Ramesh C. Reddy
Editor in Chief
Hello everyone :)
May you all come to know that you can be holy everyday as you valiantly involve your Redeemer in your life! Amen!
Quiet Times (Psalm 119:153-160 and Philippians 2:14-16)
“The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.” (Psalm 119:160, NKJV)
“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life— in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.” (Philippians 2:14-16)
Observations:
I asked myself WHAT?
I saw two commands were given here:
I asked myself WHO and WHY?
I saw a reason given for being obedient to those commands:
I asked myself WHERE?
1. In a crooked generation.
2. In a depraved generation.
I asked myself HOW?
1. By shining like stars in the universe!
2. By holding out the word of life.
Interpretations:
It is very interesting that Paul writes about complaining and arguing while he is still a prisoner in chains. He let them know how he has lived even in chains according to chapter 1. The emphasis is placed on not complaining and arguing so that they can live out being blameless and pure children of God in a crooked and depraved generation.
I decided to focus on the 'How' aspect!
It is amazing how that generation was called crooked and depraved. Imagine now with internet, TV, movies, clubs that depict strippers and pornography as one example of how much crooked and depraved our generation has become. The business for those things exists because of people attracted to those areas. Again this is only one example. We need not be part of the people attracted there!
Application:
I saw important implications for our own lives too and not just for the Philippians then.
It is in this crooked and depraved generation, as children of God we are told to act in a positive way so that the effect maybe shining like stars in the universe, holding out the word of life.
I asked myself what is the significance of shining like stars in the universe?
What came to my mind is that stars are really bright emitting a lot of light as you draw close to them. The closer you draw near to them, they shine more. Yet, far away too you can see their radiance.
In the same way, as people inspect our lives closely, they need to see that we do shine brightly as a light because we live for the Light of the World. And that our light comes from the Light of the World. Even from a distance if people hear about you, they can still know that you shine brightly because of your behavior being an imitation of Christ.
Light covers over the darkness and helps people find the right pathway.
The Bible says those who want to do right come into the light but those who want to do evil hide from the light because they are afraid their deeds will be revealed.
As I thought about that it occurred to me that this is so true so many times when it comes to aspects of pornography. So many people are involved with it in the dark where they cannot be found out yet the Lord sees it in His Light for nothing can be hidden from the Lord.
We may hide secret sins from people but the Lord is watching everywhere and holds us accountable for our actions. This does not mean that He is unwilling to forgive us and help us as we turn to Him.
It is interesting that shining out like stars in the universe is mentioned first before mentioning about holding out the word of life.
I asked myself why?
It occurred to me unless our lives reflect the light of Christ for other people in our crooked and depraved generation, we will just be seen as hypocritical and they won’t pay attention to the word of life even when we hold it. Instead, we will be part of the statistic about being crooked and depraved.
On the other hand, if our lives reflect the light of Christ, then when we hold out the word of life, others will be more attracted to it because they know it is the word of life that has brought the light in our lives.
I ask you now dear friends how is your behavior?
Dear friends, our behavior dictates to others who we are following whether we are following the Light of the World or the prince of darkness. For we cannot follow both at the same time! When we engage in things like occultism and pornography especially, we have given ourselves to the devil for the time being. When we are in his control, he uses us as a pawn as he wishes for we let down our Spiritual defenses and allowed ourselves to dabble in those areas. Those are not the only areas but examples I wanted to focus on because in another version the word perverse is used. Perverse brings to mind perversion and that is what engaging in pornography and occultism eventually leads to.
Sadly most violent crimes are attributed to pornography and occultism whether it be killings or violent sexual assaults. I am not saying that if you are involved in those things you will become a serial killer or rapist but statistics show the possibility of those actions. All these things make our generation crooked and perverse.
In all of this, we are called to stand out as lights!
For the Word of the Lord says, "Be ye perfect, as my Heavenly Father is perfect" and "Be Holy, for I am Holy."
Apart from the Redeemer we cannot live in holiness but valiantly seeking after the Redeemer can change our behavior!
Friend, won’t you stand with me on this?
Each of us can make a difference in this world as we have the Light of the World to direct our behavior. We can start with simple things such as taking a stand against watching ‘R’, ‘NR’, ‘Adult’ movies, taking a stand against reading horoscopes, tarot cards, etc! Nothing is fun about any of that.
