March 10, 2025

March 10, 2025 -- Philippians 2:8-11 -- Fall in worship

March 10, 2025/ Richard T. Vander Vaart

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father.
Philippians 2:8-11 ESV

Credit where credit is due. The inspiration for the following illustration came from listening to a Tim Keller podcast.

You’ve seen it, right? People who meet their hero, say a great hockey player, and they lose their ability to speak coherently. Sometimes there is a half bow, or a nod of the head because of the raw talent endlessly honed into great ability. Such ability is appropriately humbling to us. In the presence of such perfection, we realize our limits our imperfections and our unwillingness to do what it takes to achieve greatness. Infinitely more, Jesus is greater. More glorious. More perfect. More honed in His perfections. And in awestruck wonder believers and non-believers will bow before the Greatest One. His excellences, His flawlessness-in-human-form causes us, inferior, sinful, having many imperfections people to fall down in appropriate adoration.

Look at the extent of His exaltation. Every knee in heaven will bow. The angels that from the moment of creation have worshipped will now bend their knees. Their great power pales before His Almighty power. Angels that longed to look into such things as to why Jesus would take on flesh, who did not understand salvation because it is only humans who needing Jesus’ salvation can understand it. So angels will bow in astonishment at the completed wonder of salvation. All the people on earth. All who have ever lived. All the people who were dead and buried and raised will instantaneously fall in adoration of Jesus.

Angels and demons, God-haters and Jesus worshipers, great and small, all will bow before Jesus. His greatness will be so openly revealed that none can withstand His superlative excellencies, and they will before such limitless purity feel themselves to be lost in wonder which leads them to bow. This is what you, dear believers must contemplate. This is your King. This is Him Who is all-excellent. If you lose everything you ever owned, ever had, and all your reputation, but you have Jesus, you are rich beyond measure.

Father in heaven just and true are all Your ways! Great is Your unstoppable love presented to us in Jesus Christ. Blessed Savior, teach me to meditate on You as the radiant ambassador of the Father’s great love. You are the most-excellent one Who would not allow anything to hinder Your work of reconciling wretchedly sinful humans to God through Your precious blood. What cost. What depths of obedience. What a Savior You are! Spirit of God, it is tempting to look away. Greatness makes us want to turn, immediately seeking something less difficult to contemplate than our abject neediness and the superlative worthiness of Christ. But we pray You, hold us in the grip of grace and love until our stubborn hearts break, enthralled by such incomprehensible excellencies and our lives gush with wonder, praise, and love for Jesus, and this to the glory and praise of God the Father. Amen.

https://youtu.be/ohxSXsVgV-A?si=s5YSt0bHbJ66bsRc What Wondrous Love is This

March 09, 2025

March 9, 2025 -- Philippians 2:25 -- Who is your Epaphroditus?

March 09, 2025/ Richard T. Vander Vaart

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need…
Philippians 2:25 ESV

When I started memorizing this section of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, I was thinking how time-bound it is. How is it relevant to me, today, in 2025? I mean, it is obvious that Paul was blessed by the messenger who had been sent by the little Philippian congregation. Epaphroditus traveled, risking his safety, and brought to him their financial gift and news of how the people were doing. While it is true the people at Philippi sent Epaphroditus to Paul, it is even more accurate, truth really, to note it was God Himself to sent Epaphroditus. Realizing this, the passage broke open.

I think of the man who does so much here in Moncton, Alan, volunteering with Redemption Prison Ministry. He prepares the prayer prompter and bulletin each week for our Wednesday Chapel. He is often driving here and there, bringing various people under the care of RPM to meetings, appointments, or out for a social event. He visits people during the week. Prays for the ministry, and with Fay, prays for me and Carolyn, their brother and sister in Christ. He and Fay are fellow workers. They long for the gospel of Jesus Christ to be brought to all whom God would bring into our path. They have opened their home on Sunday mornings for Chapel Services and Wednesday evenings for supper and then a chapel/bible study. Fay has endless recipes for wonderful suppers on Wednesdays. There are always special desserts, made from recipes she has collected from various people. Fay makes sure any left-over food and desserts are always sent home with our attendees.

God has presented me with fellow soldiers. At critical times in my life there are men whom God has raised up and who, by their presence and help, I know I have fellow soldiers. Gabe is my accountability partner. He can, and often does, ask me anything about my walk with God. What a blessing. I have known him for more than twenty years and though we are separated by many miles, God has blessed us so that we stay in contact through texting and calls. Over the last two days, a new friend, Stephen, was to me and my traveling companion, Devon, a fellow soldier. I was committed to going to Grand Falls on Friday. The weather would say otherwise. Stephen met me and my fellow traveler in Woodstock. I was done. The roads were bad. Despite the snow (which already since the mid-way point of travel to Woodstock) was blowing through the air, and drifting over the highways, he met us. He had his truck with AWD, warmed and ready, and he drove to Grand Falls while we stayed warm, safe and blessed by his ministry. On Saturday, having brought me back to Woodstock, he sheltered me and then re-arranged his schedule so that he could, through bad weather, once again, bring me this time to Edmundston where I could minister to a young man.

On Saturday morning, before we headed out, he prepared breakfast. Stephen hosted two people who minister to his needs, and have often ministered to mine, Paul and Joyce. A lovely couple living in Woodstock; they have been prayer warriors and dear friends. They are a couple who minister to the needs of many.

There are many others, like David, who regularly call to encourage me. People near and far who read the prayer prompter and pray. Others who have contributed financially to RPM, the national office. Others who contribute to the local needs here in Moncton, through the Redemption Prison Ministry Moncton - Mercy Fund. Still others who have brought food for Wednesday night suppers.

At various critical times and through unexpected people, God has sent His messengers. There are men, who I’d love to mention, who know who they are, who are God’s messengers to me. (Privacy concerns forbid me to publicize their names.) Men who have depression but courageously show up for Bible study anyway. A man who is memorizing (and is way in the distance ahead of me in his memorization). A man who, though previously never a letter-writer, suddenly has become eloquent in the Lord and is writing frequent letters. There are many others who minister to me and who minister to Carolyn and me as a couple.

Who is the Epaphroditus God has raised up in your life? The brother, the fellow worker, the fellow soldiers, those who minister to your needs. I urge you to spend time blessing God for the mercy He has shown you through the service of these men and women. Bless Jesus, Who is ultimately the great elder brother, your fellow worker (see: I Corinthians 3:9.) Who soldiers side by side with you in the gospel ministry? Who ministers to your need? Bless God in prayer with thanksgiving. It is the Spirit of God Who raises up such people so that in unity with God and with fellow Christians you can serve with gospel power.

Glorious Father in heaven, You do all things well. By Your Spirit’s work in me, give me recall so that I will recognize and acknowledge with thanks before You those who You’ve sent to minister to me. Thank You, above all, for Jesus Christ, to Whom, by their work and ministry, all those messengers of the gospel bear witness. Amen.

https://youtu.be/h89-3_kIRDA?si=N6mgO5m31NWsc2pg Your Love Broke Through

March 07, 2025

March 7, 2025 -- Philippians 2:19-24 -- I have no one like Jesus

March 07, 2025/ Richard T. Vander Vaart

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.
Philippians 2:19-24 ESV

Prison is clarifying. When you’re in prison those who were your friends because they can get something from you, or are friends because you are useful to them, or are fair weather friends, leave. Paul is in prison. Timothy stuck by him. No wonder Paul can write of his proven worth. What kind of friend are you? At the first sign of trouble do you leave your friends? Will you remain a friend when the other person fails, badly? Will you remain a friend through betrayals?

