MERRY MONDAY BY PARRIS-
“It’s true that some here preach Christ because with me out of the way, they think they’ll step right into the spotlight. But the others do it with the best heart in the world. One group is motivated by pure love, knowing that I am here defending the Message, wanting to help. The others, now that I’m out of the picture, are merely greedy, hoping to get something out of it for themselves. Their motives are bad. They see me as their competition, and so the worse it goes for me, the better—they think—for them.” Phil.1:15 MSG
If you’ve been around me long enough, you would have heard, “Christianity is a win-win” or “it’s all uphill from here baby”! Well, maybe you weren’t a down in the dump sorta of person or a loser like I was, haha. I am just so glad Christ came when He did! Whew I was a mess! So when I read Philippians and realize Paul is writing yet another epistle in prison I can’t help but wonder at his frustration. “God, really? IS THIS REALLY WHAT YOU WANT FOR ME?” I love how you can see his aggravation turn into praise, just like David did in psalms. Paul realized “at the end of the day” Christ will get the glory. We may not like how it’s going down in our lives, but we simply can’t lose and to me my friend that is HUGE!
Paul goes on to to say, “So how am I to respond? I’ve decided that I really don’t care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on! And I’m going to keep that celebration going because I know how it’s going to turn out.”
Paul said, “I am going to keep the celebration going?” So party in da prison! He comes when we feel so confined and brings us freedom and then he gets the glory!
Paul continues with this; “Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything He wants to do in and through me will be done. I can hardly wait to continue on my course. I don’t expect to be embarrassed in the least. On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die” AGAIN I LOVE, EVERYTHING HE WANTS TO DO IN AND THROUGH ME AND IT WILL BE DONE!” If there is one thing Christ will accomplish it is this very thing, completing the work He started in me. I may not like the journey or the various turns my life takes on, but Christ will accomplish and complete His work in me! Talk about freedom even in my prison clothes!
And lastly Paul concludes with, “They didn’t shut me up; they gave me a pulpit! Alive, I’m Christ’s messenger; dead, I’m His bounty. Life versus even more life! I CAN’T LOSE!”
YEP, THERE ARE NO LOSERS IN THE KINGDOM!