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Philippians 1:27-2:4

14 Sep

27 Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News. 28 Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself. 29 For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. 30 We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it.

2 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

Philippians 1:27-2:4

Dear God, just a side note here really quickly before I get started. Bible translations do matter. I first read this passage this morning in the NIV that was updated a few years ago from the original NIV. In that, Chapter 2 does not start with questions in the NIV. It starts with, “Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then…” It was the “Therefore” that sent me back to chapter 1 to see what Paul was “therefore-ing.” If it hadn’t been there, I’d have probably just started there at chapter 2. I’m grateful I saw it. We are sometimes disserved by the chapter and verse designations because they artificially split thoughts the original author didn’t intend. It would be interesting to have a version of the Bible that just had verse numbers but no chapters. We’d end up with some huge verse numbers but it would change how we read the Bible.

With all that said, the translation we read does make a difference. Almost no one in the world is reading scripture in the author’s native tongue. We are all getting someone else’s translation. Frankly, there is so much opportunity built into the system I use to learn from scripture to misinterpret and get bad teaching, and that’s not even counting my own inability to read scripture or lack of education to know what they are really saying. It’s a flawed process. My prayer this morning is that it will somehow be redeemed through you.

With that said, what is Paul encouraging the Philippians to do here? What is the reminder to me? What are the directives he is giving to us as individuals as we join together as your Church:

  • For all of us to contending (The NLT uses “fighting” but the NIV uses “contending.” Interesting.) as one for the Good News.
  • If you do it right I/we won’t be frightened by those who oppose me/us.
  • Our unity will be a sign to them that we are right–their path leads to destruction and ours leads to life through Jesus.
  • Our path will lead to suffering.
  • Jesus unites us.
  • Jesus’s love comforts us.
  • The Holy Spirit gives us fellowship.
  • God gives us tenderness and compassion.
  • Be likeminded and united through the Spirit with my fellow believers.
    • Same love
    • Same purpose
    • Same selflessness
    • Same self sacrifice
    • Same humility that elevates others over ourselves
    • Same interest in looking after others

Father, I’m kind of there on some of these, but I have not come close to accomplishing this list as an individual, and it seems that the vast majority of our American churches are not here as well. We are afraid of a culture that fights against us. But we don’t approach that fear through you. We grasp on to idols that we think will give us power. Politicians. School boards. Judges. Those are the idols that will win the day for us. At least, that’s what we think. The dirty little secret of those idols is that they will be here today and gone tomorrow. those idols are not worthy of our love or our enemy’s love. If we use them, they will not persuade one enemy, but they will harden their hearts. No, the only thing that will persuade our enemy is the love of our God. If we live our lives as Paul directed here. So help me to do that today. Oh, Lord, help me to live that life today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 14, 2024 in Philippians

 

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Matthew 6:9-13

12 Mar

Matthew 6:9-13 [NLT]
9 Pray like this:

Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
10 May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today the food we need,
12 and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
13 And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.

Dear God, it’s interesting to compare the different Bible translations for the Lord’s Prayer. Subtle word changes can make a difference. I normally use either the New Living Translation or the New American Standard. In this case, I’ve put the NLT above.

I want to start this by putting some other versions below. Let’s start with the one a lot of us know by heart–the King James Version:

King James Version

9 After this manner therefore pray ye:
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Then I want to look at the most popular version when I was a kid, the NIV:

New International Version

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

And finally, for some variety, The Message:

The Message

With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:

Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what’s best—
as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You’re in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You’re ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.

A couple of interesting things. First, for whatever reason, the KJV adds “for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever.” Where did that come from? Not that I disagree, but the others don’t have that at all.

I also think The Message is a radical departure from the others, and I don’t like it. I think Mr. Peterson changed too much to make it contemporary. Having tried to take some old English texts and translate them into modern English, I can appreciate how hard this is. That being said, I think he went too far afield from what is meant.

The part about “trespasses,” “debts,” and “sins” is interesting. Of course, most of us learned trespasses, but I never understood that as a child. I had a pastor in middle school and high school that used “sins.” I like that better.

With all of that said, when I am in church and saying the prayer, here is what I say. And I pray this to you now:

My Father, who is in Heaven
Hallowed (I’ve never found a better word than that) be your name
Your kingdom come, your will be done
On Earth as it is in Heaven
Give me this day my daily bread
And forgive me of my sins,
As I forgive those who sin against me
And lead me not into temptation,
But deliver me from evil
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
Now and forever.

I pray all of this by the power of the blood of the man, your son, who taught me to pray it,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 12, 2019 in Matthew

 

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