Jesus describes Himself as our Friend (John 15:14-15). What a statement that is. He knows all His disciples will abandon Him, one will betray Him, another will deny Him. Yet He endured. In fact, He suffered, was condemned and then crucified. All His disciples scattered for the trial which condemned innocent Jesus. Peter, in the courtyard where the trial was taking place vehemently denied Jesus. Called a curse on himself rather than acknowledging Jesus. John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, did not even stand with Peter and call him out and help keep him steady in Christ. He was silent as Jesus was slandered. After His resurrection on the third day, Jesus sought out His disciples. They’d locked themselves in a room, because they were afraid of the authorities. He approached them. He spoke healing peace to them. He showed Himself to be the true friend Who sticks closer than a brother.

The life of a Christian is compelling precisely because a Christian friend is a true friend who stands by you through the worst life has to offer. A Christian friend has the courage to tell you to your face when you are wrong and still loves you. Post betrayal a Christian friend is still prepared to meet with you. A Christian friend, like Jesus, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (I Corinthians 13:7). Your Christian friend is not gullible nor participating in your wrongdoing. It is the Christian friend who believes no matter how broken the situation is now, how ruined things are, it is in the power of and for the God to repair it, or to use the pain and suffering for your instruction and that too is for His glory.

Father in heaven how vast and high and wide and deep is Your love for me. It is almost too hard to really sit with and meditate on it. My sin and wretchedness, my betrayals and rebellion against You, punished on the Person of Jesus so that I can be called Your beloved child. Thank You for the clearest demonstration of Your love which has been openly declared to me through Jesus Christ. Thank You for the presence of Your Spirit Who lives in me as a believer and Who continually instructs me in the love of Jesus that wells up in me to eternal life. Amen.

March 04, 2025

March 4, 2025 -- Philippians 2:17-18 -- How do suffering and rejoicing mix?

March 04, 2025/ Richard T. Vander Vaart

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
Philippians 2:17-18

The word rejoice is frequently used in Philippians. Though Paul is in prison, suffering, he rejoices, and he called on the Philippians to rejoice also. Though he is facing the prospect of death again he rejoices. He uses a strange expression, being poured out upon the sacrificial offering of your faith. In imitation of Christ, Paul was prepared for the possibility that his life would be poured out in his service to the Philippians (and others). He does so willingly. He does so knowing that his death is not the end of the story but places him in the presence of Jesus Christ for all eternity, which he has described as far better (1:23).

In a very real sense his self-sacrifice is placed alongside of the sacrifice of the Philippians as well. They had sent Epaphroditus to Paul. They’d sent him gifts of financial support. They prayed for him. Each act of self sacrifice is offered in view of Christ and His love. Each act of self-sacrifice though for the benefit of others, is offered in the power of the Holy Spirit, for the gathering of the people who belong to Jesus and this to the glory of God. Before the creation of the world, the Father declared He would choose sons and daughters in love through the sacrifice of Jesus. Whenever that promise of gathering in His people is fulfilled, in Paul, in Timothy, in Epaphroditus, in the life of the Philippian church, God is honoured and praised. He is doing precisely what He promised, through whatever means necessary.

No wonder Paul rejoices. Even at the point of hard service, at times when his life is being poured out and it costs all his strength to look past himself and serve others. The greatest sacrifice he might have to make, that of his own life in martyrdom, is honourable service to the Father in heaven. No sacrifice, no pouring out of himself would ever even touch the lowest rung of the heights of Jesus’s own self-sacrifice and His obedient love. Even so, Paul knew that walking in step with Jesus, being prepared to suffer for the Name of Jesus, that is the path of glory and greatest joy. All of us will die. The question at the end of life must be, for what did you die? Was it for your own glory, for yourself, to guard and hoard possessions you can’t take with you into eternity? Or, at the end of your life, can you survey the peaks and valleys of your life and declare, it is all for Jesus? Then what you have done goes with you to eternity to the honour and praise of God. No wonder Paul rejoices and calls on the Philippians to rejoice with him also.

Glorious Father in heaven, help me to count all things as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Spirit of God, for the sake of Jesus, strengthen me in my inner being so that at every instance where I suffer loss, even to the loss of all things, let me count it as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Amen.
Prayer based on Philippians 3:8-10

https://youtu.be/9zGbdg1YCYY?si=XiZt3jySKAk9z9Dr Afflicted Saint, to Christ Draw Near

March 03, 2025

March 3, 3035 -- Philippians 2:15-16 -- Light needed and light offered

March 03, 2025/ Richard T. Vander Vaart

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

…among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
Philippians 2:15-16 ESV

In 2023, Health Canada reported that 15,343 people died by MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying). “Among people with an illness or disability who were not dying, nearly half said the source of suffering that led to their MAiD death was loneliness or isolation” (FAITH TODAY, March/April 2025, Vol. 43, No. 2 “AT ISSUE”, page 17). So, just over 7,000 people chose death because of loneliness.

Paul was calling his little group of believers in Philippi to be light in a world of darkness. Today that message is even clearer and as necessary as it ever was. The light of Christ shines out from you. The hope you have and the knowledge of life that is meaningful radiates from you because you are in relationship with Jesus Christ. Even in times of great suffering, like while Paul was suffering in prison, chained to guards, dependent on the financial help of a congregation far away, even then life has meaning for those who are connected to Jesus Christ.

Why?

One knows the love of God that, bar none, is steady, faithful and great.
One lives in community with other Christians. When you are struggling, fellow believers are just a phone call, a text, a visit away. Reach out.
One offers the gift of community to others. Pray for a neighbour. Let the thought of a friend prompt a text or phone call. Encourage a fellow believer. Reach out.
One knows that suffering, even the hardest, most twisting suffering is purposeful. Paul realized as he blessed other believers by his letters, and his prayers, and mentoring others, his hard suffering and privation resulted in blessing to others.

Dear brother or sister in Christ, your life matters. You are made in the image of God. The Spirit of God is restoring you so that the defacing effects of sin are being removed, and the loveliness of Christ is being formed in you. If you are feeling broken, lonely, I urge you reach out to a brother or sister in Christ. If the Spirit of God is bringing someone to mind, reach out to that person.

Father in heaven, thank you for the brilliance of the life that is mine in Christ. Spirit of God, show me who I can reach out to this day, shining the light of Christ by offering holy encouragement. Mighty Father, on the lowest days, my darkest days, by Your Spirit’s presence in my heart, open me up enough so that I will be able to receive the care and love of the person, even the unlikely person, you send into my life. The very one sent to prove to me Your love. Thank You God, that my life is not meaningless or empty because I am not now, nor ever will be, hidden from Your sight. Amen.

https://youtu.be/5Nkvfnz4Tyw?si=JCzpS8gtoTN9OCB6 Children of the Heavenly Father

March 01, 2025

March 1, 2025 -- Philippians 2:14-15 -- Living that invites questions

March 01, 2025/ Richard T. Vander Vaart

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world…
Philippians 2:14-15 ESV

If you watch vlogs on evangelism strategies, you’ll find street preachers who teach you a Christian must go out and question others. As you question them, they will discover truth and either seek Jesus or turn away. It is the reverse of the bible. Notice how the life of the Christian is to be light to the people of this world. When people are walking in the darkness of their sin, whoever holds true light is an instant draw. People turn to the light with their questions.

The world is twisted and perverse. That is a fact. Your contemporaries will curse out this politician and vent against that law grumbling and disputing about many things. You however, as a soldier of the cross of Christ, live in the same messed up world, but you know that Christ is the King. His justice and His rule are the basis of your confidence. You do not need to join in the way of sinners because you walk the path of righteousness as children of God.

You are not ignorant of the world’s troubles. In fact, all the rantings of the world and the plotting of world leaders against the Son of God cause you to go deeper into prayer. You know their end is destruction and ruin awaits them. Jesus will return with all His holy ones. The truth of God’s law and the perfections of His ways will be so brilliantly obvious and so superlatively displayed that no one will refute it. Then the devastating justice of His judgments will cause those condemned and those who are appointed for life to cry out, “Jesus, You are just and true in all these things.”

