Philippians 4:1 “Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!” A few days ago, I received an e-mail from a dear friend. “My Baby’s Coming Home!” the subject line read. My friend’s daughter, who lives in Iceland […]

Philippians 3:20 – 21 “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” The idea of a glorified body […]

Philippians 3:19 – 20 ” . . . Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Mark, the kids and I lived in Louisiana for a short time. While we were there, we met some wonderful people! We built […]

Philippians 3:18 – 19 “For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.” If the devil himself came […]

Philippians 3:17 “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.” Throughout the New Testament, Paul speaks of his failures as well as his successes.  In 1 Timothy 1:15, he referred to himself as the worst of sinners. So why does he […]

Philippians 3:16 “Only let us live up to what we have already attained.” Do you ever feel like you are taking two steps forward and three steps back? I do. Sometimes, I wonder how God can have such patience with me, for I continue to make the same old mistakes I always have. Instead of […]

Philippians 3:15 “All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.” Paul has just written one of the most poetic, most memorized passages in all of scripture. He has told us to forget the past, […]

Philippians 3:14 “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Paul continues to paint a picture of himself as a runner. He presses on, and we picture him, sweat pouring from his body, panting heavily, head forward, pushing, pressing on toward the prize. […]

Philippians 3:13 “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead . . . ” Paul had done some pretty terrible things in his lifetime. Before converting to Christianity, he had actually persecuted Christians! He had […]

Philippians 3:12 “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Paul must have been a real sports fan. Time and again in his writing, he uses metaphors which liken the Christian life […]