Spiritual Gifts by Jill Briscoe

 

SPIRITUAL GIFTS

by Jill Briscoe

From the bag of books a friend gave me to read I have chosen this book today - Spiritual Gifts by Jill Briscoe.

I have one of Jill's books on my shelf already - There's a snake in my Garden as well as one of her late husband Stuart.

In this book Jill uses the book of Philippians to uncover 8 spiritual arts that Christians are called to practice regularly:

Contentment

Intimacy

Suffering

Simplicity

Ministry

Tranquility

Humility 

Harmony

I love how Jill is able to bring out some amazing truths from scripture. For instance in the introduction Jill asks 'what kind of book is Philippians?' It is a

Preserved letter

Personal letter

Practical letter

Political letter

Prison letter

Powerful letter

Prayerful letter

Praiseful letter

CHAPTER 1 - The Spiritual Art of Ministry

What does God want me to do with my life? Ministry.

Ministry is not something for the professional Christian only - someone who has been to seminary or bible school or on the mission field. It is for all who have become new persons in Christ Jesus and have experienced "the old things passing away, and all things becoming new". It is for those who have had a radical change in their lives because of their conversion and who want - more than that, feel - a responsibility to make sure everyone has the same opportunity.

Ministry is being a blessing. It's serving and giving and not counting the cost. It's what we who love Jesus are supposed to be doing all day, every day. Ministry is talking about Jesus, serving Jesus, being Jesus where people are in need of Jesus. Ministry is the most exciting, stretching thing in the world. It's an art - a spiritual art.

Ministry - helping people - happens all day every day and all night every night. Ministry goes on all over the world and on all 7 continents. Old people and young people ministry. Black people and white people. wealthy people and poor people. Sick people and healthy people. Ministry is a full-tme 24 hour thing. An "I can't wait to get going in the morning" thing. An "I don't have time to sleep" thing. An "I can't believe I have the privilege of doing this" thing. It's a hard thing, a glorious thing, a stretch, a reach, a "pulling you in every direction" thing. it is exhausting and exhilarating, an emptying of yourself and a "filling up to overflowing" thing. Ministry is in the end an art of the Spirit - a spiritual art.

A Chain of Blessing

Christian ministry is a chain of blessing that begins with someone getting blessed - someone coming to faith in Jesus Christ and being converted, turned around, transformed from the inside out - and in turn being a blessing to everyone in their orbit. It's a chain. A chain of blessing.

Ministry is for all of us - those of us who have grown up in the church and those of us who have come to Christ from the outside of "Christian everything". So don't say, "But I don't have any opportunity to ministry. I have no training." Ask God to show you the hundreds of opportunities that are right under your nose every day.

Ministry in Difficulties

Some people see a difficulty in every opportunity, while others see an opportunity in every difficulty. It's a question of the way you look at life. Something unfavourable happens to us that we are not expecting - how do we handle it?

Sitting in a cold, dark jail cell, Paul wrote to the Philippians "What has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel" (chapter 1 verse 12). He declares that because of his chains he has this marvellous opportunity. Paul considered himself a prisoner not of Rome but of Jesus Christ. He was there as an ambassador to represent his Lord and Saviour. In Acts 9 verse 16 the Lord had said of Paul "I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." God had also promised Paul that he would one day take the gospel to Rome, the heart of the empire (Acts 23 verse 11). When something hard happened to the apostle Paul his instant reaction was "How can I use this as a platform to explain the gospel?" Paul didn't know how he would ever get to Rome but he knew in his heart when God said something it would usually happen. 

This is difficult to fully appreciate - how many times have I not said "that's not fair" when something happens? Here in this letter to the little church in Philippi, Paul was sitting in a cell in Rome waiting his trial. He was not expecting to win his case but he is happy - if God has planned for Paul to be executed or released, he will accept it - "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." Paul was busy using his unusual opportunities and exercising the spiritual art of ministry. 

Taking every opportunity for Christ doesn't only mean talking to people but also involves praying for them. When trouble comes, we need to train our minds to go to God first and foremost in prayer and then to keep on going.

The Ministry of Prayer

A friend sent me a get-well card that said The world says, 'laid aside for illness.' Christ says 'called aside for stillness.' 

After he gives his greeting Paul is found in the opening lines of his letter praying for his friends, and he tells them so. He has had hours and hours of uninterrupted time in his cell to talk to his heavenly Father about his friends and their troubles. If he had been free, it wouldn't have been so easy to make the time. True, he is uncomfortable and a guard is attached to him at all times of day or night - but no matter it is downtime.

Paul's prayer in chapter 1 verses 3 to 11 tells us much about him. This prayer isnt first filled with a list of prayer requests for his health or laments about the conditions "inside" though elsewhere he does ask people to pray specifically about his practical and personal needs, but Paul shows us here the heart of prayer by telling the Philippians that they are the focus of his thinking.

He tells them what a sheer joy they are to him. So often we pray for people and there's not too much joy in the doing of it. What a boost to our own faith when someone is bringing us joy, and how it encourages us to keep on praying for those who make our hearts smile.

Paul tells them that he believes in them and in the work of God within them that will continue in their hearts and lives to the end. He has confidence that they will stay the course. This isn't a reason to stop praying for them, he says, but a good reason to redouble his efforts He is well aware that he Devil will not be idle when he sees people such as the Philippians finishing strong. Paul knows that the Philippians are strong, but this is all the more reason to go on praying for them. he tells them that he loves them, misses them and is homesick for them all (chapter 1 verse 8).

Paul's intercession tells us bout his relationship with the Gentile believers, and how deeply he loves the people he prays for. "I have you in my heart" he tells them (chapter 1 verse 7). It always helps - loving the people you are praying for, having them in your heart.

First, he prays that their love for each other will grow and abound "more and more" (chapter 1 verse 9). Then Paul prays that they will know and discern what is best and that they will live godly lives. he prays they may be people of integrity - Christlike - and that comes from the Spirit. being like christ is pure spiritual art. Lastly, Paul prays that God will get a lot of credit for the lives lived for him in Philippi.  

The Ministry of Evangelism

Paul casually mentions that he is practicing the art of evangelism in jail. He writes, "What has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ" (chapter 1 verses 12 to 13).

When Jesus was weary and rested at the well, he reached a woman who in turn reached a village for him. When Jesus was chained to weariness, he took  the opportunity that weariness gave him to talk to a woman about her soul.

We are to take every opportunity to which we find ourselves chained. It takes discipline to think like that - it's a spiritual art.

Paul was literally not metaphorically, chained to his opportunity. Chained to him with real iron chains, the guards had no option but to listen to the apostle tell them about salvation from sin's chains and death's fetters. Some guards believed in Jesus before their tour of duty ended and went back to Caesar's household to spread the good news around the highest place in the realm.

It is no surprise to see that at the end of the letter Paul sends greetings to the Philippians from the saints "who belong to Caesar's household" (chapter 4 verse 22). How did saints get into Caesar's household? A prisoner called Paul used the opportunity to minster Christ to his guards.

Ministry in the Public Square

Paul saw a golden opportunity to try to get the Romans to allow the rights of Christians to stand in the courts. "I am put here for the defense of the gospel" he says (Philippians 1 verse 16). In other words, Paul declares, "God has put me here in prison to defend our right to preach the gospel." Paul was proud of his Roman citizenship. And he saw it as an opportunity to gain freedom of religion for the church he saw being born n Rome. When he needed to, he used his birth privileges and appealed to Roman justice to give him even moe opportunities to minister at the highest levels of government.

The Ministry of Modeling

"Because of my chains" says Paul "most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly" (Philippians 1 verse 14). 

In Philippians 1 verse 19 (Phillips), Paul declares "for I know that what is happening will be for the good of my own soul." The NIV reads, "For I know that ... what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance."

It's a spiritual art to allow what happens to us to bring us closer to God and not allow it to drive us further away from him. And it takes the Spirit to help us use the circumstances in our live for he blessing of others and for our own soul's growth.

As the brothers and sister read about the ways in which Christ ministered to his suffering servant, they were helped to believe that Christ would do the same when their time came and then they, in turn would learn to know Christ better.

So Paul tells the church that he is able to rejoice (chapter 1 verse 18) because he is helped by knowing Christ in ways he had never known him before the trouble came near to him - and this amazing result makes his chains well worthwhile.

He is also helped by the prayers of the Philippians believers (verse 19). 

The Ministry of Joy

As Paul reflects on the preaching of the gospel about Christ, joy floods his heart. In the second half of Philippians 1 verse 18, he declares that he is going to keep on rejoicing, because there is no more appropriate response to God's presence in his life: "I will continue to rejoice, for I now that through our prayers an the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance" (verses 18b - 19).

This is the epistle of joy! The laughing letter of spiritual exuberance. paul talks about joy that won't quit. He is experiencing laughter of the soul that is a healing balm in itself, and he says it is the result of people's prayers and the work of the Spirit in his life.

The Ministry of Courage

Paul knew that he - and we - need courage to keep on going especially when times get tough. Paul put it this way: I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage o that now as always christ will be exalted in my body whether by life or death. for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain" (chapter 1 verses 20 and 21).

Walk Worthy

Paul sums up his "opportunity" message about ministry with these words: "Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ" (chapter 1 verse 27)

Paul begins his letter by saying, "Paul and Timothy, servant of Crist Jesus." The word translated "servant" can also be translated "slave" - a willing slave, an "eager to do the master's will" slave. Paul's whole ethos was servanthood. He lived to serve the Lord Christ and the Lord's people. To exercise the spiritual art of ministry wherever he found himself on God's green earth every moment of every day. Would we call ourselves "servants of Christ Jesus"? How are we doing in this exciting adventure of learning the spiritual art of ministry?

CHAPTER 2 - The Spiritual Art of Harmony

Harmony is concord or agreement. In harmonious relationships, there is no discord. Another word for harmony is "peace" - and making peace is often very hard work. 

Achieving harmony is hard but being a peacekeeper once a truce is declared is even harder. It's a spiritual act.

The testimony of a community of believers often hangs on the ability of its members to live in harmony with one another and to keep the peace once it is made. Paul appeals to readers and followers alike to be sensitive to the Spirit's directive and to become ambassadors for unity.

Promoting Harmony among Believers is a Spiritual Art

The Spirit's most difficult work in the church is to promote harmony among its members. The art of "keeping the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace" as Paul puts it in Ephesians 4 verse 3, requires believers who are characterized by humility, persistence and a passion for the body of Christ. When the Spirit finds someone to cooperate with him in this work, there is rejoicing in heaven and God smiles. We give him honour when we pursue harmony.

Sadly, other human beings are our biggest obstacles when it come to practicing the spiritual art of harmony. 

Paul knew of only 2 ways: to ground all relationships in the one relationship all believers have with the Lord Jesus Christ and to rely on the power of the one Spirit who lives in all believers to maintain unity.

If our fellowships are going to be places to which unbelievers want to come, they must know that we would like to have them there - even if they are not like us. We can spend all kinds of time grumbling about these people we don't like showing up at church, or we can realize that they are seekers and that the Lord loves them.

Many churches consciously try to be seeker-friendly by incorporating contemporary music and drama into worship and using different ways to attract young adults and help them feel at home. This is a good thing. We just need to remember that there are also middle -age seekers  and old seekers who would be helped to feel at home when hearing familiar hymns from their childhood perhaps. Rather than allowing music to become a source of serious grumbling and discord in churches (which it often is), we should think in terms of what makes visitors feel welcome - no matter what their age or cultural background is.

Then there are Christians who transfer into our churches. They are "family". There are members of our own extended families we like better than others perhaps, but this doesn't mean we ostracize some members. Some churches try hard to reach out to people of other cultures and invite them to church, but if the visitors sense that people are complaining about the music director or the pastor behind their backs, I can promise you that it will be a brief visit.

Paul writes "Do everything without complaining and arguing so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life (Philippians 2 verses 14 to 16). In other words Paul urges "Don't whine." Christians can and do whine, and if you are a whiner, don't bother trying to share the word of life with unbelievers. they won't listen to you. They have enough whiners in their lives without adding a whole church full of them.

J B Phillips translates this verse "do all you have to do without grumbling or arguing." God became frustrated with the children of Israel in the wilderness mainly because they grumbled and argued with him for 40 years. Maybe you've experienced a church full of grumblers and arguers, and you are frustrated too.

Being cheerful and helpful is a "learned" art. It takes cooperation with the Spirit to get cooperation with others, and we need the Spirit's gentle and cheerful power to help us quit arguing and begin displaying a happy and helpful attitude.

Discord within the body of Christ is a key reason why many people don't go to church. As a follower of Christ, does the fact that our lack of unity drives people away from church bother you? It should. It bothered Paul, and he always tried to be part of the solution.

Unity and harmony among Christians were incredibly important to the apostle Paul. Before landing in jail in Rome, Paul took his life in his hands to travel to Jerusalem despite dire warnings from prophets, church leaders and disciples along the way. They told him that the Spirit had revealed that he would be killed if he went. Paul had been told the same things by the Spirit. But he was not told not to go, just what would happen if and when he did. Paul went anyway (see Acts 20 and 21). As predicted he ended up being nearly torn to pieces by a mob. The Jerusalem church, made up mostly of converted Pharisees who couldn't let go of the rules and regulations of Judaism was divided in its opinions of Paul - and that's how the whole debacle began. from that point onward, Paul was, as he put it "in chains for Christ" (Philippians 1 verse 13) until the end of his days.

But personal safety had not been the compass of Paul's life. His compass was the will of God. Having already been through incredible trauma for the sake of the gospel, he put his head down and gave himself not only to evangelism but to "keeping the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace in the church (Ephesians 4 verse 3). This is what took him to Jerusalem in the first place (see Acts 20 to 23).

Are things any better today? Is there harmony in the church? Is there evidence that each person considers others better than himself or herself (see Philippians 2 verse 3)? Are divorced persons welcome in our churches? Single parents? And if students wander in wearing apparel that shocks us, what happens? What sort of looks do people give them? Do they come back?

What about people of different ethnicity? Do they belong in our local body of believers? Do their children beat a path to our youth groups and attend our summer camps? Do their parents teach our children in Sunday school and sing in our choirs? Do they serve on our church staffs in capacities other than missions? How do the relate to each other? ow do they relate to you? If they are in leadership, do we respect them? Do they love one another? Is there a unity and a harmony that make a fractured world gasp as people observe what is happening?

