“Paul’s message to us today is simply this: If we want to increase our joy despite our past, we need to recalculate what really matters. We need to cut our losses in the things we once trusted in and make a shift to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As Jim Elliot, a martyred Christian […]
“No doubt, [Paul] is the Theologian of Joy. He thought about it all the time. He bathed in it. . . . It is very dangerous to go through a day without proactively practicing the principles of joy present in this letter. Each day our circumstances, other people, our past, and our propensity to worry […]
“Doing the right thing for other people has a way of [relieving our anxiety]. Losing something for the sake of others has the profound effect of giving us back more, usually in the currency of increased inner joy and contentment.”- Randy Frazee “But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my […]
“Sharing good news with someone, who in turn actively celebrates that news, has a profound way of increasing everyone’s joy. It not only multiplies the benefits of the positive event; it strengthens the bond between the two people involved, which raises joy levels.”- Randyn Frazee “For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown […]
“What was Paul doing to increase his joy? He was celebrating other people’s success. Very few people discover this wonderful access point to joy. We get super focused on ourselves and sometimes then get a bit jealous of others. But when we, instead, celebrate others and speak that to them and even broadcast it to […]
“When we are grumpy . . . we snag [people’s] joy away from them. When we live like Jesus, it lifts the spirits of everyone within striking distance of our presence, including ourselves. Paul invited the Philippian church and us to join him in this constellation of gladness.”- Randy Frazee “We destroy arguments and every […]
“Salvation is not only positional but also experiential and should be realized in the daily life of the believer. Working it out means that we grow up into our new identity as children of God who will inherit eternal life in the kingdom of God and set our sights on looking and living more like […]
“Biblical humility flows out of a person not with low self-esteem, but with high God esteem. This frees us to focus on building others up. This is the way Christ did it.”- Randy Frazee “Have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to […]
“Unity is impossible if each person is out for themselves. . . . We are called to do our part to maintain peace in our relationships (Romans 12:18). However, sometimes — many times — people don’t do their part. We are left to decide how we will respond to the bad behavior of others.”- Randy […]
“As fellow Christians . . . we don’t bow down to the principles of the Bible because we must, but because we can’t help ourselves. The grace we have received in Christ . . . and the comfort and compassion that have helped us through difficult and dark seasons of life should motivate us to […]
“Why does embracing our no-lose situation as Christians work to produce greater joy in us? Bottom line, because we can cope with hope. . . . If I am going into a situation where I know I cannot lose, I don’t lose any sleep over it. Every believer in Jesus has this in their toolbox […]
“The telescope brings distant things closer, and the microscope makes tiny things look big. to the unbeliever, Jesus is not very big. Other people and other things are far more important. But as the unbeliever watches Christians go through a crisis experience, he ought to be able to see how big Jesus really is. The […]