Weekly Pursuit – Week 2 of June
Verses:
Phil. 1:20 “…but with all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death.”
Excerpts:
In Philippians 1:19 Paul mentions the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. If we allow the bountiful supply of the Spirit to work in us, our daily living will be changed. We shall be burdened to magnify Christ always and with all boldness. Through our magnifying of Christ, others will see His greatness and His unlimitedness. To magnify Christ in such a way surely is to live Him.
Our love is eventually exhausted, but Christ as love is inexhaustible. Likewise, our natural patience is limited, but Christ as patience is inexhaustible and immeasurable. Even though Paul must have been mistreated in prison, he could be happy and display to the guards the unlimited greatness of Christ. In particular, Paul displayed Christ’s inexhaustible patience. Day by day, Paul was happy in the Lord. In his happiness he could show forth the immeasurable Christ he experienced and enjoyed. He was a living witness of Christ, testifying of His ability, power, patience, love, and wisdom, all without measure. The guards may have considered Paul to be strange or peculiar, viewing him as possessing something which they did not have. What they sensed in Paul was Christ magnified. While he was in prison, Paul expressed the greatness of Christ in an enlarged way. By magnifying Christ in this way, Paul could overcome any situation. ( Life-study of Philippians, msg. 6)