When Jesus spoke his last words to the disciples in the upper room, he prayed for them. John 17. Many times that night, Jesus prayed for love and unity among his disciples. Then he said, "My prayer is not for (those disciples) alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one." (John 17 verses 20 and 21) That's you and me! Jesus prayed for love and unity among us. Is this prayer being answered in our lives? Wouldn't you like to be the answer to one of Jesus' prayers? 

One might have thought that Jesus would have been praying for the world and its salvation that night. Yet Jesus knew that the world would not hear about the great salvation he had left heaven to accomplish if his disciples were using all of their energy to bicker and fight. 

Unity is not unison. What encourages people here may not encourage people there. But there is a common unity that allow for diversity in the church body. Paul talked much about unity in diversity. "Everyone doesn't need to do things exactly as I do" Paul reminds us. "There is one Spirit but many ways of doing thing" (1 Corinthians 12 verses 4 - 11, Ephesians 4 verses 3 - 13). The unity we have has to do with the things we believe. It takes the Spirit of unity to help us allow for diversity - for welcoming and embracing other people who do things bit differently from the way we do things.

The problem is that as soon as someone thinks of a different way of doing something, people doing it "the old way" feel threatened. A spirit of competition can spring up, and before you know it, people have taken sides and are criticizing the other group for doing something differently. 

"Never act from motives of rivalry or personal vanity" Paul advised "but in humility think more of each other than you do of yourselves. None of you should think only of his own affairs, but should learn to see things from other people's point of view" (Philippians 2 verses 43 and 4 Phillips). Harmony happens when everyone works at putting other people first. It is essential for Christian community and for an effective effort in defending the gospel 

So unity isn't unison. Unison is actually easier to achieve than unity, which requires hard spiritual work.

Unity and harmony among believers were foremost on Paul's mind, in his prayers and on his agenda. Paul worked just as hard at the spiritual art of bringing such unity and harmony in the church as he did at preaching the gospel where it had not yet been heard. He was a "peace at any price" kind of person.

Are unity and harmony on our minds? Or do we run a mile at the first hint of trouble? Are we "peace at any price" persons, or are we belligerent fighters who take pride in causing rifts and divisions ourselves?

Paul encountered complaints and arguments throughout the fledgling churches he ministered to. And not just between Jews and Gentile. there were fights between Gentile and Gentile. Even in his beloved Philippian church, Paul discovered trouble between disciple and disciple, leading woman and leading woman.

Euodia and Syntyche, 2 strong prominent women in leadership positions in the church - both of whom had worked side by side with Paul - had squabbled with each other (see Philippians 4 verse 2). 

These women had worked alongside Paul in kingdom work. They were dear fellow workers. Paul, the elderly father figure could not stand it when his "children" had a falling out. 

So how does God work through people? Paul gives us a hint in the opening verses of Philippians 2. Before he pleads for unity, he appeals to his friends to remember what they have been given in Christ - the experience of Christ's encouragement and his love - and how Paul has taken up this precious ministry of encouragement and consolation among them.

A ministry of encouragement includes encouraging Christians to encourage others. What do we encourage others to do? Among other things, get along together! It isn't a matter of unison - everyone agreeing on everything but a unity that respects diversity and celebrates the differences in the body. Being of one mind in the fellowship. 

The art of encouraging others to love each other is not just for apostles and leaders; it is for all of us.

We must resist the temptation to shrug our shoulders and leave it to the gifted "loyal yokefellow" (Philippians 4 verse 3) to sort people out.

Peacemaking is a gift , an art. And all Christians should be working at it. We have within us the Counselor - the Holy Spirit. He is to wisdom itself and we have in him all we need of skill and discernment. Some will be better at it than others, but all of us are responsible for the relationships within our reach.

Other issues Paul addresses in this passage are humility and self-sacrifice. Paul shows that unity of spirit flows from a willingness to restrain one's own desires in order to satisfy the desires of others. Paul's work as a leader in the church involves dealing with the variety of difficulties that arise when people who come to the church from diverse religious backgrounds and cultures live and worship together. And challenges to unity are bound to arise from such an experiment.

How do you give people encouragement? Not by arguing with them! Instead, you lead by staying ahead of them in your spiritual growth and by sharing the lessons you learn along the way. This ministry of encouragement - one of the most important of all ministries in the church - seeks to provide a word in the power of the Spirit, perhaps a word of exhortation from someone strong in faith or a word of counsel to help another gain moral strength from one who is strong in Christ.

People who are strong Christians need encouragement too. Leaders often need to be encouraged even more than followers. And any follower can learn to be an encourager. Be encouraged to be an encourager. It's a spiritual art that everyone can learn. And mostly you learn by practicing it. Am I an encourager? Or do I just sit around waiting for someone to show up and encourage me? Get to know your bible so well that you can give people a word straight from Genesis to Revelation to lift their spirits.

Ask yourself, "How has God encouraged me?"  Remember a ministry of encouragement isn't primarily authoritative an dpreachy it isn't bossy. It isn't like giving a lecture. it i the heart of one Chistian reaching out to another. 

How did the church encourage the apostle Paul? Finding himself discouraged in prison, Paul was encouraged by the church's tangible help in the shape of a gift of money (see Philippians 4 verses 14 to 18). Maybe it's another way you can encourage someone - a practical way to practice this spiritual art. Being an encourager comes back to you in blessing. Paul the encourager was encouraged by the very ones he encouraged! 

Encouragement and consolation go hand in hand. Paul also practiced the spiritual art of consolation, which was based on Paul's experience o Christ's consoling love. Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love ... ((Philippians 2 verse 1 NASB)

The word "console" means "to speak to someone by coming close to his or her side" - and always in a friendly way - not sneaking up on someone you think needs straightening out and hitting them with a spiritual two-by-four. So how do we console people in trouble - people in our orbit who have lost their job, their health, or their children to drugs or divorce? Or people in a disaster zone who have lost everything? 

First, if we are to bring consolation, we need to physically put ourselves into the situation By coming close to someone's side, we speak volumes. I call this having "a ministry of presence." The art of putting yourself into another's pain is learned by practice, doing it over and over again, as every other art is learned.

Paul talks about this. He writes, "I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon" (chapter 2 verse 24). Paul did not make a habit of getting out of prison and hightailing it out of harm's way as soon as the prison doors shut behind him. He says, "I am confident that I'll come to you soon"; he doesn't say, "I'll get to a safe place and regroup - maybe take some time off and then see about a phone call or a text message." And he doesn't suggest that God send someone else, like Moses did when God told him he was sending him back to Egypt to rescue the Israelites and he responded, "Here am i , send Aaron!" (Exodus 4 verse 13). A ministry of consolation is really very simple. You just go!

To have a "ministry of presence" costs us something, and the recipients know it. it consoles them. Paul would not think of leaving prison and saying "Well, I've done my share of visiting these groups of people and getting thrown in the brig for my trouble I'll just stay in touch long distance - it's safer." Not Paul.

What about us? Is personal safety the first thing we think of? A ministry of presence is a ministry of consolation and you don't need a master's in theology to have this ministry. You just need a heart of love and concern for people. One like Paul's. One that is Christ-centered. One that is other-centered.

We can start by asking, "How has God consoled me?" Sit still and think of how God has directly consoled or comforted you. Was it a psalm? A story in the bible that mirrored your situation and gave you help or instruction? Perhaps God sent a word through the mouth of an Epaphroditus or Timothy; they certainly had a minisry of presence in Paul's life. it may be that God himself made you aware that he has drawn near to give you "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding" - the peace that Paul talks about in Philippians 4 verse 7. Did he hold you together when your world fell apart? Maybe it was the help that God gave you in the form of worship music at just the right moment, assuring you  that his consolation was yours for the taking. All of these things are means of consolation.

Remember that Paul is talking about these ministries against the backdrop of trouble between individuals in the church. Often people are hard to live with because they are insecure or have been wounded or abused. To dispense help and comfort, working at the art of understanding and sympathy by lending a listening ear, can only help to mend wounds and foster forgiveness. Just go! God will tell you how to console when you get there.

In our ministry of consolation, we allow the trouble that troubles others to trouble us. "I have enough of my own troubles, thank you" I can hear you say. Strangely, to cry for others dries your own tears. Ee are instructed from God's word "to weep with those who weep" (Romans 12 verse 15 NASB). Paul talks about his ministry among the Philippians as one he carries out with tears in his eyes: "For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ" (Philippians 3 verse 18). Paul is weeping for the lost. In the book of Acts, he says, "I served the Lord with great humility and with tears" and "Remember that for 3 years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears" (Acts 20 verses 19, 31).

Paul wept when he foresaw "wolves" getting into the flock (see Acts 20 verse 29). He wept for the lost; he wept for the saved. He cared deeply with the love of Christ for people. Paul learned the art of allowing his tears to talk, his emotions to show, and his feelings to be transparent. Do we? Can we be that vulnerable?

C S Lewis said, "Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken." This is true, but would you rather have a safe but hard heart? Having appealed to the Philippians about the ministries of encouragement and consolation, reminding them of his love, Paul becomes strong in his directives. he tells them that the destructive attitudes they have been exhibiting must stop. "Don't be conceited. Never act for selfish means" he says. "Avoid a party spirit generated by selfish ambition. Have no part in a rivalry that disrupts unity" (Philippians 2 verse 3).

Paul exercised a ministry of presence, consolation and tears. He wanted the church to have the same love for each other that Christ has for thE church - showing a self-sacrificial, forgiving grace. To the Philippians and to us today, Paul says, "If in any way you have experienced the tenderness and compassion of God in Christ, be tender and compassionate to each other - not critical and unkind. Give each other the benefit of the doubt." This, Paul assured the Philippians, would give him true joy and make his day (see chapter 2 verses 1 and 2).

CHAPTER 3 - THE SPIRITUAL ART OF HUMILITY

The dictionary definition of "humility" is "an absence of pride; self-abasement" or "the state or quality of being humble of mind or spirit." The spiritual art of humility - of having a modest and respectful attitude toward others - is one of the least practiced of the spiritual arts. Maybe it's because some of us think that being humble means we will be humiliated. "We need affirmation, not defamation" we say to ourselves and if our self-image has taken a beating, we need building up, not tearing down. But humility has nothing to do with humiliation. It has to do with our view of who God is, not of who we are. It helps us see what God thinks of us, not what others think of us or even what view we have of ourselves. When we practice the spiritual art of humility, we actually come closer to God, who affirms us, loves us and encourages us. As we humble ourselves under God's mighty hand, he will lift us up (see 1 Peter 5 verse 6; James 4 verse 1), nor tear us down. Like all the spiritual arts, being humble takes work on our part, and therein lies the problem.

Who wants to work at being humble? Not me! My sinful self scoffs at the thought that this art would be necessary for me. 

In our society, we promote ourselves and speak up for ourselves and fight for positions of prominence. We climb th corporate ladder not caring if we are crushing the fingers of the man or woman on the rungs underneath us. The concepts of promoting others, looking out for others, and helping others before helping ourselves are foreign concepts. We need an example.

"Jesus!" says Paul. "Look at Jesus. There's your example." Jesus provides a portrait of humility that takes our breath away - a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, who humbled himself so greatly he came from highest heaven to lowest hell. So we have the example of Jesus to follow, the Spirit of Jesus living in us to make it possible to be like Jesus, and the words of Paul to encourage us to let the mind of Christ dominate our attitudes and actions, whatever the cost.

Humility is pure spiritual art. And for this you need the mind of Christ. But the bible assures us that we have the mind of Christ if we have been born again of the Spirit of God. Christ lived out his life in humility. It was the attitude out of which all of his actions flowed. Humility is not self-disparagement but a sweet unself-consciousness inspired by the example of the Lord Jesus. "Let this mind be in you" says Paul, "which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2 verse 5).

So how do naturally proud people manage to refrain from thinking of themselves more highly than they ought to think? To keep themselves in perspective? It goes against our self-centered nature to consider other people better than we are. And turning the other cheek when everyone else is taking a swipe at our chin isn't easy. Such behaviours aren't natural - but they are spiritual. They are part of the learned art of humility.

In Paul's world, humility was not considered a virtue. Although Jews understood humility as part of their relationship to a holy God, Gentiles considered humility unnecessary at best and stupid at worst. That's why a humble person attracted attention and made onlookers curious. Even though the culture disparaged the idea of humility, when people saw it, they admired and liked it. Who is attracted to a full-of-himself person? Who wants to sit next to a self-centered boor who can't stop talking about herself?

Humility that dominates our thinking and motivates our actions is an attractive thing. it is actually a good experience to be with someone who isnt blowing his or her own trumpet and who listens to you with obvious enjoyment instead of dominating the conversation and insisting on being centre stage.

When you know that someone is watching you and giving you their full attention, saying by their body language that "you are centre stage in my thinking" you warm to that person and find yourself desiring their company. People are looking for someone to be interested in them. Really interested the hymn in Philippians 2 invites our lives to sing along with the concepts of thinking about others first and foremost, dying to  selfish orientation, and committing ourselves to a sacrificial lifestyle.

Many think Paul's description of Christ in Philippians 2 verses 6 to 11 was used as a hymn by groups of early believers. It begins with attitude. With a mind-set. After all, our actions flow out of our attitudes.

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus" writes Paul, "who being in very nature (essence) God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped (grabbed - clutched or hung on to) but made himself nothing (chapter 2 verses 5 to 7a). Think about it. Jesus let go of all that we in our society hang on to, of everything we grab for - status, position, respect He gave up his rights to be respected, waited on and adored.

Jesus was known in "Glory Town". When he walked the golden streets, the cherubim and seraphim fell on their faces in front of him, and 10,000 times 10,000 angels sang a song that shook the farthest stars in space. He let all that go. Status, honour, praise and glory. Paul said that by doing this, Jesus did something great. He humbled himself and became small. "Do you want to be big?" asks God. "Then learn to be small."God wants us to do something great for him - to be like Jesus, which, parodixically means learning to be small. To "let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." we need to be like Jesus and release the need for acclaim, affirmation and a good reputation - and stop allowing what others think of us to charter our course. We must not grab glory or honour that may even rightly belong to us - but rather, with God's help, we can let it go.

So what dos this look life? If people put you on a pedestal, you can try falling off. You can learn the art of this sort of honesty - not exhibiting a false modesty but seeking a true assessment of your gifts and talents and keeping them always in perspective. If people put you up there, you can always ask them not to. Don't be afraid to fall off your pedestal. Dress for success - spiritual success. Clothe yourself in modesty.

