Nate's Daily Devotionals (old)

v2-3) Look out for the evildoers who mean us harm We worship the Spirit of God and all glory and confidence goes to him  and not to the flesh v7-8) Paul counts all gain as loss for the sake of Christ All the worldly things (fleshly things) that he has gained he counts as nothing when compared to Christ In fact, he regards knowing Christ as the most important thing in this world - more than anything this world could offer All the things that Paul endures is for Christ More importantly, all the things he has given up in this life because of Christ he counts as nothing compared to knowing and gaining salvation through Christ v9) We don't have righteousness through ourselves and through what we do in the law No, instead we have righteous that comes through faith in Christ Righteousness depends on faith not on works v10-11) Paul welcomes suffering - knowing the power that Christ holds over death through the resurrection That by any means necessary he w...

v20) Paul describes Timothy as someone who is 'genuinely concerned for your welfare' Am I concerned with the welfare of my brothers and sisters - and more importantly, is it a genuine concern or just one that is self seeking? v21) Paul shows that we will encounter people (even Christians) who are self-seeking and that their concern will not be for your soul but so that they can profit v25-26) Paul describes what a disciple might look like Specifically - a worker, soldier, messenger and minister Epaphroditus is "longing for you all" - the language is one of genuine concern, much like what was mentioned in v20 v28) God uses our brothers and sisters to allow us to rejoice in God and his power and what he is able to accomplish Indeed it even makes Paul "less anxious" v29-30) We are to receive our brothers and sisters "with joy" and to honour such faithful men For it is the work of Christ that has allowed them to be so ...