Finding Your Confidence
So many factors conspire against our living in a way that pleases God. We not only deal with our inner struggles, but we must also face people who sound well-intentioned but oppose the ways of God. We can unwittingly embrace a conspiracy of confidence in our lives—trusting our accomplishments to validate our worth. This kind of confidence can move us away from the sufficiency of Jesus and ultimately contribute to a wasted life.
In our culture, confidence is often praised as a virtue. What is personal confidence? How might confidence be deceptive and destructive?
In Philippians 3:1 Paul, once again, reminds the Philippians to “rejoice.” Read the entire verse and describe the relationship between “rejoicing” and “safety.” Why is rejoicing so powerful?
Three times in chapter 3, verse 2, Paul warns his readers to “beware.” Who were the Judaizers? In our day, what kind of spiritual deceivers are attempting to add “extras” to the gospel?
Read Phil. 3:3-6. How would you describe Paul’s list of achievements? What does it mean to have “confidence in the flesh” and how do you avoid it?
Our successful accomplishments pale in comparison to knowing Christ. Read Phil. 3:7-9. What does it mean to “know Christ”? How can you live, not by your own righteousness, but by the righteousness of Christ?
Once again, the importance of knowing Christ emerges in the discussion (Phil. 3:10-11). Is it possible for a person to be a Christian and not “know” Christ? Do you know Christ more than you did last year? How do you know? What are you doing now to know Christ more?
Learning Contentment
Contentment is one of those difficult to define qualities that’s even more challenging to put into practice and actually experience. Growing in this quality is a continual process that can’t be rushed. Whether you are very aware of your discontent or feel mostly...
Stand
What would it look like for you to stand strong in your life right now? At different times in life, internal and external pressures can force us to lose our footing and direction. As we near the conclusion of the letter to the Philippians, we find encouragement to...
Eyes on the Prize
It’s not uncommon to find people who begin to pursue Christ with unbridled enthusiasm only to see them falter when life gets hard. A believer who pursues Christ must do so with a Spirit-empowered perspective. Paul had a deep desire to know Jesus more and more. And he...
Connecting and Reconnecting Others
As followers of Jesus we are able to share with one another the rewards and joys of our faith as well as its demands and sorrows. In doing so, we come to experience the love and comfort of belonging to a community of believers that is as concerned for us as we are for...
Our Work and God’s Work
Christian growth is complex but simple. God does His part, we do ours. Put another way, God invites us into a cooperative work with Him. And part of that process involves how we treat each other. It really does matter. Our attitude toward each other often speaks...
Really Living
Have you ever had a moment when you thought, “Now, I’m really living!”? Maybe that feeling came with a thrilling moment, significant achievement, or meaningful experience. All of us want to experience that good life, but those feelings of “really living” seem to fade...
A Clear Perspective In Unclear Circumstances
Experiencing hardships is a normal part of life that can cause us to focus on negative feelings and anxiously anticipate negative outcomes. Being courageous followers of Jesus Christ doesn’t exempt us from these experiences and may, in fact, be the cause of them and...
Your Lens for Seeing Life
Like the lens of our eyes (or eyeglasses), we all carry around internal thoughts, feelings, and ideas composing core beliefs that filter our everyday experiences and help us make sense of life. As the Apostle Paul writes a “thank-you” note to the church at Philippi...