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