Just as Jesus clothed himself in simple, home-made, humble clothing made in Galilee he clothed himself with humility of spirit. He dressed for success in God's eyes. He also chose to live in humble circumstances - and we can do that too.

In essence, Paul's message is tis: "Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourself long enough to lend a helping hand." Jesus came to lend us a helping hand.

As we learn the art of humility, it's important that we don't take ourselves too seriously. Once we start listening to our own pres, thinking that we are really very important people, humility tiptoes out the door. Learn to laugh at yourself - a lot! The bible tells us to humble ourselves and not wait for someone else - like God! - to do it for us. "Humble yourselves" says the bible (James 4 verse 10; 1 Peter 5 verse 6) or God will humble you (see Daniel 4 verse 37; Matthew 23 verse 12). take responsibility to practice this spiritual art.

As Paul begins to paint this wonderful word portrait of Jesus in Philippians 2, he says that Jesus "made himself of no reputation" (verse 7). Think about that. Our reputation, what people think about us or say about us, is very important to us - too important sometimes.

What's more, Jesus emptied himself, not of his deity, but of his glory - "the glory" Jesus said in John 17 verse 5, "I had with (the Father) before the world began." Then Jesus came to earth's little space to save us.

what is glory? The bible talks about the "radiance of God's glory" (Hebrews 1 verse 3) - in other words, the brightness, the outshining beam, of the Fathers glory.

The sun's rays diffuse light and heat, testifying to God's benevolence the earth is blessed by this gift of goodness and brings forth life in the form of plants and trees. We could not exist at all, were it not for the sun's rays. And through the Son of God the Father displayed his glory and dispensed his benevolent grace to the whole universe. Jesus is just as much sun as the sunbeam. Jesus is God's ray - God's "Sonbeam". the Son "rayed" forth the splendour of the Father.

Jesus, God's Sonbeam, though of the same essence as God, though equal with God, let the glory go and became a man. He didn't give up anything of his deity, but rather added humanity to who he was in the beginning: "Being made in human likeness .. being found in appearance as a man (found in fashion as a man), he humbled himself" (chapter 2 verse 7 to 8). Where did this stupendous humbling happen? In a back alley behind th inn. Down the lame and in a corner. Among the fleas and ticks and animals. He came incognito through the back door of our world to Bethlehem's little town.

Where do I go in the alleys of the world? What things do I do in secret or give in secret? How many times is my right hand unaware of what my left hand is doing? Do I do anything incognito?Jesus gave his glory clothes away, swapping them for swaddling clothes.

Jesus stepped down. He exercised voluntary humility, "taking the very nature of a servant" (chapter 2 verse 7). He looked down, stepped down, came down and knelt down and washed our feet. He lay down on a cross and went down into hell itself. For Jesus it was all about "down". For us, all too often, it's all about "up". Sadly, many of us in the church ant only to serve in an advisory capacity. we want to train others to wash people's feet, but we don't want to wash them ourselves. "We don't do feet" we say.

Jesus was made "a little lower than the angels" (Hebrews 2 verse 9). Think of it - a little lower than the angels and a little higher than the animals! "In human likeness" - disguised as a child, unrecognizable to those in Bethlehem that christmas night.

The angels from the realms of glory who winged their flight o'er all the earth - those who sang creation's story and proclaimed Messiah's birth - must have been utterly confounded by Jesus' hanged status: "found in fashion as a man"; humility wrapped in a blanket, God's supernova, fallen from heaven to a mother's arms, a beautiful Jewish baby, hay in his hair. Or as hymnwriter Charles Wesley put it in the hymn "Let Earth and Heaven Combine": "Our God contracted in a span/Incomprehensibly made man."

The angels were amazed at Jesus' humbling. Am I? Or do I want to be treated as though I am a little higher than the angels? God may well wonder if we aren't acting in a way that's lower than the animals! He's not impressed. "I will humble all who walk in pride" God says (Daniel 4 verse 37). He despises pride, and he hasn't changed his mind about that. So Jesus Christ laid aside the trappings of his deity - his appearance and his status before the heavenly beings - and came to us. What were these trappings he laid aside? His scepter, connoting his power; his crown, representing his authority; his robes, signifying his majesty and glory, and even his judgment throne. His scepter speaks of his control, and to me, one aspect of the incredible humbling of Jesus was the way he let go of the control that was his and submitted to dependence on a teenage girl and a humble carpenter for his life and livelihood.

The Creator became the created! In Colossians 1 verse 16 Paul writes "For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank of angels - everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him" - the one who created the angels who were now singing him to sleep! I wonder if the angels watching Mary wrap the baby Jesus in swaddling clothes might have felt a little insecure?

Jesus had control, and he let it go. He allowed his father to have the control. He submitted to his Father's will. It was his father's will that he be born in a manger and die on a cross. It was his Father's will that he was a poor man instead of a rich man it was his Father's will that he was a poor man instead of a rich man. It was his Fathers will that he was a nobody in the eyes of the world in orderthathe might be a somebody in the eyes of God. In surrendering his life and his will to God, Jesus was saying, "Father you choose."

That's what humility does. It says to God, "You choose". Jesus said "As I live by the Father,s o you are to live by me" (John 14 verse 20). Can you say to God, "You choose. You know best. You control my life, and I will submit my will to you"? Only the humble mind can say that. The prideful mind says, "I choose. I know best . I can run my own life. I can make something of myself. I don't need to settle for obscurity or ignominy."

But Jesus was born in ignominy and died in ignominy. He was no stranger to stigma. Onlookers questioned Mary's purity and the dubious story of Jesus' birth. Jesus descended on that great graph of grace from heaven's heights to the lowest depths for us. If we have the mind of Christ, we can make small graphs of grace for others. we can surrender our pride and forgo our dignity too. So, do you want to big? Learn to be small.

Jesus "humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross" (Philippians 2 verse 8) He died for me; I died to him. So I need to ask myself "Is there evidence of my daily dying to my sinful self? Do people see it? Am I dying to my own self-importance? One way I can find out how ell I am doing is to ask, "How do I cope with criticism. Do I welcome it? Or do I criticize those who criticise me?"

The first thing to do when you are criticized is to "consider the source". Some people believe they have the gift of criticism. They even claim to have a ministry of criticism. They don't call it that, of course; they call it a gift of discernment. They think it's a spiritual art. There certainly is a spiritual gift of discernment, but it has to do with discerning spirits. we have to be on our guard though, because the Devil is a critic of Jesus and his people - a slanderer and an accuser (see Revelation 12 verse 10). We have to be careful not to do his work for him.

Leadership invites critics - it goes with a territory.

Receiving criticism can be a great way to keep us humble. Paul was criticized his entire life. In Philippians he is criticised for the way he preaches (see chapter 1 verse 17). In 1 Corinthians 4, he talks about being criticized for assuming a position as an apostle. the people didn't believe that God had called him to this, and they wanted to know why he had taken this authority on himself.

Paul responds, "I care very little (it is a very small thing) if I am judged by you or by any human court" (1 Corinthians 4 verse 3). Note that Paul doesn't say it means nothing to him to be judged by the world. We should listen carefully to our critics and pray about what they say. we need to own what is true and disown what is not. Paul had leaned how to handle critical people - to let it be a "small thing". Learning how to do that is a spiritual art. For most of us, criticism is a "big thing" not a small thing. Paul goes on to say that he doesn't even evaluate himself because, he says "it is the Lord who judges me". Therefore, judge nothing before the appointed time. Wait until the Lord comes, who will "bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts" (chapter 4 verse 5).

In essence, Paul says "I want to know what God thinks of all this stuff that people are saying about me. That's the most important thing. He alone knows the motives of my heart. I'm accountable to him." Ah there it is. He says that he'll leave the judging to God, who one day will judge the "motives of men's hearts". Criticism drove him to God, from whom he got his orders and who evaluated and affirmed hi God encouraged him not to think of himself more   highly than he ought to think but not more lowly that he ought to either He reminded Paul of his call on the road to Damascus - God's call on his life was ultimately all that mattered. God was his Master, and he would answer to him and him alone.

Being criticized can help us to run to God. We need to acknowledge any truth in the accusations and listens to what God thinks about us. It takes humility to listen to both the criticism and to God. But in the end, if you go to the Lord in humility, being willing to hear what he says, you will be lifted up above it all.

When you alo God to keep you humble, he will make you like hi Son, who as "gentle and humble in heart" (Matthew 11 verse 29). Paul writes in Philippians 4 verse 5, "Let your gentleness be evident to all." People who need correction are much more likely to respond to gentleness than harshness. To love rather than unlove. To correction rather than rebuke. So try to learn the art of humility, which is of great and lasting value to the body of Christ.

We need to die to the nonsense of controlling our own lives and ministry, in fact, our own anything - our own schedule, time, money, status, and the trappings of self-importance. Jesus left everything behind him. All his things. Do we have our "things" in perspective? Cultivating a spirit of humility will help us keep ourselves the "right size" in our thinking.

Paul said that we shouldn't allow a spirit of rivalry to cause divisions among us. Rivalry about ministry. Even rivalry about material things. Do we have these things in perspective? Do we easily say no to legitimate pursuits in order to serve people? Are we dead to the lure of our things and alive to the things of Jesus?

Jesus dies on the cross. He died to a career - he was only about 33 years old when he died. He died to fame and fortune. He insisted that those he healed not tell anyone (see Matthew 8 verse 4). He died to a career as a super-rabbi, spending his days on earth debating in the schools of Hillel and Shammai - prominent religious teachers of the day. He died to companionship among the elite and chose to spend his time with tax collectors and sinners. So Jesus modeled humility for us.

One of the things that will really keep us humble is to spend time with the disenfranchised, the poor, the oppressed, the prisoners and the outcast.

We so often rate and value events, ministry and even people according to their importance in the eyes of the world. Instead, we need to think about their importance in the eyes of God. In a society that is market driven and filled with "people worshippers", the church needs to be careful that it doesn't allow the world's values to drive ministry.

Having given us a portrait of pure humility to emulate, Paul concludes his picture of Jesus:

"Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should now, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2 verses 9 to 11

After the cross, God essentially declared to the world, "That is what you thought of Jesus; now I will show you what I think of him." And God raised Jesus from the dead, highly exalted him, and placed him on the judgment throne. God gave him his throne, his place. god chose it and God gave it. we must let God exalt us and not try to exalt ourselves. When others put us down, let God put you up, but also let God place you where he wants you in his grand cosmic plan. We do not choose our own place of ministry. He has the very place in mind.

God will take the humble in heart and give them the place of influence he has prepared for them in life and service. We don't need to manipulate or fight our way to that place. we simply need to volunteer to be small, remember that we're dead, and let his resurrection life motivate and empower us to run he race marked out for us. As we are obedient on a daily basis one day we will find ourselves in the Lord's chosen place of influence All we need to do is volunteer. Volunteer for what? Humility! That's all. God will do the rest.

Say "I'll be humble for you, God" and God will say, "Then I will place you where I will." So all we need to do is to volunteer.

Jesus volunteered. No one made him jump over heaven's walls. No one bribed him to leave his comfort zone and ask for trouble. No one hired him. He didn't ask what the benefits of the job were - health care, vacations, insurance. The Father didn't say, "How much do I have to pay you to go down there and sort out this unbelievable mess?" No one twisted Jesus' heavenly arm. He came. He volunteered.

Humility is a spiritual art. It takes practice.

CHAPTER 4 - THE SPIRITUAL ART OF INTIMACY

At the end of his life, Paul still wants more. He is fine-tuning his relationship with Christ and settling for nothing less than knowing all that it was possible to know of him at every level of his being. This growing intimacy Paul talks about is the Spirit's art in our lives. Our part is to practice being aware of the presence of God.

Developing an intimate relationship with God is like developing an intimate relationship with a person - your wife or husband. Developing intimacy with God takes time and work as well.

How would you characterize your relationship with God right now? Do you feel isolated and far from God, or do you feel a deep connection and spiritual intimacy? Since you first came to know him, have you experienced a growing knowledge of who he is and how he thinks? Have you discovered how he reacts and what gives him joy and sorrow? Do you know instinctively?

Spiritual intimacy is a learned art. It starts when we come to know God, when we commit our lives to him. Then it is dependent on help from the Spirit of God, who knows Christ and will make him known to us in our joys and in our sorrows. Do we want to know Christ in depth? Do we want to know him more than we know him now? For this we need divine help.

As we think about knowing Christ more we must be honest with ourselves. We say the words, but do we mean them? Do we want to know him more, love him more, and please him more? Is it our deep wish to enjoy his presence in ways we have never known before? Go to a spiritual depth we've never experienced? Know a touch of his spirit that leaves us breathless in worship, vividly aware of him in ways we never believed possible? In other words, are we hungry for more of God?

The strange thing is that we can answer yes to all these questions about wanting more, but many of us would have to admit we've really settled for less. Why? Perhaps because we know that the art of knowing God at a deeper level is a lot of spiritual work and discipline, and our lazy hearts don't want to do it. It could also be we are deliberately lazy because we have a sneaking suspicion that having more of God means God having more of us and we don't want to surrender any more of ourselves.

God's work is to establish this hunger, this longing, for him in our hearts. It is God who works in you" Paul declares (Philippians 2 verse 13). Our work is to give him the time of day to satisfy the longing that the Spirit of God creates within us. And this was Paul's desire, even in the closing days of his life. He wouldn't settle for anything less than knowing everything it was possible to know of God here on earth.

Maybe we've been shying away from practicing the spiritual art of intimacy with God - allowing the Spirit to take us to the next level - because we read something like these rather frightening words of Paul from Philippians 3 about how such intimacy is linked with Christ's sufferings. Perhaps we are tempted to object that knowing God in depth shouldn't have to be linked to experiencing hard times. But in the very same sentence, Paul talks about "the fellowship of sharing in (Christ's ) sufferings." When we realise that we can get really close to God's heart when we go through life's dark experiences, we back off saying, "Wait a minute. why can't I get to know God in the easy times - in the sunshine, in the springtime?" But the truth is, we all know it is under dark skies and in the wintertime that God comes especially near. Spiritual closeness often happens in the university of life's bitter, not better moments. That's when we get on our knees and dare to whisper. "Whatever means you use to take me to that heart-deep place, Lord, I'm asking you to take me there - because I want to know you more." God will take you at your word, I assure you.

