JULY 28

OUR PERSONALPROMISES:

NAMES OF GOD:

JEHOVAH CHEREB—LORD, THE SWORD

JEHOVAH TSABA—LORD OF HOSTS

JEHOVAH GIBBOR MILCHAMAH—LORD MIGHTY IN BATTLE

(“JEHOVAH” MEANS THE RELATIONAL GOD—THE GOD IN TOUCH WITH HIS CREATION. IT USUALLY REFERS TO JESUS.)

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This month we will read the book, “Whatever Happens – How to Stand Firm in Your Faith When the World is Falling Apart.”  By a contemporary author of many best-selling Christian books, Robert J. Morgan.  He took care of his wife when she had MS, until she went home to her Savior.  “He knows of which he speaks.”  I pray that this book blesses you.

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Philippians 2:19-24

“But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state.  For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state.  For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.  But you know his proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel.  Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it goes with me.  But I trust in the Lord that I myself shall also come shortly.”

WHATEVER HAPPENS …..STAY AS CHEERFUL AS POSSIBLE IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES

While in Switzerland a few years ago, I was delighted to see the cattle grazing in the pastures among the Alps.  They wore bells around their necks, and you could hear them chiming and jingling like so many church carillons.  I loved the sound.

I thought the cows wore balls so if any wandered away, they could be easily found.  That’s partially true, but I’ve since learned about the science that goes into cowbells.  They’re tuned to different notes and different octaves, all designed to create an ambiance that has a therapeutic and cheerful influence on the cows, causing them to be more productive and give better milk.  The peals also lift the spirits of the farmers and residents of the valley.  There is always music in the air.

There’s a lesson in that.  Even when we’re in the valley, there should be something cheerful going on in our hearts.  If we listen closely, we can hear the same notes in Paul’s paragraph about Timothy in Philippians 2:19-24. (see our verse at the top)

You’ll remember that, just as the apostle Paul was ready to launch his fourth missionary tour, he was arrested and spent  five or so precious years in various conditions of imprisonment.  At the time he wrote this letter, he was either still detained in his own rented house in Rome or he had been moved to a holding cell closer to the imperial tribunal.  He knew the case against him was weak, and he also had a powerful weapon – his official Roman citizenship.  He expected to be released, but he wasn’t certain.  So he told the Philippians he would send Timothy with news as soon as he knew how things would go.

We don’t know how old Timothy was when Paul unofficially adopted him and began taking him with him on his travels, but most think that at this point, he was perhaps in his twenties.  Notice how Paul described him:  “As a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.”

Paul was using Timothy as an example of what he had been discussing in his letter.  He had told the Philippians to look not to their own interests but to those of Jesus Christ and to have a genuine concern for others.  Now he was showing them a living, breathing, true-life example of that instruction.

“You need to be like Jesus and have the mind of Christ,”  Paul was saying, “It’s not impossible – look at Timothy and you’ll see a Christlike man, someone whose example you can follow.”

In context, that’s what this paragraph is about.  But there’s something more here too.  As I’ve read this paragraph over and over, three phrases have stood out to me.

BE CONCERNED BUT NOT ANXIOUS

The first phrase is built around the word “concern:”  “I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare.”

Here’s what’s so interesting to me:  The Greek word for concern is “merimnao”:   which is the same word we find later in Philippians 4:6:  “Do not be ANXIOUS about anything.”

In chapter 2, Paul commended Timothy for being “merimnao” but in chapter 4, he told us not to be “merimnao”!   Of course, even in English, the word “concern” has a range of meanings, depending on the context:  for example:

She’s going to tell a story “concerning” her mother.

She’s always “concerned” about the needs of her community.

She’s very “concerned” because her daughter is in danger.

So how do the two situations above work together?  The psychological balance between Philippians 2 and Philippians 4 is a supernatural one.  As we go through life, it’s good to be concerned, but it isn’t good to be anxious.  Be concerned for others but be anxious for nothing.

In my book “Worry Less, Live More” I wrote:  “I’ve often wondered how to know, at any given time, if I’m reasonably concerned or unreasonably alarmed.  It’s a difficult median, but here’s the key:  when our concern is healthy, it doesn’t debilitate us.  When it begins to be debilitating, it has morphed into worry, which becomes a vicious cycle

That’s very hard for me, but let’s keep digging into this paragraph because there’s another phrase that brings even more balance – “that I may be cheered.” (tomorrow)

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