Senior Pastor’s Devotional
Day 41 Movement Control Order – “Strategic Psalm 91 Watch”

Meditating on Book of Philippians.Meditating on Book of Philippians.

Philippians was written by the Apostle Paul when he was a prisoner about 62 AD. It was a letter sent to his fellow Christians at the church in Philippi, a church Paul had founded on his second missionary journey. 

This church has financially supported Paul and his ministry and he was very encouraged. (Phil. 2:25-30).

Paul’s letter to the Philippians church is something of a missionary ‘thank you’ letter, but it is much more than that. It is the sharing of Paul’s secret of Christian joy! More than 16 times in these 4 chapters, Paul mentions joy, rejoicing or gladness!

The unusual thing about the letter is this: Paul’s situation was such that there appeared to be no reason for him to be rejoicing. 

He was a Roman prisoner and his case was coming up shortly. He might be freed or he might be beheaded! Paul had wanted to go to Rome as a preacher (Rom 1:13-16). Instead, he had come as a prisoner. 

Further than this, another headache is that the believers were divided; some were for Paul and some were against him (Phil 1:15-17) In fact, some of the Christians even wanted to make things more difficult for the apostle.

Yet, inspite of his danger and discomfort, Paul lived with joy! What was the secret of this joy?

Philippians is a book that explains the mind the believer must have if he is going to experience Christian joy in a world that is filled with troubles, especially now in the midst of the pandemics and the effects it has upon everything!

Lessons to learn:-

Overview of the book:

– Paul identified 4 things that can ‘steal our joy’ and it also shows us how he dealt with those areas.

1. Circumstances.
-this can really affect us and sometimes, we may not have any control over it, for example, the weather, the traffic, some things in life – like this pandemic that has thrown everything upside down.

How did Paul manage this?
The ‘Single Mind’ – Philippians Chapter 1.

Paul does not look at circumstances itself but he always look through the eyes of faith. 

Examples:-
• Phil. 1:13. How does he look at his chains? He looks at it that he is a prisoner for Christ and he was in chain for the sake of the gospel.
• He was focused and single minded of his purpose of life and therefore when he was able to see his situation as advancing the cause of Christ – he rejoiced despite imprisonment!

             When you have the ‘single mind’, your circumstances can work for you instead of against you.

2. People.
Other than circumstances, yes, ‘people’ can also take away our joy! What people say, what people do can affect us. So, what was the attitude of Paul to cope?

“The Humble Mind.” – Philippians Chapter 2.
Philippians 2:1-5 – The Christian with the ‘humble mind’ is humble, considerate (not self centered) and filled with love. 

With this attitude, we don’t take things at heart so easily and therefore, we don’t get affected so easily by people. 

People can affect your joy but they cannot take away your joy.

3. Our Struggles with what we want.
In life – What we have and what we don’t have can also be problematic.

“The Spiritual Mind.” – Philippians chapter 3.
-Philippians 3:19b – Paul admonished the people for their mind is set on earthly things. 

-Paul encourages us not to struggle like the rest with a earthly mindset. Things in themselves will not satisfy us – so don’t let thing steal your joy.
Be satisfied. Be contend.

4. Worries. 
“The Secure Mind.” – Philippians chapter 4.

What is Paul’s prescription for us in Phil 4:6-7?

Our secured mind therefore helps us to face the insecure circumstances that comes and it is done through surrendering all our worries to God through prayer.

Conclusion:-

This brief overview of Philippians will lead us to see that it is possible to live a life of Christian joy inspite of circumstances; people; our struggles and worries. The secrets of these all will be discovered in our coming studies.

Ps Lawrence.