Being in Christ involves fellowship with him at all points - his life, his death, his sufferings and his glory. Each believer by identifying with him incurs a measure of afflictions. As Paul puts it "It has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him" (Philippians 1 verse 29). Identifying with Christ in his sufferings is not something that was reserved for believers in Paul's day; it's something all Christians are called to do. 

If I want to be like christ in my living and in my dying, "becoming like him in his death" I need to accept my piece of the action where suffering is concerned. 

As we follow Christ, there will inevitably be wounds and scars. what will we do when we are wounded and hurt? Can we allow the work of the Spirit to take us deeper in our knowledge of God because of the winds of adversity.

In these painful times we can learn how to let the suffering take us further in our heart understanding of the Lord and his sufferings instead of turning from him in anger and pulling back from him. Do we use our pain to open the door to spiritual insight and knowledge of the heart of God? Try to "go with the pain" all the way into God's heart. get down on your knees and use the painful thins that has happened to you to open a dialogue with God. Shape our pain into a prayer and pray it. Above all, ask God to help you use the pain to understand yourself, Christ and others better. Put time aside on your calendar to address these painful situations in your life with him. If you don't put it on your schedule, you likely won't get around to doing it.

So how well do we know Christ? Do we want to know him more than we know him now? Is there a hungering and thirsting to find him in another place, in another way, than weve ever experienced him before - even if the pathway leads through the dark door of suffering? Do we allow our troubles to produce a richness in our relationship that is new?

Some think that knowing more of God simply means knowing more about religious rules and regulations and keeping them. they also believe that God will reward their good behaviour with some sort of impenetrable shield protecting them against adversity. Before Paul came to know Christ, he was a Pharisee who believed that meticulously keeping the rules would gain God's favour, blessing and protection. Moreover he was able to claim that he was blameless as far as the law was concerned (Philippians 3 verse 6). Nobody disputed that. But to know more about the rules doesn't necessarily lead to knowing more of God deep inside or being rewarded with exemption from suffering. It doesn't shield you from trouble In fact, you can know the rule book by heart, dot all your i's and cross all your t's and still encounter pain and problems.

Some suffering we undoubtedly bring on ourselves by being disobedient to God and some trouble comes as a result of others being disobedient to God, but there is also trouble that is simply part and parcel of life lived in a period of time called "after the fall". Trouble comes to all of us on planet Earth, whether we keep the rules or break them, but God offers his children his steadying hand. Head knowledge about why God allows bad things to happen to good people doesn't always help when good people experience some of those bad things. But, you see, God is after our hearts. "Come next to me" he says, "I will draw close to you and you will not be disappointed" (James 4 verse 8)

When we come to Christ, if the heart isn't involved, we will hear God complain. "These people ... honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me" (Isaiah 29 verse 13). Involving the hart sometimes means coming to terms with our pride. Our haughty hearts bristle at the suggestion that we cannot handle our relationships ourselves, even our relationship with God. 

We stick out our small spiritual chests and boast "Watch me, I can do it myself! I'll find God, pease God, and obey God to the letter - but I'll do it my way on my terms, and it won't be by the way of suffering. I know how to get all my buttons buttoned against the cold wind. I'll figure out how to get to know him more without walking down the road of suffering." So often we are just like the Pharisees: we believe we can get what we want by a meticulous keeping of rules - the rules and regulations of Christianity.

One of the rules of our faith is reading the bible, Maybe by doing our bible reading we'll be shielded from trouble. So we keep that rule day by day. However, when following the rules is our focus, we run the risk of spending our daily devotional time with our bibles but not necessarily with God. Is this possible? Of course. we can read the bible without allowing it to make an ounce of difference in our hearts or our relationship with God. Our bible reading must be understood, applied to our lives, mixed with faith, and obeyed before it can affect our hearts and our relationship with God.

In addition to bible reading, we follow all the other rules as well. We go to church, we worship and we pray. That's what Christians are supposed to do right? But do any of these things stop trouble or bring us closer to God on their own? We can go to church and sing any number of songs and hymns and still have no sense of God's presence because our minds are a thousand miles away. No true worship has occurred. Our hearts have not become the sanctuary of God. We may as well have stayed home.

These practices - bible reading, worship, prayer - aren't talismans, they don't have magical powers that protect us from suffering. Knowing God more doesn't mean merely knowing and following Christian rules - even evangelical rules like bible reading, prayer, church attendance, and sharing your faith through witnessing. What it comes down to is this: knowing in reality God's life-changing presence and work as he points out our broken image in the mirror of his word and invites us into a deeper soul knowledge and transformation. It's about having a relationship that reaches down into the depths of our souls and changes us from the inside out so we want to keep the rules because it pleases God and not because it pleases the pastor or other leaders in the church. When we practice pleasing God, it results in beginning to keep the rules without even thinking about them.

In a sense, it's tue that knowing God will mean that we do more things for him - the more we know him, the more we want to serve him. But Jesus himself said that on the day of judgment, he will say to some who professed to have done incredible works in his name, "I never knew you" (Matthew 7 verse 23). In other words, "You loved the works more than you loved me" Jesus will lament. And this is possible too. As someone once said, "It is frighteningly possible to love the work of the Lord more than the Lord of the work". Like the Pharisees did Like Paul once did.

The Pharisees and the legalistic Judaizers had hounded Paul wherever he went in the world. They were his fiercest opponents. Yet he had once been one of them. He had believed that you have to keep every piece of the law, plus the bits and pieces his group had added, to know and please God. He discovered that none of it worked to bring about this result at all.

So it is with people today who think that whatever they can do for God will give them access to God. So they must work for God - be good as gold for God, sing in the church choir for God, teach Sunday school kids about God, lead a women's bible study, go on  mission trip, help the poor, even give themselves in martyrdom for God. Sadly all of this doesn't give them the heart of God and certrainly doesn't provide the key to spiritual intimacy. It doesn't give them the key to heaven's front door or even its back door, for that matter.

It's what God can do for me that makes the difference, not what I can do for him. it is not only about working for God but allowing God to work in me so that I serve others because I want to, not because I have to. what's more, this work in my heart isn't dependent on me but rather on him. I can't dream it up or pretend it into life; in fact, I can't do anything at all in my own strength - Paul calls this "in the flesh" (Philippians 3 verse 3). it is all to no avail whatsoever.

Moreover, God chooses how he will respond to us and make this "Knowing him more" work. I can't twist the Almighty's arm and make him do anything for me at all. I can't make him make me feel good or forgive me. I can't make him answer my prayers. I can' make him give me peace of mind and heart or make the bible come alive as I read it It is entirely up to him. The basis of all prayer is "helplessness" says O Hallesby in his classic book called Prayer. I can work myself up into a lather of religious fervour and hand around the church all my waking hours and it will make no difference. We are dependent on God's grace. We cannot earn our way into his heart or his heaven, or even into spiritual intimacy but we can come helplessly and simply ask for his mercy and his help to know him more. It's something like a small child who runs out of strength on a long walk and in the end just gives up, sits down, and looks up hopefully at her father who bends down and lifts her up.

Paul knew the futility of woking hard to make his prayers work. he also knew the futility of doing God's work in his own strength He found out that he couldn't please God until he came to the end of his own efforts. In essence he concluded, "Everything I did, everything I tried to do, was of no value whatsoever. it was like rubbish. What I needed was Christ - Christ alone (chapter 3 verses 7 and 8). And Christ is all we need too. We can know him and enjoy him and be empowered "to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ" (Ephesians 3 verse 18). We only have to ask.

The joy of knowing God more, even in the midst of troubles, is a key theme in the book of Philippians. "Rejoice in the Lord" Paul implores again and again. The word "joy" (and variations such as "rejoice") occur 14 times in his all too short letter. Remember Paul wrote this letter from prison. Joy was the outward evidence of the infallible presence of God in Paul's life and this same joy should be endemic in the body of believers.

In Paul's day, orthodox Jews looked not to joy but circumstances as the outward evidence that demonstrated god's presence in their lives and marked them as Israelites. Circumcision was the mark of the covenant - God's promise that they were his chosen people. Paul said that he was "circumcised on the eighth day" according to the law (Philippians 3 verse 5) but when he found Christ - or rather when Christ found him on the Damascus road - he realised that outward marks have little to do with interior reality. And so he began to speak of the "circumcision of the heart" as the mark that really matters (romans 2 verse 29). The markings of our deep relationship with God are shown outwardly in the fruit of our inner life as Christ is formed in us. Joy is one aspect of the fruit of the Spirit that marks us as his children (Galatians 5 verse 22)

When it came to following rules and working hard to please God, Paul knew what he was talking about. He was "nearly perfect" when it came to adhering to the Pharisees' values and codes. Talking about his effort to be a perfect Pharisee, he says, "In regard to the law, a Pharisee; ... as for legalistic righteousness, faultless" (Philippians 3 verses 5 and 6).

Doing many good and religious things will never cover over our sin. Paul discovered this truth; I discovered it. Nearly perfect won't do. First, you come to know Jesus as Saviour and Lord, next you go deeper in your heart relationship with him and then the joy comes.

Belonging to the right family tribe or nation makes no difference either. Paul said that he was "of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee" (Philippians 3 verse 5) His point is that it doesn't matter how you were raised. The denomination you were raised in will not give you a free pass through the pearly gates or produce heart knowledge of God.

The apostle Paul belonged to the right family who went to the right church. It didn't matter in the end. What matters is to meet Christ in your spirit, as surely as Paul met him in his vision on the road to Damascus, and then to spend the rest of our life getting to now him more and more and more.

So convinced was Paul of this that he set his soul to explore the depths of those things the Holy Spirit explained to him of Christ, and the more he knew, the more he wanted to know - and the more he went after God. He developed the art of spiritual communion with God. After meeting the risen Christ, he lost everything that the world says is important and said it was no big deal compared to the gain of coming to know Christ in an intimate way (see Philippians 3 verse 8).

For Paul, knowing Christ Jesus as his Lord meant experiencing the intimate life with Christ that began at his conversion and continued all the years since then. The challenge and excitement of an ever-growing comprehension of Christ in personal heart knowledge and enjoyment far surpassed any and every experience he had found in a legalistic lifestyle.

Paul talked about knowing such power while he was still alive - the same power that raised Christ from the dead was living in Paul's mortal body. Paul taught that knowing God involves experiencing the power of the resurrection life of Christ. Part of knowing Christ more is experiencing more power to be what we should be and to do what we should do. In Romans, Paul writes "If the spirit of him that raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who lives in you" (Romans 8 verse 11). This verse speaks not only of God raising our bodies after death but also of the vital power of his life in us now.

Paul says he wants to know that power in the nitty-gritty of his own dilemmas. The power to endure, to speak up or Christ with courage and boldness. To persevere and press on and on and on. Knowing Christ more means knowing more and more of his resurrection power as we appropriate the saving life of Christ. It means experiencing the power that proceeds from the living Saviour.

This means counting myself dead to my own self-effort and alive to the power of god. where does all this happen? On your knees, hanging on to God for all you're worth, reaching fro the hand of God to steady you when you're about to fall down, counting on what I call "God-spiritability" to carry on carrying on. I want to now more of that. Don't you?

So how do I begin to know it?

• I spend some time thinking about all of this
• I tell God where I see myself
• I confess my own futile efforts at being spiritual without reference to the Spirit
• I ask him to show me where to begin
• I begin

Undoubtedly the bible and prayer feature in the answer. We need to make a plan - our own spiritual plan. What are you going to do to know Christ more where bible study, prayer, meditation and worship are concerned? Which part of prayer will you decide on? Intercession? Worship and praise? Confession and repentance? Faith and fasting?

Which part of the bible will you study for the purpose of finding Christ there? How will you study it? Take a course? Read a book? Buy a commentary? Memorize an epistle - Philippians perhaps?

Ask yourself, "where am I suffering at the moment? How can I use this suffering to know Christ better?" Talk to the Lord about it. Think it through in silence, inviting the Spirit to calm the noise and confusion inside you.

Ponder this: What sort of Jesus-lover and glory-giver do I want to be after this is over? What do I want to share with others from this experience? Do I want to tell how God has given me strength I didn't know was even possible to have? Will I be able to teach people not to waste the pain instead of demanding that God "kiss it and make it better" at once? Am I able to allow the suffering of this present time to be the meeting place for God and me, a place where I might get to know him as I've never known him?

Paul testified to a depth of spiritual intimacy that he knew through the fellowship of sharing in Christ's sufferings, the power of the resurrection life while facing death and the ability to consider himself dead to himself and alive to all that Christ was for him as he came to know Christ more. it's an art - a spiritual art - to do the work and submit to the discipline, but it's worth very single bit of effort.

CHAPTER 5 - THE SPIRITUAL ART OF TENACITY

The spiritual art of tenacity is a learned art. You cannot learn it unless you have something to be tenacious about, something to care deeply about - being a Christian, for example. We learn to be persistent, or tenacious, when we have to press on through life's difficulties. Daily challenges and struggles in the Christian life and the experience of being mistreated because of a profession of faith in Christ are examples of opportunities to develop tenacity. The word "tenacious" can be defined as "holding fast", "being tough", "being persistent or stubborn", "clinging or adhering to something". In a word, stickability. Sticking with someone or something to the end - like sticking with Christ and his call to us to follow him.

The art of finishing

Paul is a perfect example of stickability. He uses the image of a footrace to make his point. As far as Paul was concerned, his race wasn't complete until he reached the finish line - that is, until death came calling. He was not about to quit, no matter what happened to him. Paul was able to say at the end of his life, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day" (2 Timothy 4 verses 7 and 8).

Pressing on and finishing things are virtues lacking in our culture.

Reading the bible, attending a study, beginning one more season of prayer - we drop out when the class is halfway through or when the book we're reading begins to bore us. We don't finish. Finishing is an art. It takes discipline to persist. The famous nineteenth-century preacher Charles Spurgeon said "By perseverance the snail reached the ark."

Even if we run well for a few years, we then slow to a near stop or run off the track altogether and retire from the race. This is the case especially as we grow older. We just get tired - tired of serving, tired of attending two worship services a week, tired of arriving on time or staying until the benediction.

There seems to be an increasing spiritual fatigue among us. There is a difference between being tired in the work of the Lord and tired of the work of the Lord. When we get tired of the work of the Lord, we are in danger of quitting the race altogether. We will probably be tired in it as long as there aren't enough hands to share the load. But as Paul said, "Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day" (2 Corinthians 4 verse 16).

