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A Sword will Pierce Your Heart Ok, let’s cherish the sweetness of CHRISTmas – the lights and decorations, songs, the foods and merriments, the greetings and the pure joy and innocence of the child Jesus. Who would not be thrilled around a bouncing baby? All is good so far except for the malls in America and around the world where you can barely see a place to walk on because of the crowd. Just admit you were in the mall like me. Everyone is heading to the mall/market. Yes, there is need to buy food but it is more than food. The crowds at the malls/markets reveals that people all over are looking for something – not just good sales and bargains. They are longing for something that satisfies and makes the heart happy. Unfortunately it is not in any mall or market. That is why after the buying, there is even more buying on the 26th and the un-satisfaction goes on for the reminder of the year and into the next year. Luke 2 reports of Simeon who saw the baby Jesus and was satisfied an...

The mind of CHRISTmas is the mind of Christ CHRISTmas is not a baby shower or a new born-naming party. When any baby is born we do not know how he/she is going to turn out in thirty years. The birth of Christ was preordained by God with the ultimate road to end at the cross. Jesus came for the one purpose to die to redeem mankind from sin. This is the mind of CHRISTmas. Let's never separate CHRISTmas from the Good Friday of the Cross of Christ. When CHRISTmas is separated from the CROSS, we end up with the world's Xmas (Christmas). Xmas is the commercialized Christmas where most people still do not know what CHRISTmas is all about. Apostle Paul wrote about the mind of CHRISTmas, the mind of CHRIST: “5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appeara...

Work It Out Robots can do some things humans can do but they cannot do anything without humans. In other words, robots are working out what the human creator has worked in through design and programming. Are you going to take risks for Christ or play it safe? Your risks bring God “good pleasure”. Trust Him. We share some commonalities with robots in our relationship with God. We have been designed and wired for good works “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them”. Ephesians 2: 8-10. Our good works are powered and backed by the Almighty power of God to accomplish them. We however have a major difference with robots. We humans can think, act and have wills of our own. This is what Paul is telling his Philippian friends. Remember, Paul is calling them to ...

Out of Your Mind? – Have the Mind of Christ As we continue our study of Paul’s letter to his Philippian friends, we had established the main anchor of Paul’s message. He had said, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain”. In other words, if I am going to keep on living, it has to be Christ living in me. If Christ is living in me, there are conducts that reflect Christ’s presence in me (Philippians 1: 27-2:4). Esteem others better than self. Paul did not leave his friends hanging and saying you go ahead do it without telling them how and the source of the doing. In our study today, Paul talks about the mind that accompanies the doing. Right mind, right thinking brings about right being and behaving. There is only one right mind – the mind of Christ. We must literally be “out of our minds” and have Christ’s mind. Let’s hear Paul: “5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 ...

With Thanksgiving Is it possible we may have made idolatry of thanksgiving to mean what we only do at the end after our expected answer to prayer? If we get the expected result then we thank God who has bowed to our demands and produced what we demanded in prayer. No wonder we have become a thankless generation - ungrateful to God for who He is but instead waiting first for specific prayer answer. Maybe we can learn from Jesus who saw the hungry crowd and with seven loaves and fish in hand began to thank God in the present reality - uncertainty of feeding 5K people with what is at hand. This type of thanksgiving is echoed by Apostle Paul as he wrote his Philippian friends: “6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”. Philippians 4:6-7 Thanksgiving is the expression of complete...

Esteem Others Better than Self? The world encourages us to first take care of self. The instruction in the plane before take-off clearly speaks to this. “If you are travelling with a child or someone who requires assistance, secure your mask on first, and then assist the other person”. Very contrary to Jesus who came to serve and not to be served. Esteem others better than self? You must be kidding. The Philippian Church had conflict without and within. The root of all conflict is selfishness (James 4:1-3). We have conflicts within in our homes (marriage, children, in-laws and outlaws) and even in the Church itself among individuals and camps of people. Paul is now addressing the root and asking the Philippians and us to deal with it. Why? Again for the sake of the Gospel and for the sake of Christ there must be unity. Jesus said they will know us (as His) by our love for one another. “Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of ...

My Conduct, Your Conduct How we conduct ourselves matters to God for one purpose – for the sake of the Gospel; in essence for the sake of Christ. Our conduct is not the basis of salvation but if you are saved and has Christ living in you, there is an expected conduct (way of living). We established last week that “For to me, to live is Christ”; meaning Christ is doing the living and enabling the doing in me. Let’s hear Apostle Paul encourage his friends, the Philippians – Jesus will complete the good work He started in them and us. We must always answer, Is this how a “Kingdom of God’s” child would act? 27 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation,[d] and that from God. 29 For to ...

