<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="joh+15:12-27">John 15:12-27</span></span></p><p>We continue meditating on the eighth and final Beatitude. One of the questions that has often puzzled people concerning this matter of suffering and persecution is this: Why is it that Christians, when they do good, are often persecuted, while non-Christians who do the same kind of good are adored? One commentator suggests the reason for this is that when non- Christians do good, other non-Christians find it easy to identify with them and say to themselves: "These people are just like me when I am at my best." The thinking that goes on below the threshold of a non-Christian's mind when he sees other non-Christians doing good is along the line of: "I am probably capable of the same thing myself if the opportunity came my way." The admiration that is then given is a way of paying a compliment to oneself. The Christian who does good has about him or her the atmosphere of another world, and because of this, the non-Christian observes, not just their act of good, but the different motivation that underlies the act. They sense that there is something different about this person, and because they cannot understand or explain the difference, they react with fear and the fear then turns to hostility. Psychologists have a name for this fear - xenophobia. It means fear of someone we do not know or understand. This is why the scribes and Pharisees hated our Lord so much. It wasn't because He was good; it was because He was different. This is the effect Jesus Christ always has upon the world. And to the extent that you reflect His spirit, to that extent you will experience the same reaction. "A Christian's reason for doing good is different"</p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">O Father, I see that if I just try to do good, the world will applaud me, but if I try to become Christlike, it will hate me. Nevertheless I long to be Christlike. Help me, dear Father, for apart from Your grace, I know it is not possible. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="php+1:1-14">Philippians 1:1-14</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="col+4:3">Colossians 4:3</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="2ti+1:7-8">2 Timothy 1:7-8</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>How did Paul view persecution?</li><li>What was his charge to Timothy?</li></ul></div></div>

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

"' you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." (v. 19)

<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="jude+1:1-16">Jude 1:1-16</span></span></p><p>What makes the Christian faith different from every other faith? Prince Charles, who is next in line to the British throne, has let it be known that if and when he becomes king he would like to be regarded as Defender of all faiths rather than Defender of the faith - the Christian faith. Living now as we do in a multi-faith rather than a Christian society, he said, it is important that this shift be reflected in the duties of the monarch. No Christian would want to deny any individual or group the right to follow or practice the faith of their choice, but we must be careful that tolerance of other religions does not cause us to fall into the trap of thinking that Christianity is just one religion among many. Decidedly, it is not. Christianity is in a category all by itself. If that belief opens us up to the charge of arrogance, then so be it. Recently, I heard a religious commentator say on television that one religion is as good as another. One religion as good as another? How utterly absurd. It sounds broadminded but actually it is the judgment of ignorance. No one would ever make that statement if they understood the purpose of Christ's coming to this world, His atoning death on the cross, and His glorious resurrection. We are not unmindful of the spiritual glow which comes from other lamps, but our claim for Jesus is the claim He made for Himself - He alone is the Light of the world, and thus utterly indispensable to salvation.</p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">O Father, help me comprehend even more fully and clearly the truths of the faith into which, by Your grace, You have brought me. I cannot live by opinions, I must live by convictions. May Your truths become my convictions. In Christ's Name I pray. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="php+1:1-27">Philippians 1:1-27</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="ga+2:1-8">Galatians 2:1-8</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="1co+9:17">1 Corinthians 9:17</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What did Paul admonish the Philippians for?</li><li>What was Paul entrusted with?</li></ul></div></div>

"... contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints." (v. 3)

<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="php+1:3-11">Philippians 1:3-11</span></span></p><p>We saw yesterday how the psalmist sensed that despite his doubts and failures he was still accepted by God. But there's more - he realises also that God's restraining hand has been constantly with him: "You hold me by my right hand"  (<span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+73:23">Psalm 73:23</span>). What was it, after all, that prevented him going over the brink? It was the protecting hand of God. God Himself had put it in his mind to go into the sanctuary and had thereby turned him round. Realising that, he thinks of the future. What is the future going to be like? His conclusion is that the future is going to be just as secure, for: "You guide me with your counsel, and afterwards you will take me into glory" (v. 24). Can you sense the psalmist's security as he contemplates the future? He is saying, in effect: "You are doing this now, holding me by my right hand, protecting me, restraining me, restoring me and delivering me, and I know You will keep on doing this right up to the time when I meet with you in glory." How does God guide us? Through circumstances, through reason, through the fellowship of Christians, but mainly through the Scriptures. The Word of God, when we consult it, unfolds reality, dispels illusion and guides us safely through the snares and problems of this earthly way until we eventually arrive in glory. The psalmist had seen the end of the ungodly and it had helped to change his perspective. Now he sees the end of the godly and thus his perspective becomes even more clear. And what is the end of the godly? It is glory! </p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">O Father, let the prospect of coming glory fill and thrill my soul this day and every day. Help me never to forget that no matter how hard and difficult my earthly pilgrimage may be, it is as nothing compared to the glory that lies ahead. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="1pe+1:1-6">1 Peter 1:1-6</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="jude+1:24">Jude 1:24</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="ge+28:15">Genesis 28:15</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Of what was Peter convinced?</li><li>How did Jude put it?</li></ul></div></div>

" he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (v. 6) 

<p>For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.<br><br>God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. § That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. §  Jesus spoke these words. . . . “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us.”</p>

Daily Light on the Daily Path or Daily Light is a Christian daily devotional scripture reading published by Bagster & Sons about 1875. It has been reprinted continually since then. It consists of brief groupings of scripture passages which speak to prominent Biblical themes—two themes (morning and evening) for each day of the year. It appends no commentary, but simply allows scripture to speak for itself.

Evening Daily Light

 Fellowship in the gospel. 

<p> <sup class="verse-number">3</sup> I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,</p><p> <sup class="verse-number">4</sup> Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,</p><p> <sup class="verse-number">5</sup> For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;</p>

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,

Philippians 1:3

Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,

Philippians 1:4

For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;

Philippians 1:5

 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;

In 1604, King James I of England authorized that a new translation of the Bible into English be started. It was finished in 1611, just 85 years after the first translation of the New Testament into English appeared (Tyndale, 1526). The Authorized Version, or King James Version, quickly became the standard for English-speaking Protestants. Its flowing language and prose rhythm has had a profound influence on the literature of the past 400 years. The King James Version present on the Bible Gateway matches the 1987 printing. The KJV is public domain in the United States.

OT: Masoretic Text, some LXX and Vulgate influence.
NT: Textus Receptus, similar to the Byzantine text-type; some readings derived from the Vulgate.
Apocrypha: Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate.

Philippians 1:3-5 KJV

Philippians 1:3-5 KJV

Related Topics

Group of Brands