Christ Magnified in My Body

We have been studying the book of Philippians on Wednesday evenings for the past couple of months. We are looking at it one chapter at a time and answering the following 5 questions:
1. What do I like/dislike about this chapter?
2. What do I not understand about this chapter?
3. What do I see about the nature of God in this chapter?
4. What lessons do I want to take from this chapter?
5. How is my life going to change because of this chapter?

Last night we reviewed the entire chapter and I was reminded about my conviction when we studied chapter 1. In verses 19 and following Paul states,

"For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain..."

Firstly, we need the prayers of others and it is imperative that we are praying for others. For our prayers to be most effective, we need to be in close relationship with God and with each other. You don't need me to pray that God will "help you" or "be with you." He already will and is. You need me to be praying specifically for your needs; for your faith to be strong; for you to be aware of the spiritual blessings awaiting you when your trial is over; for you to be open to how you can bless my life and others' when you have overcome.

Secondly, the supply that comes from the Spirit is more than adequate. Jesus didn't say in John 15 and 16 that he was sending a Helper incapable of fulfilling His purpose of guidance. Paul says later in Philippians 4:19 that God will supply all of our need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Thirdly, Paul's expectation and hope (expectant desire) was to proclaim Jesus as His Christ and that is the reason the prayers of his friends and the Spirit's supply would be effective in delivering him from prison (he was converting his captors in the palace guard.) His hope resulted in him boldly proclaiming Jesus in word but as he says in verse 20, that he also lived Jesus.

When people heard and watched Paul, they saw Jesus. Paul allowed Jesus to be magnified in his life and if need be in his death. Living, for Paul, was Christ. His purpose and reason for being was to testify to the gospel of God's grace (Acts 20:24.) Christ in Paul's life was evident. There was no question who Paul followed and patterned his life after.

When people see me, I wonder sometimes who they see, or better yet, Who they don't see. When I am faced with a situation when I am called to stand up for my belief, I fail to boldly stand up and confess my belief. The ways I react to various situations that make my life inconvenient are telling of the level of my faith. Sometimes, instead of magnifying Christ in my body, I suppress Him. I need the prayers of my brothers and sisters, I need to be praying for my brothers and sisters. Both invite the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ and as I am earnestly expecting and hoping for God to dwell in me, Jesus will be magnified. When I try to magnify myself, I may fool some people. I may even fool myself for a short time, but when my goal is to show Jesus to the world by my lifestyle and life, living is Christ. It is this kind of living that makes dying gain. Any other kind of selfish living offers no gain when death visits.

When I make my goal to magnify Christ in my body, I begin to see things like He sees them. My view of people changes. Instead of the physical person, I see a soul. If I don't know them, I would engage conversation to determine the state of that soul. If I do know them, and know they do not have a relationship with God through Jesus, I would invite them to study. When I magnify Christ in my body, the way I lead my family will change. My goals for life will change. My perspective of money will change. My relationships will change.

I could ramble on further, but I have to work on our zero-based budget for Saturday. Right now it is a "below-zero-based" budget. Jack, our minister has said often. "Studying the Bible is not primarily about me studying the Bible, but about me allowing the Bible to study me." When I let the Bible study my life, I am more able to see where I need to change instead of me trying to change the Bible to fit with how I believe or how I am living.

I am thankful Paul wrote the letter to the church in Philippi. We get to study Colossians next. It just keeps getting better!