My Daily Pause

…he will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth…

Let us know;
let us press on to know the LORD;
his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth – Hosea 6:3

In Philippians 3, Paul starts taking apart the differences between spiritual and fleshly things. If we are going to have The Single Mind and The Submissive Mind, then it follows that we need to concentrate on spiritual things. We want to possess The Spiritual Mind.

The word “spiritual” gets tossed around to the point of it losing its proper meaning. Vine’s Dictionary has this to say about it:

(b) things that have their origin with God, and which, therefore, are in harmony with His character, as His law is, are ‘spiritual,’ (Romans 7:14)

Paul surely would have agreed with that definition as demonstrated in Philippians 3:3-4. He says if anyone should be have confidence in what he has done in this life it should be Paul himself. He goes on to give us somewhat of a resume of his “qualifications.” (Philippians 3: 5-6) He was:

• a Hebrew of Hebrews
• circumcised
• of Israel
• of the tribe of Benjamin
• a Pharisee
• a Persecutor of the Lord’s church
• blameless under the law

He eventually realized these things were of no value in a Spiritual sense – why? – because knowing Christ has value beyond anything earthly (or of the flesh.) Knowing Christ is where we get the righteousness that is from God. (Philippians 3:9) It will be through Christ that we:

• know the power of his resurrection
• share his sufferings
• become like him in his death

Paul wants us to do anything possible to attain the resurrection from the dead! (Philippians 3:10-11)

Like all of us, even Paul knew he wasn’t there yet. (Philippians 3:12)

But…

The spiritual mind forgets what’s of the flesh and strains forward to the final goal – heeding God’s call the Christ.

This spiritual mind is the one that is mature and thinks about following Christ (Philippians 3:15)

Although we are not there yet, working toward perfection through focusing on spiritual things will insure we get to experience those “spring rains” Hosea was talking about.

Washing of Feet – Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337)

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men – Philippians 2:5-7

Christ came here and gave himself over to the service of man-kind.

Even though he is divine,

Even though he is God,

Even though he had the power to take what he wanted while he was here,

He gave himself to us – up to and including the sacrifice on the cross.

Christ will take his followers and do the same thing to them. Everyone. It doesn’t matter if we are elders, deacons, teachers, ministers – whatever – Christ will make us servants. This is the essence of the mind of Christ:

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. – Philippians 2:3-4

Christians have the tendency to become service minded as they read and study and work to become Christ-like.

But it’s not a natural act is it?

When we were kids playing house, or role playing, no one ever volunteered to be the butler. It is not natural to set goals to become an even harder worker and do even more for someone else. In Matthew 20, we see the typical human attitude in the disciples. James and John even got their mother to speak on their behalf to secure a high place in Christ’s kingdom. The other ten angry disciples are getting ready to mix it up over this when Jesus ends the event of Matthew 20:20-28 with his purpose for being on earth:

…even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. – Matthew 20:28

I’m not sure the disciples ever got this until sometime after the events in Acts 1.

We know John 13 well. Jesus knelt down to wash the disciples’ feet before their meal. The most menial of tasks. What was he teaching us by doing such a thing? We see the mind of Christ at work here when he said to go and do likewise. (John 13:15)

As Paul is reminding the church of Christ’s humble attitude in Philippians 2, he is telling us what Jesus tried to teach his entire time on earth:

Christ wants a church that serves (Philippians 2:4)

And a church that does it gladly (Philippians 2:14)

When our focus changes, so does the big picture.

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel… – Philippians 1:27

It wasn’t an accident that Paul spent some time talking about the imperial guardsmen that had to takes turns chaining themselves to Paul. (Philippians 1:12-14)

Paul knew things were going to get tough for Christians, (Philippians 1:29-30) so he began preparing the readers of his epistle for a change of mind. It was encouraging to think that even those guardsmen could be saved. It was very encouraging to think that Christian brothers and sisters were emboldened to teach the gospel based on Paul’s success in prison. That change of mind was going to be needed to get through those times.

It was Isaiah that said:

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. – Isaiah 26:3

No matter how tough life gets, focusing on Christ is the solution. How firm we stand with Christ is a measure of our worthiness for his gospel. (Philippians 1:27) Jesus never made any bones about this. In fact he said we were to count the cost before making the decision to follow him. (Luke 14:28)

Christ doesn’t accept second place! (Luke 9:62, 14:26)

Paul demonstrated this when he wrote one of the key verses in Philippians:

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain – Philippians 1:21

He showed us how the single mind focused on Christ thinks. If he lived, he would be able to save more souls. If he died, he would finally be with Christ. A Christian, focused on the right things, not letting his mind wander, and serving doesn’t have to fear death.

And he doesn’t have to worry about worldly things:

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2

Consider the state of the non-believer. He has no hope in death. Life is a chain of events chasing worldly things. His attempts to focus on elusive things leaves him wanting.

Single mindedness. When Christ is first, the rest takes care of itself.

… seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. – Matthew 6:33

As we progress through our day, we often have a captive audience.

…faith comes from hearing… – Romans 10:17

When Paul wrote the “prison epistles,” he wasn’t imprisoned in some deep dark dungeon cutoff from the world.

Paul was living in his own rent house – he even had visitors coming and going and was teaching them the Gospel! (Philippians 1:12) Since he was under arrest, he had a Pretorian (or imperial) guard connected to him at all times.

Imagine being chained to the apostle Paul a few hours a day, getting to hear God’s word directly from him!

