“….work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among who you shine like stars in the world, holding fast the word of life….”
Philippians 2:12b-16a
5 “Musts" from Philippians 2:12b-16a
1 - Put forth my best effort (vs 12)
Simply meaning we must follow Him- read the bible, seek Him, spend time with Him, ask Him how to spend each day, listen in church and listen to the Holy Spirit in quiet time with Him and actually apply what I feel like He is telling me to do.
Like James says, we must be a hearers and then a doers of the word, not a hearers and then forgetters.
2 - Leave it all up to God (vs 13)
After putting forth our best effort to follow Him; we can trust He knows what He is doing with our lives. It is never our strength that makes things happen; it is His power; He is in control. We cannot be and will not be perfect; we will all fail. We trust that as many times as we fall; he will, that many times, pick us up again, dust us off, encourage us to continue in this walk of faith. We believe He will never stop “completing the good work He has started in me.”
3 - Choose to live a Thankful and Contented Life (vs 14)
Contentment is a choice. And a hard one sometimes, especially as women. I find no matter what we have, somehow we find we want more or what we have is not good enough. Just like Paul says in Phil 4, He learned to be content, we must do the same. We must beg God to help us live with a thankful heart for all He has given us and a content and peaceful heart with where we are in life right now.
4 - Be an example (vs 15)
People should be able to look into our lives and tell we are different from the world. We must have different longings; we must be unmixed with sin. We are to be like the bright stars that shine at night in the dark sky. It should be evident that are not living for this world alone. Our lives should show all around us how to follow Jesus, not only with words, but also actions.
5 - Cling to the Word (vs 16)
God’s word is everything. We must love the word of God. We must spend time reading it, meditating on it, memorizing it. He promises to move through His word but He cannot if we are not in it. Clinging to His word gives us peace; it gives us hope, comfort, and perspective. We must value the word of God.
None of these "musts" are possible without our complete surrender to Him and His power working in and through us. We are His hands and feet on this earth and this life chance to give Him glory. May our lives, may my life give Him the utmost glory.
