Truth For The Heart
I wrote this post for New Year’s Day 2011. I’ve revisited it and revised it yet again for clarity because it continues to be read as people search for hope. I’ve left this one up so that if it turns up in a search, the link won’t lead to a page that says error, but […]
Read MoreIn the last half of Philippians 2 there are such wonderful examples of connections of love and friendship. Paul’s love is so evident in his joy in pouring himself out for them, and his high recommendation of Timothy speaks of his regard for both Timothy and the Philippians in sending to them someone he trusts […]
Read MoreSo then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Do all things without […]
Read MoreIn Philippians 2:1 Paul lays the foundation of these next three verses by describing the reality of God’s grace in the Philippians’ lives. Because of this reality, he tells the Philippians to “make full (the measure of) my joy.” 2 make full (the measure of) my joy by being of the same mind, having the […]
Read MoreIn times past shoemakers marked out the measure of a person’s foot on their bench. This benchmarking determined the size of the shoe.1 When a surveyor made a mark at the correct height on a stone for his leveling rod, this was his benchmark.2 Benchmark has come to mean a standard for excellence—a mark by […]
Read MoreIn the second chapter of his letter to the Philippians, Paul turns to writing to them about considering each other—serving each other—ministering to each other. He lays the groundwork—the foundation—the irrefutable bedrock of ministry as he makes this appeal to them. Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of […]
Read MoreYou may have wondered why, if Joy to the World is my favorite Christmas carol, I didn’t wait and post it on Christmas Day. I have several reasons. Joy is a major theme of Philippians, and I want to keep this theme in mind—because the topic of Philippians 1:29 is one that is difficult for us […]
Read MoreJoy to the World with its exuberant music and words of celebration is one of my favorite carols of the Advent of Christ. The words are based on Psalm 98, and it is one of the more than 600 hymns written by Isaac Watts (1674-1748).1 He wrote the hymn, however, not of the First Advent […]
Read MoreWhen Jesus washed the feet of His disciples the evening before He was crucified, He was demonstrating the command He had given them just before He traveled to Jerusalem for the last time: But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their […]
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Kindling for Candles 