For To Me, To Live is ………? I encourage you to please stop, reflect and answer the question and fill in the blank: For me to live is …? I have struggled myself to fill in the blank. Why are you living? What may be the possible answers we could give? For to me, to live is to be wealthy and have nice family; to live is good health and good sports; to live is good church family. What is your answer? This is how Apostle Paul answered: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain”. Philippians 1:21. We looked at the fear of dying, now let’s deal with living. “To live is ….? 1. Notice that Paul did not say, “For to me, to live is for Christ.” He said, “To live is Christ”. Both are equally true for Paul. But he means to live is Christ. What does it mean “to live is Christ”? To live for Christ places the emphasis of living in the things I can do for Christ and not the things He can do thru me. His Holy Spirit lives in me and He enables my “doing”. I thank God. 2. If I am livi...

Fear of Death and Dying No one wants to talk about our biggest fear, the fear of death and dying. Woody Allen said, "It's not that I'm afraid to die, I just don't want to be there when it happens." The fear is for the unknown. “Death is the termination of all biological functions that sustain a living organism”. It separates. A co-worker Dr. Jeff passed away yesterday. He had been sick for a couple of months. Mr. Rivera, a former neighbor in his 80s died last week. Mr. Rivera had also been sick for about a year. Please pray for these families that God will comfort them. We all have had close relatives die. It is painful. People that have no relationship with Jesus fear death and dying. They may pretend not to by masking fear with temporary pleasantries. How about the believer in Jesus? “He (Jesus) too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all the...

Fear of Speaking What is the most courageous thing you have ever done? Courage is there to overcome fear. We all have many fears - healthy fears (of fire, height) and destructive fears. The fear of speaking is debilitating. Even more so is the fear of speaking the TRUTH. Satan capitalizes on our fear of speaking the TRUTH. He is the father of lies so he makes sure people will fear so as to lie to one another. Even worse is the fear to speak to people about Christ and the good news of the gospel. Have you noticed that we are not afraid of discussing the weather and other non-consequential topics even with strangers, but we freeze when it comes to telling them about the gospel of salvation in Christ? You and I are not alone. Even Moses in the Bible had the same fear to speak. He told God so. Apostle Paul wrote his beloved Philippians to encourage them about speaking and preaching the gospel. He says learn from people who are overcoming their fears. Listen to Paul, Philippians ...

Chains/Suffering for Christ and the Gospel Oswald Chambers writes, “The fiery furnaces are there by God’s direct permission. It is misleading to imagine that we are developed in spite of our circumstances; we are developed because of them. It is mastery in circumstances that is needed, not mastery over them”. Stuff in our lives just happen and often we can’t stop or control them. My son was sick this summer and he spent almost two months in the hospital. It was very hard for him and us because we could not help him in our capacity as parents. God helped him and he is well now. We thank God and thank you for praying. Apostle Paul did not bargain to be in jail and now writing the Philippians from there. False accusations, series of bad decisions by some officials and their desire to please the people landed Paul in jail. Caution: The consequences of our stupid mistakes/decisions (e.g. spending beyond your means) are not suffering for Christ. Listen to Paul tell his own story in Phil...

May Your Love and Knowledge of God Abound We often pray focusing on the perceived needs of others instead of their true need. Even the people we are praying for do not often realize their true needs. I will also shock you that you and I do not understand our true need because our prayers for ourselves reflect such. So what should we be praying for ourselves and for others? Analyze your prayers for others and yourself. We always focus on “Lord, get us out of this trouble and fix this and fix that”. Though good prayers; but is that really it? Listen to Paul pray for the Philippians. 3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy... 9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, 11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by J...

Joy in Praying for Others What is the greatest gift you can give the one or ones you love? It is definitely not gold and silver because they can’t take those with them when they die. The greatest gift we can give each other and yes to even our enemies is the gift of prayer. I am thinking of my friend and neighbor 85 year old Mr. J who recently had quadruple by-pass heart surgery. He is recovering and I pray that Christ will dwell richly in his heart. He expresses fears of the unknown and please join to pray for him. Only Christ can fill the void in his heart and take away his fears. Joy comes from giving of ourselves in prayer for others. The joy comes when we realize who we are praying to and what He is able to do. Paul has the greatest affection for the Philippians as we will see in this Epistle. He prays for the Philippians: “3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel fro...

