People today online who have a following online are called “Influencers.” They have posted some kind of video, pictures, music, etc online and it has gone viral. They pick up followers who “Like” their content and these followers sometimes send money to support the “Influencer” and they are getting rich! Even if people don’t send money, they tell others about the content they watch and how others can see it too. What are these “Influencers” doing? What are they teaching? Is it Jesus? More than likely, the answer is no. Paul says we should follow his example because he leads people to Jesus. Can you say that?

Rubbernecking. It seems like every time we take a trip and have to use the Interstate, we run into some traffic that has basically come to a stop...if not, it’s crawling! Why? When we finally get up close enough to see what the problem is, it’s on the other side of thew Interstate! People are driving by “Rubbernecking” and it is causing a traffic slow down, a pile up, for miles back! Looking back slows you down! Paul says, “Quit rubbernecking people! And keep your eyes on Jesus!” When we continue to look at our past, the enemy can use it to discourage us and to keep us from moving forward in the kingdom of God.

Do you have a lot of trophies sitting around? Do you bask in all your accomplishments over the years? Do you tell the stories when your friends come over of how you got those trophies? Paul gives his resume of how he accomplished a lot of stuff as a Jew, how he was very zealous for God and kept the law faultlessly, yet without Jesus they were nothing but trash. The word literally means “Thrown out to the dogs.” He says, “Anything I have accomplished outside of Jesus is worthless, it’s garbage and needs to be thrown out. Think of all the time and effort put into your accomplishments. What if we put the same effort in our relationship with Jesus? Wow! How powerful the church would be!

Paul tells the church at Philippi to “Rejoice in the Lord” so it will “Safeguard” their faith. He wasn’t sure if he would make it out of jail alive so he weas telling them, “Look, man will fail you because we are so fickle and unstable, but Jesus is solid, he is an immovable stone.” The word “safeguard” literally means “never fail.” He is telling them this because he knows the church was depending on him and his teaching, but he is saying, “Trust in the One that will never fail you—Jesus!” The scriptures make it plain—God is faithful and we can put our faith, our trust in Him.

Too many people in the church today want to hide. They would rather hide than get to work and Paul, as well as Jesus, makes it clear, we are to work for the kingdom! Paul even goes to say that God gives us the desire to work and to accomplish His will. Can we say that if a person doesn’t have that desire, then there is a disconnect in their relationship with God? YES! Just like Christmas lights that are connected to a power source yet half the lights aren’t working because one little bulb has a disconnect. After you carefully comb through the string of lights trying to figure out which one it is, you discover it, plug it correctly, and boom...the lights are working! Shine your light! Shine THE Light...Jesus! Put your hands to the plow and plant seed!

Paul says we are in it to win it and we are in it together! He is in prison for preaching the gospel and the church at Philippi is concerned for him so they sent Epaphroditus to check on him. As the church is facing persecution and suffering for the cause of Christ, Paul says this is a time that we are to be selfless and not selfish, then he points to Jesus as our example. That's when we get those beautiful verses that describe the "attitude" or "mind" of Christ. Do we have the mind of Christ? Do we look like Jesus?

Paul is facing a death sentence and will be beheaded soon but at the time he is writing this letter to the church at Philippi, he thinks he may be free some day and get to go see them again. At the end of chapter 1 Paul tells the church they are in this together and they are to remember their home is heaven, not here. Why? Because persecution is from the enemy and it tries to get one to give up the fight and lose all hope. Paul writes to them to keep unity with one another, to encourage them to keep fighting for one another, and when their battle is over, they will be in heaven with Jesus forever!

Paul is constantly encouraging the church at Philippi by affirmation. He goes on and on about how he appreciates them, their support, hard work, and prayers. Then he talks about how often he prays for them and how he appreciates them praying for him since he has been in jail. We all need to affirmation, which is why it is so important for the church to be involved in one another's life, encouraging each other as we wait for our eternal home and one huge way we can help encourage one another is by praying for one another and telling each other they are appreciated!

Paul was being arrested for preaching the gospel and he was giving a plea to the crowd as he walked up the steps. Then he has to go before Felix and others to plead his case and they wanted to send him back to Jerusalem to have his trial. He refused because he knew there were Jews waiting to ambush him and kill him so, in a quick outburst, Paul appeals to Caesar because he knew it would keep him alive. But prior to going on this trip, Paul was warned by Agabus the prophet that if he went, he would die. Paul chose to go anyway, but God continued to use Paul, even while he was in jail awaiting his opportunity before Caesar. Every jailer, every person in the Praetorium heard the gospel because Paul, in his confinement, told them all about Jesus. The cool thing is, he converted some to Jesus! God can use us, even when we do things quickly, hurriedly, and our crazy decisions!

Paul encourages the church at Philippi to grow in two things: knowledge and understanding. Knowledge in the Greek means to know thoroughly, to know accurately. We can grow in knowledge about God by reading His word and Paul actually tells us when we do, we will "accurately" handle the word of truth! Then he says to grow in understanding. I don't know how many times I have been told, "I can't understand the Bible so I don't read it." In the Greek this word means to apprehend, perceive (properly, by the senses). This tells me that it IS possible to understand God's word and to get to know God on personally! So, what are you waiting for? Go grow in knowledge and understanding! Grow in your relationship with God!