“for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
~ Philippians 2:13
Hi James and Ellen,
Are you willing to sacrifice your life for Jesus’ sake? Are you willing to give up everything for the sake of the body of Christ? Are you willing to put the interests of every other guy, gal and kid before your own interests? Do you know Jesus? What do you know about Paul? Do you know who are Timothy and Epaphroditus? The answers are found in Philippians 2. The Philippi Christ-follower community of guys and gals sent Epaphroditus to Paul as their representative to help Paul with his needs. While Epaphroditus was with Paul, Epaphroditus apparently came close to dying. Epaphroditus – about 1970 years ago, was to Paul a bro, fellow worker and soldier in his passionate quest to see the hope of joy being carried to and embedded in different countries and people groups of guys and gals. Timothy – when he was a young guy, began traveling with Paul to wherever Paul went. Paul mentored Timothy. Timothy comes across as being a very sensitive young guy who had a genuine interest in the welfare of other guys and gals. When Paul wrote his Philippians Letter, Paul was very possibly under house arrest in Rome. Even though Paul a couple of years earlier had spent about two years in the jail that was in Caesarea, Paul’s message of having joy superseded everything else that he wanted to through his Philippians Letter communicate to the Christ-follower community of guys and gals in Philippi. Paul did not let the bad things that had happened and were happening in his life to deprive him of the spirit of joy that he felt in his life. Paul’s life was spent telling other guys, gals and kids about Jesus. Jesus was by nature God. Jesus became a person like you. By Jesus emptying Himself of what was His heavenly glory while still remaining completely sinless, Jesus looked and acted like a normal guy. Jesus’ primary purposes for spending a little over thirty years on planet Earth was to model obedient servitude and then to die the most horrific, despicable death possible – which was to be crucified on a cross to defeat sin and death.
Paul’s living desire was to be Jesus-like. Do you want to be Jesus-like? To be Jesus-like, a guy, gal or kid will do whatever he or she does with a joy that will only bring eternal blessings versus temporary temporal gains. To be Jesus-like, a guy, gal or kid will value the life of every other guy, gal and kid who is living on planet Earth with a greater esteem and higher approval than how he or she values himself or herself. To be Jesus-like, a guy or gal will not hesitate to allow his or her physical body be a death sacrifice while saving a guy, gal or kid from a physical death and which may lead the guy or gal to claim the same joy spirit that a guy, gal or kid has who is Jesus-like. To be Jesus-like will result in a life that is driven by joyful hope. A Christ-follower – who is a guy, gal or kid who is Jesus-like, is encouraged by his or her relationship with Jesus, comforted by Jesus’ love, grateful for the constant companionship of God – as God the Spirit, and responds in tenderness and compassion to other guys, gals and kids. A Christ-follower – who is a guy, gal or kid who is Jesus-like, does not have it in him or her to live a life in a way that is only for self through selfish ambition and satisfying a vain conceit. A Christ-follower guy, gal or kid has an innate desire to have the very same attitude towards life and towards other guys, gals and kids who are living on planet Earth that Jesus had while He was living on planet Earth. A Christ-follower guy, gal or kid – even though he or she knows that his or her life was sin tainted at birth, knows that it was only by the grace of God that he or she can joyfully claim through reverent fear and overwhelmed trembling God’s salvation gift of eternal life that He proudly gifts to each specially elected guy, gal and kid at the moment that each of His adopted guys, gals and kids makes his or her deliberate decision that was driven or prompted by God – as God the Spirit, to pass through the faith/grace door directly into the family of guys, gals and kids that is made up of only other Christ-follower guys, gals and kids. The guy, gal and kid who passes through the faith/grace door to join all the guys, gals and kids who God – as God the Spirit, has already led through the faith/grace door, will leave outside the grace/faith door – just before he or she passes through it, the spirits of complaining and arguing. To be Jesus-like as a Christ-follower guy, gal or kid is to let the sanctifying cleansing power of God – as God the Spirit, that God – as God the Father, assigned God – as God the Spirit, to do in a new ‘born again’ Christ-follower guy, gal or kid that will lead him or her to be more and more blameless and pure. Christ-follower guys, gals and kids are to never ever forget what Paul scribed in verse 13 “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
Your grandmaa and grandpaa are Christ-followers. Your grandmaa and grandpaa are praying that you will be led by God – as God the Spirit, to have an uncontainable, insatiable desire to be Jesus-like. Your grandmaa and grandpaa are very grateful that God – as God the Father, planned out their lives before He formed planet Earth that has your grandmaa and grandpaa fulfilling His ordained roles where the rewards of their lives’ activity investments will be eternal blessings. Your grandmaa and grandpaa will not be leaving many temporal things behind when they pass through the window of death into eternal life. Your grandmaa and grandpaa have had the lives of the guys and gals who committed to procure knowledge by studying in the Bible education program classes that your grandmaa and grandpaa enabled in Bolivia and helped to initiate in Guatemala be gifts to them. Your grandmaa and grandpaa want to be every day two shining ‘stars’ in the universe that God – as God the Father, created for them to reflect His glory back to Him. Your grandmaa and grandpaa are very grateful for why God – as God the Father, created them.
Philippians 2 (701)