drenched

Philippians 2:1-16 [and how my heart should read and respond]

So if there is any encouragement in Christ [I want to encourage others in You—use me],

any comfort from love [I need You to love genuinely through me],

any participation in the Spirit [I forfeit the opportunity for walking in the Spirit in community when my life is about me],

any affection and sympathy [only one source for genuine—Jesus Christ’s example],

complete my joy by being of the same mind [we all need to live in Your mindset, Lord Jesus],

having the same love [You made us to love this way],

being in full accord and of one mind [true harmony].

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit [let my service be genuine acts of love, never a competition or to prove I am better],

but in humility count others more significant than yourselves [humility, choosing to rank myself, my needs and desires, below those of the people around me; genuine and deep interest in my friends and family].

Let each of you look not only to his own interests [but boy, that comes naturally—my food, my news, my bedtime, my exercise],

but look also to the interests of others [their jobs, relationships, schedules, hopes, fears, joys, frustrations, pains].

Have this mind among yourselves [a command—help me obey, help me choose this mindset, help me know Truth so that this mindset is mine],

which is yours in Christ Jesus [a promise—help me know You more so I may claim it],

who, though He was in the form of God [form = very nature—let this sink in somehow, Father—the demotion even to leave heaven’s glory],

did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped [count? consider, esteem, regard—whatever His evaluation looked like, He did not act on His merited status but rather gave it to us; still He is God, Jesus released all the honor and privilege that was due Him—He did not hold onto His position to enjoy exclusively for Himself, He gave it to us, the only hope we had was in His ability and desire to sacrifice—my soul was worth more to Him than comfort and the joy of heaven],

but made Himself nothing [intentionally, did it to Himself, left all glory behind, to be considered, counted as lowly by men],

taking [because it was not His inherent nature]

the form [the very essence]

of a servant [bondservant—compelled to remain in service by love for master],

being born [BORN—God left all pomp and prestige, entered the world the messy, bloody, chaotic way, like every other man since Adam]

in the likeness of men [He took the likeness of men because we are no longer the likeness of God—He had to take on our likeness to restore it to its created glory].

And [as if that were not enough]

being found in human form [He made Himself available, findable],

He humbled Himself [SOME MORE]

by becoming obedient [being fully man, He did have a choice, but He obeyed, unlike us]

to the point of death [love required that distance of obedience—my own is so short-lived—He could have turned back, forsaken us all, but He obeyed even though it cost Him what little He had left, namely the presence of His Father and breath],

even death on a cross [as He entered like every other man, He left the world the messy, bloody, chaotic way that every man and woman deserves to die, in the place of and to save the souls of every other man since Adam--the most painful, degrading and obscene means of execution known to man at the time, killed cruelly as a display of what happens to transgressors, except that He was not one—the Romans crucified criminals so that everyone knew the consequences of mutiny—Jesus Christ was crucified because every one of us has mutinied against the Kingdom of God—only His cross, His substitution on my cross, opens wide the gate and stands as a sign of freedom from wrath for all who rejoin the Father by Him].

Therefore [because He so clearly earned and deserves it]

God has highly exalted Him [Him, Jesus Christ, no one else, not even me]

and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name [far above my name],

so that at the name of Jesus [speak Your name over me ceaselessly]

every knee should bow [acknowledging worth, honor, allegiance, deference],

in heaven and on earth [that’s me]

and under the earth, and every tongue confess [so that hearts and lives truly reveal]

that Jesus Christ is Lord [the Bondservant is my Master],

to the glory of God the Father [my reason for living].

Therefore [action item because all of this is true],

my beloved, as you have always obeyed [I wish I always had, but I want to—desperately],

so now, not only as in my presence [not so other people can see]

but much more in my absence [Lord, You know my inner heart],

work out your own salvation [living the life of Christ]

with fear and trembling [on purpose, recognizing the price He paid and the calling He’s made],

for it is God who works in you [praise Him! I am not trying in vain!],

both to will [You give desire for holiness, You inform my heart and my pursuits, You spur me on]

and to work [I make myself available, but You are the Refiner, the Craftsman, the Artist]

for His good pleasure [what You do in my heart and life is to bring You greater joy, love and glory—no other end result is as sweet, as worthwhile, as You].

Do [actually do]

all things [yes, all things]

without [lacking]

grumbling [complaining, getting huffy, having an attitude, feeling demoted or disrespected]

or questioning [be submissive, reliable, trusting that in all these things my Father is still working for His good pleasure],

that [for the following reason]

you may be [because He is interested in who I am becoming more than in what I am doing]

blameless [without fault]

and innocent [if I have been serving out of the love and example of Christ],

children of God [for that is my identity]

without blemish [above reproach]

in the midst [right alongside, surrounded by, despite my surroundings and even in contrast to]

of a crooked and twisted generation [who will take shortcuts, laugh at halfhearted work as a joke and sneer at faithfulness as a mockery, declare what is wrong to be right and what is right to be wrong, and use every opportunity to build “self” at the expense of others],

among whom [do not avoid them, be among but distinct from]

you shine [in purity and love]

as lights in the world [because Jesus, the Light of the world, lives in and through me],

holding fast [because I have to grasp something]

to the word of life [rather than power and prestige, hold Jesus, the One of greatest power and supreme prestige because He showed the greatest, humblest love],

so that [there is an ultimate goal]

in the day of Christ [however distant that rewarding day may be, when all Truth is revealed]

I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain [everything is meaningless and empty if I do not strive after Christ, all for naught if I have not revealed Him to an otherwise hopeless world by pursuing His humble love as an overflow from my heart to draw all men and women to Him].