Children of light, you see the abuse of power all around you. Pray. You hear many curse and grumble and even shaking their fists against the very god they don’t believe in. Live as a child of light. You may find your own mind and heart are wavering with churning seas of doubt creeping in. Memorize Scripture. Let the Holy Spirit confirm to your heart the rock-solid truth that Jesus is near, His return is at hand. Inevitably people will be drawn to the light of Christ shining out from you. They will have questions. Be prepared to answer.

Prayer
For behold, those who are far from you shall perish,
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the LORD GOD my refuge,
that I may tell of your works.
Psalm 73:27-28 ESV
https://youtu.be/Mg94VebKSbc?si=sqF8K0a_kpy_UtZ7 Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise

February 28, 2025

February 28, 2025 -- Philippians 2:14 -- Hey, what's going on in that head of yours?

February 28, 2025/ Richard T. Vander Vaart

Do all things without grumbling or disputing…
Philippians 2:14 ESV

The word grumbling is rarely used in the New Testament. Its meaning is made clear from its use and its context in the Old Testament. The LORD of Glory had rescued His people from Egypt. He had displayed His power over Pharaoh. He then led His people through the Red Sea on dry land. Now the people murmured or grumbled against God their Savior, thinking He’d let them starve in the desert (Exodus 16). Then the people, at the edge of the Promised Land, afraid of the inhabitants living in the Promised Land, murmured against God. Under their breath they muttered insults and questioned among themselves the ability of God to do as He promised (Numbers 14). Finally, the people murmured against the leadership God has raised up in Moses and Aaron. Their murmurings were a direct attack against the leadership of God and those He chose to perform His will (Numbers 17).

Grumbling is something that happens among people; disputing begins as an internal thought. One questions the ability of God to do exactly as He covenanted to do. Disputing begins when a believer, having seen the goodness and the power of God, begins to entertain doubts if this God can finish what He started. Sure, He did that, but can He do this? As the doubts begin to take hold of the mind, they begin to cloud judgment and spill over into conversation so that people begin disputing what is Truth and substitute their fears in its place. I Timothy 6:5 translates the word as “constant friction”. Those in the grip of internal disputing begin grumbling, tearing at the unity of the church. Their fractious words wear down others who listen so that they are either drawn into the complaint themselves or being to internally doubt the work of God.

Context is critical. Paul had just reminded his readers of the work of Jesus Christ, Who left the splendours of heaven. He became incarnate. Having taken on human flesh, He lived in perfect obedience to His Father, from conception to His death on a cross. He never once murmured against the will or the work of God. He never caused others to question whether the Father in heaven could do as He promised. In the direst circumstances of His life and cruel betrayals, He was obedient, even to the point of death, yes, death on the cross. That is why He is the One sacrifice Who takes away the sin of the world. That explains why His Name is utterly glorious. When one uses Jesus, or Christ, as a swear word, he is murmuring against the One Who alone can save him. When one, by word or deed, disputes the perfections of Jesus or leads others to do so, he is straining against the world’s only hope of salvation.

How can one combat grumbling and disputing?

Know the word of God. Read it. Study it. Memorize it. Know the works of God.

Know history. See how God has acted faithfully in the past and continues to work in and through your own life daily. Consider the fact that all human history has a purpose and an endpoint: the day of Christ. When Jesus returns all will be revealed. The truth of Who He Is and how powerfully He displayed the glory of God will be so obvious that unbelievers and God-haters will fall in awe and wonder before the glory of Jesus. The Father’s love and purposes in history will be confirmed as every knee bows and every tongue confesses Jesus Christ as Lord.
Know the power of teaching. As you teach your children, or tell your co-workers, or witness to family members and neighbours of the power of God, your own heart will be reaffirmed in the truth of the word of life. You will contradict your own sinful inclinations to murmur against God and dispute His claims. It is a real battle. The enemy seeks to undercut all true believing. If you are not constantly vigilant, you will be murmuring and disputing. If you are preaching to your own soul through daily devotions, you will find the power of God and His promises break through all such murmuring and disputing in your own soul. As you tell others about Jesus He will be even more dearly loved in your heart and mind as the Captain of Salvation.

Father in heaven, You do all things well. You are perfect in all Your attributes: love, justice, patience, faithfulness, holiness and wisdom. Just reading the start of the great list of Your attributes is enough to dispel our open grumbling and the seedlings of internal disputing which affect our minds. By Your Holy Spirit, dear Father, lift our eyes toward Jesus so that in Him we see the depths of Your love, the faithfulness of Your saving purposes, the justice that is real and satisfied, and the patience You have for weak and wayward people such as we are. Thank You for warning us by Your word and showing us our daily, desperate need for Jesus. Aware of our sinful inclinations and conscious of our own internal conflicts we pray, let Jesus be held up before our mind’s eye so that His accomplished salvation is our contemplation and all our grumbling is broken and any murmuring against Him proves ridiculous. Let our minds bless You and our actions demonstrate our growing confidence in the salvation of Jesus which Your Spirit is massaging into every part of our existence. Amen.

https://youtu.be/L2QvFKKCzzs?si=VQeI-42L1FjxTMbC Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah

February 27, 2025

February 27, 2025 -- Proverbs 28:13-14 -- Blessed is the one who fears the LORD

February 27, 2025/ Richard T. Vander Vaart

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
Blessed is the one who fears the LORD always,
but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.
Proverbs 28:13-14 ESV

It is common for people to get stuck on the phrase the fear of the LORD. Those same people walk in the fear of the world and never give it a second thought, let me explain. The fear of the world is that compulsion to fit in. The anxiety one feels if he is not listening to the right music. When others make sly references to the latest vlog or movie and you can’t quite catch it, you are made to feel as if you aren’t a dude but a dud. On a ridiculously cold day, I saw a woman standing at a bus stop with jeans ripped in parallel tears up and down each leg. It was a fashion statement, a desire to conform to what is au courant, a fear of the world while simultaneously freezing being a fool for fashion and ridiculous in her desire to conform.

To fear the LORD is to desire to conform to His will and word and do so in the power of the Holy Spirit. Notice the promise, the one who fears the LORD is blessed. In the world to be conformed to culture or music or fashion or a people group will not always lead to blessing. Others will be jealous. The fashionistas are constantly changing the colours, the references, and so are moving the boundary stones. The one who fears the LORD is blessed because what God has commanded has been consistent from the dawn of time and will remain until Jesus returns. His people will be out of step with the ways of the world.

The desire to be fragrant in Christ is what compels a believer to confess his sins. He knows that allowing sin to linger, to fester and to stay concealed is like rubbing sewage water into an open wound. The nightmarish miasma of pathogens will work terror inside his body. What cleanses the soul, and allows the living water found in Christ to bring healing? It is confession. Our Father in heaven already knows full well what you have done, how you have sinned and how you are straining against the cords of His lovingkindness is trying to get away from Him. He holds the remedy for your healing, and it is His command that you confess your sins, turn from them and walk in the way of His mercy.

Our Father in heaven already knows all the wickedness, all the wrong-doing and all the concealed sin harboured in the heart. Why confess it? Why not just have Him cleanse me and we can get on with it? When the believer confesses his sin:

he is actively identifying not with the world, but with Christ, in Whom is all his hope;
he is submitting himself to the word of God which commands the believer to confess his sin and forsake it, that is, to turn away from it;
he is saying, God You are right and just in all Your requirements;
he is asking God for the mercy he needs to break the pattern of habitual sin;
he is turning away from the pressures of the world and intentionally placing himself within the company of believers who experience the blessing of fearing the LORD always.

