Tagged: Daily Reflections

“I have full confidence that now as always Christ will be exalted through me, whether I live or die.” —Philippians 1:20. When St. Paul wrote to the Philippians, he was on death row and very happily awaiting his execution. He was looking forward to dying and being with Christ (Phil 1:23). If, however, Paul would be spared death and/or released from prison, that would mean “productive toil” for the Gospel (Phil 1:22), and this would be good too. Paul was in a great mood because no matter what could happen to him, it would be good. If we sat on...

“My prayer is that your love may more and more abound, both in understanding and wealth of experience, so that with a clear conscience and blameless conduct you may learn to value the things that really matter, up to the very day of Christ.” —Philippians 1:9-10 Paul prayed that the Philippians would “learn to value the things that really matter.” He wanted their relationship with Christ to shine a light on their priorities, surpass them in importance, and cause them to reappraise all as loss (Phil 3:7-8). Once the Philippians forfeited everything because of their love for Jesus and accounted...

“Stand firm against the tactics of the devil.” —Ephesians 6:11 “Stay sober and alert. Your opponent the devil is prowling like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Pt 5:8). The devil hates us. He wants to use us to show his hatred of Jesus. His plan is to deceive, enslave, use, abuse, degrade, kill, and damn us. Therefore, “our battle is not against human forces but against the principalities and powers, the rulers of this world of darkness, the evil spirits in regions above” (Eph 6:12). We are in extreme danger, but we need not be afraid...

“Be submissive to one another out of fear of Christ. Wives should be submissive to their husbands as if to the Lord.” –Ephesians 5:21-22, our transl. The most important thing in life is to do God’s will. To do God’s will is our food (Jn 4:34). Without doing His will, we do not enter His kingdom (Mt 7:21). He who does God’s will is “brother and sister and mother” to Jesus (Mt 12:50). “By this ‘will,’ we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb 10:10). A major question in life is:...