Listen to Paul: "If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labour for me" (Philippians 1 verse 22). Although he was bone weary, he was as young in spirit and passion as when he first met the living Christ. He was an old man with a young heart. Dynamic and fruitful labour went hand in hand for Paul. He was tenacious and he persisted - he preached and taught, exhorted and encouraged, rebuked and challenged. He traveled and visited and never gave up building the church until his last breath. In a nutshell, he finished!

There is no spiritual retirement for the Christian

The danger is that the older we get, the more ready we are to quit. We may well retire from our jobs, but there is no spiritual retirement for the disciple of Jesus. How could there be? Here is Paul, the aged one, pressing on. He is certainly old and worn, tired and sick, but he is strong in his determination to die with his boots on. Persistent and stubborn, he's sitting in a horrible place, having had his freedom taken away for no other reason than that he is a follower of Christ. But just listen to him: "I keep working toward that day when I finally will be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be" (Philippians 3 verse 14). "I'm pressing on" declares Paul. In other words "I am practicing the spiritual art of tenacity." He wants his present suffering to make him a more effective minister and a better racer with a stronger track record. He thinks about other old saints around and he hopes that they will take heart when they hear about his commitment to finish well.

Caleb is an Old Testament example of the same kind of spiritual tenacity we see in Paul. Caleb fought alongside Joshua until they had taken possession of the Promised Land. When he entered the land, he was 80 years old. As parcels of land were being distributed to the tribes of Israel, Caleb came to Joshua to ask for land for his tribe. Which land? The rolling hills for his cattle? The fertile rich lowlands? No. "Give me this mountain" he says (Joshua 14 verse 12). Any farmer worth his salt knows that mountains represent a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears. Caleb is 80 and instead of asking for the ease of conquering the foothills, he demands a mountain. That's exciting!

What fueled the flame in Joshua's and Caleb's hearts? Their secret is written in scripture: they "followed the Lord ... wholeheartedly" (Joshua 14 verse 8). No retirement in Canaan's rocking chairs for these two veterans!

Tenacity is following the Lord with your whole heart. Not with halfhearted steps but all the way home. The Lord commands us to follow his steps. How do we do this?

Consider these words of the apostle Paul: "I can do everything through (Christ) who gives me strength" (Philippians 4 verse 13). God asks us to walk in his steps, to make the journey of life all the way down the hill. There is no way we can do this in our own strength. We are too small. We are too weak. But in Christ we can. Yes we can! We can come all the way down the hill. We need to practice the art of running down the hill, of trying to put our feet in his footsteps, of following in his way. We need to be obedient to the Father's voice and do as we are instructed. We need to rest in his arms and let him carry us. Amazingly enough, this takes spiritual tenacity. What takes tenacity? Resting. Really. Yes, it requires surrender to rest in God's strength. Believe it or not, it also takes practice. It requires a decision to trust God and to follow in his steps - even when it seems as though what you really want is to run down the hill all by yourself.

So what about Paul's heart? What kept him going? He knew that, no matter how old and weak he was, he could rest in God's arms and follow in God's steps. How does he relentlessly centre his attention on the course ahead of him without passing out on the running track? He says he is holding firmly to Christ, who is holding firmly to him: "I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me" (Chapter 3 verse 12). He is clinging to his Saviour, his heart is aflame for God, and he is all about finishing the race and keeping the faith. He has a goal, and he is reaching for the prize. This sort of tenacity is a spiritual art, and it begins with your faith.

Attitudes are the key to any spiritual art. Our attitude toward God is vital. Do we trust him? Do we believe - really believe - that he is strong enough to carry us down the hill? Do we think that maybe he needs some help from us? Some of us need a tune-up - an attitude adjustment. An attitude is a mind-set, a disposition. The Holy Spirit can help us with this. We can pray for a positive attitude toward the Lord instead of a negative one, and we can follow Paul's example of by looking at our circumstances positively rather than negatively.

"It's never over until it's over" is Paul's message to us. "I haven't got it all together. I haven't arrived. There is still a lot of race to run. There are challenges both outside of me and inside of me." Paul is not too big to admit that he is still on a steep learning curve. He is learning to know Christ in ways he has never known him before, to endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, to be patient, understanding and compassionate with his persecutors. He is appropriating the saving life of Christ for every eventuality and in every stage of the race. In short, Paul is learning the art of tenacity. He is ever the student of Christ. Paul trusts Christ and he rests in Christ's power and strength.

There are things to learn about Jesus as long as we live and move and have our being (see Acts 17 verse 28). We never graduate with a "perfect Christian" certificate this side of heaven. Like Caleb, we need to behave as though age isn't particularly relevant. Like Paul, we need to endure hardship as discipline (Hebrews 12 verse 7), be thankful and run on.

When we keep ourselves and our situations in perspective (with positive attitudes and trust in God) and are humble enough to acknowledge that we are not the bionic Christian persons others believe us to be, then we are in the right mode to grow. Paul understood his proud rebel heart. Circumstances that humble us help us to learn and grow. Can we say with sincerity "I haven't arrived spiritually, so I'll press on"? Like Paul are we focusing all of our energies on this "one thing" (Philippians 3 verse 13)? 

None of us have arrived. To believe we have it made sets us up for a fall. If we allow God to show us ourselves as he sees us, we understand the devious nature of our sorry hearts.

The struggle to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh will never come to an end until we are safely home. There is still a tone to learn. There are children to raise for Christ and his kingdom, people to weep for, countries to reach where Christ has not been preached. There are churches to build, leaders to train, prayers to be prayed and people to stand in the gap until the next generation of teachers and evangelists comes along. We must help the helpless and care for the lost. Knowing that we haven't arrived in our calling, ministry goals and spiritual life is an impetus to press on until we do. This was the driving motivation that consumed Paul and this was why he said, "One thing I do."

Handling rebellion in the ranks

One way in which God helps us to think about ourselves as we ought so that we will persevere is by allowing us to have opponents - often within the church itself. Paul's opponents in the church were delighted when he was put in jail. They saw their opportunity and took advantage of Paul's confinement for their own aggrandizement. They wanted to preach. They thought that they could do it better than he could. A spirit of competition predominated. Some of these preachers were jealous of Paul. They didn't like the way he taught. "Now" they thought "we can take over and do it right". Paul's confinement provided a golden opportunity.

Paul was gold about what was happening. Instead of overreacting or being hurt, he simply said, "What does it matter? The important thing is that in every way .. .Christ is preached" (Philippians 1 verse 18). Paul was so free from wanting things his own way or doing things with a wrong motive that he didn't give a thought to his own feelings. "Christ is preached" - that was all he cared about. It wasn't who did the preaching or how the preaching was done that mattered, but rather that it was done at all - that the gospel was proclaimed. That is a big man talking.

We're not home yet

Paul knew that the prize was at the finish line. So often we want the prize now - as we run along the way.

Shooting Adrenaline into our Souls

Paul warns us there will be many discouraging moments before we're through. But he tells us not to lose heart. The race is never over until it's over and running it will require us to learn the spiritual art of tenacity. Where will we find the strength? What happens when we find ourselves running out of steam? Paul would tell us "Run on in the strength the Lord gives you. And that strength never runs out. You can do all things through Christ, who gives you strength." Rest in the Lord's arms and follow in his steps, and he will carry you home.

So how does it work when we are just ordinary folks? Where will we "little people" find such strength to finish? We aren't the apostle Paul. We aren't the mighty Caleb or those veteran missionaries. But Jesus is the same Jesus! The strength and encouragement come from observing Jesus and remembering how he ran his race and finished his course. They come as we follow in his steps.

Jesus left no unfinished business when he went home to his Father. He was able to say, "I finished. I finished what I started. I finished the work my heavenly Father gave me to do." On the cross, he shouted, "It is finished" (John 19 verse 30). He was not shouting "I am finished" but "It is finished" - the redemption of the human race has been accomplished.

We must keep our eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished the race. "That" says Eugene Peterson "will shoot adrenaline into your souls!" (Hebrews 12 verse 3). When you find yourself flagging, go over that wonderful story once again, bit by bit. Take an afternoon to read through the Gospels at a sitting. Think about "that long litany of hostility (Jess) plowed through" for you (Hebrews 12 verse 3) the race of redemption he ran for humankind. 

He finished his course; now we must finish ours.

Strip Down, Start Running and Never Stop

We are urged by the author of Hebrews to keep our eyes on Jesus and we are also reminded that, while we run the race of life on earth, those in the heavenlies are keeping their eyes on us. Pioneers cheer us on, watching us from "Ever-land". They blazed the way for us. They are the people who have gone before us, who loved the Lord and have finished well. They have become spectators in the stands of heaven: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" (Hebrews 12 verse 1). 

"It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running - and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed - that exhilarating finish in and with God - he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honour, right alongside God." Eugene Peterson

Many things hinder us from staying in the race - some are good things, and some are bad. But that's where spiritual tenacity comes in. We just keep pressing on. We never quit. We lay aside the things that cause our feet to become tangled and that keeps us from running without encumbrances.

Some of the hindrances can be things from our past. That's why Paul says we have to work at "forgetting what is behind" (Philippians 3 verse 13). How do you handle hindrances from your past? Are you still dragging them around like a ball and chain? They need to be dealt with so you can move forward unencumbered. It may be wise to talk with someone about this - perhaps a wise Christian who knows you well or a pastor or counselor who can help you to be set free from past failure, shame and guilt. You need to stop looking over your shoulder so you can look forward to the next leg of the race God has marked out for you.

Stop Looking Over Your Shoulder

Paul says you can't run a race twice and you can't run it continually looking over your shoulder. You will surely trip and fall. We have to move on and leave the mistakes and sins of the past at the foot of the cross of Christ.

I can imagine that Paul was tempted to spend most of his time in prison regretting the time he persecuted the church. The faces of the children whose parents he killed must have haunted him. But he kept his eyes on what was ahead and trusted his past to God. Leaving his terrible sins at Calvary, he pressed on. The end of the race was in sight for Paul. He could see the finish line and hear the roar of the cloud of witnesses in the stands. "I leave the past behind" he says. Have we?

Tenaciously Look Upward and Onward

Unlike Paul, most of us don't know when our race will be over. Somehow we expect to live to a ripe old age. In fact we never expect to die. The writer of Ecclesiastes says "You learn more at a funeral than a feast" (Ecclesiastes 7 verse 2). That's because death wonderfully focuses our attention on what life is all about.

However, because we don't know when our day is done, we somehow cultivate this belief that death can happen to everyone else but us. It could be tomorrow of course, but we simply refuse to believe it. No one knows the length of the course ahead of us - no one, that is, but God himself. He knows. And he tells us that we won't live forever down here. God wants us to forget what's behind and look on to what is ahead. We need to tenaciously look upward and onward, refusing to take one single day for granted. The time is short; the days are evil (See Ephesians 5 verse 16). There's work to be done and not enough people to do it.

At the beginning of his Christian life, Paul's message was essentially this: "I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back". How did he do it? By relentlessly centering his energies and interests on the course ahead of him. He looked upward to Jesus, the author and perfecter of his faith (Hebrews 12 verse 2) and onward to the goal (Philippians 3 verse 14). He stayed focused, and that's what we must do. At the end of his life, Paul hadn't changed his focus or his pace.  

Watching out for the team

As we run our race, we also need to keep track of those who are out there, running the same course.

This race of life is not a relay race, where you pass the baton and you are done. It's more like an Olympic marathon, only you're not running along - you have a team from your country running with you. You need to be aware of your teammates, know how they're doing and check up on them. Paul's teammates were Timothy, Epaphroditus and Luke. Paul kept track of them. He looked out for them, even though they had come to Rome to look out for him.

Epaphroditus had been sent from the church at Philippi with a gift of money for Paul. He was a leader there. It had cost the church to have to carry on without him for this time, but they were willing to send their best. It cost both the church and this man to come to Paul. Risking his life, he had gotten sick and nearly died (Philippians 2 verses 27, 30). As you can imagine, this was an added sorrow for Paul. Epaphroditus survived, however, and Paul writes to tell the church back home about this answer to prayer: "he ... almost died. But God had mercy on him" (chapter 2 verse 27).

Imagine the cost to Paul. In his dire situation, 3 leaders and team members must have been priceless companions. But Paul looked out for his team first and not only sent Epaphroditus back to his home church; he told the church that he would soon send Timothy as well (chapter 2 verse 23).

In a side comment, Paul tells the believers in Philippi that he knows of no one who cares for their well-being like Timothy (chapter 2 verse 20). Timothy had a huge concern for the church in Philippi. Then, of course, there was his dear Dr Luke, who stuck with Paul through thick and thin and who wrote for us the history of Jesus (Luke's gospel) and of Paul (the book of Acts).

Here we have a beautiful picture of a team of warriors - high ranking soldiers of the faith who loved the church, loved Paul and loved each other. They put each other before their own well-being and ran their race with tenacity, regardless of the personal price they would pay. They ran the race together, watching out for each other as they went. Do we do that? Or are we so absorbed with our own lives and ministry that we selfishly care for our own things, using team members for our own purposes and demanding that we come first?

How is your team doing? Your committee? Your volunteers? Your family? The people around you who partner with you in whatever capacity in which you serve the Lord and his community? Do we use people, albeit unintentionally, because we have such pressing needs ourselves? We need to follow Paul's example as we build a team of self-giving leaders and show the way by our own attitude. Paul knew his men. He knew exactly how each of them was doing in the race. He was far more concerned with how they were doing than with what they were doing.

Who else was on Paul's team when he was in prison at Rome? We don't know who else had access to him there, but we do know that these 3 men did. These men were veteran runners. But you don't become a veteran overnight. This is where the all-important aspect of training comes in.

Trouble is Training

The writer to the Hebrews follows Paul's analogy of the footrace of life by telling his readers that trouble isn't punishment - it's training. After exhorting his listeners "to run with perseverance the race marked out for us" and "fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith" (Hebrews 12 verses 1 and 2), the writer urges "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons ... No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it" (chapter 12 verses 7 and 11). It helps me to know that I am in a race I must finish and that the trouble that comes is simply ongoing training. The hard things that happen to me are not God's punishment for not doing things properly but rather God's discipline to train me for the race.

