Philippians 3

Dear RTB’ers,

…that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him … righteousness from God that depends on faith. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. (vv. 8b-9, 15) There are more verses that precede the emboldened verse above, but I tried to grab a few to catch the meaning to which Paul was going – his faith in the Lord Jesus and people who believe otherwise. My point in the bold verse above is that people, both believers and non-believers will disagree with us, but it’s not our job to convince them otherwise. Our job is to set forth our witness, our faith, what we know as truth, and let the Holy Spirit work in us and in the hearts of those with whom we disagree. Share your faith as best you know how and leave the results up to God.

Blessings.

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See also: October 15 (2021) / Philippians 3:1-21.

Philippians 2:19-30

Dear RTB’ers,

Today we have Paul speaking about two of his fellow believers, Timothy and Epaphroditus. Epaphroditus is new to us; he is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible except for a later mention of him in this letter. We met Timothy long ago in the book of Acts (Acts 16:1-3) when Paul was in Lystra on his second missionary journey. We also read Paul’s two letters to Timothy during our first year in Search the Scriptures, plus Paul mentions him in a number of his other epistles, mostly as his traveling companion or as a sent messenger to cities where Paul has ministered. Paul has kind, loving words for this young believer (Philippians 2:20-22).

Both my Study Bible and an online commentary suggest that Epaphroditus was from Philippi, so mention of him and his service to Paul in this letter is fully appropriate. As with Timothy, Paul speaks highly of Epaphroditus – but he leaves me confused with the following verse: …for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. (v. 30) Something was “lacking” in the Philippians’ service to Paul? What’s that about?

Again, from yesterday, verses worth repeating: Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (vv. 9-11)

Blessings.

Philippians 1:27-2:18

Dear RTB’ers,

For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for His sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had… (vv. 1:29-30a) I can’t read this verse without my mind going back to Acts 16, the incident of Paul and Silas in prison in Philippi. It makes the whole epistle come alive, in that Paul’s readers can always identify with his imprisonment there.

Encouragement, comfort, participation, affection, sympathy… (v. 2:1) consolation, fellowship, compassion (NASB). Words that describe how Christians need to be living with one another. Other descriptors…?

“Joy” (or “rejoice”) shows up three times today. (Philippians 2:2, 17, 18)

Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (vv. 9-11) GLORY!

Blessings.

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See also: October 14 (2021) / Philippians 2:1-30.

Philippians 1:12-26

Dear RTB’ers,

A really good passage today, with a couple of very strong truths proclaimed. First, after acknowledging that his example in his imprisonment has caused others of the brethren to preach the gospel, Paul maintains that not all are preaching from a true heart: Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. (v. 15) Recognizing that some of these preachers’ motives may be misguided, Paul does not continue to fault them, but rather sees the benefit of their preaching: What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. (v. 18) I see an application today in our own situation. Although we have left the Episcopal Church and we have seen splits in the Methodist Church (just across the street from our own location), we have to recognize that there are millions of good people with whom we disagree, but who have remained “behind” and are still encouraging others in their faith. It’s like the truth that we see in today’s divisive politics in our own country, “What unites us is far more important than what divides us.” We need to be careful in how we speak of these divisions.

A second truth is one that I often cite: …to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (v. 21) It’s a truth that, in part, led me to the Lord. Jim was a young man who had (over the course of three years) been sharing the gospel with me. I saw the life that he was living and I reasoned that he could not lose: If God were real, Jim would spend eternity with Him, but if there were no God, Jim was fully enjoying the life that he was living. For him, to live was Christ and to die would have been gain. A simple, yet profound truth!

Yes, a really good passage today…!

Blessings.

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See also: October 13 (2021) / Philippians 1:1-30.

Philippians 1:1-11

Dear RTB’ers,

We now leave the Old Testament for a week to spend time with Paul in his letter to the Philippians – one of my favorites of all of Paul’s epistles. When I think of this letter, I think “joy”; this epistle bespeaks that feeling over and over. We see that even in today’s reading, the beginning of his letter. We see the word, itself, in verse 4, then feel it fully in the love that he has for these Philippians: For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. (v. 8) Joy and love. That’s what we will be reading for the next week. Enjoy!

Blessings.

Lamentations 5

Dear RTB’ers,

Again, labels for each of the five chapters of Lamentations:

1. Jerusalem’s Misery and Desolation
2. The Lord’s Anger against His People
3. Judah’s Complaint – and Basis for Consolation
4. The Contrast between Zion’s Past and Present
5. Judah’s Appeal for God’s Forgiveness

Today, Judah’s appeal for God’s forgiveness. However, the first 18 verses sound very similar to yesterday’s reading – the difficult plight of Jerusalem’s survivors. But finally, to close the chapter and the Book, the writer (Jeremiah?) asks one more time for the Lord’s intervention: Why do you forget us forever, why do You forsake us for so many days? Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old — unless You have utterly rejected us, and You remain exceedingly angry with us. (vv. 20-22)

That last verse is particularly striking. I don’t believe that the Lord will ever utterly reject us. He loves us too much. But for that Jerusalem writer, it seemed, indeed that He might possibly did remain exceedingly angry. Could God remain that angry? I think not. But let’s not just presume that or take His love that for granted…!!

Blessings.

