PC3 Devotions

Philippians 4:8-9

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

When we permit our worry or concern to stay longer than it needs to, dangerous behaviors and results can occur. The longer we freak out the more things spiral out of control. Thoughts that initially seemed harmless and we gave little attention to soon become ones that hamper our trust in God and prohibit us from growing. We are paralyzed by our thoughts. As we learned a few days back, a person without self-control is as defenseless as a city with broken-down walls (Proverbs 25:28).

There is hope that in the midst of any uncertainty we face we can walk securely. We are not defenseless to our scrambled brains. It all hinges on what we see because our perspective shapes our actions. The absence of truth doesn’t really matter until you can make sense of what you see. We must have a way of dealing with the world when it doesn’t make sense and all we want to do is worry. This is why renewing our minds and capturing out thoughts is so critical to our spiritual formation and battle over freaking out.

Captive thoughts prepare one to see correctly. When we meditate on His word, we become well attuned to hear those quiet voices inside of us that are quite simply a whisper from God. Scripture spends a great deal of energy focusing on the importance of conquering our mind: setting our mind (Colossians 3:2), renewing our mind (Romans 12:2), submitting our mind (Psalm 26:2), and preparing our mind (1 Peter 1:13).

Our thoughts and what controls our mind determine the way in which we experience God. Yet, the importance of capturing our thoughts and renewing our mind are rarely stressed in Christian circles and even more rarely practiced as a spiritual discipline. We let our thoughts run wild in our mind with little to no self-control. This, in turn, causes us to struggle to experience an intimate relationship with Christ and trust in Him when our world is thrown off kilter. Worry and the push to control fill the vacuum in the absence of truth.

The struggle over our mind is really a struggle over who we are. Beginning to live in the knowledge that we are His beloved will help us in any struggles that we might face in life. What controls our mind often determines our actions. We become what we set our minds on. The first step in renewing our minds is remembering who we are in Christ. It is crucial we align our perspective with what it is true, solid, good and right. Only then will we begin to realize that God is ultimately in control of every situation we face.

God, often when I am freaking out my mind is all over the place. Help me to renew and prepare my mind for those moments when I am tempted to worry or overact. May I see the situation I am facing through a different lens, one that is guided through your love for me. Amen.

James 1:22-25

 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

As we learned over the past few days, the issue of trust plays a critical role in one’s walk with God. Trusting in our forgiveness frees us to live confidently, while doubt forces us to chase good works to ensure our salvation. This confidence we find in Christ and the trust we have in His character allows us the freedom to live transparently before others. Knowing God’s character enables us to better trust Him and increases our faith. If we are to live as examples of Christ, we must know his heart intimately.

The words trust, faith and belief are dependant on one another. It’s nearly impossible to define one of these words without using the other two. You simply can’t do it without robbing them of their meaning. When you study the Bible, you will find that trust, faith and belief share the same Greek root word.

If this is the case, in order to trust God more and deepen our faith in Him, we must get to know His heart. There are several ways to grow in intimacy with God. In the book of Philippians, Paul’s prayer for the church was that they would desire to learn more about God (Phil 1:9). He sees this taking place through the sharing of common experiences with people inside of community, as well as consistent quiet time with God. When Paul speaks of wanting to know Christ in Philippians 3:10, the Greek word he uses means “to know by experience.”

When we begin a relationship with Christ, those areas in which we struggled with trusting Him do not instantly go away. We bring baggage into this relationship, reasons why we can’t trust and fear that if we do trust we will only be let down.  It is by getting to know God and understanding His heart that we can begin to let go of the things that hold us back from trusting fully in Him.

Unfortunately, there are some who never experience this level of trust because they hesitate in pursuing go deep with God. When we don’t experience this level of depth in our relationship with God, this vacuum doesn’t remain empty. We try to fill this void with everything and anything. Even though it was shaped for God, it continues to suck things into its center until something finally fits.  It remains empty but is always pulling.