Jesus told us that this race would be an obstacle course. He ran his race and had to endure the jeering instead of cheering, the booing and hissing and spitting in his face, but he endured to the end. How did Jesus do it? By spending much time with the Father. He reveled in his presence, even if he had to get up at dawn to escape the crowds in order to do it. He was strengthened by angels and empowered by the Spirit, and he pressed on for our sakes. We are told to "consider him" (Hebrews 12 verse 3). That will do wonders for our spirits. "Watch me" Jesus tells us. "Follow me home, little child. Lean on me when you're spent; draw strength from me when you are weak. I will nourish you when you faint because of fatigue. Take joy in me, "for the joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8 verse 10).

Running the Race with Patience

"God will give us the strength we need to run the race with great endurance and patience" Paul tells us (Colossians 1 verse 11). Patience is spiritual tenacity that won't lie down and die. It springs from our love relationship with Christ, from the spiritual intimacy learned day by day and moment by moment.

There is a prize waiting for you. It is "well done, good and faithful servant". That's what I want above all else on earth. So I press toward the goal. Will you?

CHAPTER 6 - THE SPIRITUAL ART OF MATURITY

"Maturity" refers to "the state or condition of being fully grown or developed." Paul often expressed his prayer that Christ would be fully formed in believers' lives (Romans 8 verse 29; Galatians 4 verse 19; Ephesians 4 verses 13 and 15; Colossians 1 verse 27). Spiritual maturity is the part of the Spirit's art that makes us Christlike. it doesn't happen without us working out what the Spirit is working in (Philippians 2 verses 12 and 13). God's purpose in coming into our hearts in the first place is to grow us up as believers in Jesus. The Spirit desires that we should grow to maturity. We are to live maturely, think maturely, minister maturely and lead maturely.

A baby is not intended to remain a baby but to grow into an adult. Paul exhorts "continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose" (Philippians 2 verses 12 and 13). Part of his good purpose is that we should grow up to be like his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

What do you want to be when you grow up spiritually? Bigger? Do you want to be mature in Christ? Or are you happy with your current spiritual size? Are you growing up to be like Christ? Christlikeness in all dimensions of who we are and what we do is our aim.

Practically speaking our Christlikeness should affect every part of our lives. We should all be like Christ in our families, our marriage, our singleness, our jobs, our play, our service. This metamorphosis doesn't happen in the twinkling of an eye. It takes a lifetime. And it takes work. We are to "work out" what God is "working in." Did you see that? It is a workout!

If babies, don't grow up to become adults, we regard it as an aberration. If Christians who are born again don't grow up, this is an aberration as well. Paul uses the human growth process as an analogy in his epistles. He talks about being a child and speaking, thinking and reasoning as a child, but then growing up to become a man at which time he puts childish ways behind him (1 Corinthians 13 verse 11). To think or speak as a child is charming and expected of a child, but if we are thinking and acting like children when we are grown, it becomes obnoxious.

This was the problem in the Corinthian church. The growth in church membership was extraordinary in the city of Corinth, but the Christians in the churches were behaving childishly. God had given this church many miraculous gifts - the gift of tongues and interpretation of tongues, healing and dramatic charismatic manifestations of the Spirit. The people treated the gifts of the Spirit as toys, not tools to use to grow the church and Paul had to write them and tell them to grow up.

Members of the Philippian church were behaving childishly too - the 2 women who couldn't get along and who bickered like children (Philippians 4 verse 2) and the men who competed for preaching opportunities while Paul was in jail (chapter 1 verses 15 to 17). One of the things we expect from mature people, especially Christians, is to stop bickering and get along with each other. Paul had to deal with this kind of immaturity in many of the churches he planted,

When Jesus went up to the Feast of the Passover in Jerusalem at the age of 12, he stayed behind to talk with the teachers in the temple as his family left for home (Luke 2 verses 42 and 43). His parents didn't realize that he wasn't with them. When they discovered his absence, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After his parents found Jesus talking to the scholars in the temple - and he reminded them that he needed to be about his Father's business - he went home with Mary and Joseph and "was obedient to them" (chapter 2 verse 51). The bible tells us "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men" (chapter 2 verse 52). 

As Jesus grew up, he grew in 4 dimensions - in wisdom (intellectually), in stature (physically), in favour with God (spiritually) and in favour with people (socially). Jesus grew into perfect maturity, as God intends for us as well.

If all dimensions of growth were necessary for Jesus, they are certainly necessary for us as well. We should have a sensible view of our bodies and keep them as healthy as possible for the Lord's work. We must grow in wisdom, which includes understanding what is happening in our world in the present and also being aware of our history - as a local community as well as a national and global community. We must also grow socially. We are supposed to learn how to love people and interact in a mature way, not bickering and squabbling like immature youngsters. We are, above all, supposed to develop spiritually. This aspect of maturity is what Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians 13.

Paul tells the Corinthians he can't treat them as adults but must treat them as children because he has to keep repeating the things he's already taught them. That's what children are like - you have to tell them again and again until they get it. Does God have to tell you things again and again? These baby Christians were like children, and Paul urges them to stop thinking like children with regard to doctrine and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. "In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults" (1 Corinthians 14 verse 20). Are you a child where learning the rudimentary things of God is concerned? Then you need to grow up.

The Spirit of God grows us up. The Spirit's pure art makes us like Jesus in all dimensions of our humanity, and as far as I can remember I never met a normal child who didn't want to grow up. Every child I know looks forward to celebrating his or her next birthday. I've never heard one say, "I want to stay the same age for another year." This sentiment is reserved for people who reach the age of 40 or so and want to stop having birthdays!

So how long have you known Christ? Have you grown and are you growing up in Christ? Paul is talking to the Philippians about spiritual maturity, but his words apply to all of us. He wants all who know Christ to want to be spiritually bigger than they are.

Paul gives us a clue about how to assess our spiritual maturity. For example, the first thing he says is that as believers mature and grow through the work of the Spirit in their lives, they should take "such a view of things" (Philippians 3 verse 15). To what view does he refer? The illustration he has just given. He wants them to think maturely, as he does, about the whole purpose of life. He is looking back to his attitude of the "one thing I do" (chapter 3 verse 13). He wants believers to focus all they are on the goal of finishing the race of faith for Christ and his kingdom. This attitude is a mature attitude. Is it yours? Is it mine? 

We will know if we are growing in Christ if we are making church, ministry and spiritual discipline a top priority. We'll know we are growing if we are putting spiritual things above material things - if we're praying about a career move, for example and we find ourselves willing to seek out the right thing, even if it may not be the most profitable thing, We will know we are growing if we step out and offer to serve others in ways we haven't dared to try before or if we start to mentor someone who needs guidance and a bit of spiritual tender loving care.

However, Paul was aware that some of his readers would not agree with him. He knew that many believed he took things to extremes. But Paul didn't consider this teaching about purpose in life to be an extreme; he considered it to be an attitude characteristic of the mature. "All of us who are mature should take this point of view" he says with confidence. And he adds words to this effect; "If you don't see it the way I do the Spirit of God will convince you otherwise" (chapter 3 verse 15)

Paul is not being arrogant when he says "Join with others in following my example" (Philippians 3 verse 17). He is not saying that he has finished growing. We never finish growing. "I haven't attained" he tells us, "I am not fully grown but my determination is to grow and grow and grow until my last breath." He is confident enough of his standing in Christ to say "I am an example of this principle of maturity. I have cooperated with the Spirit's work in me, and I want you to do the same." And then he adds "I am not the only good example to follow either. There are other mature people you should be taking note of." He advises his readers to look around and find a person to emulate - someone with this same mature attitude and unwavering passion for God.

Being a model of growth and learning presupposes that you share lessons from your own faith walk with others. It's good for us to be transparent. I suppose we could call this "the spiritual art of vulnerability". it's good for those who look to us to hear about both our failures and our victories. For example, it's all right to tell people that you struggle with worry and fear, even though a mature Christian is supposed to have overcome these things. Paul told the Philippians that they encouraged him in his struggle. "You are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have" he tells them (chapter 1 verse 30). This is admitting to the church that he has been discouraged because of all that has happened to him. His vulnerability makes him human and accessible to his friends; our vulnerability will make us human and accessible to others as well.

Paul understood that his readers would have different reactions to his challenge to be spiritually mature, and he declares that the evidence of spiritual maturity does not depend on age. Paul encourages a young Timothy not to "let anyone look down on you because you are young" (though he doesn't tell him how to stop others from looking down on him) but rather to be an example to old and young alike (1 Timothy 4 verse 12). He is to teach both old and young "these things" (chapter 43 verse 11). What things?

Timothy is to set an example for the believers "in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity" (chapter 4 verse 12). Until Paul arrives, Timothy is instructed by his spiritual father and mentor to devote himself to "the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching" (chapter 4 verse 13). He is not to neglect his gift (chapter 4 verse 14). Here is a man young in years, yet old in spiritual wisdom. Conversely, we can be old in years and yet be children in understanding - infants in the faith. And of course we can be well up in years and be spiritually wise as well.

We have biblical examples. Moses began his life's work at the age of 80 and Caleb asks for his mountain - and rids it of giants and the life also at 80! The birth of Jesus was celebrated by Anna, who had been a widow for 84 years (Luke 2 verse 37). Simeon too was elderly when he held the baby Jesus in his arms and prophesied in the temple about this Christ child who came to this earth to bring salvation (Luke 2 verses 25 to 35). All are examples of godly industry while life lasts and while sufficient health is given to run the race all the way to the finish line.

So how does the Spirit work his art of Christlikeness into our lives? Not without our cooperation. Sorry, it's that little word again - "discipline". The Spirit's part is to help us to be obedient to do his work and ours is to order our lives and practice the spiritual disciplines. But how?

As it is in the physical realm so it is in the spiritual; we cannot grow unless we eat. "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk" says the apostle Peter, writing to the Jews scattered in Asia, "so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good" (1 Peter 2 verses 2 and 3). If human babies must eat to grow, then so must spiritual babies. As we absorb, read, highlight, learn and inwardly digest the Scriptures, we become mature believers and good examples to others. 

You can gauge your maturity by the way people look to you as an example. Is your life worth imitating when it comes to bible knowledge? Do people ask you to show them how to know their bible like you do?

We should be able to say as Paul could say to the Corinthians, "In Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me" (1 Corinthians 4 verse 15 and 16). He then tells them that he is sending Timothy to them, who will remind them of Paul's way of life "which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church" (chapter 4 verse 17).

Does our way of life agree with what we teach? Are we confident in lifestyle with our profession as Christians? Are we getting our life instructions from God's word and being obedient to these directions? Can we help others to do the same?

One of the most significant signs of the spiritual art of maturity is how well we handle our differences. Do we handle our differences Christianly? Is there a spirit of competition in our church and are we caught up in it? Paul told the Corinthians he could not address their quarrels maturely, because they were like a bunch of kids fighting over their favourite preacher. "I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it." Paul tells them (1 Corinthians 3 verse 2)  You cannot grow into spiritual maturity while you are dividing the church and taking sides.

Another sign that you are cooperating with God is a growing love for people - a love that transcends all barriers, a love that loves those you don't even like. And even a love for the lost, both outside and inside the church. Paul talks with concern and compassion about some people who are "enemies of the cross of Christ" (Philippians 3 verse 18). It's not immediately clear who these people are. Paul observes, "Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things" (chapter 3 verse 19). They could be libertines who were in some way connected with the church - a group of people who believed that once they had become followers of Christ they were free from all moral constraint. It didn't matter what they did; they were forgiven anyway.

The phrase "their god is their stomach" really speaks of more than gluttony and includes sensual indulgence as well. Some think that Paul is talking about Judaizers who want to heap all sorts of laws and restrictions on new believers. However, these words of Paul don't seem to be describing Judaizers, because these "enemies of the cross" are described in verse 19 as gluttons and materially minded people.

One way or another Paul is in tears as he talks about these people (chapter 3 verse 18). It breaks his heart to see these things happening. He loves the sinner and hates the sin. Do we? Or do we rebuke the sinner and separate our hearts and our selves from their dilemmas? "They are lost" says Paul. Do we care - really care - about lost people? Be honest. Would you rather bury yourself among Christians that spend time tryinng to make friends and establish contacts so that in the end they can come to know the Lord Jesus? The answer to this question will show you if you've grown up yet.

If we really love people with the love of Christ, we will care about people who live like the devil and think that they will get away with it. We know that isn't true. "Their destiny is destruction" says Paul (chapter 3 verse 19). Have we tried to get to them and warn them of what will become of their philosophy?

I've talked to some people who think that being a Christian surely means that God will wipe dry every tear and keep them in a perpetual state of giddy happiness, no matter what the state of the world around them and the spiritual state of people's souls might be. This is childish thinking. It's immature. If this is what is happening in your life at present, you haven't yet grown up in Christ. Jesus himself wept over a people who rejected their Messiah and were headed for eternal destruction (Luke 19 verse 41 to 44). Did this mean that Jesus was not mature because he was not happy all the time? Sharing the pain Jesus feels for the lost is a grown-up thing to do. Jesus was the supreme example, of course, but Paul also serves an example of one who cried many tears for those who were lost and alienated from God.

In Acts 20, Paul says goodbye to the Ephesian elders (verse 37). They will never see him again and they shed many tears. Paul reminds them he lived with them for 3 years, never ceasing to warn them that, after his death, wolves would get among the sheep and wreak spiritual havoc (chapter 20 verse 31). They would ruin the faith of some and turn off others to the faith. He says "Remember that for 3 years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears." Paul spent 3 years crying over their spiritual well-being! How many years have we spent weeping over the immaturity of believers in our churches?

So Paul reveals his heart - his broken heart. It only happens to mature people. To cry for the lost as well as the found is the Spirit's art. To be Christlike in this sense - caring deeply for those bound for destruction and to weep over the Christians in danger of being led astray, even by some "from your own number" who will "distort the truth" (chapter 20 verse 30) - shows that you have stopped thinking about yourself first and started caring about others first This cry of the soul is the Spirit's art.

Paul sums up his insights on being an example of a mature, caring, loving, growing person by reminding his readers that they belong to a king and a country whose main characteristic is that of a heavenly, not earthly perspective. "Our citizenship is in heaven" he says (Philippians 3 verse 20). Once we know the King of the kingdom and start to follow him home, we know we are citizens of heaven. We play by new rules, meet new friends, march to the beat of a new drum and are proud to be a citizen of the "High Countries".

Being citizens of heaven means that one day we will be fully mature, for we will see him face-to-face, and when we see him "we shall be like him" (1 John 3 verse 2). Then there will be no more tears and no more pain. God will wipe away every tear from our eyes (Revelation 7 verse 17; 21 verse 4). What a day that will be! All wrongs will be righted, all sicknesses healed, all hatred turned to love - and reconciliation will be complete. All things will be brought under his control (Philippians 3 verse 21).