Friend, I don’t know if these two areas are the one who struggle with or if there are other crooked or depraved things that have a hold on you. But this I do know, that whatever your struggle, Jesus loves you so much and wants to help you. He sees you as His child and wants you to be blameless and pure and there to pick you up each time you fall when you turn to Him. I know and believe, deliverance is on the way. Keep holding on to Jesus and you will hold on to hope. He wants to be your All in All!
You know when I used to watch ‘R’ rated movies using the ‘good plot’ as an excuse I would feel so horrible later. I would feel so yucky that I would go and read Psalm 51 telling the Lord how sorry I was. My conscience was so strong and I was so happy about that.
It was the Lord working in me and pointing me in the right direction but I needed to do my part. No matter how many times I messed up, the Lord forgave and delivered me.
You know there was a time that I could not even stand hearing a curse word. By God’s grace I have never cursed in my life and curse words were vocabulary I did not even want to hear. My friends knew that too so when they would talk near me and curse, they would automatically come and say ‘sorry oops, didn’t know you were here’. It was really nice how they respected that!
One time at work, my friend kept cursing but knew that I could not stand hearing curse words because I was a Christian. As a friend, she decided to do something. She told me that every time she cursed, she would give me a dime and asked me to hold her accountable when I heard her curse.
There were times she did really well in an 8 hour day but a life habit can rarely be overturned in one day or few days. She almost owed $10.00 from that. She then took that money and took it to a church. What came of that is that she stopped cursing. Another friend of mine decided to do that to after seeing her.
You know because of my actions, I earned the right to be able to speak to her from the Bible and she listened. One time while we were working, we were also able to talk simultaneously as long as we got our stats in a high range. I took her through the entire Book of Genesis in a story format. The next time she was waiting for me to do that for the Book of Deuteronomy.
I share that with you because with the Lord’s help I was able to stand out as a light for the Lord at that moment. You know people would say to me, “Ramesh, I would give anything to hear you curse or do this and that.”
But, I stood on the promises of the Lord. I wish it were always like that but it was not as I gave into the flesh as years went by but I am so thankful the Lord has brought me back to that point. It is not easy for me when there is an exciting action adventure movie or comedy but it is rated ‘R’ when my friends want to watch it, etc.
Yet, to be obedient to the Lord, I refrain from watching and wait until the edited for television version comes. I am not saying as Christians we need to shield ourselves from everything we see wrong around ourselves. If we do that to the extreme we will be so heavenly minded that we become of no earthly good! The Lord wants us to be in the world but not of the world.
May you be able to come to that point so you can shine out as stars in the universe and hold out the Word of life being guided by the Light of the World!
I also know that I need not be perfect before sharing the Gospel with others. For in our weakness, the Lord is strong and can work in us and through us. The key is that our behavior is dependent on the Lord for help and when we go our own way, we confess and repent of it to be forgiven.
Behaving Everyday Holy After Valiantly Involving Our Redeemer! (B.E.H.A.V.I.O.R)/”How is your behavior?”
Prayer:
Dear Jesus, we are in this world and you placed us here. Yet, you want us to be in the world but not of it. Jesus, when people around us are involved in things and they are our friends, it can be hard not to go along because of peer pressure, etc. Yet, you want our allegiance to be to you foremost as your child Oh God. Father God, we cannot live as shining lights and hold out your Word without your direct intervention in our lives. So, please Father God help us to live for you and serve you. We are so sorry for the wrongs we have done and for not loving you with our whole heart. Deliver us Oh Lord and help us to be blameless and pure as you want us to. Jesus, help us also not to isolate ourselves from the world and our friends just because they do not live the way we want to live. On the contrary, help us to be examples in their lives and show your love to them. Lead me on Oh Lord. You are my all in all. You are my Prince of Peace, Rock, Savior, and Friend. You are my Holy Father guiding me through to live a life of righteousness, holy righteousness. Oh God, I need you more than ever. I need to feel your hands around me holding me tight. I need your love to surround me so that you can glow in my life. Help me please Jesus. I desire in your presence. Thank you for guiding me to live a life of righteousness. Oh God you love me more than ever. You hear my voice when I cry out to you. When I seek your face, you fill me up. You are my all in all. Thank you Jesus so much for your help no matter what I face, your grace is available and you take my case. Thank you for hearing us and answering us. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! AMEN! (Part of the prayer is from a vineyard song called “All in All”)
Love in Christ,
Ramesh
P.S. Check out the Zany Crossword puzzle I created for you all.
It is interactive which means you can solve it online.
Give us your feedback if you agree or disagree