Hello friends,
This week my English students in our home school co-op will study the book of Philippians for their literature lesson, a little break from the novels, short stories, and poems we've been doing already this year. I wish I could be there in class with them today, but I'm home with a sore throat and didn't want to share my germies. So I sent in the homework packets for them for my fellow Dawn to distribute.
Being sick is no fun, especially when I have to miss out on my students and teaching that I love so much. And going through the stresses of life is pretty challenging, too, whether it is health, finances, family conflicts, a hectic schedule, bad habits, other assorted personal inadequacies, or whatever else happens to be jerking my heart strings at the moment.
But I thought back to the co-op assignment and pondered. Then, as I flipped through my journal this morning, I rediscovered a section I wrote a few years ago listing favorite passages from Philippians. I realize anew that one of the messages of Philippians is taking what comes and making the best of it, rejoicing always, still seeking to serve in the midst of chaos, thinking on the noble and excellent.
So today I'm home, catching up on laundry and dishes, and now sitting down to meditate on this excellent epistle. I hope you don't mind if I do my ruminating at the keyboard so I can catch it as it comes. I'll even throw in a few of the learning activities I'm providing for my students. Maybe you'd like to do them yourself or share them with your children.
Favorite Passages from Philippians
1: 3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you
will carry it on to completion until
the day of Christ Jesus …
1:9 And this is my prayer: that
your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,10 so that you may be able to discern what is best
and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that
comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
1:20 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. 21 For to
me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
1:27a Whatever
happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ... 29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him...
2:1If you
have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his
love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then
make my joy complete by
being like-minded, having
the same love, being one in
spirit and purpose. 3 Do
nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than
yourselves. 4 Each of
you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of
others. 5 Your
attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a
servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And
being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became
obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9 Therefore
God exalted him to the
highest place and
gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at
the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and
under the earth, 11 and
every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father.
2:14 Do everything without
complaining or
arguing, 15 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 16 as you
hold out the word of life…
3:7 But
whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is
more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,
for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain
Christ 9 and be
found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in
Christ—the righteousness that
comes from God and is by faith.
10 I want
to know Christ and the power of
his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so,
somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already
obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of
me. 13 Brothers,
I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do:
Forgetting what is behind and
straining toward what is ahead,14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
3:16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
3:20 But our
citizenship is in
heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by
the power that
enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly
bodies so that they will be
like his glorious body.
4:4 Rejoice
in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let
your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not
be anxious about anything, but in
everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to
God. 7 And the
peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will
guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
4:8 Finally,
brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is
pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or
praiseworthy—think about such things.9 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.
4:11b I have learned to be
content whatever the
circumstances. 12 I know
what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned
the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or
hungry, whether living in plenty
or in want. 13 I can
do everything through him who gives me strength.
4:19 And my
God will meet all your needs according
to his glorious riches in
Christ Jesus... 23 The grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ be
with your spirit. Amen.
(Joy is a repeated theme in Philippians, appearing at least 11 times! Where else can you find JOY in the Bible? You can do a search at www.BibleGateway.com. The joy decorations photos I included in this post on Philippians are borrowed from one I wrote yesterday: Weekend Gratitude: Welcoming Touches. Thank you, Judy, for the inspiration!)
I sang two of these verses (3:10-11) today, a little ditty I made up when I was in high school... Do you ever set Scripture to music? It's a wonderful way to remember and to sink it into your own heart!
Philippians 1: Prayer Activity
The Apostle Paul prayed daily for the
Philippian church, as he did for all of the other churches in his care. Verses 9-11 show us what he prayed for them, and
teaches us how we can pray for others according to God’s will. Copy these verses on an index card
and put it in your Bible or tape them on a wall so that you can pray for others
with Scripture. Then look up Colossians
1:9-12 and 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 and see how they are a lot alike.
Philippians 2: SPACE Study
SPACE:
Sin, Promise, Attitude, Command, Example
Read the chapter and look for the
following:
Sins to avoid:
Write the four specific words and then briefly tell what each means.
Promises to claim: These include the five good things that God is
doing in us now, as well as a promise for the future.
Attitudes to change:
1. Replace PRIDE with
__________________.
2. Replace SELFISHNESS with
____________________.
3. Replace APATHY with
____________________.
Commands to obey: Look for nine, some very clear instructions and others implied.
Example to follow: Four people in this chapter -- Jesus, Paul, Timothy and Epaphroditus -- set powerful
examples for us. What good character and
attitudes should we imitate from each of their lives?
Philippians 3: ABC Activity
Write the letters A - Z down the side of a page. Then find words from Philippians 3 which start with each letter of the alphabet, like attain for the letter A. Make these significant, meaningful words
whenever possible. There are none for Q, V, or X, at least in the version I was using, so for these letters, choose a word that reminds you of an idea in Philippians 3.
Philippians 4: Read, Reflect & Respond
♥
READ Philippians 4 slowly and
carefully. Then read it out loud. Then read it again in another version, if possible. Copy words, phrases, or whole verses that are important to you.
♥
REFLECT on what the chapter means. Think about it, make lists, outline it, define words, cross-reference to other passages. Pray that God will open your eyes to the truth.
♥
RESPOND by copying down key verses and writing down how you can apply them in your own life. Pray, think big, be real, tell someone, just do it!
Philippians 4: Word Search
Philippians
4:8 tells us to think about good things, so I have put all of the good things
from the whole chapter into this word search.
This should remind us to always been on the hunt for the good things in
our lives – and be thankful to God for giving them to us! (I used www.PuzzleMaker.com to create this puzzle.)
Think About These Things
E V W G X T N C K Z C O J H Q S U N G T
C R Q C E R G O C H R I S T B P C J N W
I F K F C C J N I P Y F L G K J Q A I G
F A B K Q W A C R T J O W O O I R F V T
I O N C O M M E N D A B L E V G H P I T
R E C I O J E R P B R C N S A E I L G M
C P L E A S I N G E E N I R X H L S S E
A N V F D K Y A Y Q P T F L S S T Y K X
S S E N E L B A N O S A E R P R H I N C
J O J P P S R E G Z P H E Q E P C H A E
A U F T U P L I W R D N C N Z O U Y H L
E C S F R F F T A F T C G R N K J S T L
Y C C T E T F I D R E T R T U T O W S E
B W N E D R S Z A K H H E E S H U O U N
L I R A P E I P E E S N U B O W C R S C
E Y O J D T E N N L T R E L O R D T E E
P Q C C B N A X G X T G J W L J X H J B
S W P B A W U B Y F M B A H L W U Y P V
O D B W D V G B L R P X V Y J O K R X T
G D R A U G O H A E E L B A R O N O H A
I love chocolate. A decent piece of the dark stuff can lift my spirits like no other food. Craving Grace Like Chocolate: How the Gospel Changes Everything might seem like an odd name for a book, but it gets the point across. Fortunately, God's grace is a whole lot healthier for you than chocolate! And, as the subtitle suggests, it's also a whole lot more life-altering.