When Paul wrote about that event, his attitude wasn’t that he was captive – in fact, the guards seemed to be the captives. He saw it as an advantage that resulted in the knowledge of Christ spreading throughout the troops. (Philippians 1:13) Paul’s success from that time encouraged the other brothers to teach Christ without fear of what the government might do to them. (Philippians 1:14)

Imagine how many guards must have been saved through the repetition of Paul teaching his visitors. He didn’t record any numbers, but if faith comes from hearing God’s word, then enough faith to respond must have eventually been present among those men.

Most of us in our era will never have to suffer imprisonment for Christ’s cause, but think about the situations where we are virtually bonded to others:

Our family.

Our co-workers.

Our club meetings.

What if we took advantage of those captive audiences?

Don’t be obnoxious … with a little planning and practice, this could be done right. Gentle and opportunistic mention of godly things is plenty in the beginning.

If we are following Paul’s example like he taught in 2 Timothy 2:2, this is something we should be doing – It’s not just a good idea.

Goal idea for the new year: Take advantage of times we are in “bonded” situations and cause X people to ask to hear more.

Our attitude in life affects us just like an aircraft’s attitude

Previously, we considered the idea that our prevailing attitude is important because it defines who we are and qualifies us as Christians. Since there are so many godly attitudes we can talk about, we will limit it to just a few today.

The book of Proverbs contains the richest set of practices and observations about what a godly attitude looks like. Let’s dig in!

Reverence for God

This key verse of the book of Proverbs reminds us of the baseline attitude we need to be successful Christians.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction – Proverbs 1:7

This kind of fear is reverence and respect. He is the Creator. He will be the Judge. Without this kind of attitude we will fail to know everything he wants us to know about him.

Contentment

Contentment is a big deal in the Bible. That’s not to say we are not to set goals and work hard to achieve them. A content attitude is one that lacks envy:

A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot – Proverbs 14:30

It requires godliness

But godliness with contentment is great gain… – 1 Timothy 6:6

And when we are well off, it requires that we remain generous:

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life – 1 Timothy 6:17-19

A Pure Heart

The Bible is full of warnings about what is in the heart. This one though, might summarize them all:

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he – Proverbs 23:7 KJV

Whatever we do and say acts just like a meter indicating the level of purity in our heart. How good can we really be when we use crude language, lie, or fail to be encouragers?

Humbleness

I don’t know of any place in the Bible where pride good. It is definitely a dangerous attitude to have. Again, the Proverb writer sums it all up:

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall – Proverbs 16:18

At any point where we let pride get in the lead, hurt is likely to be following

Take Joy in Our Life

Being able to rejoice in any situation is another key attitude. The Bible says it is therapeutic:

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones – Proverbs 17:22

And it says whatever the situation, we have heaven to look forward to:

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven – Matthew 5:12a

Joy is important to Christianity because it is pretty hard to convince people to join us when we are a bunch of sad sacks!

Where do I start?

For many of us, there is a lot of work to do if we are only going to implement these. The good news is that they tend to develop when we live a certain lifestyle. With just a few habits, pointers and actions, the apostle Paul shows us how to develop these attitudes.

That’s where we’ll go next – Stay tuned!

Our general attitude is often displayed for all to see

How is your attitude?

Sometimes we might say something like “I have a bad attitude today.”

Saying that gets the point across, but it is more of an expression of our current state of mind. “I am in a bad mood” is a better way to state it. When we talk about our attitude, it is usually relative to our overall disposition.

Our attitude affects what our mood is most likely to be on any given day. It also affects how much energy it takes to get through a situation.

In fact, the term “Attitude” is even used by a pilots to describe how their craft is positioned in the sky.

An experienced pilot can use the attitude of the airplane to predict a number of things to help it along its journey. Everything about the journey depends on the airplane and how it interacts with the environment – fuel usage, speed, altitude – everything.

People are the same way.

When we understand what attitude is, we can accurately describe a person and understand why they make certain decisions.

An attitude of entitlement causes many to become takers.

An attitude of service causes some to become givers.

The attitude of a victim makes one believe the world is out to get him

Those with an attitude of contentment find the simple pleasure of life to be enough to make them happy.

This is so true that we could look at any given “self-help” book and figure out what kind of attitude the author wants us to have. We have to position ourselves properly in order to achieve our goals in the most efficient manner.

Jesus thought so too.

Attitude is so important to every decision we make in life, that changing the attitude of his potential followers was the first thing Jesus set out to do. The Sermon on the Mount pointed out the flaws in how people were obeying God’s word:

It was no longer going to be enough to simply not kill your neighbor for offending you, you also have to be quick to forgive. (Matthew 5:21-26, 38-42)

It was no longer enough to keep your hands off a woman that was not your wife, you are not supposed to even think of another woman in that way. (Matthew 5:27-30)

It was no longer proper to take an oath to prove you are telling the truth, you should cultivate a reputation of always being truthful. (Matthew 5:33-37)

In order to set things right and serve God the way he had always intended, a new attitude was going to be required.

Think about it for a minute – how easy is it to avoid sin when we look for ways to justify an action that falls into that “gray area?” When we take the approach of obeying the letter of the law and not the spirit of the law, we tend to get comfortable with being in sinful situations.

Let’s ask it again

Now – how is your attitude?

Think about what you have accomplished this year. Think about what you plan to do today. Think about your relationship in general with someone important to you.

These are some things that can give you clues to how those around you see you on a day-to-day basis.

We are going to look at this from a Scriptural standpoint this week – stay tuned.