Guard: June 18, 2010

Today's Word for Friday June 18, 2010

GUARD

DEFINITION
Protect; keep safe; be cautious; a means of defense.

SCRIPTURE

"Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe." Philippians 3:1

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE

We can remember as parents regularly reminding our children to guard against many things that could be harmful. Spiritually, we reminded them to guard against false teachings that went against what they believed about God and Jesus. We reminded them to guard against evil temptations that they would face in school and in life in general. We also reminded them to guard against attempts of their peers to weaken their standards.

This third chapter of Philippians is noted as one of the great chapters in the Bible. It includes the personal testimony of the apostle Paul and his goals in his Christian life. It gives us some of the great principles that governed Paul's life. Paul's desire was always to grow in the Lord and to become more Christ like. In this chapter Paul outlines for the believer some things the Christian believer must do as he presses on for Christ.

Paul emphasizes first that a believer must guard himself. In the first three verses he outlines four ways in which a believer can guard himself. Today we will deal with one of these ways - rejoicing in the Lord.

We can guard ourselves against the trials of life by rejoicing in the Lord. When we rejoice in the Lord our focus will be on the Lord. As we walk our daily walk two things always confront us as believers. They are the physical challenges and the spiritual challenges. No matter where we go the trials of life confront us and we have to stand face to face with these sometimes awful trials. We must not allow difficult circumstances to destroy our faith and our relationship with the Lord.

The biggest challenge for us as believers is being on guard against the devil and false teachers. Peter warns us in 1 Peter 5:8 to be on guard and watch out for the devil because he is our enemy and is on the prowl like a roaring lion seeking to devour us. He tries to overwhelm us by enticing temptations, lust of the eyes and of the flesh, greed, selfishness, arguments, inhuman behavior, accidents and disease. We can never let down our guard against the devil. No person escapes the trials of this life and Paul reminds us that the first guard that we have against these trials is to rejoice in the Lord. If all throughout the day we are continually rejoicing in the Lord then our mind is on the Lord. When we focus on the Lord we cannot help but think about all that Christ has done for us.

If a believer is to guard himself against the onslaught of trials and false teachings and if the believer is to press on in his or her Christian life, we must walk about guarding our faith by rejoicing in the Lord.

The great thing that rejoicing does for the believer is that it places and keeps a person in the presence of Christ. A believer knows that nothing can separate him from the love of Christ (Romans 8:35-39). We will face trials in this sinful world but there is not one trial so big that it can separate us from Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.

Paul faced many trials in his life. He had been beaten, stoned, imprisoned, homeless and without food and water. In spite of all he suffered, Paul continued to rejoice in the Lord. In Philippians 4:4 Paul says it twice: "Rejoice always in the Lord. I will say it again: REJOICE."

Remember this - that rejoicing in the Lord according to the apostle Paul is the perfect way to guard yourself against the trials of life that you will face.

LEARNING

Our memory verse for this week is found in Romans 8:14

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.

PRAYER

Give me the alertness today to guard against the trials and false teachings that I will face today. Help me to have a spirit of rejoicing every moment of this day