Children of God Without Blemish

Philippians 2:14-18 ESV

 

“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, 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. 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.”

 

Life is going to have its trials. We are going to go through stuff. But how we respond to those trials makes all the difference in the world. Are we going to be those who grumble and complain and who dispute with God because we think we are not getting a fair deal? Or are we going to take it to the Lord in prayer, praying for his wisdom and guidance? Are we going to see our trials as part of our growing to maturity in Christ? Or are we going to view them as the enemy? How we respond matters.

 

We obviously are not to be those who grumble and complain. And that never solves anything anyway. It just makes matters worse. We need to, instead, be blameless and innocent with regard to willful wrongdoing, and we are to be children of God without blemish (ruin, fault) in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. So we are not to be crooked and twisted. We are not to be those who are living in deliberate and habitual sin in direct defiance to our Lord’s commands. We should be living holy lives, pleasing to God.

 

For we are to shine the light of Christ and the truth of the gospel in the world, in the midst of this crooked and twisted generation. We are not to join in with them in what they are doing to feed their flesh. For we ourselves are to shine as lights. Our lives should reflect Jesus Christ. How we respond to our circumstances says volumes with regard to who we are in character. We should be those who reflect the character of Christ and not that of the world. And we are to hold fast to the word of life.

 

Now what does that all look like? It means first of all that we have been crucified with Christ in death to sin and we have been raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Sin is no longer our master. Now Jesus Christ is our only Lord and Master. Our lives now belong to him, and we are now to follow him in obedience to his ways. So now righteousness and obedience to our Lord are what we practice, and sin is no longer our practice.

 

We no longer blend in with the world. We don’t participate with the evil that is in the world. Our lives are now committed to following Jesus in obedience. We want to do what pleases our Lord because we love him. We want to take on the character of Christ and not that of the world. We are perfectly okay with standing out as different, separate from the world because we are being made to be like Jesus in character. We aren’t perfect people, but we are not walking in sin, but we are following our Lord in obedience to his ways.

 

And we should be willing to lay down our lives for our fellow Christians as Paul did for the body of Christ. We should be willing to suffer mistreatment and rejection and false accusations, etc., because we do stand out as different, and because we are not compromising with the world and with the flesh. And we must be sharing the truth of the gospel and ministering God’s love and grace to the body of Christ. And we should be exposing the fruitless deeds of darkness, for many people are being led astray.

 

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 7:21-23; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 9:23-26; Lu 21:12-17; Jn 8:51; Jn 10:27-30; Jn 14:15-24; Jn 15:10-21; Acts 5:32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 10:1-22; Php 2:12-13; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 5:9; 1 Pet 1:1-2; Jas 1:21-25; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10,24; 1 Jn 5:2-3; 2 Jn 1:6]     

 

The Prayer

 

Written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager,

Alberto Testa and Tony Renis

 

I pray you'll be our eyes

And watch us where we go

And help us to be wise

In times when we don't know

 

Let this be our prayer

When we lose our way

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe.

 

I pray we'll find your light

And hold it in our hearts

When the stars go out each night

Remind us where you are.

 

Let this be our prayer

When shadows fill our day

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqFCbtRz1Z0

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P.S. This is not an endorsement of the singers other than as musicians