CHAPTER 7 - THE SPIRITUAL ART OF SERENITY

Biblical peace is the Spirit's art in our troubled hearts. We end Paul's letter where we began. Paul, chained to what most of us would say were impossible circumstances, sings a song and dispenses blessings. He is content and at peace. Contentment, you remember, is a learned art, so we can learn the principles of faith that must be put into practice in order to live in a peaceful place. The spiritual art of serenity is an inner thing; it comes from the heart. It is perhaps the most sought-after art of all. Who doesn't want to be serene in the midst of chaos? The dictionary defines "serenity" as "tranquility", "calmness", "an undisturbed state". God's word defines it as biblical "peace."

Joy is faith dancing; peace is faith resting. Faith in a God who doesn't make mistakes, who has the whole world in his hands - including my worried world - rele lases us to laugh at dark days and to dance in the rain. The joy is in Jesus. where can we find joy in life itself with all its drama and pain? We find it in God.

In Philippians 4, Paul returns to one of his key themes: "Rejoice in the Lord always" (chapter 4 verse 4). The Message renders it, "Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him!" What a wonderful paraphrase! It is when we revel in God that we set our minds in the right direction. Whatever our circumstances, we need to do whatever it takes to enjoy God. All day, every day. Good days and bad days, bright days and dark days. Whether in prison or free, we need to learn how to sing our pain away.

Practicing the art of incorrigible thankfulness and praise sends worry tiptoeing out the backdoor of our lives. When you feel a worry coming on, sing a song - anything with the name of Jesus in it. Revel in him!

Peace is faith resting in the fact that God will carry our worries for us. Faith counts on it. It is our soul saying, "I will trust and not be afraid" (Isaiah 12 verse 2) and "Though the mountains fall down and my world disintegrates, I won't fall down and disintegrate, for I am banking on a God who is my refuge and strength, my Rock and my Redeemer" (Psalm 46 verses 1 and 2; 19 verse 14). The promise of a trustworthy God is this "He ill keep us in perfect peace if our minds are stayed on him - because we trust him" (Isaiah 26 verse 3).

Paul's letter to the Philippians just gets beetter and better It ends on such a high note. How can there be more and more things to rejoice about in situations in which there are more and more things to be concerned about? Paul, who had everything in the world to worry about, says to people who have a whole lot less to worry about than he did, "Take it from me; you don't need to worry about anything." It's not a question of things that we worry about disappearing off the radar screen, but rather a question of who is going to do the worrying about these things.

"Are there worrisome things around me?" asks the apostle Paul. "Oh yes - like the trial I'm facing for my life, the care of all the churches I've planted, people I love who are dying for their faith in Jesus, old age and sickness, and sorrow upon sorrow. But I'm resting. I have perfect peace, because I have put it all on God's cosmic shoulders and he is carrying the crushing weight for me." Such tranquility of though and mind is priceless.

Put it in my backpack

Are you walking with a heavy weight on your heart? A worry so grievous it crushes you and spoils the day? Put it in God's backpack. Then you'll not only be conscious of the fac you don't walk the trail alone, but you will find yourself strangely lightened in spirit - and yes, then your spirit rests, tranquility reigns, and all is well.

Another word for peace is "serenity" - the "tranquility of order" as Saint Augustine called it. When things are not the way things ought to be, God's peace disappears. perfect peace or contentment can be ours as God puts our soul back in order inside of us, even though chaos reigns outside of us.

Paul knew that he was in the school of life, with all of its problems, cooperating with the Spirit of God and learning tranquility on a daily basis, "I have learned to be content" he tells his friends. Each day as he awoke from a cramped position on his hard bed, Paul asked God for his waking thought. Next came a psalm or spiritual song such as "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118 verse 24). And he would be glad and light of heart. "I will be glad" he said "I will be glad, even when everything inside of me is screaming "I won't. I can't. Why should I? It's unfair to expect me to."

The strange thing is that it takes work to rest in faith like this. Work and faith sound almost like an oxymoron, don't they? I have this framed saying sitting on my kitchen table:

Bear not a single care thyself,

One is too much for thee;

The work is mine, yes, mind alone

Thy work to rest in me

The Spirit's work is to provide his serenity in the midst of a storm; our work is to stop trying to manufacture it ourselves and to be at peace, to rest - and that, of course, is a spiritual art. I have never met anyone who doesn't want to be at peace with themselves, others, and the world around them. Isn't this true for us too - ordinary, run-of-the-mill human beings that we are? So how does it work? Is it a matter of peace at any price? If not, what is the price we must pay to cooperate with the Spirit and to have him write his language on our hearts?

Peace in the bank

First, God wants us to know that we have "peace in the bank" if we have Jesus. He is our peace. When the Prince of Peace is given the keys of the kingdom of our hearts, he brings us peace - wealth to be drawn on as needed. The peace of God can be appropriated. When one is a Christian, there are deposits of peace made over to us in Christ. When trouble hits, in whatever form, say to yourself, "For this we have Jesus." Remember Paul said "To live is Christ" (Philippians 1 verse 21). He is our life, and he is also our peace (see Ephesians 2 verse 14).

If people are enjoying the peace of Christ - a peace with God that brings peace with others, and thus our own peace of mind - you can tell it by their words. Listen to the conversations around you in an airport, in a store, or at an athletic event. Tune in to the conversations among the kids at the swimming pool, in the classroom or even at church. How much of this chatter is about worries and concerns, fears and phobias? How much is about faith, peace and contentment?

Don't Worry about Anything

Paul says we are not to worry about anything (see Philippians 4 verse 6). There is worry, and then there is concern. Concern is a given for a Christian. Paul was concerned and Timothy was concerned. Concern is "right" worry. In fact, in chapter 2 Paul tells the Philippian Christians that he had no one like Timothy who had such heart concern for them (see verse 20). But concern isn't self-directed or self-destructive. it looks for a way to relieve other people's worries and troubles, not add to them. And it is a "worry" that turns itself into prayers.

Worry that is forbidden to the believer is that grinding, blinding obsession that stays your spirit, destroys your appetite, and kills your hope. It is the worry that swamps you and makes you gasp so you can hardly breathe. it is an emotional flu that never gets better.

But a worry that is turned into a positive heart concern - one that looks for solutions and makes us more sensitive to people's heart needs - is what God wants us to have. In Philippians you can't help but see Paul's heart concern at the deepest level for his friends. But he doesn't allow the problems of those he loves to dictate every waking moment of his life, intrude on his other relationships, or drag him down into depression. He doesn't let it obsess him or paralyze him. To do that, he knows, is wrong.

Jesus Has Forbidden Me To Worry

It really helps me to know that anxiety is forbidden. "Do not let your hearts be troubled" (John 14 verse 1) counseled Jesus. I have noticed that worry and fear are near allies. Jesus tells us not to let worry dominate our lives. Don't let it? That means we can do something to stop it - and that something is trust. The act of not letting worry dominate us but rather letting the peace of God dominates is a learned art - a spiritual art.

Fearing for your life is forbidden by Jesus. In Matthew 6 verse 27, Jesus asks "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" You can go to the grave having worried about all the days you weren't going to live and have the opportunity to worry about! In fact, some of us will go to the grave having worried about keeping ourselves alive until the moment comes. it's such a freeing thing to trust God with that. Put it in his backpack.

To the people of his day - and to us today - Jesus declared, "Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes" (Matthew 6 verse 34). If you trust, you do not worry; if you worry, you do not trust. Ask the Lord for the grace to trust him.

We know that worry is a precursor of many physical problems. It is also evidence of all sorts of spiritual problems. For whatever is a lack of faith is sin. I would like to have my epitaph read, "Here lies Jill Briscoe, who overcame worry and fear with faith and helped others to do the same." I'm working on making this statement true in my life.

Worry Distracts Us From the Essentials

The Greek word used for the bad sort of worry is merimnao - the anxiety that obsesses. It means "to be distracted", "to have a divided mind". And isn't that just what worry does? It divides your mind and distracts you from everything else going on around you. I call it the "Martha, Martha" syndrome.

Luke 10 verses 38 to 41

Worry distracted Martha from the essentials. Worry made her critical of her sister and of Jesus too. Worry takes our eyes off Jesus and puts them on the things that cause our worry. Worry divides the mind and distresses the spirit. Martha had legitimate worries, but they became illegitimate when she allowed them to divide her mind and distract her from the most essential thing.

The problem with worry is that is is infectious. It spreads itself around, and others catch the worry germ. Worry is infectious. Martha was contaminated with it as she began complaining and spreading her germs all over the room. Don't do it. Tackle it head on. Get on your knees and say, "Lord forgive me. Teach me how to trust you."

As we reflect again on the apostle Paul, we know that he had lots of legitimate things to be worried about. He was in chains - his freedom taken away - and things were out of control. If he had been making a list about all the things to worry about, it would have been a long list. It may have looked something like this:

• I am worried about the fledgling church in Philippi and the churches in other places as well.
• I am worried about competition among believers - the comparisons and criticism that can be so rampant.
• I am worried about 2 dear strong women - my fellow workers who have had a falling-out with each other.
• I am worried about Epaphroditus' health
• I am worried about my own health.
• I am worried about my upcoming trial and possible death sentence.

Maybe Paul made a list, but if he did, he put it in God's backpack and let the strong shoulders of the Lord carry all his anxiety for him. Paul's mind was not divided; nor did he allow himself to be consumed with worry about himself and those he loved.

Would your list be long? Actually most of us don't need to make a list on paper, because it is engraved on our minds. And that's part of the problem, but it's also where the solution starts. We have to get ahold of our minds. It is in the mind that we do our part, and God then responds to our part and does his, as we'll see in the closing section of Philippians.

Prayer is Where you Start

Avoid the temptation to say "But I can't seem to pray when I'm worried." Prayer is simply verbalizing your worry to God. You can verbalize your worries out loud or silently, for God's ears are not too dull to hear (see Isaiah 59 verse 1). Replace worry with prayer "Instead of worrying, pray" says Paul (Philippians 4 verse 6). Prayer combats worry by building trust.

There are all sorts of ways of verbalizing your concerns to God. A few are mentioned in Philippians 4. In fact, there is a list; prayer, petition, requests, thanksgiving.

Prayer is essentially worshipful conversation with God. Petition refers to a prayer containing a sense of need. Requests are direct appeals for God's help for specific needs. When all this is done, wrap your bundle of prayers in a blanket of thanksgiving and deliver it to the throne and leave it there. Or put it in God's backpack. As you let go of if all, find something to thank God for in the situation, no matter how bad it is.

The Message says "Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers" (chapter 4 verse 6). I love that. Take that old worry by the scruff of the neck and shape it into a prayer. Worry hates that. But that's how a wrong worry becomes a right worry - turning it into a godly concern and becoming an intercession. Try it!

Prayer Changes things sometimes but Prayer changes you always

A common idea is that trusting God with our anxieties will make them disappear. Here's what the thought process typically sounds like:

• if I pray hard enough, the sickness will be healed
• if I pray long enough, my spouse will come back to me
• if I pray with more faith, the threat will go away
• if I pray with real faith, the situation will change overnight

God may well decide to work this way. So, by all means, ask - requests are supposed to be specific - but prayer itself is so much more than specific requests. Prayer is just being with God, enjoying him, and absorbing his will for you, Prayer isn't just something you do; it's somewhere you go to experience the presence of God. And that is a spiritual art.

Prayer, of course, is listening to God, as well as talking to him. Listening is not always the thing we want to do, is it? We may be afraid that if we listen, we will hear him say no, or maybe he'll tell us to wait and we're not willing to hear either of those answers.

Prayer is where God may well say, "This illness will not be healed" - as the Lord told Paul when the apostle asked that his thorn in the flesh be removed (see 2 Corinthians 12 verses 7 to 10). Or God may say, "The danger will be ever present" - for example, if you live in a war-torn area or in "tornado alley." As we walk and talk with the Lord in the cool of the day, the unacceptable becomes acceptable. The cause of concern doesn't necessarily immediately disappear, but the worry over it can. Then, after telling God, "Your will be done" the prayers of petition can be prayed for endurance and strength. God is always going to answer such requests, as he did for Paul in the case of his thorn in the flesh. "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" the Lord said (2 Corinthians 12 verse 9). Prayer brings you close to God so you can hear him saying, "This is the good way; walk in it" (Jeremiah 6 verse 16). Prayer gives you the opportunity to accept the worrisome situation but to lay down the worry itself.

So the cause of concern may still be out there after an intense season of prayer. The situation may not be one whit different, but your mind-set has changed. You look at the concern in a totally different way. Prayer changes you always.

Paul says that we are to pray about our worries with thanksgiving: "In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (Philippians 4 verse 6). What does he mean? Thank God for the worries? No. Thank God for who he is in the midst of the worries. Thank God for his strong eternal shoulders that are perfectly capable of carrying all the burdens of worry in the world - yours included.

Paul shows us how to do this. In fact, he reminds us of his own example when he says, "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" (chapter 4 verse 9). Paul's prayers are great places to learn how to pray. Begin by studying these, and you will find your prayer life changing dramatically. Listen to Paul pray, and then follow his lead.

The first thing we find Paul doing in Philippians 1 is praying for others. He prays about the things that have happened to him, especially those situations that have provided encouragement to the church. For this he gives thanks. He finds something to give thanks for - even in the tough situation in which he finds himself.

Pause right now and bring to mind a difficult situation you face. What can you find to thank God for in this instance? It may take a little time, but work at it. It's a spiritual art. When you've thought of something just tell God. "Thank you." Go on, say it right now. Good.  Keep practicing this all day long.

It takes discipline to practice this attitude. It's an art - a spiritual art - to diligently look for something to thank God for. You need to focus. You need to "mind your mind" and not allow it to be distracted. Paul talks about setting your mind to do this work (Philippians 4 verse 8). Our part is to do this "mind work". Paul found something in his circumstances for which to give thanks, however grim the circumstances were. He occupied his mid with Godward thoughts. He tells us to program our minds with true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy things (chapter 4 verse 8). Then, he says, "The God of peace will be with you" (chapter 4 verse 9). When praise and positive thoughts go hand in hand, you discover something to praise God for - even from a dirty prison cell. Remember, serenity is a spiritual art.

