LifeLink Devotions for Monday, August 12, 2024

Last Friday we looked at the first principle of finding joy in suffering as described in Philippians chapter two. This would be a good time to go back and review verses twelve through 18. I’ll wait.

Here’s principle number two – Others will experience joy when they see our lives of obedience and dedication to accomplishing God’s purpose.

Paul was glad that his dear friends in the church were people who obeyed the Word of God. They were not just hearers, but doers of what they had been taught. He compared them to stars in the universe that shine in the darkness because they were holding out the word of life. This concept of “holding out” is powerful. Paul uses the same Greek word in 1 Timothy 4:16 when he says, “Watch your life and doctrine closely.” The word means to “give attention to, hold onto, and apply with action.” The people of the church at Philippi were people who paid attention to the teaching of God’s truth, held onto it, and applied it to their actions. When Paul saw them doing that while he was with them it gave him great joy. When he heard that they were still living that way he was filled with more joy.

This kind of obedience and application of truth is possible because God is at work in us to accomplish it. Paul’s statement that we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling can be confusing. He is not stating that we work for our salvation, but that we work to apply our salvation to how we live our lives. Paul says that God is at work in us to give us the will, or desire, to live obediently by acting according to God’s standards. This becomes one of the reasons we rejoice. Put simply, when by faith I received from God through Jesus Christ the forgiveness of my sin and the salvation of my soul, God began a work in me to cause me to want to obey Him and serve Him. He has given me a passion to fulfill His redemptive purpose. When I live according to those desires from God’s heart, I experience joy. We always get joy from doing what we want, but the joy is magnified when what we want is also what God wants. The Godly people who observe my life are also filled with joy, as Paul was when he saw the Philippian people living that way. He was filled with joy because he knew his work for Jesus Christ was not in vain, even though it had caused him pain.

That brings us to principle number three. We will also experience joy when we see others whom we have brought to Christ and discipled living obedient lives according to God’s desires and purpose for their lives. Just as Paul was overjoyed to see the people of Philippi living faithfully for Jesus, so we can be filled with joy when we see the people who came to faith through our lives and ministry following Jesus faithfully.

Ultimate joy, even in suffering, is possible when all three of these principles are true in us. Which ones, if any, are lacking from your life right now? There are many factors that may be keeping one or more of these joy-producers from working in our lives. Selfish desires stop us from serving Jesus. Fear of witnessing, lack of personal involvement with other people, and peer pressure stop us from faithfully living out the Gospel every day. Let’s carefully review our lives and renew our commitment to seeking God’s purpose in all things, and to living out God’s Word in all areas, and the joy will return.

Pastor John