knowing Christ is priceless

"Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith.

Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. For we who worship by the Spirit of God^[b] are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!

 I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.

I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!"

Philippians 3:1-11

Hey, gals!  Before we take apart these few verses I just want to tell you how much I appreciate you learning and growing with us as we go through Philippians.  We may not see a lot of your comments (if you're reading, drop us a comment from time to time!) but we know that there are several of you out there studying along side of us.  Keep at it, sister!  There is nothing more fulfilling than being in the Word of God.  I pray that you're learning through this series like we are.  Have any big thoughts on what we've been discussing?  Drop us a comment or send us an email!  We'd love to know what you think.


I love today's hunk of scripture so much because there is just as much for us to draw from it today as when Paul was speaking to the church of Philippi.  


What Paul says in these few verses speaks so loudly to me personally, and I hope it does to you too.  In the majority of these verses Paul is warning us against wasting our lives on worthless religious activity and he even gives himself as an example.  He was a Jew who was the best of the best.  He was circumcised, a Pharisee, and strictly followed the Jewish laws.  He was the king of religious activity.  Just like Paul, we are often queens (or at least princesses!) of religious activity.  We head up all the church committees, we have weekly bible studies, we share scriptures with our girlfriends, we follow all the "rules".  We often spend our days, weeks, months, and years wasting our life on things that are worthless when compared to knowing Christ.  Paul says that he once thought all those things were valuable... until Jesus.  


I can get so caught up in pursuing religious activity over pursuing Christ, but God doesn't accept us based on what religious activity we've picked up this week, He accepts us because of Jesus.


He accepts us because Jesus died on a cross to cover us in grace and mercy.  He accepts us because the blood of Jesus washes away all our sins.


None of the religious things we do make us righteous.  We can only be counted righteous through Christ.  


Without Jesus, religious activity is just activity.  


Jesus, thank You for your word.  Thank you for breathing life into us through it.  I pray that we wouldn't waste our lives on worthless religious activity.  I pray that we would come to recognize that we can never "work" our way into your presence.  You accept us because of what You've done and who You are.  Lord, it is my desire that whenever we do something in your name we are truly doing it out of love for you and out of a desire to know you more.  May we never forget that we're only righteous through You, not through our activity.  Convict our hearts.  We love you. Amen.

Friendship Philippians 2:19-30

Hey y'all! So, today's scripture is Philippians 2:19-30. The main focus of these verses is friendship and what it looks like to have an authentic, godly, friendship with someone. As we've talked about this week there are ways that we must act in order for our lives to permeate Christ's love. The same goes for friendships.

Read these verses to get a better picture of the friendship that Paul had with Timothy and Epaphroditus.

I plan (according to Jesus' plan) to send Timothy to you very soon so he can bring back all the news of you he can gather. Oh, how that will do my heart good! I have no one quite like Timothy. He is loyal, and genuinely concerned for you. Most people around here are looking out for themselves, with little concern for the things of Jesus. But you know yourselves that Timothy's the real thing. He's been a devoted son to me as together we've delivered the Message. As soon as I see how things are going to fall out for me here, I plan to send him off. And then I'm hoping and praying to be right on his heels. But for right now, I'm dispatching Epaphroditus, my good friend and companion in my work. You sent him to help me out; now I'm sending him to help you out. He has been wanting in the worst way to get back with you. Especially since recovering from the illness you heard about, he's been wanting to get back and reassure you that he is just fine. He nearly died, as you know, but God had mercy on him. And not only on him—he had mercy on me, too. His death would have been one huge grief piled on top of all the others. So you can see why I'm so delighted to send him on to you. When you see him again, hale and hearty, how you'll rejoice and how relieved I'll be. Give him a grand welcome, a joyful embrace! People like him deserve the best you can give. Remember the ministry to me that you started but weren't able to complete? Well, in the process of finishing up that work, he put his life on the line and nearly died doing it.

As you can tell Paul was VERY close to both Timothy and Epaphroditus. There are several characteristics that Paul uses to describe his two friends.

-Loyal

-Genuine 

-Authentic

-Devoted

-Good friend

-Companion 

These are things that we should strive to live out each and everyday within the context of our friendships!

I challenge you to evaluate your friendships--Are you loyal? Are you genuine? Are you devoted? These are all things we want in a friend, but are we being that for someone else? Sometimes it's nice to just take a mental inventory of our friendships and make sure our actions towards others are glorifying to God. 

I hope y'all enjoyed all we learned this week through the 2nd chapter of Philippians!

xO 

Shining Bright for Christ

I hope you are all enjoying the series! I know that God is teaching me a lot through this, and I feel like even though I have read Philippians multiple times, I am getting more out of it than ever!