God of all perfection and holiness, secretly I wonder to myself if You don’t get tired of hearing all my streams of confession and the repetitiveness of my sins? Such a question compels me to admit I want to hide them; I am in fact looking for reasons to go dark. To cover these sins over, or to pretend there is nothing to see here and so I overdramatically act as if all is good. I know it is not good at all. Keep me from the calamity of unconfessed sin and guard me against the perverse pride of my heart that leads me to falsely imagine my sins are not as great as that person’s over there or the wretchedness of this person here. No, the putrefying effects of sin will infect more of my life, invading mind and soul unless these are purged by confession, healed by mercy and I am compelled to walk in the newness of life promised by God my Father. As one healed by Your mercy, God lead me farther, deeper in Your blessedness by allowing me to walk in community with Your people through the blessed presence of Your Spirit. For the holiness of Your Name and the in view of the glorious triumph of Christ at the cross, I pray, hear my confession and lead me into greater unity with Jesus, Who is the path of blessedness. Amen.

https://youtu.be/LA9UfBEHciY?si=vvDUgVDP-E1RNiTt Praise the Lord of Living Waters

February 23, 2025

February 23, 2025 -- Philippians 2:12-13 -- Working out one's salvation with fear and trembling

February 23, 2025/ Richard T. Vander Vaart

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Therefore, my brothers, as you have always obeyed, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Philippians 2:12-13 ESV

If you remember, Paul had already encouraged the Philippians to stay faithful to God no matter if he would come and see them or would be absent (Phil. 1:27). Why the repetition? It is important. This little congregation is a church plant. It is very young in the faith and needed encouragement and reminders. More than this, Paul has been openly talking about his death. It is not unreasonable to prepare them for this eventuality. He is in prison. If the case goes against him, he will be put to death. So, this little congregation he is writing to must be prepared to implement the teachings he has given while he was present with them and the instruction he gives both through this letter and via the men he has sent to Philippi.

The Philippians have the gospel. They are filled with the Spirit. They can work out their salvation with fear and trembling. Fear in the Lord, so that their fear of Him is greater than their fear of those who might oppress them. Fear in the Lord will cause them to rely on the Spirit of Jesus. They are commanded to work out their salvation with trembling, aware how easy it is to backslide away from the truth of God’s word. Trembling because they know of those who begin to serve God from false motivations, like the preachers who preached from envy and rivalry (Phil. 1:15).

What help will they have as they work out their own salvation with fear and trembling? The Mighty One of heaven and earth is giving to His people His Spirit so that they will have the will, that is the backbone and desire, to obey the commands of God. More than this, He has granted His people the Spirit-empowered ability to do as He commands. What God commands is too hard for us to do on our own. So, we pray for the humbling of our will in order that we will desire God’s will. We read the Word and know God Who commands will also equip His people to fulfill what He has commanded. We realize our deep and profound need for community. Christians walking together will have those who are strong encouraging the weak. Following this logic, we realize as well, Christians have no basis for pride or boasting for it really is God Who works in them both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

What’s the point then? Paul had already spelled it out. To live is Christ and to die is gain (Phil. 1:21). We are most satisfied in life when we are most pleased in God. We were made to be God-directed in our thoughts, words and deeds. God alone is the highest prize. Think of it. How many people, having achieved the pinnacle of their profession, or having ridiculous sums of money, are still empty? The only purpose and goal of life worth striving for is living for Christ. The more you know Him, the more deeply you love Him, the greater your acts of service in His Name, the more you’ll find satisfaction and pleasure in Him. Since our King is infinite, there will be endless opportunities to serve, multitudinous reasons to delight in Him. As the Psalmist said, “in Your presence there is fullness of joy” Psalm 16:11b. Today is Sunday. Get to church. Worship God. Find out that it is true, God really is the delight of His people.

Father in heaven, I read the words of this passage, but confess they are hard to comprehend. There is such a battle in my soul. My self-directed willfulness is constantly fighting against You. Help me to work out my own salvation with fear and trembling. By Your Spirit’s work in me, direct me to both will and to work for Your good pleasure. Give me the insight to know that in Your presence, and there alone, is fullness of joy. Amen.

https://youtu.be/R8mLTdQQXg4?si=Eha6CNyao5VPWgo_ In Your Presence is Fullness of Joy

February 22, 2025

February 22, 2025 -- Philippians 2:9-11 -- The Name above every other name

February 22, 2025/ Richard T. Vander Vaart

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father.
Philippians 2:9-11 ESV

The Christian who knows the Bible rejoices at the Name of Jesus. He is the rescue story of all who see their depraved sins and hate them. The Spirit, having convicted you of your sins then shows you the glory of Jesus. He rescued you from the wrath of God against your sin and delivers you cleansed and reconciled to God. This is the most glorious, most wondrous story. Christians love the Name of Jesus. He is their hero. He is the Captain of Salvation.

The world is not basically good. People are not basically good. What evidence do I have of this? The Name that is precious above every other name is constantly defamed and blasphemed in our world. Those who imbibe movies are taught to curse Jesus. Schools and workplaces where people are supposed to be taught to be professional, instead receive indoctrination leading to intentionally using the precious Name of Jesus as a curse word.

God has highly exalted the Name of Jesus. You who use His Name as a curse, beware, there will be a day of Judgment. When you die, or at Jesus’s return, when you see His majesty and glory on full display, you will fall to your knees and know the horrible depths of your sin.

God has highly exalted the Name of Jesus. You who claim to honour His Name but live for yourself and falsely wield the precious Name of Jesus as a club against others be warned. You will find your pride will result in your downfall as bear the curse of God.

God has highly exalted the Name of Jesus. Those who curse Him now will be cursed for all eternity in the depths of hell. Having taken what is most precious in the universe and attempted to defile it, you yourself will receive every defilement back upon yourself.

God has highly exalted the Name of Jesus. Even demons and Satan himself, all which have since their fall from heaven colluded together to get people to join them in their hatred of God and of His Christ, will be cast into hell and there is no exit or relief. Sinners and the demonic will be in endless horror together.

Be assured that now, if you are gradually becoming aware of what you’ve done, it is the work of the Holy Spirit changing you. Confess your sin against the Name of Jesus. Turn from such godless behavior. Cleanse your mind and your mouth so that both publicly and privately you will esteem Jesus as precious and worthy of all praise. Know Him Who is worthy of all obeisance and confess Him as your Savior and Lord.

Father in heaven, You created my mind and my mouth to declare Your glory. But both have, for so long, spewed corruption and filth. Spirit of God, the standard of Jesus and all His excellencies are so high above my experience and my comprehension. I confess I turn to lower matters, worldly matters, worthless things. Spirit of Splendor, as You make real to me the dire warning of this passage assist me to turn from my sin, hourly and daily hating it ever more completely, and replace this all. Into the vacuum where once the profaning of Jesus’s Name was the norm, create in me a voracious appetite for Jesus. Let that ravenous hunger for Him be filled by the Word, in prayer, and in self-sacrificing service so that as I pour out my life for Him, I find I am even more filled with the knowledge of Jesus. Add to this wisdom so that I will live, walk, and talk in loving obedience to Jesus. This is the fruit of righteousness that comes from living in deep fellowship with Him, Whom I once cursed, but now know and knowing Him increasingly marvel at His extravagant love and self-sacrifice. Amen.

https://youtu.be/lWxI6HRcEz0?si=jVbE00XUdmfHXQMX Truth Be Told

February 20, 2025

Feb 20/25 -- Proverbs 17:17 -- by the Spirit's power kept for Jesus

February 20, 2025/ Richard T. Vander Vaart

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for adversity.
Proverbs 17:17 ESV

There are a few lessons I have learned as a prison-visiting pastor who also meets with men, former inmates, who are in addiction treatment centres. These are lessons I wish the fellowship of believers had taught me in church but are not what I’ve either modeled or experienced in churches.

A friend loves at all times. At the Christ-based addiction treatment centres where I teach, it is common for those who are treated for their addictions to slip back into addiction. Early on I expected such men and women to be shamed. Rejected. Refused treatment again. They are not. Those who treat their addictions know the power of sin and the lure of the devil’s lies. They are patient and prepared to receive back those who seek help. To my grief, I have participated in churches where there is a unwritten policy of one-strike, you’re out. No matter the remorse or pleas, depending on the sin, the church does not receive back those who formerly were friends.

