21ST FEBRUARY
Philippians 1:12-14
“I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”
Share your experiences as a witness for Jesus – it will encourage others to live as witnesses too!
Do you see how Paul describes his imprisonment? It’s not about how heavy the chains are or how there are sores on his ankles from the manacles. He tells us nothing about the smell or how bad the food is, or how he misses the blue sky and the sunshine. Without a doubt, all those things are real and he feels them.
But the grid through which Paul interprets his experiences is the grid of his “sentness” by Jesus to live as a witness. So the things Paul wants to tell us about his imprisonment al have to do with that – how his imprisonment is actually advancing the gospel throughout the imperial guard, and how the experience of sentness is encouraging the other believers to live lives of sentness too!
As your grid of sentness gradually develops and you find yourself approaching situations and encounters with people with a ministry mindset, share those experiences with other believers.
You will find that they will catch your sense of sentness as they hear of God at work in and through you.
MAKE IT PERSONAL
Think of how God is re-shaping your life around your sentness. What could you share with another believer this week, about a recent experience, that will exalt God, not you, and encourage them towards this lifestyle as well?