Philippians 2:12-18

Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy. Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share your joy.

Remember that in the previous verses that Nicole discussed on Monday, Paul is talking about having a Christ like attitude. Following that he begins to talk about how we need to live in order to "shine brightly" for Christ. Shining brightly for Christ can not happen unless we have a Christ like attitude. 

When we are saved and have Jesus in our hearts we are expected to live differently than we did before. There should be results shown from our salvation, and that is exactly what Paul is talking about in the verses above. Those results should be seen by others. If there were no results to see, then wouldn't becoming a Christian look pointless? Today as you go through your day, focus on making sure that those results of your salvation are seen by those around you. That is the start of shining brightly for Him.

Next, Paul begins getting specific. He gives us practical ways of making sure that our lives display results from being saved. I love this because these are things you can so everyday to make sure that your results are evident! Pick one of those to focus on over the next few days, and work on becoming more like Christ in that way. He ends this section by talking about the outcome of us shining brightly for Christ. He says that if we do these things, we will be proud of the results shown and we will be proud that we didn't go through life in vain. We will see that all of this work was not useless, but that Christ used us as a vessel to bring others to Him. He also states that this will also give us a reason to rejoice always. If we are focusing on shining for Christ, we will have endless joy as He works through us to change lives. Don't you want that endless joy? I know I do! 

Lord, please allow me shine brighter than ever for you today. Please point out things that I can work on so that I can know that the results of my salvation are evident and seen by those around me. ~Amen

have the attitude of Christ

Good morning, girls. :)  I have loved getting into the book of Philippians with you and I can't wait for us to kick off the beginning of the second chapter today!

Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, 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.

I love how Paul begins this chapter with three questions that should be easily answered if they are Christ followers.  He follows up the questions (Which should have easily been answered "yes") by telling them that if what he was saying is true, they should be united as one.  Paul truly loves them (1:8) and wants there to be unity in the church since "[they] are all in this together (1:30).  Paul understands the importance of having a community of believers that will encourage you, challenge you, and help you in the tough times.  But, he warns them in verse three about selfishness.  I don't think its a coincidence that he warns them against selfishness above other things, because selfishness is something that can tear the church apart.  The more we focus on OURselves, OUR ambitions, and OUR goals, the more we lose sight of Jesus and His mission for us.

Paul then tells us that we are to have the same attitude that Jesus had.  

We are to lay down our desires for God's desires just like Jesus let go of His heavenly position to do the will of the Father on earth.  If we can lay down our lives to take the life the Lord has for us, we will be living with an attitude like Christ.  Ultimately, if we are living completely surrendered to Christ we will have a life in line with His will.  We will be a healthy member of a local body of believers, we will strive for holiness, and we will live lives set a part for Christ.  

Lord, I pray that we can each come a little bit closer today to having at attitude like Yours.  

One Thing You Can't Do in Heaven

Well hey there friends!! It feels SO good to be back blogging on Fearless--we took a much needed break but are really excited about this series we are doing with y'all!


I am so glad I get to go through this part of the scripture with y'all. Out of the whole book of Philippians these 10 verses might just be my favorite!! I have broken the verses up into chunks to make it a little easier to follow.


Let's jump on in....



²⁰ I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 

Just like Savannah talked about on Wednesday, Paul was unashamed and fearless when it came to presenting the gospel and spreading the name of Jesus. He knew he had to do it. We are all here to make known the name of Jesus and it is our duty to proclaim our faith fearlessly and with courage. This doesn't just mean leading good lives it means interacting and making meaningful, authentic relationships with people in hopes that they will see Christ in us. 

²¹ For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. ²² If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! ²³ I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; ²⁴ but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. ²⁵ Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, ²⁶ so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.

This is the part I love the most. I have read Philippians tons of times but when I sat down to work on this post I had a new insight to these verses. A few weeks ago in student ministry at Athens Church we did a series called "One Thing you can't do in Heaven" and the whole idea behind the series was that there is only one thing that we KNOW we can't do in heaven--and that's tell people about Jesus. Obviously if they're in heaven then they accepted Jesus into their hearts and believed that He died for our sins.. sooo there's not really too much we can tell them. But on Earth there are SO many people that have NEVER heard about Jesus and our job is to tell them about him. When I was in Nicaragua we met a lot of people that literally had NO clue who Jesus was or what He was about. Sometimes in life we are faced with heartache and it would be much easier if we weren't on Earth to deal with stuff like that and were hanging out with Jesus in heaven but it is more necessary for us to be here and  tell people who Jesus is. Paul knew that the people of Philippi needed him there to help encourage them to pursue relationships with Jesus. 