A friend loves at all times. At the prisons where I teach, there is a definite hierarchy of sin. There are certain crimes that if exposed in the prison setting, will subject a man to beatings and violence. There are certain persons, that if they find themselves in prison, will be subjected to all kinds of harm, think of folks like lawyers, or former prison guards. At the chapel the word sanctuary has taken on some of the strength of its original meaning. It is a place of refuge where believers, who know much about one another, sometimes even the worst about one another, in obedience to Christ and commitment to His word, meet with one another, pray for one another and study together. Sins though known, are acknowledged as something that each person there must bring to Jesus. Without Him there is no relief.

Consider the words of Jesus: No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you (John 15:15). Jesus Himself, fully aware of the sinful state of our minds, hearts, souls and actions, does not shrink back. He calls us friends.

A brother is born for adversity. Adversity is trouble so intense that it causes a man to cry out day and night. Adversity, is when it seems every difficulty known to man assaults one wave after another crashing wave with the relentless indifference of the ocean. Adversity can be troubles that a man’s own sins have caused him. It can be the result of God’s providence which is used to extract sin, serving to correct the iniquitous heart while redirecting the soul from death to life. Adversity can be the result of the world crushing against you because you are in Christ.

A true brother will not abandon you. He will know you, your sins and all, faithfully calling out the sin and like an immoveable rock tell you he is not going anywhere. He will face this crisis with you. I have seen such loyal friendship, a bond of brotherhood forged on the anvil of great sorrows which hammer blows of troubles still rain down, which arise in prison and in treatment centres because those who have sinned greatly know what it is to love greatly and be loved.
Not too long ago I man who regularly participates in Bible study at one of the prisons testified. “Confession is what I dreaded. The lack of it drove me mental. When I confessed my sins, over days and many hours, the relief was tremendous. It wasn’t what I expected. My church rejected me.” He went on to testify that it is while he is in prison he met others, who having been appropriately punished for their crimes, sought out fellow believers. Such believers ignoring the hierarchy of sin and the cycle of violence in the prison system, trust in the God of the word with such tenacity they are prepared to ignore the threats of the system to stay true to God and to one another.

Now listen to the words of Jude, the opening of his brief letter: “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you” (Jude 1-2 ESV). Though he is the half brother of Jesus he can only acknowledge this in a humble, round-about way. He claims his relationship as a brother to James, the much-better-known early leader in the New Testament church. James and Jude are both the half-brothers of Jesus.

Consider Jesus, the brother born for adversity. James and Jude rejected the claims of Jesus during his lifetime (John 7:5). When Jesus preached and crowds followed Him, His mother and brothers thought He was crazy and wanted to quietly bring Him home until His zealotry died down (Mark 3:20-21). When Jesus was crucified, crushed for the sins of His half-brothers (as well as all those whom the Father would give to Jesus as trophies of His atoning work at the cross), they persisted in their unbelief of Jesus.

Dearest family of God, the Bible is so inexpressibly rich in the theology of God’s forgiveness. Depicting the nearness of Christ so clearly it is near impossible to believe God could be so loving, so good, so thorough going in His crushing of sin. It is too easy for believers, having had the depth and breadth and length and height of their wickedness forgiven, to then turn around and seek to deny others that lavish fountain of living water that is theirs in Christ. When Jesus spoke to the Samaritan women at the well, He told her that He is the living water, a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

Christ is that friend, He is that brother described in Proverbs 17. With every new revelation of our sinfulness, our gross need for healing, our every newly exposed need for purification, Jesus is for us living water welling up to eternal life. He is the spring that never runs dry. He is the healer that goes to the source of our impurity and makes the believer clean.

Ah, I think if we as believers understood this better, we’d be scandalous in our embrace of sinners. We’d be fierce in our protection of those whose sins have been exposed and now know in ways they’d never understood before, their devastating need for Jesus. They’d be like starved men rushing to the banquet table to gorge. Wanting to be fed. Wanting to be graced. Asking Jesus to take hold of every part of them, every aspect, every as yet unknown, unexposed sin, so that His grace, like mighty rivers, might cleanse them.

I need the words of Jude, his opening phrase, “to those who are called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ. Jude knew his sinful rejection of his half-brother Jesus. He knew as only a taunting, tormenting sibling can, how to hurt Jesus and revile Him and call out that oldest brother as one born out of wedlock. Whenever Satan would tempt Jude to despair, whenever memory would make him feel like the ground should swallow him up for the ugliness of his earlier hatred against his own brother, Jude knew and proclaimed he was “kept for Jesus Christ”. It is the Spirit of God Who will hold a believer in the place of grace, until the cleansing work of Jesus Christ has completed its work, and a believer passes from this life into glory where death, sin, adversity and troubled memories of haunting sins are no more.

Hear my cry, O God,
    listen to my prayer;
2 from the end of the earth I call to you
    when my heart is faint.
Lead me to the rock
    that is higher than I,
3 for you have been my refuge,
    a strong tower against the enemy.
4 Let me dwell in your tent forever!
    Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah
Today’s prayer is: Psalm 61:1-4 ESV

https://youtu.be/LULK2nZ6sCc?si=gjGIfElds3zhBL6j Before the Throne of God

February 18, 2025

Feb. 18/25 -- Philippians 2:5-8 -- Humility the bearer of treasures

February 18, 2025/ Richard T. Vander Vaart

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:5-8 ESV

In his study guide on Philippians, Sinclair Ferguson quotes St. Augustine of Hippo (Nov. 13, 354 - Aug. 28, 430).
If you should ask me what are the ways of God, I would tell you
that the first is humility, the second is humility, and the third is
humility. Not that there are no other precepts to give, but if humility
does not precede all that we do, our efforts are fruitless.
Website A-Z Quote, Saint Augustine

When explaining what it is to have among yourselves the mind of Christ, Paul pointed to humility. Not love first. Humility like the shocking humility of Jesus, Who though He was fully God, took on human flesh. He became incarnate. He become obedient to the point of death—never railing against God for His hard luck, nor complaining because of His circumstances.
Earlier Paul commanded the Philippians to be of the same mind (v. 2) and then of one mind (v. 2) and now to have this mind (v. 5), the mind of Christ, among yourselves. I can almost hear you protest (as does my own heart) to cultivate the mind of Christ intentionally and faithfully, daily and in all circumstances, it is too much. Too hard to do. I challenge you. Contemplate the magnanimous humility to Jesus. To do so magnifies to your thought-processes the glorious and humungous self-sacrifice of Jesus. Jesus submitted His earthly will and body, ife and motivations to the Father in heaven.

In II Corinthians Paul was writing about the motivations of the heart and what it looks like to be in our right mind. Under the power of the same Spirit Who was poured out on Jesus’s humanity without limit, by that Spirit Paul wrote “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded that this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died” (II Corinthians 5:14 ESV). Being in Christ means just as He died and three days later was raised to life, we have died to our fleshly lusts, put to death old alliances with the devil and the world, and now rise to newness of life that is full, humble and most joy-filled.

When we empty ourselves of pride, of selfish ambition, of the need to control and are instead controlled in all things by Him something amazing happens. The perfect obedience Jesus lived before His Father is the pathway to the greatest satisfaction our own life could ever bring. To humbly empty oneself of pride is to be fully yielded to the Spirit, and therefore fully open to being controlled in all things by the love of Christ. That means for us His death (and being united with Him continually putting to death things like old sinful patterns, wicked desires) and His resurrection power will guide us in every step.

