God Thought 11/16/22
Philippians: A Study Day 3
Change Your Perspective
By Sean Fryer
“And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.”—Philippians 2:8–9 (NKJV)
Growing up, my older brother and I loved to go to the library. Every time we went, there was this one book we’d always look for. To this day, I don’t remember the title and can’t find it anywhere, but it has stuck with me. It was about a tornado, and every page had an image on it. But here’s the cool part: If you flipped the book upside down, you’d see a completely different image. It could be a woman with crazy hair, or it became a swan when you flipped it. In order to get the whole picture, though, you had to change your perspective.
Christianity is all about changing your perspective. Everything that makes sense to the world seems to be the opposite in Christianity. Think about it, Jesus humbled Himself, which led to God-exalting Him. We’re told to do nothing out of selfish ambition and to put others above ourselves (Philippians 2:3–4). So, what do we do? We follow the example of Jesus. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5 NKJV).
It’s one thing for us to admire Jesus from a distance. Attending church, worshiping Him, and even reading the Bible are great, but we also need to imitate Him. We need to change our perspective just as He did. He considered it a privilege to die for us, leave heaven for us, and face the cross. There was no limit to what He would do for us. So, don’t let there be a limit to what you’d do for Him.
One day . . . “every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10–11 NKJV). Let’s start practicing for that day, for eternity. Let’s change our perspective and live our lives now as if eternity depended on it instead of focusing so much on temporary things. Just as I flipped that book upside down to get the whole picture, allow Jesus to flip your life upside down.
Pause: Spend a minute just thinking about how humble Jesus was.
Practice: Who can you put above yourself today?
Pray: God, help me to be like Jesus, following His example of humility. Amen.
https://my.bible.com/reading-plans/33514-philippians-a-study-for-teens
Change Your Perspective
By Sean Fryer
“And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.”—Philippians 2:8–9 (NKJV)
Growing up, my older brother and I loved to go to the library. Every time we went, there was this one book we’d always look for. To this day, I don’t remember the title and can’t find it anywhere, but it has stuck with me. It was about a tornado, and every page had an image on it. But here’s the cool part: If you flipped the book upside down, you’d see a completely different image. It could be a woman with crazy hair, or it became a swan when you flipped it. In order to get the whole picture, though, you had to change your perspective.
Christianity is all about changing your perspective. Everything that makes sense to the world seems to be the opposite in Christianity. Think about it, Jesus humbled Himself, which led to God-exalting Him. We’re told to do nothing out of selfish ambition and to put others above ourselves (Philippians 2:3–4). So, what do we do? We follow the example of Jesus. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5 NKJV).
It’s one thing for us to admire Jesus from a distance. Attending church, worshiping Him, and even reading the Bible are great, but we also need to imitate Him. We need to change our perspective just as He did. He considered it a privilege to die for us, leave heaven for us, and face the cross. There was no limit to what He would do for us. So, don’t let there be a limit to what you’d do for Him.
One day . . . “every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10–11 NKJV). Let’s start practicing for that day, for eternity. Let’s change our perspective and live our lives now as if eternity depended on it instead of focusing so much on temporary things. Just as I flipped that book upside down to get the whole picture, allow Jesus to flip your life upside down.
Pause: Spend a minute just thinking about how humble Jesus was.
Practice: Who can you put above yourself today?
Pray: God, help me to be like Jesus, following His example of humility. Amen.
https://my.bible.com/reading-plans/33514-philippians-a-study-for-teens
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