²⁷ Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit,^[a] striving together as one for the faith of the gospel ²⁸ without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. ²⁹ For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, ³⁰ since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

Isn't it easy to put on a good front in front of "church people" but then do whatever we want when we know they're not looking? That is what Paul warned the people of Philippi about. He wanted them to be so firm in their faith that whether he was there or not they would conduct themselves in a manner that glorified the gospel. We really need to remember the big picture here. It's not all about being good or doing the right thing, it's about glorifying God with our actions, or words, and our relationships.

I think there are so many valuable lessons to be learned by studing the book of Philippians! I really hope y'all like where this is going and will stick around and learn with us!

We are by NO MEANS experts on the bible, just 20-something year olds that LOVE Jesus and want to tell everyone how He has impacted our lives.
Let us know what you think about this series in the comments section. Is there any particular book of the bible you want us to do next? Any ideas on a new series you think we should do? We would LOVE to hear what our readers want, because after all we are here for YOU!

Philippians 1:12-19

 Paul's Joy That Christ Is Preached~ Philippians 1:12-19

¹² And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. ¹³ For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. ¹⁴ And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear.

¹⁵ It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. ¹⁶ They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. ¹⁷ Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. ¹⁸ But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. ¹⁹ For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.

I am so excited for all that we are going to learn together as we go through Philippians and see how Paul reacted to some hard circumstances. We all go through hard times and the way we react is a big indicator of where our heart is and where we are in our walk with Christ.

There is one really great word that describes Paul throughout this part of Philippians, and that word is committed. He was constantly committed to sharing the Gospel and spreading the good news. The word constant plays a big part in this passage because his commitment to Christ was constant, no matter what his circumstances were. Being in chains for sharing Christ is not the most ideal place to be sharing the Gospel, but he was committed and did not let that determine his actions. How many times do we let out circumstances change our actions? I know that in my life there are times that I don't want to be inconvenienced by something, so I may not do what I know needs to be done. But y'all, Paul was in jail and continued to do the very thing that got him there!

Not only did his commitment to consistently share the Gospel save many lives, his committing spirit gave so many people the courage to take bold risks for Christ (Phil 1:14). He was the example for boldly sharing Christ and doing it without fear. By living our lives as committed Christians, we can influence so many lives in many ways, both non-believers and believers. We can help bring people to Christ by fearlessly sharing the Gospel, and we can also influence other believers to do the same. Can you imagine what would happen if we all began to live our lives fearlessly? So many more people would come to know Christ!

Notice that no matter what the cost was, Paul continued to do what he knew was right. We need to do the same everyday. It's true that being more like Paul and sharing the Gospel no matter the circumstance might cost you some things. You might not be as popular, you might lose a friend, or you might even be viewed as weird...but all of those things do not matter overall. Just think, if all of us joined in as believers in Christ and fearlessly shared the Gospel without thinking about what it might cost us, lives would be changed and it would be amazing. We would not be focusing on what it cost us, but what amazing things came from being fearless. Ultimately, sharing Christ is our purpose. As children of God we need to work to fulfill that purpose each day. We can't worry about our circumstances. We can't worry about what it may cost us right then. We only need to focus on Him, and that will make all the difference. 

Lastly, Paul constantly did one thing no matter what...he rejoiced. Wow! When he was sitting in jail he rejoiced. When people mocked him for sharing the Gospel, he rejoiced. He always looked for the good in each situation, and he rejoiced constantly. So many times we focus on the negative. We find excuse after excuse and lose sight of the rejoicing thing. Today, let's focus on rejoicing no matter what. No matter what situation you may find yourself in, you have a reason to rejoice: You are a child of God! 

Let's also focus on being more committed to sharing Christ. Paul was fearless and he impacted many lives. That doesn't mean that it wasn't hard, it was. He just focused on Christ and that gave him a reason to rejoice. I pray that you ask God to work in your life today and give you an opportunity to share Christ and live the way Paul did!

journey through Philippians: Philippians 1:1-11

It feels so good to be writing for Fearless again.  Our season of silence has ended and we're back to share the Word with you again.  Oh, it just makes my heart happy.  For the next four weeks we will be journeying through the book of Philippians.  We will be taking chunks of scripture, discussing it, and then showing you some ways you can apply this to your life at the end.  I'll post on Monday, Savannah will post on Wednesday, and Jamie will post on Friday.  Each chapter will be broken up into three chunks, so we'll never miss a verse.  I'm so thrilled that we are going to walk through God's Word together.  Let's get to it!


Let's start at the beginning...