Being so intimately connected with Jesus yields these benefits: Life has purpose. Life has power. Life has joy because it is bound together with the life of Christ. Jesus Himself through-out eternity has true joy, deep communion and fellowship with God the Father and God the Spirit. Through union with Jesus, in our humanity, we begin to experience the deepest, richest, fullest, most satisfying life possible which by the Spirit’s presence in us begins now and will stretch out in ever greater fullness for all eternity. Jesus ushers us into that sweet fellowship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Union with God, while living in the real world with all its struggles and pains, allows the believer to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things. Why? For this very reason that the believer who takes on the mind of Jesus, humbling himself fully will be fully exalted in Christ, receiving the all the treasured blessings of that being united with Jesus.

Father in heaven I believe, help me overcome my unbelief. Spirit of God, I long for the treasured blessings that come from being united with Jesus, but I confess I still grab hold of so many earthly things. I figure if You don’t work out, those things, empty, earthly promises, will be my safety net. I pray, Holy Spirit, finger by finger, unclench my fist from selfish ambition and grasping pride so that I may, in true humility, take hold of Jesus and have His mind in me. Amen.

https://youtu.be/gE5fOXSymBc?si=Plfy_iyQBjBzrfOr May the Mind of Christ My Savior

February 17, 2025

Feb. 17/25 -- Philippians 2:4 -- The Interests of Others

February 17, 2025/ Richard T. Vander Vaart

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Philippians 2:4 ESV

Funny, isn’t it, how the little things can signal the big sins in someone’s heart?! I realize I am not a patient person. I recently found this out all over again at a big box shopping store. It is always busy. I am armed with my list. Prepared with a pen to cross off each item. I quick-march through the store on the most efficient route possible. Inevitably there are two people, their oversized shopping carts side by each, oblivious to the fact they are blocking the entire aisle. Chatting away as if this were a garden party. I can go from focused on my task to incredibly irritated, to wanting to ram their carts for their ignorance, in under 3 seconds. (Is it honourable that I didn’t slam into their carts or mutter, just loud enough for them to hear, about their ignorance? No, I didn’t think so. Heavy sigh.) My actions, they demonstrated I was ignoring the interests of others. It is a sort of funny illustration, but an embarrassing example of the condition of my heart. Do I care about others only when it is convenient for me? Please, God, help me to be far more compassionate, no matter my own circumstances.

How can I look out for the interests of others? I don’t want to. My old nature rebels against this. Paul has already spelled it out, how to look out for the interests of others. He described the motivation that overcomes my old sinful impulses. Look at the four attributes to be employed at every moment of life where the need to look out for the interests of others interferes with one’s own agenda or roiling emotions (this is from verse 1 of this chapter).

As one who has already been encouraged in Christ, I am at that moment of rising frustration to exercise that same encouragement and kindness to others.
As one who has been comforted by the love of the Father, and recalling His extravagant lovingkindness extended to a sinner like me, I am to exercise that same love to others.
As one who lives in close communion with the Holy Spirit, I can exercise the fruit of the Spirit. The moment old exasperations flair up, the self-centred huffiness of pride, the Spirit prompts me to exercise the fruit by which believers can live in community with one another and show the world in general, the reconstructed nature that abides in him.
Exercising the fruit of the Spirit will expose others around you to the previously poured out into your heart the affection and sympathy of Christ.

Father in heaven, thank You for the gift of Jesus, Who did not look out for His own interests, but in humility and love perfectly walked in obedience to Your plan of salvation. In so doing Jesus looked after the interests of those whom You, dear Father, appointed for life. Thank You Holy God, for the Spirit Who lives in every believer, enabling us to conquer our old nature and every ever-present sinful impulse and as the followers of Jesus look to the interests of others. It is for Jesus and based on His accomplished work, we dare to pray this. Amen.

https://youtu.be/p932vD3El_I?si=pJJJGjbJR8hPA_F1 I Am Not My Own

February 16, 2025

Feb. 16/25 -- Proverbs 16:2 -- Purity of motives and God's weigh scale

February 16, 2025/ Richard T. Vander Vaart

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
but the LORD weighs the spirit.
Proverbs 16:2 ESV

This proverb is proved true every time you approach a man and tell him his faults. He will prevaricate. He will evade. He will lie. He will make up excuses to cover his own offense. He considers his own ways as pure, or justifiable. It is possible he has not even considered his actions because they flow out of habit that has become false truth.

In Matthew 6:22 Jesus said the eye is the lamp of the body. If you look at yourself and don’t see the underlying motives of evil, or impurity, or self-justification, then your whole body is dark. The eye either lets in the light of God’s truth, or the pupil dilates, and darkness is all around. Now you understand why many churches include confession in the worship service. It is not natural for a man to see his own sin. Interesting, isn’t it, how believers can be so blind to their own sins. Ask a family member, or close friend, he’ll know the sin that man doesn’t see.

The LORD, that is the covenant-making, promise-keeping, self-designation of our God, He is God. In Him is life, truth, purity, and love. He full-well knows the sins and motives to sin which afflict every human heart and mind. He sees and knows the sins you have not even yet seen in yourself. He knows the sins you will commit.

He is the LORD. He has made the way open for sinners to turn to Him. The Spirit breaks down a man’s stubborn resistance to the truth of the evil which lurks in the heart. The work of Jesus, at the cross, is a great exchange. Read on, “he [Jesus, the suffering servant] was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace” (Isaiah 53:5 ESV). He was punished for your sins, and for mine. Sins that are known to you and those unknown to you. He was crushed for the iniquities of the heart. Iniquities point to the fact that your heart and your motives are out of alignment with God’s own purposes. God doesn’t turn a blind eye to your sins, no, He has crushed His own Son in your place and given to you the purity of motives, the purity of life and the excellence of actions which are the sum total of Jesus’s earthly walk. He, the LORD, decided to do so before you could ever have decided for Him. Had He not extended the love and mercy allowing you to fall under His protection, you would have died, appropriately and fittingly, for all the evil that lurks in your heart.

Having acknowledged your sin, you begin to hate it. The Spirit stirs you to confess it. You deliberately turn away from it. Being accountable to a dear fellow Christian means every time the habit that leads you back to that temptation to sin, you and your fellow Christian pray, fight it, and look to Jesus. You begin a new pattern of living, that is, yielding obedience to the Word of God so that your words, motives and spirit please the LORD. You gather with God’s people, aware that you are not the freak the vomitously wicked people of the world think you are. You are in Christ, and you are united with other believers who long to be whole. By the steadfast love and faithfulness of Jesus, your iniquity and sin have been atoned for and now, with fellow believers, you walk in the fear of the LORD, turning away from evil (perhaps you’ll recognize this is a paraphrase of Proverbs 16:6).

Father in heaven, today I commit my life and my work to You, so that my plans will be established according to Your great mercy in Christ and the Spirit’s leading. Amen.
(Prayer adapted from Proverbs 16:3)

https://youtu.be/bVWOV8_PPCk?si=oWMFkgPA7ss8kfWj Whiter Than Snow

February 15, 2025

Feb/15/25 -- Psalm 112:4 -- The light of Jesus shining from you

February 15, 2025/ Richard T. Vander Vaart

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious, merciful and righteous.
Psalm 112:4 ESV

Jesus calls Himself the Light of the World (John 8:12). When darkness, that is, troubled times, descend, the upright person walks in the light of Jesus. The one who is upright is morally and ethically anchored to Jesus so that he doesn’t fall down in corruption at the whims and vagaries of these wicked times.

The upright man is so precisely because he has put all his confidence in Jesus. The result of this commitment shines out when troubled times hit. Look at the character traits of the man and the woman who is blessed by the LORD and fears the Lord.

