LEARNING DAILY

Philippians 1:6, “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”.

Philippians 1:12, But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.

All Believers have had to deal with situations that were difficult. Do not believe that you are alone in the things you have had to face. Think back and see what the results of your difficulties have been. Have you grown in your faith? Have others accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and/or grown in their walk on the narrow way because of things you have had to walk through?

If you are reading this, God is not through with you yet! You can be assured that based on God’s faithfulness he will complete what He has started in your life. One’s salvation begins the moment of accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior; the process of being cleansed, the process of becoming more like Christ (walking the narrow way into God’s kingdom) is just that – “a process”.  That process continues until the Believer walks into the kingdom of God.

Paul uses verse 12 to encourage the Philippian Believers and us by what he has experienced. Paul had the right attitude about facing the trouble he had faced. Paul loved his brothers and sisters in the Lord. Remember, he was writing to the Philippians from a Roman prison. Let me share some thoughts Believers are able to glean from studying this verse.

 Difficulty or hardships furthers the gospel. Paul should know. He was imprisoned, beaten, and suffered various hardships while preaching the message of Jesus. In all he experienced, he rejoiced that the message was able to be shared. The David Jeremiah Study Bible states, “The Greek word for furtherance is a military term that described engineers preparing a road for an advancing army and removing obstructions such as rocks and trees.” It goes on to note that Paul’s circumstances had removed barriers to the advancement of the gospel. I picture in my mind the gospel not just spreading but “advancing” into territories unknown and changing the hearts and lives of people there.

Read Philippians 1:13 and see how Paul’s imprisonment gave him opportunities to witness not only to other prisoners but to the Roman guards that he was continually chained to; he was chained to the soldiers assigned to high-ranking officials. Can you imagine being chained to Paul? He had plenty of opportunity to speak to many different guards over the time he was in prison. Just to give you how many guards we are talking about – Paul was chained to a guard 24 hours per day. I wonder how long each guard’s shift was. It became evident to all that Paul’s imprisonment was due to speaking the message of Jesus Christ; all knew he was no real criminal.

Paul’s time in captivity gave him plenty of opportunity to witness. Philippians 1:14 gives us insight into the effect of Paul’s imprisonment on other Believers. They became confident and began to speak boldly about their faith, without fear. Because Paul could go to jail for speaking about his faith, others began to take a stand for Christ and speak boldly about their faith.

I am getting long in this page of the blog. Continue reading in Philippians 1 and you will see Paul’s goal was to speak clearly the gospel of Christ in a clear manner (verses 15-18). He evaluated all experiences through his life’s purpose (verse 21). “The challenges Paul faced and that Believers do in their lifetime prepares us to see life and death in a proper perspective – to serve the Lord properly in life and that death offers the blessing of finally and completely knowing our Savior” (verses 22-26) (thoughts from the David Jeremiah Study Bible).

There are occasions that give Believers opportunities to speak boldly about their faith; take those opportunities to overcome fear of sharing your faith in Jesus Christ and what He has done in your life. All Believers need to get better at doing this!