Page 43 - Living Light - A Message of Joy!

Monday January 15 - Having joy in Jesus ...rejoice in the Lord! Philippians 3:1
Did you ever eat one of those sticks of seaside rock, with the name of a seaside town running through them in bright red letters? The name greeted you, chunk after tasty chunk, and gave great joy!
The words ‘rejoice’ and ‘joy’ run right through Philippians, greeting us in every chapter, urging us to savour the blessings we have in our beautiful Lord Jesus – ‘the name that is above every name’ (Philippians 2:9). Jesus – the true source of all Christian joy and rejoicing!
Life is tough. Perhaps your circumstances today are difficult, and perhaps life seems overwhelming. But even in hardship we can know our souls are safe in Jesus – that he will keep and feed us, eternally. Life was tough for the Philippians, and Paul was in a joyless prison, but they were learning to trust in Jesus’ powerful love and rejoice in their salvation in the midst of it.
In Habakkuk 3:17-18 we read, ‘...though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour.’ Whatever you are suffering today, cling to Jesus, knowing that he holds you fast in his powerful hands. We can rejoice in him, for he is alive and in control of everything in the world; he has powerfully saved us from sin and death... he is the Lord Jesus!
Father, please help me to rejoice in Jesus’ glorious name, until the joy of my salvation runs right through my soul! Amen.
Tuesday January 16 - Saved by grace alone
Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh.
Philippians 3:2
Paul never wasted ink or parchment; they were too expensive! When he repeats advice like ‘rejoice in the Lord’ we know it’s essential for us, and when he issues a strong warning we know it’s essential for our protection.
Paul warns sternly against false teaching which claims that something more is needed, beyond Jesus’ death for our sin, to make us right with God – a religious ritual, for instance, or a ‘good deed’. Such teaching is harmful, and sidelines Jesus, who is ‘the author and perfecter of our faith’ (Hebrews 12:2). We can never earn salvation; it is God’s gracious gift, won for us only by Jesus on the cross.
Specifically, some false teachers were saying that ritual circumcision was necessary for Christians, so Paul uses very strong picture language in today’s verse to counter this wrong belief, calling it evil, and likening the circumcision-influencers’ behaviour to that of wild desert dogs, hunting in packs for prey!
The Lord wants us to flourish and grow as Christians, and one of the keys to Christian flourishing is celebrating what the Lord Jesus has done for us, realising how utterly dependent we are on God’s love and grace to save us from sin’s death-grip! The more we understand this, the better we will know Jesus – and the better we know Jesus, the more we will love him!
Dear Lord, I thank you that my salvation depends totally on Jesus’ sacrifice for my sins, and for your amazing grace and love for me. Amen.
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PRAYER FOR TODAY
PRAYER FOR TODAY