Friday 30 Jun 2017

June 30: Philippians 1:27-30

Key Verse: Philippians 1:27
Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel

Devotion:
Being a Christian is not always going to be easy. You are going to be faced with all sorts of things in your life where you will look back at your life before you were a Christian and think about what you would have done then – you may even go back to those ways and do those same things. Why? Because it just seems a whole lot easier to give in sometimes and do what everyone else is doing!

There are going to be times when you are just so scared of admitting to being a Christian you will do what Peter did. He did not want to admit to knowing Christ in case he had to face the same penalty. He rejected Jesus three times in one night just so he could escape from punishment. We may think he was weak, but it's only when we ourselves face that sort of danger we find our faith may well be lacking as Peter's was back then!

We all have those weaknesses within us and they will all surface at some time or another. Paul wrote this letter to those at the church of Philippi so they would remember where their strength actually lies. So often we do forget just how powerful God is and just what He can achieve. We only have to look at the first chapter of our bibles to be reminded of just how powerful He is. He did not have to try and organise a 'Big Bang' but simply spoke the universe into existence!

How many of us are willing to take the blame, willing to confess, willing to stand up for Christ, willing to step forward and put our lives in God's hands, 100%? Faith is putting your trust into the unseen, putting your trust into God's hands. Faith is knowing that that trust is true and will withstand anything.

Points to Ponder:
What strengths and weaknesses do you think you have?

How much do you actually rely on God?