I will be as strong as a rock in the Lord

From: February 13-19, 2006 Study: # 481

TOPIC: “I will be as strong as a rock in the Lord” Philippians 4:1 We should build our house upon the rock. The more firm we are in the Lord the better it will be for our house. We are a house and the more our faith grows in God the better we will be able to build our house. Every house should be strong, so there are many reasons why we should be firm. One reason is because many negatives things come to destroy us. Glory to God, that the forces of Hell will not prevail against the Church. The more we know the Word of God, the firmer we will grow and nobody will be able to fool us or confuse us. Let us be firm in prayer every day. Let us take time to pray and read the Word. The church of the Philippians occupied a very privileged and special place in Paul’s heart. They were easy to love. When we give love we receive love. Paul responded to that love of the Philippians church. For him they were his crown, his joy. (Vs. 1) It was very clear to him what those people meant to him. Paul felt like a winner because he had taught them well. In those days it was a custom to put a crown on the king, on athletes and when they made big festivities a crown was given to those who assisted to the festivity as greetings. A crown is given as a reward, as gratitude and Paul compared the church with his crown and he asked them to stay firm. What makes some turn back is because they are not standing firmly on the rock but have their feet stuck in the mud. The house that doesn't fall is the one that is strong. We search for any excuse to turn back. Our eternity depends on our stability. Paul made them understand that they were the crown of his great efforts, to be able to reach them, to preach and to teach them well the importance of this gospel well-known by Paul. The more firm we are the better we can speak. The only way that we can stand and stay firm is in Jesus. Once we draw away from Him we lose stability because the devil will begin to seduce us. To be firm we have to be close to Jesus. The devil will not have any consideration with us but rather he comes to destroy us, and for us to be able to resist the seduction of the temptation and the debility of the cowardice we need to stay firm. When the devil comes to seduce us he wants to take us out of the sacred things and throw us in the dirt. It is not easy to tolerate the devil when he comes against us. The devil only wants to destroy us, to embarrass us, to seduce us so that we will live in shame. Christ doesn't give us freedom to sin. Euodia and Syntyche were two sisters that worked together with Paul and they loved the ministry. (Vs. 2) Paul implored them to be of the same mind in the Lord. We should feel the same way that Christ felt and this can only be reached with prayer and letting the Lord take us by the hand at all times. When we are far from Jesus there is no longer unity. The church must have the same mind. If we all have the same mind we will go about doing what we need to do. Sometimes instead of building we live in a great war. In many occasions we think that our thoughts are the best and it is not this way. What we need to be is loyal and faithful to the Lord. When we are loyal to God treason does not exist. In many occasions we don't agree with our brother, but when it comes to the Lord it is necessary for us to abandon our low personal discrepancies so that the Lord will be exalted and so that His work may prosper and move forward. Those women were very important in the ministry of Philippi but with their attitude they were a bad example for

the church. Our attitudes sometimes speak louder than our mouth because they show what is really inside of us. We must be careful with our attitudes because they are a bad example to those who surround us and it harms the Church. A bad example destroys the unity. Paul exhorted them to come to an agreement in the love and unity of the church. Each one of these sisters had their way of working and thought that their method was the best. We must remain united because we all work for the ministry. Each one works differently. We must love what is of each other. We must love unity and forget about our personal methods. Sometimes we cannot remain firm because we haven’t loved Jesus. Our Lord Jesus is the only one who really knows how to do things right. Paul wrote to these sisters because he knew that between them there were struggles. Euodia and Syntyche were going through great struggles and Paul made every effort possible to bring unity. If we as the body of Christ maintain the unity we will go through history as pacifiers. It is necessary to know that we are loved and that we must care for our brothers and sisters in Christ. From a distance Paul brought peace. Let us maintain peace as much as we possibly can. If we go on arguing we will not make the best of it. Maintaining peace is to know that we must arrive to what is most important; we must hug others even if we don’t agree, love them and cry with them. Paul describes two great qualities: to rejoice and to be gentle. Vs. 4, 5 What surrounds us is not what is most important but to stay firm in Jesus. In many occasions we see injustice, but we must pray more because He will favor us. The joy is always in Christ; therefore, we have to remain in Him so that we will always be joyful. The other quality is to be gentle. Our gentleness is a requirement, an obligation for the Church. We are made to have joy and to be kind and we will no longer have people that will abandon us. Life is short and we must learn to live it. Our joy and gentleness is Christ. The more we love, the closer Christ will be. We must work with love and treat others as we want God to treat us. We are not able to do anything with our own strength. Peace is the fruit of our prayers. There is nothing too big or small; everything will worry us to pray. God sees everything and He will come out on our behalf. Being thankful accompanies our prayer when we are totally preserved for God, for the one who makes everything. It is convenient for us to have wisdom from God. Sometimes we cannot do anything because we ignore God’s power. Let it be known in prayer whatever makes us eager so that we will never live annoyed or with complaints. Let us take our worries and eagerness to God and not to any man here on earth. If we maintain peace we will have much to conquer. Peace will guard us; it protects our mind and our heart which is perverse and deceitful. For this reason we must guard it with peace. Peace comes from God and He will take care of our heart. When there is peace we don’t feel surprised by the problems we must live through. May there be peace in the midst of our tragedies and adverse circumstances. Amen.