Outpouring, Philippians 1:1-4

I've had a concept recently that I've been thinking through, and it has struck me as somewhat profound, though often overlooked in its simplicity. 
It's the difference between outgoing and outpouring. By nature, I'm not a very outgoing person; if I had my way I would sit and read most of the time. But as a christian, I'm commanded to pour my life out into the lives of others in every way I can, and you are as well. Pastor Capon preached from Philippians 2:1-4 in Sunday School this morning, and vv. 3-4 really struck me. 
"Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others."
Wow, there is so much to digest there, but let me show you a couple of things he showed us, and tie it in with my previous thoughts. 
Every sin is a direct result to my lack of walk with God. It is a looking in the wrong direction. When I'm focused on how close to the line I can get, wherever I or God may draw that line, not only is that dangerous, but it is also focused in the wrong direction. I'm focused backward, toward my sin, my line, and how closely I can step to it without going over it. But when I'm walking with God, wanting his will for every detail of my life, it really doesn't matter where the line is drawn because it's behind me; I'm not stepping toward it. I'm stepping toward nearness with my Father, walking toward ever increasing sanctification, and so it doesn't matter where that line behind me is. 
On a more personal level, I think that every (or at least almost every) sin can be traced back to pride. It may take different forms, but every sin is a result of looking in the wrong direction, and that direction is inward. Sanctification can be defined as applying the truth of God's word to the details of life, and when I apply this verse, I can do nothing but change toward looking outward---"Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or deceit." Pride. 
That's not to say we don't take care of ourselves. "Look out not only for his own interests, but also the interests of others." That means that our primary focus should be outward and upward, but we need to not neglect our own interests. Our culture tends to take this way too far, and so sometimes we swing the pendulum back too far the other way and don't take enough care of ourselves. We need to take care of ourselves physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually. For me, this means trying to have a healthy attitude toward eating and exercise, keeping my body physically fit; reading as much as I can of good, solid books to keep my mind sharp; spending my time with others, caring about their lives to be of use socially; and being in God's word and in prayer to upkeep my health spiritually. And yes, each of those could be expanded into a book, and they probably have been, and that's not the purpose of this post, but it is important to examine oneself and seek balance in each of those areas. 
So back to the purpose: outpouring oneself. What is the purpose of doing so? How is the question why answered? That's answered in vv. 1-2. "If (or more accurately, since) there is any comfort of love, any fellowship of the Spirit, any affection and mercy...." Which means that there is indeed such things, and because of them we ought to do nothing because of pride. Because God has given us the blessings of loving comfort, fellowship with believers, affection, and, oh how much!, ---mercy. Abundant, abounding, flowing mercy. Because of those things, how can we be focused on ourselves? 
And also, in vs. 2, "fulfill my joy..." By not living in unity, by being selfish and conceited, the believers in Philippi were robbing Paul of joy. Not to say they had brought him no joy at all; one can hardly read his letter to them without getting a sense of his affection for them, but there was one more thing they needed to work on to bring his joy to completion, and that was choosing to live in the absence of pride. May we ever do the same. 


In fact, that's the purpose of our having the NT; to point us to Christ. And how does that work itself out into our lives? By showing us how to be like him, and in this case, our core need to choose to live in the absence of pride, as nearly like Christ as we can on this earth. 

Don't take a break from God

I'm sitting at Cafe Diem, listening to a sermon by Haddon Robinson and watching an impromptu concert that's apparently scheduled for right now. My car is in the parking lot with the back seat full of the stuff I'm taking home for Christmas break, and I've been in a little bit of a . . . . . wistful mood all afternoon. I don't know why, but every time I leave Faith for a somewhat extended period of time, I'm always a little sad to go; joyous both that I'll have a chance to serve elsewhere for a time and that I'll be back soon enough, but still. . . .
     I don't know if this is true of everyone, but I suspect it is to a point: when I'm away from the structured life and the plethora of amazing, godly friends, I seem to tend to forget about God and my walk with Him. It's not intentional, but in being unintentional, I'm still making the choice not to live in light of eternity. I coast. I take a break. And I don't want to this Christmas. All afternoon I've had the phrase "Chri-ist the sa-vior is boo-ooorn!" THAT's what this break is all about, and that's the reason I live my life as I do--because of a baby who became a man who died for my sins and conquered death! 