"This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus.

I am writing to all of God’s holy people in Philippi who belong to Christ Jesus, including the elders and deacons. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace." (V.1-2).


If you're anything like me, you've tended to read over the first verse or two at the beginning of each book.  It usually isn't filled with much "content", but oh, what we miss out when we skip over it!  I have learned that it is important to have a complete understanding of who is writing the book so that you can understand the full context of what you're reading.  In Philippians, we're reading the words of Paul that are inspired by Christ.  Although it says from Paul AND Timothy, Paul is the one that is writing.  It's like when YOU write birthday card and sign it from you AND your husband.  He didn't write it, he is just supporting what you're saying.  Make sense?


Paul begins the book of Philippians by talking about the relationship he has had with them.  Togetherness and fellowship with other believer is critical, and we can see how that is lived out in verses 3-5, but we will read 3-4 first.


"Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy..."


Because Paul had such a close relationship with the church of Philippi, his prayer life was impacted.  His thankfulness for them drove him straight to his knees in prayer.  But, these relationships aren't just for our earthly pleasure, they are designed by God to impact the world for him.


"For you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now." (v.5)


Not only did the relationships he had with the people at the church of Philippi impact him, but it also impacted the world for the glory of God.  I love how the Lord has designed relationships with other believers that way.  They impact us on a personal AND global level.  I love how Paul uses the next verse to encourage the church...


"And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." (v.6)


I love how this verse is encouraging and challenging all at the same time.  On one hand, it reminds the church of the hope they have through Jesus and that He'll continue to be at work in their lives.  On the other hand, it challenges them to continue on the path of faith that they've been walking.


Girls, we need to have relationships with other believers that can encourage us AND challenge us like Paul did with the church of Philippi.  Just look at what he has to say about them in verses 7 and 8...


"So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart.  You share with me the special favor of God, both in my imprisonment and in defending and confirming the truth of the Good News.  God know show much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus."


I don't know about you, but I can just feel the love radiating off of the page.  Do you have relationships with others where you "share the special favor of God"?  Do you have Jesus loving gals in your life who are so special to you that you love them with "the tender compassion of Christ Jesus"?




Verses 9-11 take a more personal turn.  I'm going to start from verse 11 and then back my way up to verse 9.


"May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation- the righteousness character produced in you life by Jesus Christ- for this will bring much glory and praise to God."


Along with producing fruit, let's back up to verse 10 and see what else brings glory and praise to God.


"For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ's return."


Changing your lifestyle and your priorities to match a life that is "pure and blameless" brings glory to the Lord.


"I pray that your love will overflow more and more and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding."


And one of the most important ways we can bring glory to God is by living in love. In Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus is telling the most important commandments. First, love Jesus first and with everything you have.  Second, love your neighbor as yourself.  One of the greatest commandments we've been given is to love.  Love Jesus, love people.


Application:


1.  Are you a part of a body of believers?  If yes, pray that you would have relationships like Paul had with the people at the church of Philippi.  Pray that you would be challenged by it.  If you are not a body of believers, pray that you would be open to the where the Lord is calling you and pray that you would have the boldness to step out in faith and jump in to where ever He has placed you.


2.  Are you living a life that brings glory to God?  Is their fruit in your life?  Is your lifestyle different from an unbelievers?  Are you loving others?  Evaluate your actions and your thoughts.




Girls, there is so much to be gained from just reading scripture for what it is.  No sugar coating around here, no making scripture a little easier to swallow.  Praying that we will be gals who take Jesus for who He is and fall to our knees in repentance when our lives aren't bringing glory to Him.  


Love you girls.  So much!

we're back!

Hey there, gals!

Whew.  This ole blog sure did go through a quiet spell, didn't it?  Life has been crazy for all four of us and it got to be more of a "job" than us just sharing scripture and our hearts with you.  After this looooong break, a few of us (Jess is away doing camps all summer!) will be back soon with a new perspective and a heart ready to be moved by the Lord.  In the coming week, Jamie, Savannah, and I will be walking through the book of Philippians here on Fearless!  The best thing about this series is that it's 100% based on scripture... as it should be!  While we may add in some of our experiences here or there, we are just going to present scripture to you and let the Holy Spirit do all the work.  And really, isn't that our job anyway?  I can speak for all three of us when I say that we are beyond excited to finally start writing and sharing with you girls again.  Praying that the Lord would move in your life and mine!  See you soon!

PS.  Have you noticed something different?  We got a fabulous makeover, Annie from what she saw recently gave us a facelift and we're so happy with the fantastic work that she's done.  If your blog is in need of some work, contact sweet Annie!