November 13, 2018
The Angels Come
Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel
of Christ.
Philippians 1: 27a
Read: Philippians 1: 27-30
A few years ago, a photo of professional
golfer Webb Simpson and his wife was posted on social media after Simpson won a
golf tournament. Both Simpson and his wife are known for their Christian faith.
Below the post were several comments. Some of the comments were positive, many
were like “cat-calls” directed toward
Simpson’s wife and a few of the comments were demeaning Simpson’s faith. Such
is our world culture. In the last paragraph of Philippians 1, Paul lifts up the
importance of the followers of Christ maintaining their Christian integrity in
the face of such hostility.
The culture in the USA is
becoming increasingly hostile to the Christian movement. The followers of Jesus
had a profound influence on both the initial settlements in America and the
eventual founding of the US. That influence shaped the prevailing culture in
the US until the post-Civil War era. Since then the prevailing culture has been
increasingly anti-Christian. Paul’s words to his friends in Philippi are
certainly apt for our times as well: “For
it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but
also to suffer for him” (Philippians 1:29).
My Takeaway: After Jesus’ forty
days in the wilderness and being tempted by the devil, Matthew tells us, “Then
the devil left him, and angels came and attended him” (Matthew 4:11). We too,
when suffering for Christ, can expect God’s angels to attend to us. There are
other times when our suffering is the result of illness, or perhaps our own
wrong doing. Then too, we experience the gracious comfort of God. (See 2
Corinthians 1:3-4)
Sē’lah
Alex
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(Selah is a word that appears in the
Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my
correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about
these things.)
These
meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his
way of life. The meditations are
published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/
and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may
subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by
subscription.
Publications by Alex M. Knight:
·
Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New
Testament and Psalms has been
published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.
·
The second
edition of First Think – Then Pray
is available on Amazon Kindle.
·
Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus
Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.
Unless
otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible,
New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica,
Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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