He is gracious. While the worldly people around him are cruel and nasty, he will exhibit grace that flows from Jesus. In grace he will loyally love, even when others hurt him. The fruit of the Spirit will flow from his lips and be evident in his actions, especially when a man’s circumstances squeeze him tightly.
He is merciful. While governments are harsh, and times economically tough, the one who belongs to Jesus is merciful. He is generous to those in need. He offers a listening ear. When a sinner begins to hate his sin, the merciful man knowing himself to have been so richly blessed through Jesus, that from the oceans of mercy he himself has received in Jesus, he extends mercy. He does this with all gentleness so that the sinner can confess his sins and find forgiveness in Jesus.
He is righteous. In the times when a governing prime minister’s actions have, two separate times, been found in to be in violation of the Canadian government’s own ethic rules, and there are no legal or Liberal-party-imposed consequences, a righteous man stands out. The one who fears God lives according to the laws of God no matter the moral turpitude of these days. God will bring the righteousness of Jesus, which has been granted to you, to shine like light and your justice as the noonday (Psalm 37:6).

Know for sure that while you live for Jesus in such times like these, you will suffer. As Paul wrote the Philippians, “for it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for His sake” (Philippians 1:29). Your hard times, your suffering, your enduring because of Jesus is noticed by God. The fact you shine as light in this sin-darkened world is precisely what draws others to Jesus, for they see His light in you.

Father in heaven, I confess I don’t want to suffer. But as I read the words of this Psalm, more than ease and comfort, I want to walk as a man enfolded in Your love. Help me to hate my sin. By Your Spirit lead me to the fullness of the blessedness that is mine in Jesus, Your Son and my precious Savior. Let the light of Jesus so shine out from me that others are drawn to Him. Amen.

https://youtu.be/kYr1_kl1uS4?si=4qtddbq2gpRBxv_7 Sons of Korah - Psalm 37a

February 14, 2025

Feb. 14/25 -- Philippians 2:3 -- Called and equipped to serve

February 14, 2025/ Richard T. Vander Vaart

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,
but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Philippians 2:3 ESV

Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, this simple, direct statement requires hard work on our part and intentionality so it will be continually carried out in our lives. Selfish ambition is an expression that means electioneering. You immediately get a clear sense of what electioneering is, right? It describes someone running for office who tramples on his opponents and is also prepared to trample on the truth in order to gain his desired office. Selfish ambition is translated as rivalry in Philippians 1:15, where it is used as a word to describe how those opposed to Paul are preaching the gospel. Selfish ambition is vanity. How does the one who is intimately connected to Jesus act?

In humility. It is something so foreign to Paul’s readers (and us), that he is going to spend a significant number of verses demonstrating what humility is as He describes the actions of Jesus. Isaiah 66:2 teaches us that God, the Holy One, chooses to look upon the one who is humble. For that godly one has clothed himself in the grace God Himself has provided through Jesus.

It is counting others more significant than yourselves. What about me? What about my needs and desires? Those questions arise from the rebellious heart that huffs and sighs as these words are read. Go back to verses 1 and 2 of this passage. You can act this in humility and count others as more significant than yourselves when you are encouraged in Christ. You have the resources to count others more significant than yourself when you know yourself to be loved in Christ Jesus. Read the word, you are drenched in never-ending, upwelling fountains of the love of Jesus flowing within you unto eternal life. Those who participate in the Spirit know that they have everything necessary for life and godliness through the gift of divine grace. The Spirit anchors their heart on Jesus and lifts their eyes so they’re fixed on Him as in dedicated service they pour out their lives in service to others. Those who have the affections of the Father and experience His mercy poured out on them by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ are so fully equipped with grace and blessedness in their union with Jesus they know it has "granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for His sake” (Philippians 1:29).

Great Father of mercy and love I confess how my link to You is like intermittent Wi-Fi, when fully connected, I am prepared to serve. When the connection is weak, I freeze. When disconnected from You by my prayerlessness and indifference to Your word, nothing seems to work. By Your Spirit reestablish my high-speed connection to Jesus and His continuous flow of encouragement. Let the height and depths of Your love poured out on me in Christ so replenish me that I can, in humility and self-sacrifice, serve others. Thank You for Your Spirit through Whom I abide in Jesus Christ and therefore am productive, bearing good fruit. Amen.

https://youtu.be/ffnOZN6wXLo?si=l7wXDJdjQSX_1HUg “Here is Love”

February 13, 2025

Feb. 13/25 -- Philippians 2:1-2 --Overstatement and humility

February 13, 2025/ Richard T. Vander Vaart

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
Philippians 2:1-2 ESV

On Sunday, when reminded those gathered of the challenge to memorize Philippians, I also directly mentioned there will be people there who’d assume I am telling the others to memorize, but not him, or her specifically. That’s wrong. Anyone in range of this reading, I am strongly urging you to memorize.

Here are some benefits. Paul spells them out. He does so by an ingenious wordplay. Look at the parallelism in this passage as phrase is matched to phrase.

Any encouragement in Christ is completed in joy by being of the same mind as Christ. This union with Jesus is expressed by the phrase “in Christ”. Being united with Him so transforms the believer that we desire to think His thoughts (“How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!” Psalm 139:17 ESV). Like a young child who deeply loves and admires his father, he wants to walk like him, talk like him and do what he does. Linked to Jesus we long to do as He does,
Any comfort from love is completed in joy by having the same love as Christ. Paul has modeled this love (take a moment and look back at Philippians 1:8, where Paul yearns for this people with the affection/love of Christ). Love is not something we conjure up from within. Love is not a fleeting emotion. Love is result of being so directly connected with Jesus Himself that His love wells up within us, enabling us to love others.
Any participation in the Spirit is completed in joy by being in full accord. As Paul had previously expressed it, he has great confidence that this imprisonment and the consequences of it will turn out for his deliverance with the help of the Spirit. When believers participate in the Spirit, we yield ourselves to the Spirit’s working. We see the union that is already ours, the gift of being brought together is now the work of believers of maintaining the unity of the Spirit among us. This full accord is not that we are exactly the same, no way. As individuals, unique as we’ve been created to be, gifted in a variety of ways as we’ve been by the Spirit, each one’s participation in the Spirit blesses the whole body of Jesus.
Any affection and sympathy is completed in joy by being of one mind. Affection is the word “bowels”; like when you use the expression, I feel it in my guts. Such a deep emotion that your body vibrates with it. Sympathy is mercy, or compassion and pity. Paul expressed such sentiments when he called out the those who preached Jesus from false motives (Philippians 1:15-18). Later Paul will urge Syntyche and Euodia to agree in the Lord—and though this passage is not expressly referred to, you’ll realize it can only happen for them based on the affection and sympathy which is theirs in Christ. To be of one mind is not to have one admit they’re wrong and the other humbly claim victory. No. Sinners, deeply aware of their great sinfulness, yield in love to Jesus and have His mind and attitude of self-sacrifice among themselves.

That four-fold repetition of “any” is exaggerated speech to make a point. Whatsoever small point of encouragement in Christ you might have in you, let its sufficiency propel you forward in obedience to Him. You’d be inclined to answer back as you read Paul’s letter, of course there’s love and comfort from love. Yes, the Holy Spirit’s presence is more than a small grain-of-sand-like tiny “any”, which is implied in Paul’s hyperbolic expression. The Spirit is at work in us and by the Spirit we are cooperating and working together. By his inflated way of speaking, Paul is also poking at the pride which lingers within his readers. If the love of Christ, the participation of the Spirit and the affection and sympathy are at work in you, don’t you think those same divine forces are at work among the others in your congregation, in your circle of friends, among even those you are currently opposed to but who are also named as brothers and sisters in Christ?

Memorization of this passage pushes its truth past your defenses. The strong barriers your ego wilfully erected to confirm to yourself you right when are fighting against fellow Christians. This passage will be used by the Spirit to tear down that wall of pride. The memorization of this passage plants the word deep into your soul, against the unexpected day when a fellow Christian pushes hard against you, and you must draw deeply on the encouragement that is yours in Christ so that you don’t make hurtful, damaging, and hasty verbal slashes upon them. Memorization of this passage aligns you with Jesus, by Whom and in Whom you are brought to complete joy.

