“For I know that thiswill turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the supply of theSpirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that innothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christwill be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live isChrist, and to die is gain.”

Todaywe are going to conclude our thoughts on these verses in Philippians 1:19–21,and we want to talk about some practical applications that we can take fromthese verses.

Numberone: Keep your focus on Christ and not on people. Just like in the previousverses, people will disappoint us. Some may serve with wrong motives, but ourfocus must remain on Christ being magnified—not on what others are doing. Weneed to make sure that we keep our eyes on the Lord.

Secondly:We need to depend on prayer and the Holy Spirit—the prayers of others and theSpirit of Jesus Christ to strengthen us and help us. Paul knew that he neededboth the prayers of believers and the supply of the Holy Spirit. We are nodifferent. We cannot live the Christian life in our own strength. That is why Iwant to encourage you to read the Psalms daily. They remind you that the Lordis your rock. He is your salvation. He is your strength. He is your deliverer.He is everything. The Psalms daily remind us of that truth.

Numberthree: Make it your goal to never be ashamed of Christ. Paul said, “Innothing I shall be ashamed.” This reminds me of Romans 1:16: “For I amnot ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Ask yourself regularly: Am Iliving boldly for Christ, or am I shrinking back? Augustine said, “Preach thegospel. Preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words.” And I can assure youit will be necessary to also use words!

Numberfour: Live so that Christ is magnified in your body. In other words, in youractions, your responses to trials, your life—does your life make Christ lookgreat? This again reminds me of 2 Corinthians 4:7-10: “But we have thistreasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God,and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we areperplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but notdestroyed. Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, thatthe life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.” And so, myfriend, that is what we should be doing—living so that Christ is magnified inour bodies.

Weshould remember that we can fill in the blanks ourselves:

Forme to live is ______, and to die is ______.

Somepeople say, “For me to live is money, and to die is to leave it all behind.”

Otherssay, “For me to live is fame, and to die is to be forgotten.”

Otherssay, “For me to live is power, and to die is to lose it all.”

Myfriend, we must echo the conviction of the Apostle Paul, “For me to live isChrist, and to die is gain”.

Ifwe are going to have joy in spite of our circumstances, and if we are going toshare in the furtherance of the gospel, then we need to adopt Paul’sperspective on life and death:

Tolive is Christ—then every day has purpose.

Todie is gain—then we do not have to fear the future.

Thefinal thought for these verses on my heart today is this: Paul could rejoice indifficult circumstances and ignore the wrong motives of others because his lifewas anchored in one unshakable truth—Christ is everything. That is why we havetitled chapter one “The Single Mind”—a focus that is always on Christ and thefurtherance of the gospel. Yes, that Christ would be magnified in us.

Thatis my prayer for you today. And that is my prayer for me today.

Godbless and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day!