANS 2 (HCSB)
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verses 3-4): Such a troubling conviction for me in these verses, because I often find myself doing things in rivalry or conceit and in a way that I think of myself as more important than others. You tell us to do exactly the opposite, yet I have failed so many times at this in my life. Please forgive me for my selfish ways of living, Father. Forgive me for not always looking out for others, but instead often looking out for my own interests. Forgive me for often thinking I am better than others, when in reality we are all sinners called to something greater than this world will tell us to be. Help me to be better at living this life in a way that is pleasing to You instead of to myself, Father.
PROMISE (verses 9-11): These verses pretty much outline the biggest promise You’ve ever made to us, in my opinion. You promise us that Jesus has been exalted highly by You and that all will bow to Him. He is the perfect Son of God and is the only one who walked on this earth as flesh to truly be worthy of sitting by Your side on a throne in Heaven. Through Him, however, we can profess freedom from the bondage of this life. It’s because of Jesus’ perfection and ultimate sacrifice that we are able to also stand with our Father in Heaven when our time comes. Thank You so much for this amazing promise to us, Father, because without it I would truly be a lost soul.
ATTITUDE (verses 14-15): Just like in verses 3-4 for my sin confession, I see You are speaking directly to me again in these verses for my attitude adjustment. You tell us to do everything without grumbling and arguing so that we may be blameless, pure, children of God who shine in this perverted world like stars. I do quite often struggle with living in the attitudes of grumbling and arguing, unfortunately. I do often feel my “default” attitude to be grumbling and arguing in this life. A lot of it has to do with my upbringing, but I have used that as a crutch and excuse my entire life and that’s not fair to You nor those around me. Have I gotten better as of late? I definitely have, but I still have a lot of work to do with respect to these. Father, instead of asking You to help me to live in a specific attitude today, I ask You to help me to no longer default to attitudes of grumbling and arguing in my life. Help me to be more like Jesus and less like me, Father.
COMMAND (verse 5): Going off of my attitude adjustment comes this verse where You tell us to make our own attitudes that of Christ Jesus. WOW! This is a BIG command and task to take on. I will never claim to be perfect like Jesus, nor do I even think I can come close to how perfect He was while in the flesh. I can work towards becoming MORE like Him in my life and less like me through the spiritual maturity You have begun to work on in me, but I know I will continue to struggle every now and then with my fleshly desires and defaults. I simply ask that You continue to work in me to the point where those fleshly desires and defaults become far less frequent. Work in me to slowly but surely change my default fleshly attitudes to the defaults that Jesus embraced in His walk of life.
EXAMPLE (verses 6-8): The example You give here of Jesus is so humbling to think about when written in this way. He existed in the form of God, yet never considered using His equality to You as something He should use for His own personal advantage. He fully emptied Himself into His ministry for You by becoming a slave in this life and taking on the likeness of us. While in the flesh, we completely disrespected and abused Him to the point of a sacrifice on the cross, yet He humbly and willingly accepted that fate because He was being obedient to You through it all. Help me to live more in obedience to You, Father. I will struggle at times, but I just ask that You remind me when I begin to stray a bit or worry that You are there with me to continue to help me move forward in my faith with obedience to You.
*DAILY NOTE: There is so much to take from this chapter, but the things that hit me most were my selfishness, my anger, my grumbling, and my sometimes “greater than thou” mentality in this life. This is not what You expect of me nor what You called me to be in this life. For so long I have lived in the identity that my upbringing and fleshly experiences have dictated to me instead of truly accepting the new identity I have from Jesus. Help me to truly let go of my past, Father, so that it no longer has a hold on my identity today. For some reason I cannot seem to let go of some things from my past in terms of habits, attitudes, and such, but I know with the most perfect teacher and counselor in my life that all things are possible. Thank You for Your good works in me so far, Father. I could never be where I’m at today if You weren’t there with me navigating me through the thornbushes, molding me like clay, smelting me in the fires, pruning me, and sharpening me. Thank You.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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