Dear friend, live life intentionally this break, and do keep in mind the summons to which you are called: a higher calling, a more beautiful life lived not because of what you do, but because of what He has done. So go, and LIVE!

An instrument in the Master's hand

This is a copy of a note I wrote on Fb, but I'd like to put it here as well. I'll do the same with a couple others, and then start writing new things, just for here. If you'd like to read the full list of my notes, here's the link to my Fb page with them all.

http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=555385331&notes_tab=app_2347471856

But for now, here's this note:

Do you know how a knife is made? It's an arduous process, really. 

First, it is simply iron ore deep in the ground, useless and idle. 

Next, when it is dug up, it is smelted down and impurities removed.

The more pure ore is either melted and molded into a shape, or given another step and mixed with other metal(s) to make some compound, generally steel.

The steel blade just formed is very dull; it would have great difficulty actually cutting--it would simply force its way through something or smash it; it's excessively dull even at this point, though it does have more practical use than it did a few steps ago. 

Here we stop MAKING the knife and start SHARPENING it. 

Though the blade may have the general shape of a knife, it is quite dull and still of little practical use. 

Do you know what a grinder is? It's a wheel made of a very abrasive material, similar to a file (or emery board, I suppose) but highly abrasive, connected to a motor which spins it; the knife is held against this rough, hard wheel, and the sparks fly! The chunks of steel a grinder can take off can be anywhere from very small up to possibly a millimeter in size, and it takes hundreds of these off. One would think it wouldn't take very long to shape a knife in this way, but when done correctly, it takes a good bit of time, perhaps half an hour of grinding away. If it's done too fast, and the grinder is held in the same place for too long, it heats the metal too much and weakens it, so there's a pace to be held. 

When the grinder has finished its work, the knife is much sharper than it was before, but the test of a knife is whether it will cut paper cleanly, and a knife at this point in sharpening still has many small burrs on the sharp of the blade which need to be filed away. The knife-maker uses a less harsh file and works away at taking those burrs off, which again takes patience and time. He uses less and less harsh files which take away smaller and smaller bits of steel off the cutting edge, until at last he has found the razor edge. 

It's the same way with us, and this illustration can be applied to many facets of our life, spiritual, physical, or otherwise. First, we're made into the general shape of what we will one day be, then the bigger areas are knocked off, and on down to taking the smaller points off, to where we are finally made sharp in whatever it is on which we're working. And since everything we do is to be done for the glory of God, even the non-spiritual areas are to be used for serving and glorifying Him. 

I can't know at what point you are as you read this, but know that the master knows how to make and sharpen you so that you will be a tool fit for his use. He's made a great many knives before he ever came to you. Do you think the piece of iron ore sitting in the rock wants to go through the process to become a knife? I doubt it, for it's very painful, many times over and for extended periods of time, but when the master is done, it is a highly prized tool, made ready for the task for which it was created. And so are you, being smelted down and ground down and filed down and heated and burned, but when the process is done, you will be a highly prized tool, fit for the task and ready in the Master's hand.

(insert lame title for>>) The first post

I have no idea who will one day end up reading this blog, but I thank you, dear reader, for taking the time to do so. I love you in the Lord, and I hope that by reading what I write here, you will be a little bit more like Him.

First off, if you're reading this and haven't figured out the whole blogging thing (as I hadn't until today) and yet you're still blessed in some way, please send me an email or hit me up on Facebook; I'd love to connect with you and see what God is doing in your life.

Second, and this probably doesn't even need to be said, but this blog has no particular purpose other than to convey the thoughts God gives me and I'd like to put out into the webosphere for anyone to find and be helped by. 

So I thank you for taking the time to read what I have, and I hope you'll stop back!