Lamentations 4

Dear RTB’ers,

Again, labels for each of the five chapters of Lamentations:

1. Jerusalem’s Misery and Desolation
2. The Lord’s Anger against His People
3. Judah’s Complaint – and Basis for Consolation
4. The Contrast between Zion’s Past and Present
5. Judah’s Appeal for God’s Forgiveness

Today, the contrast between Zion’s past and present. John’s link from yesterday asked us to put ourselves into Jerusalem after the fall, to see, smell, feel the horrors of what had happened. That’s a good suggestion for today’s reading, especially the first half of the chapter. The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food during the destruction of the daughter of my people. (v. 10) Horrors upon horrors! It’s a very difficult read, if we truly visualize it.

Happier were the victims of the sword than the victims of hunger, who wasted away, pierced by lack of the fruits of the field. (v. 9) Possibly therein a message for us today, as millions of people around the world suffer from hunger and malnutrition? Again, let’s put ourselves into their stories.

A very difficult read today…

Blessings.

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See also: August 6 (2023) / Lamentations 3:34-5:22.

Lamentations 3

Dear RTB’ers,

Recalling from two days ago, labels for each of the five chapters of Lamentations:

1. Jerusalem’s Misery and Desolation
2. The Lord’s Anger against His People
3. Judah’s Complaint – and Basis for Consolation
4. The Contrast between Zion’s Past and Present
5. Judah’s Appeal for God’s Forgiveness

Today, Judah’s complaint and her appeal for consolation… But first, a word about some Old Testament writings. (NOTE: For some of you, I’m probably repeating myself; for others, I hope these few words help.) You may have noticed that each of the first two chapters of Lamentations were 22 verses long. That will also be the case for chapters 4 and 5, while today’s chapter 3 is 66 verses long, equal to 3 times 22. Many Psalms are also 22 verses long, and we can probably find other chapters in the Prophets that are 22 verses. Each of these 22-verse chapters begin with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet in verse 1, then the second letter in verse 2, and continuing to verse 22. This style of writing is known as an acrostic poetry. So the writer of Lamentations is incorporating poetic beauty alongside his simple reporting of the state of Jerusalem after the fall. It’s nice to dwell on the fact that these God-inspired Old Testament writers have left such elegant writing for readers so many millennia later.

The beginning of today’s reading sounds a lot like Job – the author complaining for what God has done to him. He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; He has made my chains heavy; though I call and cry for help, He shuts out my prayer… I have become the laughingstock of all my people, the object of their taunts all day long. (vv. 7-8, 14) Then the tone changes in verse 21 and the next dozen verses. For example, The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. … For the Lord will not cast off forever, for, though He cause grief, He will have compassion according to the abundance of His steadfast love… (vv. 25, 31-32)

Then finally the writer recognizes the gravity of his and Judah’s sins: Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD! (vv. 39-40) He also gets personal about his own situation, especially his problems with those taunting and persecuting him. Having just read Jeremiah, we know about these difficulties – the beatings, the time in the well, their kidnapping him to Egypt. But with it all he has confidence in the Lord: I called on Your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit; You heard my plea… You came near when I called on You; You said, ‘Do not fear!’ (vv. 55-57)

Do not fear!

Carol said to me that this is a really great chapter. I agree!

Blessings.

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See also: August 5 (2023) / Lamentations 1:1-3:33.

Lamentations 2

Dear RTB’ers,

Recalling from yesterday, labels for each of the five chapters of Lamentations:

1. Jerusalem’s Misery and Desolation
2. The Lord’s Anger against His People
3. Judah’s Complaint – and Basis for Consolation
4. The Contrast between Zion’s Past and Present
5. Judah’s Appeal for God’s Forgiveness

Today, the Lord’s anger against His people… And yes, we see His anger in almost every verse, written as a narrative in the first half of the chapter, but then changing to the author (Jeremiah?) speaking personally from verse 11 to the end of the chapter, with sensitivities for the plight of the people, but also castigation for those false prophets who led the people astray: My eyes are spent with weeping; my stomach churns; my bile is poured out to the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people… For your ruin is vast as the sea; who can heal you? Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions… (vv. 11a, 13b, 14a) Finally the author calls the people to prayer, Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to Him… (v. 19b) This chapter ends with that prayer in the last three verses. It’s a bit of an angry prayer, but a prayer, nonetheless.

Does that make sense, an angry prayer…? Your thoughts…

I hope to see you at our RTB gathering in a few hours.

Blessings.

Lamentations 1

Dear RTB’ers,

I could sense a collective sigh of relief as we left Jeremiah yesterday. But today we dive right back in, to his reflections on the fall of Jerusalem. Our STS book provides some insight into Lamentations. My Study Bible added more, especially its label for each of the five chapters of the book:

1. Jerusalem’s Misery and Desolation
2. The Lord’s Anger against His People
3. Judah’s Complaint – and Basis for Consolation
4. The Contrast between Zion’s Past and Present
5. Judah’s Appeal for God’s Forgiveness

It would be good for us to keep these labels in mind as we read each of these chapters over the next few days.

Today, Jerusalem’s misery, with Jerusalem depicted as a widow viewing the destruction in the first eleven verses, then the widow, herself speaking her desolation in the next eleven verses. Her misery is captured especially well in the last few verses (21b-22): All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that You have done it… Let all their evildoing come before You, and deal with them as You have dealt with me because of all my transgressions; for my groans are many, and my heart is faint. The widow (Jerusalem) is recognizing her transgressions. Therein forms the beginning of healing.

See you tomorrow for our RTB gathering, I hope…!

Blessings.