We try to mask this intimacy void by creating an “appearance” of depth. Whether it be using spiritual language, displaying our knowledge of scripture or our right habits or beliefs, all of these actions are driven by our pursuit of religious credibility. We are experts in keeping up a spiritual image among others. This appearance has become such a part of church culture that this image is how many would describe a person who has a deep, abiding walk with God. The activities you participate in and the rules that you keep quickly define your relationship with God. 

Pursuing religious credibility is a cheap substitute for a deep relationship with God, but it is incredibly easy for one to fall into this mindset. What we need to understand is that knowing about God is not the same as knowing God. We cannot mistake trivia for depth. Knowledge without application is deception. Depth is not revealed in our knowledge alone, but rather our response to that knowledge. Our response reveals our faith.

God, I don’t want knowledge of you. Instead, I want to know your heart. I desire a type of depth in my relationship with you that would cause a change in my character and heart. I yearn to learn more about you in order to trust and obey. Amen.

The Bible is where God reveals His heart to humanity. This is where His story unfolds. Our picture of God must be grounded and framed by scripture. Only when we know the true God will we be able to trust Him with our heart. Take for instance, the attribute of love.

Psalm 90:14 

14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

This attribute often gets distorted not only because of our culture’s water down definition of it, but also due to the fact that we can exhibit this quality to a degree in our own life. Sadly, our picture always leans towards being conditional, with limitations and selfish. On the flip side, God exhibits each quality of love found in 1 Corinthians 13 perfectly. God is perfectly patient and kind. Simply put, God is love. Author and theologian Arthur Pink once said, “The love which one creature has for another is because of something in them; but the love of God is free, spontaneous, uncaused.”

Everything that happens to us, regardless of how it may seem, is filtered through God’s passion for us. He always has our best interest in His heart! Paul says, “I have learned contentment, whether I am well fed, or hungry” (Philippians 4:11-13).

Imagine being able to live life without any fear of what comes your way. There is a definite freedom in that. When we learn about God’s love for us, and begin to trust in it in both the good and bad times, our faith in God deepens.

What if we were able to grasp God’s love for us and our lives became an expression of this understanding? Imagine how drastically this would transform the way we treat our relationships and care for others. What if you could live transparently secure in your standing with God?

Take it a step further. How different would your life look like if you could love people freely because you were no longer looking to others for a love that had eluded you? No longer are you grasping for attention or trying to manipulate others for affection.

If you believe that you are loved freely by God, you will be free to love others. Pause and reflect on the truth found in that last statement. Now, look inwards: Where are the places in your life where you doubt or fail to trust in God’s love? What is causing this doubt?

We live in a God-less culture. Our culture is void of God, therefore, it is void of love. The challenge for each one of us is to see God for who He is, allow Him to introduce Himself to us and reflect His love to others.

 God, thank you for your uninfluenced love. May I trust that I am loved by you, not because of anything I’ve done, but solely due to who you are. I want to live in the freedom of love. Amen.

Philippians 3:13-14

¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Taking the time to reflect on the past year in hopes of carving out a better future has the ability to halt you in your tracks. Coming face to face with the unpleasant gaps in your character and personality is not always a pretty picture.

So, why you might ask, did we encourage you to take inventory on where you’ve been and the person you currently are? Quite simply, it begins the process towards change by identifying your starting point.

Today we turn our attention to a different picture. This is a picture that propels you forward. Rather than attempting to avoid the person you were or stopping a negative behavior, we want you to begin painting a picture of the person you want to become.

This image must go deeper than outward appearances by focusing on the changes that need to take place deep inside your soul. How would you describe the person you want to be at the end of 2012? What are some characteristics that would define this person?

This project is not about quick-fixes or putting a band-aid on a bad behavior. It is intended to produce long-term results.  We want you to have expectations that your one word will become embedded in your character and begin to flow out of you naturally.