Spirit of the Living God, I am asking that you give to me the mind of Jesus, day by day, so by Your power I live for Him and I will control all I do and say. Amen.

https://youtu.be/PNww8F6G9U8?si=f34E2tKLiNZ4cKOo Make My Life a Prayer to You

February 11, 2025

February 11, 2025 -- Philippians 1:29-30 -- Gifted by God to Suffer

February 11, 2025/ Richard T. Vander Vaart

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit’s power: Sh’ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.
Philippians 1:29-30 ESV

If you are memorizing along with me, then you might find your early verses are harder to recall as you press on to learn these latter verses. Repetition is the key. Those who challenged me to memorize make it a practice, once a week, to recite longer sections of Scripture which had most recently been memorized (so, in this case, you’d be reviewing Philippians 1:1-26). While new material is memorized it is recited many times a day (something you’d be familiar with as you are memorizing Philippians 1:27-30.) Once you have memorized all four chapters of Philippians, then once a month, recite it to keep it fresh and active in memory. That is a wonderful activity for the Sunday, so that you disengage from worldly pursuits on Sunday and dig deeper into your walk with God through your memory work.

The truth of this passage will be striking for many people. The word granted means that God has freely gifted or has so blessed His people. First of all that they should believe in Him because of Jesus is the Father’s gift. Jesus is, as He promised in John 14:6, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is the only way to the Father. In Him is life. No one else and nothing else in the universe can enable one who is dead in sin and unbelief to rise from those ashes and be made to live and be adopted as sons and daughters of God the Father. It has been granted that those who by the Holy Spirit are able to believe in Jesus will also distinguish that He alone is the embodiment of truth, and He reveals truth.

The Father has also granted, freely gifted and blessed His people, so that they can suffer for the sake of Jesus. There are three areas of conflict and in each of these believers will suffer. Believers fight their own fleshly lusts and urges. Now their hearts are dedicated to God, but their bodies and patterns of lust and sinful desires constantly draw them back to sin. Suffering involves going against your own sinful urges to stay true to Jesus. Suffering also means fighting against the patterns and pressures of the world. The Father has granted you the gift of the Holy Spirit so that you are not fighting in your own strength but battling against the hostile world through the powerful presence of the Spirit. The Word of God is a guide directing you in what is right and warning you away from what wrong. The Word of God wielded by the Holy Spirit will give you the ability to discern between what seems good, but is evil, from what is difficult and right to do. The Father has granted to you should suffer and fight against the ruler of the air, the devil. You used to walk in sinful ways. You willingly yielded your flesh to evil. That has changed. You know the day of Christ is nearing (Philippians 1:10) so you fight for excellent and purity with all the greater intensity. That is suffering.

Now as for the sake of Christ you have been granted to suffer, you have before you the glorious example of one who suffers as he fights the world, his own flesh and is engaged in spiritual battle. Paul’s example to the Philippians must have been so encouraging. Imprisoned for the sake of the gospel and his faith in Jesus, he still encouraged the Philippians and blessed them. Who has the Father put into your life, who fights the good fight of faith, enduring suffering so that in him, or in her, you see the strength of the Holy Spirit and the glorious blessing of God the Father? I wonder, who might be younger in the faith and looking to you as an example of one granted the strength necessary to endure suffering and receiving the glorious blessing of the Father so that you stand firm for Jesus even as you suffer?

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, in whom we live and move and have our being, You have created us for Yourself, so that we can find true rest only in You; grant to us purity of heart and strength of purpose, so that no selfish passion may hinder us from knowing Your will, and no weakness from doing it, that in Your light we may see light clearly, and in Your service find perfect freedom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Adapted “For the Life in Christ” Divine Service Book for the Armed Forces, 1950, page 25)

https://youtu.be/ffmYLSEXCQQ?si=MBHN8_0abiAYGEJ9 I Asked the Lord That I Might Grow

February 11, 2025 February 11, 2025/ Richard T. Vander Vaart

February 09, 2025

February 9, 2025 -- Philippians 1:27-28 -- Power and the Gospel

February 09, 2025/ Richard T. Vander Vaart

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come to you or am absent I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation and that from God.
Philippians 1:27-28 ESV

Voice of the Martyrs website lists over 6 dozen countries that are openly hostile to the Good News of Jesus Christ. In those countries people who convert from the national religion of the land to Christianity can be deprived of freedom, property or killed. Family members may disown the one who converts. Bibles are unavailable. When Bibles are found they are confiscated. There are democracies, like India, where persecuted believers expect no help from local authorities.

Certainly, things are not as dire here in Canada. However, it is important to note that there is growing hostility to Christianity here in Canada. One obvious example of this happened recently. A man who attended my Bible studies recently went up before the Parole Board of Canada. He was asked to give evidence of the changes he’d made in his life. Among other things he mentioned is how he attended Bible studies at the institutional chapel. He was scornfully informed that “your kind” (criminals) hide out there. The gospel was utterly discredited by those who hold decision-making power to grant or deny parole. It is a sad commentary how some of those who appointed by our government, who are supposed to encourage men and women making positive changes in their life, discredit the Christian faith. There was no apology. No recognition of how violent their words were when wielded against one who is dependent on them. It is sad that this is not an isolated case.

The point is Jesus told His followers they will suffer because of their faith in Him. Obedience to Jesus is the obvious evidence that someone is a Christian. Willingness to suffer for Jesus is a warning sign to non-believers, to parole board members, to hostile governments, to anyone in power that in their opposition proves their destruction is sure. God is not mocked. He will avenge His people who suffered because of their partnership in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The steadfast faith which holds believers steady even while they suffer is a clear sign that God is in charge. No government can defeat Him. No regime can stamp out the Name of Jesus. No persecution will destroy the church.

One of the Church Fathers, Tertullian (145 - 220 A.D.), wrote “the blood of martyrs is the seed of the church”. What he stated is very much in line with Paul’s words here in Philippians. The more a despot or a tyrannical authority tries to wipe out believers, the more the believers will spread and flourish.

Father in heaven let my manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ Jesus, my Savior and King. Unite believers by the power of the Your Spirit so that we will, together, stand side by side for the faith of the gospel. Amen.

https://youtu.be/cY6k2QhdCn0?si=hqLlh1J0RhrY4swW How Firm a Foundation

Richard T. Vander Vaart

Richard T. Vander Vaart

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Richard T. Vander Vaart

March 10, 2025 -- Philippians 2:8-11 -- Fall in worship

March 9, 2025 -- Philippians 2:25 -- Who is your Epaphroditus?

March 7, 2025 -- Philippians 2:19-24 -- I have no one like Jesus

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

March 4, 2025 -- Philippians 2:17-18 -- How do suffering and rejoicing mix?

March 3, 3035 -- Philippians 2:15-16 -- Light needed and light offered

March 1, 2025 -- Philippians 2:14-15 -- Living that invites questions

February 28, 2025 -- Philippians 2:14 -- Hey, what's going on in that head of yours?

February 27, 2025 -- Proverbs 28:13-14 -- Blessed is the one who fears the LORD

February 23, 2025 -- Philippians 2:12-13 -- Working out one's salvation with fear and trembling

February 22, 2025 -- Philippians 2:9-11 -- The Name above every other name

Feb 20/25 -- Proverbs 17:17 -- by the Spirit's power kept for Jesus

Feb. 18/25 -- Philippians 2:5-8 -- Humility the bearer of treasures

Feb. 17/25 -- Philippians 2:4 -- The Interests of Others

Feb. 16/25 -- Proverbs 16:2 -- Purity of motives and God's weigh scale

Feb/15/25 -- Psalm 112:4 -- The light of Jesus shining from you

Feb. 14/25 -- Philippians 2:3 -- Called and equipped to serve

Feb. 13/25 -- Philippians 2:1-2 --Overstatement and humility

February 11, 2025 -- Philippians 1:29-30 -- Gifted by God to Suffer

February 9, 2025 -- Philippians 1:27-28 -- Power and the Gospel

Richard T. Vander Vaart

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