Stand Firm
Philippians 4:1 “Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.”
Everything that we would ever need in this life and in the world to come has been finished in Jesus. He has already won the victory for us, all we have to do is stand firm in what has already been accomplished in Jesus.
Many believers make the mistake thinking that have to fight to win something against the devil when in fact, Jesus already defeated the devil, we simply have to reinforce and stand in the victory.
Paul was encouraging the church of Philippi to “stand firm in the Lord” and in the following verses, he explains how to stand firm. The three areas he highlights are:
Guard our relationships. We need to ensure that we are in harmony with one another. The devil will try to accuse other people to us, and highlight our differences as though it were a bad thing. We actually need each other! We need the various graces of other people. After all, we are a body, and a body has different parts and functions but they all work together to carry out the purposes of the head. In the same way, we are to ensure that we endeavour to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Relationships that God has given to us are important, and we require His wisdom and insight to ensure we are protecting those relationships.
2. Put out those “spot fires” Things will come against us. There will be tribulations that will come our way, but what we need to do is rejoice! Refuse to be anxious about anything, instead, our response is to bring our requests to God in thanksgiving and in fellowship with Him. As we spend time with Him, we will receive the wisdom and guidance we need to know how to walk out what Jesus has already won for us. We give Him thanks because we know that, in Him, we have the answer!
3. Take control of our thoughts. We have the power to choose what we think on. Old thinking patterns are cast down with the Word of God and revelation given to us from the Holy Spirit, and we know how to think in line with the Word of God. As our thoughts come into agreement with what God has said, we become stronger and more established in the victory. We become less of an easy target for the enemy because we are not ignorant of how he works. Our mind is not the devil’s playground, our minds are ours to renew with God’s Word and bring Him glory with our thought life.
As we guard these three areas in our lives, we can stand firm in the Lord and are not shaken by what is happening around us.
Remember, we love you, and we are praying for you.
Blessings,
Chloe