For this to take place, it requires putting yourself in a position where God can transform you. People do not grow in the image of Christ by accident or osmosis. When you take the time and intention to focus on your word, change begins to seep into your character. What effect do you hope your word will have on your character? How will you have to posture yourself to make that change a reality?

God, may I start today by painting a different picture. May I leave the past in the past and direct my gaze to the person I am becoming by the help of the Holy Spirit. Allow me to trust the process of transformation even when it is difficult and challenging. Amen.

Philippians 3:12-14
12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

We start 2012 with the same passage we left off with in 2012. In our reading today, we notice how direction is driven by perspective. Paul, the author of Philippians, understood an important principle: what you see determines where you are headed. If your focus is on your past, it is impossible to see the future God has for you. Vision is simply what you see.

Clarity and direction are needed for growth to occur. Focusing on our circumstances and the regrets from our past place our pursuit in neutral and can even shift things into reverse. When we live this way we not only see our past, but also live our life running from it. Without realizing it, we are walking into the future backwards.

Why does this picture of our old self remain at the forefront of our attention? The reasons vary across the board:

• Every time you pay for the mistakes of the past it serves as a reminder of the person you once were.
• Those labels of being worthless and a bad seed are challenging to remove from your heart and head.
• When you’ve been told your entire life you are unlovable you begin to believe the lie and let that define you.
• Old habits die hard and fight to remain in control.

What is your excuse for remaining in neutral by setting your eyes on the failures of the past? Where are your eyes set?Instead of spending your time trying not to be the kind of person you once were, place your gaze on the person you are becoming.

Lord, my eyes are often looking backwards towards the failures of my past. Help me to break this cycle of focusing on the person I once was. These labels no longer define me. When I focus too much on my past, I cannot see the future you have for me. May my focus be devoted to the person you want me to be. Amen.

Philippians 3:12-14

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

We often walk into the future looking backwards hoping to rewrite history. We carry our own burdens, regrets, mistakes and failures because we believe we are responsible for making our past right. A mixture of guilt and pride clouds our version of redemption. Because we can’t see redemption we don’t think it is possible. What we have to understand is that it is impossible to return to the beginning of this game of life.

We are not people with problems needing to be fixed and character flaws needing to be changed, but a people looking for direction. As hard as it is for us to hear, the truth is that the past is irreparable.  Our wounds cannot be fixed, but they can be healed.

The hope we can cling to is that the future is always available. There may be scars, mistakes and failures, but there is a story of victory where everything that was wrong has been made right. Stop being so concerned about a past you have no control over and begin to focus on a future filled with hope in a passionate pursuit of God. Press on toward winning the goal of a deeper intimacy with your Creator.

Lord, may I finally come to the realization that I am incapable of rewriting the past. 2011 is in the books, but unlimited potential exists in 2012. Yet, this will not come if I keep clinging to the baggage of the past. May I turn my focus not only to the future, but towards your grace and mercy. My hope is I would forget the past and focus on how you are transforming me today. Amen.

Trusting God with your marriage can be a scary venture. Some of you have been pursuing your vision and definition of marriage for such a long time, you don’t know any other way to live. Yesterday we learned that when two different people with two different sets of definitions are trying to come together as one there is bound to be problems.

In the back of your mind, you might be thinking all this talk about putting God first in your marriage would be a lot simpler if your spouse would just get their act together. But, here’s the thing: God isn’t asking you to change your spouse. He’s the only one capable of transforming their heart.

What God wants you to do is trust Him with your own. Have you ever stopped and asked yourself: what would it look like for YOU to trust God with your marriage? Does the thought of that make you nervous and cause your pulse to race? Where does this hesitation come from?

In the midst of this uneasiness, how can you respond in faith?  There are three things you can do to trust God with your marriage:

PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING

Philippians 4:6-7

⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

We must place our concerns on God and pray for His guidance and support in our marriages. We turn our attention to Him. We thank Him for what He has done. We thank Him for who He is. We thank Him for who He has given us. We thank him for the 85% we love about our spouse.