Philippians - the Gospel of Joy and Suffering I am excited to journey with you through the Letter of Paul to the Philippians. I am excited for many reasons which I will share as we go along. God allowed me to go through one of the most painful and also joyful summers ever. I guess I am ready to go through Philippians to understand it all as Paul wrote from difficult experiences. “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons[a]: 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” – Philippians 1:1-6. Let’s get into it: 1. Paul is the author of the Letter without questi...

Love, Grace and Peace to You The number one longing for every human being is to have peace. We long for peace in our hearts, in our families, in our communities, our nations. The rich and famous will pay anything for peace of mind and likewise the very poor. There is no set price for peace except for whatever it will cost. How do you get true peace? There is fake peace. All of life is lived from infancy to the grave seeking peace. There are no exceptions in the pursuit of peace for all humans. As we conclude our study of Ephesians, Apostle Paul offers and prays for peace to all. In essence, he is saying, the whole letter I wrote you comes down to only one thing, that you may have peace. Listen to Paul: 23 Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. Ephesians 6: 23-24 Still how do we get peace? Read all of the letter of Paul to the Ephesians but let’s...

Be a Tychicus As you come to the end of the movies, you see a long list of credits. There is recognition for almost everyone. There are the writers, producers, videographers, photographers, and including the janitors in some cases. The list of credits says to me that everyone is important and not just the main actors and actresses. As we come to the end of our study of the Letter of Apostle Paul to the Ephesians, one important credit is mentioned - Tychicus. Listen to Paul in Ephesians 6:21-24: 21 But that you also may know my affairs and how I am doing, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make all things known to you; 22 whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that you may know our affairs, and that he may comfort your hearts. 23 Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. Please meet brother Tychicus (bro Ty) the ...

Watchful and Perseverance in Praying This Thursday May 7th 2015 is the National Day of Prayer in the USA. The theme this year is “Lord Hear Our Cry” 1 Kings 8:28. What a privilege to come together as a Church, the body of Christ from all races, tribes, denominations and nations to call out to our father and cry out to Him for our nation and for our people. Praying is not what we do. Praying is who we are in Christ. As we continue meditating on Ephesians 6, Paul emphasized on praying always and without ceasing, being watchful and persevering in prayer. Again, let’s hear Paul: “18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak”. Ephesians 6:18-20 If we are praying i...

Mystery of the Gospel Some of the best sellers on New York Times are the mystery book series and the intrigues. We love mysteries. There are two kinds of mysteries. There are revealed mysteries and there are mysteries that still remain mysteries. What is the mystery of the gospel that Apostle Paul referred to when he requested the Ephesian Church to pray for him? If it is so important to Paul and we are to pray for it, then we must in the simplest way understand the mystery of the gospel. Here is Paul’s instruction on prayer and his prayer request in Ephesians 6:18-20: 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. We note that Paul wants the Ephesians and al...

What Are You Praying for? Pray for my boldness to make known the mystery of the Gospel Here is a dearly beloved family member who is in jail and imprisoned for no fault of his. He has just written you a very encouraging and challenging letter. He never for once mentioned feeling sorry for himself and the injustice he is receiving. He ends the letter by making just one request for you to pray for. Surprised! He is not asking you to pray for his release from prison. He is not evening asking you to pray for his daily up keep and food. Just one thing –“boldness to make known the mystery of the gospel”. What are you and I praying for? What fuels our prayers? If all our prayers are listed, what will be the most common theme? I submit to you that most of our prayers are motivated by fear. Unlike Paul, his prayers were motivated by love for His Lord. These are two different perspectives and two different results. Listen to Paul in Ephesians 6 on spiritual warfare and prayer: 14 S...

Pray, Pray and Pray The highest form of pride and arrogance is not to pray to the almighty God, maker of heaven and earth. Pride goes before fall so when you stop praying or rarely pray, watch out for a big fall. Pride equals prayer-less-ness. When I am not praying, I am declaring myself a mini god because I want to be in control and take care of all situations and their outcomes. Prayer is worship and we are worshippers. 10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[c] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, ha...

Wield Your Sword of the Spirit – the Word of God Have you been pushed to the wall by Satan to be tempted and tested? Well, Jesus was and He is our example. How did Jesus respond? “It is written” simple. Listen to the conversation: “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” You can read the rest of the account in Matthew 4 and Luke 4. In Luke, it says, “13 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time”. If Jesus faced temptation and testing so must we His followers. Satan and his demons don’t not give up easily because they will come back at “an opportune time”. Satan came back for Jesus at Gethsemane wanting Jesus not to go to the Cross. Jesus said, Father, your will be done and it was done. If Jesus the Son of God used the Word of God, so must we. It is war time. Let’s wie...