Saturday, June 11, 2016
Philippians 2 NLT B.Following the Servant Attitude of Christ (2:1-18) ~ V.Paul's Associates in the Gospel (2:19-30)
Philippians 2 NLT
1 Is there any encouragement from
belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the
Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate?
2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing
wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with
one mind and purpose.
3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to
impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.
4 Don’t look out only for your own
interests, but take an interest in others, too.
5 You must have the same attitude that
Christ Jesus had.
6 Though he was God, he did not think
of equality with God as something to cling to.
7Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he
appeared in human form,
8 he humbled himself in obedience to
God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
9Therefore, God elevated him to the place of
highest honor and gave him the name above all other names,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue declare that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12 Dear friends, you always followed my
instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more
important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with
deep reverence and fear.
13 For God is working in you, giving you
the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
14 Do everything without complaining and
arguing,
15 so that no one can criticize you.
Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a
world full of crooked and perverse people.
16 Hold firmly to the word of life;
then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the
race in vain and that my work was not useless.
17 But I will rejoice even if I lose my
life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful
service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy.
18 Yes, you should rejoice, and I will
share your joy.
19 If the Lord Jesus is willing, I hope
to send Timothy to you soon for a visit. Then he can cheer me up by telling me
how you are getting along.
20 I have no one else like Timothy, who
genuinely cares about your welfare.
21 All the others care only for themselves
and not for what matters to Jesus Christ.
22 But you know how Timothy has proved
himself. Like a son with his father, he has served with me in preaching the
Good News.
23 I hope to send him to you just as
soon as I find out what is going to happen to me here.
24 And I have confidence from the Lord
that I myself will come to see you soon.
25 Meanwhile, I thought I should send
Epaphroditus back to you. He is a true brother, co-worker, and fellow soldier.
And he was your messenger to help me in my need.
26 I am sending him because he has been
longing to see you, and he was very distressed that you heard he was ill.
27 And he certainly was ill; in fact, he
almost died. But God had mercy on him—and also on me, so that I would not have
one sorrow after another.
28 So I am all the more anxious to send
him back to you, for I know you will be glad to see him, and then I will not be
so worried about you.
29 Welcome him in the Lord’s love and
with great joy, and give him the honor that people like him deserve.
30 For he risked his
life for the work of Christ, and he was at the point of death while doing for
me what you couldn’t do from far away.
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