SHIFT FOCUS AND CELEBRATE

Philippians 4:8

⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Next we turn our attention to our spouse. Paul, the author of Philippians, is having us look around, to open up our minds and hearts and think about everything that is around us. We must look at our spouse through this lens. Paul doesn’t have us just casually thinking about these things. He commands us to fix our thoughts. When was the last time you “fixed your thoughts” on your spouse? This passage instructs us to ponder on those things that are honorable.

PRACTICE….MARRIAGE TAKES WORK

Philippians 4:9

⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

We honor marriage by practicing. We have to practice all these things we’ve been talking about: how to be a husband or wife, how to communicate, how to love, etc. We can’t grow frustrated or lose heart when things are difficult or change doesn’t come right away. We must practice at it constantly. Marriage takes work. When you both are willing to pursue a marriage based on how God defines it, your relationship will never be the same.

God, shine light on the places where I hesitate to trust you with my marriage. Rather than looking to change my spouse’s heart, may I seek your face so you can transform my own. Amen.  

Yesterday we focused our attention on the emotional baggage we carry around with us. We learned that the longer we hold on to this weight the more likely our hope for change diminishes. It is devastating when an individual has lost heart and hope. By taking out our heart the enemy takes us out. But, there is hope. Consider the word of 2 Peter:

2 Peter 1:3-10

3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble.

According to this passage, there are three main things we have become blind to in those moments where we believe all hope is lost: our identity, God’s provision and the transformation process. Verse 3 says everything we need for godliness has been given to us. The provision for a godly life is Christ himself (Galatians 2:20). Living within us is the Holy Spirit who guides us in truth. We have to remind ourselves of the great and precious promises (v.4) that come solely through the grace of Christ.

When we remain hopeless we decline the invitation to share in God’s divine nature and respond to His promises (v.4). What we have to understand is that even though we might be surprised with our struggles God is not. His agenda is making us holy and developing his character within us. God uses every experience for our growth.

How do we fight against this lack of hope and begin to gain traction towards forward momentum? The first, and most critical step is to cling to the truth that we are full in Christ, made alive in Christ and set free through Christ.  This changes everything, including how we approach being stuck. No longer will we depend on ourselves to produce change (Galatians 3:2-3).  Understanding that true change only occurs within, we will fight the urge to fix the external and allow the Holy Spirit to change our hearts.  This is met with the most resistance internally. If we are honest we want character without failure, love without risk, and lessons without scars. In a weird way we often become far too satisfied with our current situation. There is something in our heart that avoids pain and having to admit that sometimes the biggest problem we face is ourselves and not our circumstances.

For this very reason Peter states in verse 5 that we must make every effort to add to our faith. What he is saying is that we need to position ourselves to believe the real challenge of Christian growth is the challenge of personal responsibility. We need to create a path out of our rut that has vision. We do this through protecting our hearts (Proverbs 4:23) and transforming our minds (Romans 12:2). The thoughts of our heart shape our words and actions. Only when God has your heart does he truly have you.

You have to become so aware of your flaws that they cannot hide anymore. Once you have identified them you surrender and submit them to God. This involves breaking patters of behavior that produce the opportunity to make a choice between something that will fill a short-sided desire and something that will produce the internal change you truly desire. Prayer keeps us focused on what we know needs to happen for change to occur rather than what is directly in front of us.

No matter the struggle, no matter situation, no matter how hopeless it might seem, if you know Christ then there is hope. We no longer have to accept that this is the way things are, must be or will be. While we grow in grace, God is changing our heart and the way we respond to life. God’s good work continues in your life, even when you don’t see it. The hope for those that are stuck is that what God has begun in you he will complete (Philippians 1:6).

