The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Philippians 2:3-11. “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

As a small boy, I often went to my parents to ask what I should do in certain situations. When I approached them, they often said, “Well, the one thing you DON’T want to do is this–!”

This was the parental position of the Apostle Paul when he wrote this letter to the Philippian believers. Paul was the spiritual parent to the Philippian Church, so, needless to say, he gave them exactly what the Church needs in every generation!

What Not To Do: Paul then transitions to verses 3 and 4, telling us not to act in selfishly, but to look out for the needs of others. How often do we do that? Oh, it’s easy to complain that the Church isn’t doing all it should in its community; but who is the Church? We are the Church! –we who are saved! And caring for people starts at home, maybe closer than we think or even want to think.

Do What Jesus Did: Thus far, we’ve been told what not to do; what ARE we to do? We’re told to DO WHAT JESUS DID! Look at this first: Jesus IS GOD, yet He did not view Himself as equal with His Father! Further, He went to the Cross at the behest of His Father. Imagine! Don’t we sometimes (too often?) view ourselves as more than we actually are? Let Him be God! Let Him act on our behalf. Just trust Him all the way!

What The Father Did and Does: The Father exalted His Son! Do you get the idea that He will do all the things we ask of Him, if we can bring ourselves to believe that He is in charge? There’s an old song that says in part: “Let go and let God have His wonderful way.” Isn’t it worth our finding out what He can and will do? Give Him the opportunity!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

P. S. My apology for the inability of some of our readers to open the Eternity to Eternity book by
Dr. John Ecob. An earlier edition is available for free on their website:
https://www.heraldofhope.org.au/publications/eternity-to-eternity/.

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom