The Phil Files

I think I needed to see this vid today and be reminded of Who I work for and why I do what I do and how important it is not to waste the opportunities that God gives me to live for Him, enjoy the life and people He has placed in my life, and to value what is important and not sweat the other stuff.

Make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed (Romans 13:11-12 MSG).

From Triumphal Entry to the Cross, from the Cross to the Empty Tomb, we have a tough and wonderful journey this next week. And there is one focus, one goal, one reality, that carries us through and helps us see what we need to see, feel what we need to feel, know what we need to know, and believe what we need to believe:

Keepin’ our Eyes on the Christ!

Peter sinking like a rock after doing the impossible reminds us this important truth. And even in those moments when we fail, when we sink, we can still cry out, and the mighty hand of God that sustained Israel through all their troubles and was stretched out to receive the nails intended for us will reach down and save us, too!

It’s a hard week to Resurrection, but Jesus bids us to walk with Him through storm and find his arms outstretched to show His love and receive us when we keep our eyes fixed on Him!

The battle of David and Goliath is not just a story about a shepherd boy and a seasoned military killer of gigantic proportions. David is stirred to step into battle because of the disrespect, the blasphemy, hurled at the LORD by this violent and insolent Philistine. Bill Hybels nails the heart of the story that we may lose in any visual portrayal of the battle. What is at heart is this one question: Is there anything I hold as so important that I view it as worth fighting for and even losing my life to defend?

The battle of the Cross is an even greater struggle of Jesus against forces greater than the obvious religious establishment and the power of Roman military and political might. Jesus is battling the evil one and the powers of hell as he goes to the Cross and faces death, and Jesus triumphs through the very vile form of death the devil tries to use to silence and put an end to God’s redemptive work:

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits — to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves youa also — not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heavena and is at God’s right hand — with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him (1 Peter 3:18-22).

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he [Christ] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over themb by the cross (Colossians 2:15).

Jesus, who came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10), says that we are worth fighting for… the lost and forgotten and trapped in sin are worthy fighting for… and our Lord was willing to pay the highest of prices to win this war for us.

So as some of us take flak and criticism for reaching out to places church folks won’t often go to share Jesus, our price is small indeed compared to the Lord’s price, but the price Jesus paid reminds us that these people are the very kinds of folks worth fighting for! Each time we take communion — each time we hold the bread the cup to our lips — we should hear the words from Jesus, “Given for you!” and be emboldened to do for others what Jesus has already done for us!

We all fall short of what God wants of us. The real question is not “If?” but “What now?”

Samson failed many times, but not the last time. While taking a little creative license, this clip drives home a crucial point: God longs to use us if we will trust the LORD will pardon, cleanse, and strengthen us for the good of the Kingdom.

As John wrote struggling believers centuries ago, so it is still true today:

This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world (1 John 1:5-2:2 NLT).

Love eternal? Nah, we’ll take assurance that “Love 214″ hit its proper mark!

Ah, Valentine’s Day. The day of terror for most men. But not you, right?

Got your wife the last season of Duck Dynasty — hope not!

And return the blender, the vacuum cleaner, washing machine, and any other household cleaner, appliance, or tool.

Go personal. Go Pinterest. Go Pintastic Love!

Oh and BTW, don’t make it harder than it has to be. Take time to show her you love her… Valentines Day and circle a day on the calendar in two weeks and do something special again.

If it’s real, it will matter!

The book of Ecclesiastes is written to be a religious cattle prod — a harsh reminder that God can’t be put in a box and truth can’t be reduced to simplistic slogans, bumper stickers, or trite-isms. The whole book needs to be taken as a dialogue of difference wisdom principles that brings us to the ultimate reality: reverence God and live out his will, for this is the whole purpose of being human — everything else is vanity and chasing after the wind (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). Jesus put in more positive terms:

“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter” (Matthew 7:21 NLT).

“Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:35 NLT).

So, as we approach the SuperBowl and are thinking about the glory to be won, let’s remember the words of Duane Thomas, chosen SuperBowl VI MVP (long story we won’t repeat here about why it was awarded to Roger Staubach). Thomas was asked about playing in the ultimate game. His response was: “If it’s the ultimate game, how come they’re playing it again next year?”

Yes, fame is fleeting. What’s done today has been done before and simply forgotten. What we do will leave an imprint, make a difference, and then be lost in the shifting sands of time’s constantly changing forgetfulness.

This little YouTube video from The Voice says it well!