God, thank you for the ability to have hope in whatever situation I may be facing. Help me to respond to my circumstances based off of the hope I have in you. Use what I am going through right now to shape me more into your character. Amen.

As we continue to examine the art of decision making, we’d be remiss if we didn’t talk about the issue of motives. Let’s  pause and consider the words of Paul found in Philippians 2:

Philippians 2:3-7

3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;  4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.  5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,  6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,  7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

Paul is urging his listeners to never act out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. In order for this to take place, we must ruthlessly test our motives by positioning ourselves before God.

It’s as if Paul knew our tendency to use and abuse others in order to grasp the spotlight, earn recognition or get a leg up on the competition. After all, we live in a dog eat dog world fueled by competition. Sometimes our selfishness and pride are evident in our actions. Yet, at the same time, we’ve also become experts at camouflaging our motives. The reality is only you know what truly drives your actions.

Sometimes we make a decision to prove ourselves, justify our worth or compensate for what we perceive we lack. This reeks of pride. Pride is fueled by our need for security and satisfaction. What we have to understanding is that God has made a way for us to be complete, both satisfied and secure. We are free to live the life we have been given. Yet, this only comes as a result of humbling ourselves.

The only antidote to pride, selfish ambition and vain conceit is the act of kneeling. Humility takes root in our heart when we lay our pride down and submit our ways before Him. In God’s economy, humility is the very path to greatness. When we are loved, we are compelled to regard others.

All of our claims and demands are no longer worthy to be grasped. Our lives are emptied and are free from grasping, demanding and doing whatever it takes to make a name for ourselves. This all begins as we humble ourselves before Him by checking our motives.

Lord, I bring my life before you.  I ask that you weigh my motives and deal with the empty conceit and selfish ambition that I am so prone to be driven by.  I want to trust and follow you.  I want my life to be about your glory. This begins with my attitude.  Remind me and quicken me to have this attitude and consider others around me.  Thank You for Your grace.  Amen.

Bath time is quite the event at our household. Our two little ones look forward to getting in the tub so much my wife is convinced they secretly have fins and gills. Their all-time favorite part of the “rub a dub in the tub” experience is the bubbles. They love to give themselves funky sudsy hairdos and soapy beards.

One night the bubble level inside the tub wasn’t quite on par with what our oldest had in mind. So, she went into action.  When daddy was distracted, with his attention occupied by her sister, Madison grabbed the bubble bath liquid, began to undue the cap and poured (and poured and poured) in more bubbles. She put the cap back on and placed the bottle in its’ place with dad none the wiser.

Bubbles started appearing everywhere. I scratched my head wondering how powerful the bubble mixture was since I had only placed a small capful underneath the faucet. The grin on Madison’s face gave her away as being the culprit. Eventually, the whole bath was immersed with suds and the two rugrats in it were consumed with bubbles. From head to toe they were covered in bubbles. When they stood up they looked like miniature versions of the Abdominal Snowman.

Think for a moment about some words that were talked about in the last paragraph: IMMERSED, CONSUMED, and COVERED. They are the starting point for preparing for spiritual change and making wise decisions. If they are present in your life, there is no way you can possibly remain the same. Your heart becomes God’s heart and you begin to find yourself in step with His will. Read and meditate on the following verses:

IMMERSED - One must immerse themselves with God’s word in order to understand God’s character and heart.

Psalms 1:1-3 

1 Blessed is the man who does nor walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

CONSUMED – One must be consumed with pursuing wisdom and finding the knowledge of God.

Proverbs 2:1-5 

1 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you 2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding 3 and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

COVERED – One must cover themselves in prayer to experience the peace needed to face the uncertainty that comes with change.

Philippians 4:6-9 (NIV)

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Lord, please allow me to lay the framework for change to take place inside my heart. May I be consumed with your word so that I will be able to decipher how you are moving in my life. Let it provide immense understanding to your will so I can be in step with your heart. Amen.