A Life Jesus will be Proud of

SCRIPTURE:

Philippians 1:9-11 So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings (10) so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: (11) bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.

OBSERVATION:

Often the best way to influence someone is to pray for him or her. Paul's prayer for the Philippians was that they would be unified in love. Their love was to result in greater knowledge of Christ and deeper understanding (moral discernment). Their love was not based on feelings but on what Christ had done for them. As you grow in Christ's love, your heart and mind must grow together. Is my love and insight growing?

Paul prayed that the Philippian believers would have the ability to differentiate between right and wrong, good and bad, vital and trivial. We ought to pray for moral discernment so we can maintain our Christian morals and values. Hebrews 5:14 emphasizes the need for discernment.

"Bountiful fruits from the soul" includes all of the character traits flowing from a right relationship with God. There is no other way for us to gain this fruit of righteousness than through Christ.

APPLICATION:

As I read these verses this morning, I am challenged to look at my life and the love that I exhibit. Too often I do not love "much" or "well". I must learn to love unconditionally. I truly want the love that I show others to be sincere, genuine...not some "sentimental gush" as Paul calls it.

One phrase really jumped off the page and grabbed me this morning: "a life that Jesus will be proud of." How desperate am I to live a life that Jesus is proud of? I want to hear at the end of my life Jesus say, "well done, my good and faithful servant." However, I also want to hear Him say at the end of this day, "well done, my good and faithful servant." To live a circumspect life means to "be watchful on all sides, examining carefully every detail" and this is what I must do right now to live a life that Jesus is pleased with TODAY.

To live an "exemplary" life means that my life is "worthy of imitation". Wow! As I look at my life, is it truly worthy of imitation? It can be TODAY as I carefully watch guard over it. I want to please Jesus with every decision, every thought, every word, every attitude, basically everything that I do every moment of this day. The only way to do that, is to start it off by giving my life once again to Him. I must die today to my fleshly desires and ways. I must consciously think through every thought and decision that I make. When the sun goes down tonight, and I slow down enough to fall into bed, then I can know that this was a day that Jesus was proud of my life!

PRAYER:

"Dear Lord, I want to live a life that pleases you. But to be more accurate, I want to please you TODAY. I ask you to forgive me of my careless living at times. I want to be blameless with the truth, and a true witness of a life that you change. Today, I will examine my words more thoroughly before I speak them. I will check my attitude hourly. I will once again make a covenant with my eyes to not look lustfully at a woman (Job 31:1). I will set my affections on things above and not here below, and I will be more sensitive to the nudge of the Holy Spirit. I love you Lord, and desperately want to please you TODAY. In Jesus' name, amen"

Blessings!

Pastor Rusty L. Blann