Lesson 6: Joy fears nothing
Philippians 1:1-30 – www.bible.com/bible/59/php.1
21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.
23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.
We begin this lesson with the same verse with which we ended the last lesson – our purpose for living is Christ, and the expectation of the physical death of our bodies is never a cause for fear.
*What is your greatest fear in life?
God does not want you to be afraid of anything. Losing a job or social status, illness, poverty, being hurt by others – none of these things are reason for fear. How can God say this? How can we live without ever being afraid?
The only way this is possible is by living in certain hope and faith in Jesus Christ. Again, we cannot trust in anything in ourselves to keep fear at bay, for such certainty comes only from and through someone who is greater and more powerful than we are – God. While we might be able to imagine bits or pieces of our future, they cannot be enough to allow us to forsake fear of the unknown. Hope and faith strong enough to understand how our death can mean gain for us comes only from God.
Joy springs up in our heart when we accept His truth by faith, and such joy becomes the power for faithful labor with and for God. Such joy can only come through complete trust in the one and only God who has promised us that nothing can ever separate us from His love – see Romans 8:35-39.
The proof that this kind of joy lives in us is demonstrated as our service becomes Kingdom-centered rather than self-centered. Our focus is no longer on what WE want or what is good for OUR future or wellbeing. In a future lesson we will read about our minds being transformed into being like Christ’s mind – Philippians 2:5; this is Kingdom-centered living. It is putting God first (Matthew 6:33) and letting Him take care of our circumstances. It is never a trade with God – we give Him what we think He wants so He will give us what we want. It is simply giving Him all control over our life and will and choices and dreams and all we have and are, and promising to do all He asks of us and letting Him choose and determine all the results, because we trust Him to work all things out for our good – Romans 8:28-29.