Paul tells us that the first thing to do when worries arise is pray. It shouldn't be the last response to a crisis but rather the first. And pray with thanksgiving before you "feel" like it. Feelings follow faith. Worry hates to hear you praying, but it particularly hates to hear you praying with thanksgiving. Worry hates praise. Music makes worry squirm.

I have found out a simple thing: you can't worry and pray at the same time. Try it! "Instead of worrying, pray" - and pray with thanksgiving (chapter 4 verse 6).

Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the centre of your life.  Philippians 4 verses 6 and 7

The peace of God is ultimate spiritual contentment. It's a learned art to let this peace settle your worried heart.

It takes the Spirit to scatter his serenity around your heart. He cannot do it if you don't ask him to. Give him permission to move in and settle your restless, frantic, worried heart.

 Biblical Serenity is not the absence of conflict

Biblical serenity is peace while the conflict is raging. It doesn't happen in a vacuum. When Jesus and the disciples were in the middle of the Sea of Galilee in a raging storm, the worry and fear of the disciples were understandable (see Mark 4 verse 35 to 41). But Jesus didn't understand it. He was in the boat. He had the seat of honour reserved for the honoured guest. Didn't they get it? If Jesus was in the boat, it didn't really matter whether they lived or died. Either way, they lived! He was asleep on a cushion in the back of the boat when the storm broke loose. He slept through it! How could he do that? Because he believed that the God so watched over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep" (Psalm 121 verse 4), so he reckoned that there was no point in both of them staying awake.

God does the Guarding

When we refuse to worry about anything and commit to pray about everything, when we thank God for his dear and abiding self inside our hearts, then, Paul says, "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4 verse 7)

The word "guard" brings into focus the image of a stronghold. God puts a garrison of soldiers around our hearts to face the enemy that besieges us. How does it happen? It happens when we respond to fear with faith, and to worry with worship. It happens when we are deep in God's word on a daily basis, hiding verses of promise away for a rainy day.

Peace is spoken of over 150 times in the Old Testament and over 80 times in the New Testament. Paul uses the word over 40 times. Peace is something that enters the heart and makes it able to rise above all outside conditions.

Worry, in the end, disguises unbelief. And unbelief - coming to expression in a feeling of uneasiness or dread often related to negative thinking - takes us down, spoils our witness, and robs us of power to cope. Worry superimposes the future on the present and empties today of its strength.

Logic says that 10% of things you worry about actually happen - and that leaves 90% of things you worry about that don't happen. 

"You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon  him, for you are his personal concern." J B Philipps

The secret of the spiritual art of serenity and its resulting freedom from anxiety starts and ends here - in God's loving arms.

CHAPTER 8 - THE SPIRITUAL ART OF RECEPTIVITY

Paul knew how to give, but he also knew how to receive. That's an art - a spiritual art. To "receive" means "to take into one's possession something given or offered." It means "to accept". Some of us find it hard to be receptive. Yet the art of receiving graciously leads to spiritual blessing. Think of accepting the Holy Spirit into your life. Somehow it takes some of us a long time to simply say thank you and invite him to take over our lives.

To be able to accept all circumstances - hunger, deprivation, sickness, job loss, persecution and so on - requires an act of faith. Yet, to accept the will of God in any and every situation leads to tranquility of mind and soul, whatever that will is. When we accept what we cannot change God gives us grace and peace to cope with it and also shows us how to receive his blessings along the way.

Philippians 4 contains one of my favourite Scripture verses: "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation" (chapter 4 verse 12). Paul then lists some of those situations; when he is hungry and when he is full, when he has plenty and when he is in need.

Contentment - it is the ability to accept the unacceptable by receiving the grace God gives us to accept it. The art of receptivity begins here. It takes grace to receive God's provision, even in difficult and worrisome circumstances.

Grace Givers and Receivers

Paul ends his letter to the Philippians with words about grace: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit" (chapter 4 verse 23). He wants the grace of Jesus to be a reality in the lives of the people. "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ" writes Paul to the Corinthians, "that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8 verse 9). We should be like Jesus. Grace is dispensed through the Holy Spirit so that we can be givers of grace ourselves. It takes grace to be both a giver and a receiver - to give out of our means, whatever it may be, so that others may receive. It's a spiritual art.

But what if it's impossible to be givers because we lack the basic necessities of life ourselves? What if we can't spread the gospel because there are no funds to print the bibles or send the missionaries where they need to go? What if my needs aren't met and therefore I can't meet other people's needs? You always have something to give, even if you are down to just offering a smile, providing a listening ear, or sharing a word of hope. Look around your life when you think you have nothing left to give. God will show you something you may have overlooked in your time of pain and need. 

A Circle of Grace

"My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (chapter 4 verse 19). This has to do with the art of receiving rather than giving - receive the fruit of people's generosity and practical help, and then you will have something to give to others who are worse off than you are. it's a circle of grace.

After Paul's initial needs were met by the churches in Philippi, Paul was able to brag on them when writing to the Corinthians believers. In 2 Corinthians 8 verses 1 to 6, Paul reminds them of the reputation the churches in Macedonia have for generosity. He describes how God gave the churches grace while under severe trial so that from "their extreme poverty" they are able to give: "Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints" (chapter 8 verses 2 to 4). Paul says that these believers "gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will" (chapter 8 verse 5). Using the generosity of the Macedonian churches as an example, Paul urges the Corinthians to also "excel in this grace of giving" (chapter 8 verse 7).

Do we plead with people for the privilege of giving to meet their needs, even out of our limited means? Paul says that we never give to God without receiving back. The Philippians have given beyond their means and now they are in need because of it (Philippians 4 verses 14 to 18). Paul tells them that God is no one's debtor. God's bank is a bank that we cannot empty. We cannot draw down enough to bankrupt God. He is gloriously rich and has deposited those riches in Christ Jesus so we can never come to him in our need and have him say, "Sorry, there's nothing in the vault." There is a wealth of tranquility there for the asking. Peace and joy are in the bank!

But we can also ask our heavenly Father to meet the basic needs of life as well as to provide for our spiritual necessities. When Jesus' disciples asked him to teach them to pray, he instructed them to ask for their "daily bread" for the material things they needed to live each day (Matthew 6 verse 11). 

Paul was a tentmaker. He provided for himself and his team with his own hands by making tents. But when he traveled for his mission work, he couldn't work, which meant that he was dependent on the practical help of other Christians. Now that he was in prison, he had no income at all. So the Philippians sent him funds by the hand of Epaphroditus (Philippians 4 verse 18). And Paul received them graciously and gratefully - he said thank you.

The Art of Being a Good Receiver

This is one of the hardest arts of all for givers. The Christian life revolves around learning the art of being a good receiver: "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him" (Colossians 2 verse 6). First we receive Jesus into our hearts by his Spirit. Then we "live in him". We continue on in the journey, drawing on his life within us. Then we receive his help in all areas of our life. He is our counselor and our friends.

When the Spirit of God comes into our lives, he moves in permanently. We can run to him at any time of the day or night because he lives here - right in our hearts. When we receive Christ, we receive Christ - the wonderful Counselor, the Prince of Peace, the Mighty God! In Christ we have received this wealth of resources.

So the Christian life begins by receiving Christ. Then it continues the way in which it began. We receive "everything we need for life and godliness" moment by moment and day by day (2 Peter 1 verse 3). We have in our possession all things spiritual in him, but he also promised to answer prayer for our daily needs. As we receive spiritual blessings from Christ and through his people we are to receive material blessings as well. This experience of giving and receiving material help should be going on in the church all the time.

The supply of God's servants rests on the generosity of God's servants. The Philippians believers responded to Paul's ministry in both spiritual and practical ways (see Philippians 4 verses 14 to 16). They prayed for him. They were interested in his reports. They kept in touch at no small cost to themselves. They gave money, clothes and shelter and they met Paul's physical needs as best they could. it wasn't a case of "out of sight, out of mind." They practiced the spiritual art of generosity in practical ways. They had the gift of generosity and liberality.

"Oh good" you say, "I don't have that gift. I just have the gift of receiving." Really? That's too easy to say. There is a special gift of giving (see Romans 12 verse 8 - "if (a person's gift) is contribution to the needs of others, let him give generously"), but all of us must give (just as there is a gift of evangelism but all of us must witness and there is a gift of being able "to help others" (1 Corinthians 12 verse 28) but all of us must be helpful). Paul gave of himself and the Philippians gave back what they could in thankfulness. Paul graciously received their gifts, the tokens of their love, but only as he had given of all he had to them. All of us are called to do that.

Giving and Receiving Generously

We have to learn the art of generosity by practicing it. Just start and be generous - today, this week, at work, in the church, at home. Then begin to practice the spiritual art of receiving. Receive a spiritual blessing form God. Be thankful. praise him for it. Then keep your sense alert to anyone trying to encourage you, help you, or give you something, however small it may be. Receive it graciously.

There is an art to saying thank you. Start by just saying it. Make a list of people you need to thank. Who invested in your life? Write a note. Just say thank you, just as Paul did to the Philippians

If you don't know what to say, try to be specific. Paul was. He lists the things he received from his friends for which he was thankful. "It was good of you to share in my troubles" he said (Philippians 4 verse 14).  Has anyone written you a timely letter when you were in trouble? Have they shared in your troubles? In what way? Did they stop by your home to comfort you when you parents died? Did they help you pack and load boxes when you moved? Sit down and think about the help you received and write a letter, send an email, pick up the phone, or pay a visit. Just say thank you.

Paul remembers that the Philippian church was the only church that gave support when he left Macedonia; he was supported financially by only one of the churches he planted. With gratitude in his heart, he acknowledges that these believers "sent (him) aid again and again when (he) was in need" (chapter 4 verse 16). When Paul was in Thessalonica, no one fed him or sheltered him; no one gave to him. The church in Philippi heard about his need and continually sent him relief. The Philippian church was an "again and again" church. Are we "again and again" givers? If we are, we will find that we are continually receiving as well.

Paul reminds his readers that givers always end up receiving more than they give. "I am amply supplied" through the gifts you sent, he says (chapter 4 verse 18) and now God will resupply you (chapter 4 verse 19). He points out that God will credit their gift to their account in heaven (chapter 4 verse 17). Did you know you have an account in heaven?

Do you know anyone in need like Paul was? All of us know such generous people. 

A Bit At a Time

Giving your life away a bit at a time is a lifelong occupation. it starts with a full surrender to the will of God in your life - and doing so before you know what it entails. "Whatever Lord; whenever Lord; however Lord" are good words to use. it is a mind-set that asks, "What do I possess that I did not receive?" A mind-set that is ever grateful for Jesus. A mind-set that regards everything I have as a trust for the kingdom. I am simply a steward, not only of the mysteries of God (1 Corinthians 4 verse 1) but also of anything God gives me here and now to use for him. That includes my property, my home and garden, my cars, my bank balance and so on. Everything, Jesus didn't say to the rich young ruler, "leave some of it in escrow and follow me." He said "sell everything you have ... Then come, follow me" (Luke 18 verse 22).

The amazing thing is that when you live like this, you find your own needs being met. Paul says to his generous friends in Philippi "My God shall supply all your needs are you supply other people's needs. That's how it works. You supplied mine; God will supply yours." (Philippians 4 verse 19)

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ" says Paul, "that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich." (2 Corinthians 8 verse 9)

When you know the grace of Jesus, then it's easy to respond in kind. Ask yourself: "How can I become poorer for Jesus?" This may not sit well in some circles today. I hear a lot of "How can I become richer for Jesus?" Ask instead, "What can I give away? What would really cost me?"

Like the rich young ruler, you will go away sad if you refuse to abandon your life - all you have and all you are - to God. It's a choice. If you take the challenge then you'll be able to say with Paul, "I can do everything through (Christ) who gives me strength" (Philippians 4 verse 13).

Happy Giving

So whether is is the art of giving or the art of receiving, contentment comes when we are happy to do either, and it comes when we who hold this world's goods lightly rather than tightly. We are content when we graciously and thankfully receive whatever worldly good the Lord provides. The beautiful promise, as Paul reminds us, is that "God will meet all your needs" (chapter 4 verse 19). Notice that he doesn't say all your wants. We who live in the rich west sometimes get the 2 mixed up. In the end, the best things in life are free, and Paul concludes is letter to the Philippian by reminding them of God's priceless gifts that no amount of money can buy - things such as grace and peace, contentment and spiritual blessings. May you revel in God's gifts, and of course, the gift of gifts - God's own dear self.

How Teachable Am I?

There is one additional facet of the spiritual art of receptivity that Paul practiced - the art of teachability. "I have learned ..." says Paul (Philippians 4 verse 11). What had he learned? Many things about God, about himself and about lost people. He learned to live one day at a time in the power of Christ's life. He learned to use whatever happened to him and his companions as an opportunity for good and for God at any given time. he learned. He was teachable. And he was tenacious about both practicing and teaching the spiritual arts.

Balancing principles and practicality was never a problem for the great apostle Paul. Surely he was a master at both practice and proclamation. In his final chapter of this letter, he writes, "I have learned to ..." Though nearing the end of his life, he is still learning. "How about me? Am I still teachable?" 

Paul's prayer was that we would have power to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge - to know the height of it, the depth and width of it, the scope of it (Ephesians 3 verses 18 and 19). Are there enough years in our little life span to know that? And is it possible to learn the how-tos of accepting the things you cannot change - like chains and deprivations - as well as how to cope with the times of plenty without growing fat and flabby?

It takes humility to stay teachable. Jesus himself "grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men" (Luke 2 verse 52). He grew and learned how to be fully human in every dimension. The author of Hebrews writes, "it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering" (chapter 2 verse 10). That is a learning process we experience from birth to death. There is something to learn every day of our lives. But we will not learn it if we are not developing the spiritual art of teachability.

"Submission" isn't a word over which I particularly want to linger. But in the end, we all submit to something. You cannot live as a human being without it. When you submit, you are abandoning your whole life to one end - to glorify God.

Teachability, our ability to be humble and submissive to the new things God wants to teach us, is the key to learning whatever lesson of the spiritual arts we must learn. We must submit to the learning process - to the discipline of whatever it is we have to practice. It may be a good idea to pause even now and ask yourself, "What does God want me to learn from reading this book? Am I teachable? Am I willing to readily receive what he wants me to learn?"

Putting Teachability Into Practice

Learning new disciplines requires planning and setting aside time to submit to whatever it is these practices may require of us. In fact, a good first step is to take some time away to think about it.