Ramesh C. Reddy
Editor in Chief
Hi everyone :)
May the God of grace and peace fill your hearts with His grace and peace! Amen!
Devotional Times (Psalm 119:73-80, Proverbs 10, Philippians 1:21)
"Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands." (Psalm 119:73)
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21)
Observations:
I found Paul’s response to be very positive because whatever way he looked at it, he was optimistic that it would turn out for good. It is that much more meaningful when I recalled that Paul wrote these words while chained in prison. Yet, his outlook looked positive.
Interpretation:
1. To live is Christ!
I asked myself what could this mean?
What came to my mind was that living for Paul meant being an imitation of Christ where he was. He saw himself as a slave to Christ and Christ as his Master. He might have felt that living here on earth, he could be a model of Christ for those that did not know Christ to draw them to Christ. He does not end with living but also talks about dying as is evidenced by the next phrase:
2. To die is gain!
I asked myself what could this mean?
What came to my mind was that dying for Paul meant being with Christ in Heaven. That was exciting for Paul. It shows when Paul emphasized that even if he died, it would be a gain for him. He was not afraid of dying for believing in Jesus Christ as His Master. As a slave to Christ, He was willing to die for the Master.
Application:
I saw important implications in these two points:
Point 1: To live is Christ
If we are living, we may as well live for Christ for He is worthy of our service to Him. Paul who was chained and imprisoned believed in living for Christ. If Paul could do that, what is stopping us from making our lifestyle reflect Christ? It is so awesome to know that we can live our lives in such a way with the help of the Holy Spirit that people can notice Christ in us. We can be an imitation of Christ here on earth by the way we live if we let the Spirit of the Living God to control us and lead us!
What is the big deal? If we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us and lead us, people will notice a difference in our lives and they won’t attribute it to us but to the One that has given us the ability to live this lifestyle. We will be pointing others to Christ by our lifestyle.
Have you ever heard the expression that states, “You may be the only Jesus people will see?”
Basically, a lot of pre-Christians decide whether they want to be a follower of Christ depending on their observance of Christians and how they live their life. If a Christian’s life is Pharisee minded than they are repelled from wanting to know Christ but if the Christian’s mind is Christ-minded, than they will be drawn to Christ as a fish is drawn to the right kind of bait. Jesus was not kidding when he made the statement, “Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”. It can also be seen as fishers of the souls of men. We are to be the right kind of bait in the living we do that we may be the imitation of Christ. On our own strength, ‘to live is Christ’ is not possible apart from the Holy Spirit’s presence and filling. But with the Holy Spirit’s presence in us ‘to live is Christ’ can become a reality for those around us.
Point 2: To die is gain
When we die, we can have that gain too that Paul was confident of. If life were just the kind of existentialism Frederick Nietzche believed in without an after-life, Paul would not have mentioned it to be gain. This is something that Frederick Nietzche never understood. His philosophy was based on ‘God is dead’ rather than ‘God is living’. Paul was a philosopher in his own way and he understood more about life and death and the benefits of dying when people have Christ as their Master. That is why he could boldly state, ‘To die is gain’. Knowing God is living, we can have that gain to when we have Christ in our lives. Christ is living and when we die we can be with Him eternally forever.
He wants to be our Savior who saves us, atones for our sins, visits us when we have been victimized, inspires us, openly offers ownership, and receives those redeemed readily.
I ask you now dear friends, how do you see life and death?
Dear friends, both life and death can be a gain with Christ in the center of our lives. Living life with Christ won’t be easy as Paul attested to it but Paul saw it as being worth it. No matter what you are going through, you can be an example to others who can be drawn to Christ by the way you live your life with the power of the Holy Spirit working in you and through you as you receive His help. So when death comes, it does not have to be oblivion but it can be life in Heaven which itself is a gain.
May you experience the meaning of life through Christ and understand gain of dying in Christ!
Living Is Forever Eternal (L.I.F.E)
Savior!
By Ramesh C. Reddy
Savior saves sinners
Allowing atonement always
Valiantly visiting victimized
Immanuel imparts inspiration
Openly offering ownership
Receiving redeemed readily!
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, I want to thank you for being our Savior and saving us sinners. You Oh Lord became the atonement for us sinners now and forever. We thank you for valiantly visiting humanity that has been victimized by the infection of sin. We thank you for being our Immanuel who has imparted your inspiration in our lives through your Word and openly offering us ownership into your Kingdom receiving the redeemed readily. We thank you that we are redeemed because of the price you paid for us on the cross and our submission to you as we lay all our sins at the cross and ask for your forgiveness. Thank you for your forgiveness of our sins and coming back to life to save us as we acknowledge what you have done for us and believe in our heart that you were raised from the dead and as we confess that you are Lord. In life and death, we pray that you will be the center of our lives so both outcomes can be a gain than a loss as your servant and apostle Paul saw it. Help us to be the fisherman you want us to be by imitating your healthy lifestyle and expecting your mission to be answered through your servants now as we preach and proclaim the Gospel in word and deed through you our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thank you for hearing us and answering us. We pray this in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! Amen!
Love in Christ,
Ramesh
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