The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 4:8-9

Philippians 4:8-9

v8: To do what is right, we must think about what is right – what is true, honourable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellence, praiseworthy. All these qualities are found in the Lord Jesus Christ.

v9: The Philippians were to follows Paul’s example because “what they saw in him was the same as what they heard from him.” He was imitating Christ, so they should imitate him by doing what they had heard from him and seen in him. “We give great force to what we say to others when we can appeal to what they have seen in us.”

Devotional notes adapted from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 4:4-7

Philippians 4:4-7

v4-5: We are commanded to rejoice in the Lord, and to rejoice in Him always.  This means we are to rejoice in Him, “at all times, in all conditions, even when we suffer for him or are afflicted by him.”  This teaches us that “there is enough in God to provide us with matter for joy in the worst circumstance on earth.”

v6-7: Constant prayer is how we “keep away from anxious and distracting thoughts about the needs and difficulties of life.”  In addition to regular times of prayer, “we must pray in every pressing need,” and as well as seeking “supplies of good,” we must “also acknowledge receipts of mercy.”  Although God does not need to be told our needs because “he knows them better than we do… he wants to know them from us,” and for us to express our “dependence on him.”

Devotional notes adapted from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 4:1-3

Philippians 4:1-3

v1: Knowing that we have the “hope and expectation of eternal life should make us stand firm” in Christ, “stable, and consistent in our Christian way of life,” and “be faithful to the end.”

v2: Though the command is applied here to particular individuals in Philippi, agreeing in the Lord, is an exhortation for us all, reminding us how damaging disagreement and disunity is to the life of the church.  Providing these is no disagreement on the gospel and those essential truths of the faith, we are to do what we can “to keep the peace and live in love,” with one another, treating those we are not in agreement with as brothers and sisters.

v3: Whilst we cannot look into the Book of Life or know whose names are written there, “we can, with loving thoughts, conclude that” the names of “those who work hard for the Gospel and are faithful to the interests of Christ” are found in it.

Devotional notes adapted from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 3:20-21

Philippians 3:20-21

v20: Remember “this world is not our home,” heaven is.  It is where our Saviour is now, and it is where we hope to be soon.

v21: When Jesus returns, we can be certain that our bodies will be transformed into glorious bodies.  We can have this assurance because “we not only have the Scriptures, which assure us it will happen,” but also we know the power of God is able to carry this out, because it already has in raising Jesus from the dead.  “His resurrection is constant evidence of ours as well as a pattern of ours.”

Devotional notes adapted from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 3:15-19

Philippians 3:15-19

v15-16: Between Christians who “in all the great things” agree (“that Christ is a Christian’s all, that to gain Christ and be found in him involves our happiness both here and in the next life”), there will be other relatively insignificant matters on which they differ. When this happens, we are to bear with one another and to “wait until God gives… a better understanding, which he will do in his good time.”

v17-19: How do you spot a false teacher? They are those whose “concern is their physical appetite,” who not only sin but also boast of it, who “are taken up with worldly things… and have no enjoyment of spiritual and heavenly things.” They may profess faith in Christ, but their lives tell a different story. Though “their way of life seems pleasant… death and hell lies at its end.” Do not follow their example.

Devotional notes adapted from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 3:12-14

Philippians 3:12-14

v12: Our hope of future resurrection is not that we will keep hold of Christ, “but in his keeping hold of us.” Yet if He has taken hold of us, we will press on towards reach heaven, persevering through all the difficulties we experience in this life.

v13-14: “As athletes who run a race never stop short of the end, but continue to run as fast as they can, so those who have heaven in their sight must always press on toward it.” We keep following Jesus because “we cannot go to heaven as our home except through Christ as the way,” for gift of eternal life “come to us through his hand, as it is obtained for us by him.”

Devotional notes adapted from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 3:7-11

Philippians 3:7-11

v7-8: For sinners, knowing Christ is better than everything else, because only He can provide them, in their fallen situation, “with all they need and all they can wish and hope for, with all necessary saving wisdom and saving grace.” Even the best this world has to offer is “not only less valuable than Christ, they are utterly contemptible when they compete with him.”

v9: Jesus provides for us a righteousness that is “complete and perfect,” and we receive this when we believe in Him. “Faith is the ordained means of actually sharing in and knowing the saving benefits of what has been purchased by his blood.”

v10: The desire of a Christian is to not only “receive the benefit of Christ’s death and resurrection” in justifying them, but also in becoming like Him. “To know the power of Christ’s death and resurrection putting to death sin” in them and raising them “to a new life.”

v11: Our happiness although great, will not be complete when our souls at death depart immediately to be with Christ. It is at “resurrection of the dead at the last day,” when our “soul and body will be glorified together” that the happiness of heaven will be fully experienced.

Devotional notes adapted from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 3:1-6

Philippians 3:1-6

v1: “The more we enjoy [our faith], the more closely we will remain faithful to it,” and “the more we rejoice in Christ, the more willing we will be to act and suffer for him, and the less danger we will be in of being drawn away from him.”  Our enjoyment of Christ is strengthened, not only by hearing new things about Him, but by hearing again those truths we have heard before.

v2: False teachers are like dogs who bark and bite at those who faithfully follow Christ.

v3-6: “We must be taken away from trusting in ourselves so that we may depend only on Jesus Christ.”  It is vital we see that our background, upbringing, learning, obedience, or religious devotion cannot and will not justify us in God’s sight.

Devotional notes adapted from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 2:25-30

Philippians 2:25-30

v25-27: “Illness is an adversity common to all people.” Christians, including church leaders, are not exempt from getting ill.  How should we respond when we hear that another Christian is sick?  The Philippians model what it means to bear another’s burdens as not only were they “very said to hear about [Ephaphroditus’] illness,” they were also “heavy in spirit when they heard news about it, just as he was from being sick.”

v28-30: “To have our blessings restored to us after we have been in danger of losing them,” (or for a time have lost them), should “motivate us to value them more and to make the most of them.” 

Devotional notes adapted from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)