Thought for August 2, 2023

  •  1776: Formal signing of the Declaration of Independence
  • 1790: First U.S. census--3,939,214
  • 1937: Marijuana becomes illegal in U.S.
  • 1973: "American Graffiti" premiers
  • Born: Pierre L'Enfant, Frederic Bartholdi, Myrna Loy
  • Died: Wild Bill Hickok, Enrico Caruso, Alexander Graham Bell, Warren G Harding
Thought:
Looking at the first three verses of Philippians 3 today. I have underlined a couple of things in these verses. In verse one, I have underlined "rejoice in the Lord." Then if verse 3, I underlined "put no confidence in the flesh." Today, I am thinking about these two concepts.

Rejoice in the Lord. In the Old Testament the word for "rejoice" expressed a temporary  and spontaneous jubilation caused by an external stimulus that required some type of external act. So the people would rejoice at God's actions and blessings, but often only temporarily. And the rejoicing was accompanied by an external celebration.  In the New Testament, rejoicing is more about the favor of God's grace in our lives--a permanent joy caused by receiving God's grace. Paul wants the church to live in a constant state of rejoicing, no matter the circumstances. God's grace is abundant and permanent, so our joy matches His grace. 

Put no confidence in the flesh. Larry, do not depend on the flesh; don't trust the flesh, it will deceive you. You will confuse lust with love, you will rely on something that is weak and failing. If I cannot trust and rely on the flesh, where do I place my confidence. The word "confidence" means "with fidelity or faithfulness." We all had hi fi's. They reproduced the sound from the original performance with faithfulness--what we heard on the record was exactly what was recorded. I have at the house a large painting of the dog [ a Jack Russell Terrier named Nipper] standing in front of the gramophone with his head tilted at the sound of his master's voice. We rely on God, His word, His promises because we are confident--we know He will always act faithfully to His promises. 

Now, the connection--I put no confidence in the flesh because it is not trustworthy. I rejoice in the Lord because I am confident He is trustworthy. He is faithful--every word He speaks is truth and He always acts consistent with His word and character--the flesh does not do that. 

Today, where will you place your confidence? If you place it in the Lord, you will find yourself rejoicing.

Blessings
Larry

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