Philippians 2:14-16a “Live a cheerful life, without complaining or division among yourselves. For then, you will be seen as innocent, faultless, and pure children of God, even though you live in the midst of a brutal and perverse culture. For you will appear among them as shining lights in the universe, holding out the words of eternal life.” Today's episode reminds us of our call to be a shining light to the world. It also reminds us that we can't be that light if we are focused on all that is negative in the world. We can't be a light if we are just spreading darkness. We can be a light when we spread hope, love and joy. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Live A Cheerful Life Without Complaining
Philippians 2:14-16a “Live a cheerful life, without complaining or division among yourselves. For then, you will be seen as innocent, faultless, and pure children of God, even though you live in the midst of a brutal and perverse culture. For you will appear among them as shining lights in the universe, holding out the words of eternal life.”
When I read this verse this morning, the part that jumped out at me was that it says, “For you will appear among them as shining lights in the universe.” I had re-written this part in the margins of my Bible. I started doing that a few years ago. Whenever I am reading a book or my Bible, and there is something I really like, I will underline it, but then also write it in the margins, so if I am flipping through the pages, I can see it more clearly as sometimes I underline a lot. Then, the essential stuff can get a bit lost.
After I read that part of the verse, I decided to go to the beginning of the paragraph and see what else it said. That is when I read the first line, “Live a cheerful life, without complaining or division among yourselves.” I instantly thought, “Yep, we need to hear that today.” And by we, I mean me and probably you too. Complaining is so easy to fall into. A lot is wrong with the world today, and we notice it daily. I have noticed I am complaining more in the car lately. I am talking to the other drivers. Yes, I know they can’t hear me.
However, I comment, “Really, you couldn’t get over?” or “You are not a very good driver.” I don’t think I used to do this, and I believe the Holy Spirit has been bringing it to my attention lately, as when I notice it, I don’t like that I am doing it. I feel I am focusing on the negative instead of the positive. Also, if I have kids in the car, they will hear me say these things about other drivers. I realize the things I say aren’t terrible and could be much worse, yet they are still not kind. Sometimes, I call the driver an idiot. They can’t hear me, so why am I doing it?
I don’t know why we feel the need to complain so much. Some of the people I spend the most time with complain about everything. They complain about drivers, co-workers, fast-food workers, and apps. They are never really happy. This is no way to live. I know a lot is wrong with the world right now, and I also know there are things to be cheerful about. There is a saying, “Where focus goes, energy flows.” The kind of energy we have is based on where our focus is. If we are focused on all the negative things happening in the world, then we will be negative. If we are focused on the positive things going on in our lives, we will be positive.
God is asking us to be his shining light in the world. We can’t do this if we focus on everything wrong with the World. Instead of focusing on all that is wrong, the enemy's work, let’s focus on all that is right, God’s work. The way we can be a shining light in the world is to be a representative of Jesus. Jesus had a lot to complain about in His life. His dad died; we don’t know how old he was, but we know it was before he was 30 years old. Many people hated him and wanted to kill him. He was put to death for no reason. He was whipped and beaten. He was mocked and made to wear a crown of thorns. He was hung on a cross even though He was blameless. He had a lot to complain about, and yet He didn’t complain.
If we want to be a shining light in the world, which the world definitely needs, then we need to do things differently than the world does. We need to focus on the good in the world. We need to spread hope, not fear, worry and anxiety. There is a lot of uncertainty in the world, especially with an upcoming election. The country is worried about who will be running this country in a few months. I understand that this is important. Yet, worry never changes anything. We can change our focus from worrying about who will get in to the fact that the true ruler of this world is God, and He is all-powerful. He created this world with words and has power over every aspect. There is nothing too great a feat for our God.
What our country needs right now is hope. Hope that God is here for us. Hope that regardless of who gets in, we will be OK because God is on our side. Hope that no matter what we are going through, God can and will use it for our good. This is not the end. Whatever situation you are in right now, if it is not good, it is not the end. Keep going, keep moving forward, and there will be a happy ending for all of us. We don’t know when that happy ending is coming, but we are assured it with God.
The best way to be the shining light that God asks us to be is to live our lives so that people will see us and say to themselves, “I want what she has, or I want what he has.” People will notice if we can be filled with joy, no matter our circumstances. They will see when we are filled with peace, no matter the circumstances. They will notice if we love all those around us, even those considered “unloveable” to the world. They will notice if we are cheerful and not complaining. Joy, peace, and love are all gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are not dependent on our circumstances. I have had incredible peace and joy in tough circumstances.
If you are wondering how to have this peace, joy, and love in impossible circumstances, the answer is simple: ask the Lord. Pray for peace, the peace of Christ. Pray for a loving heart. Pray to see those you struggle to love through the Lord’s eyes. Pray for joy in all circumstances. Joy doesn’t mean you are laughing and having a grand old time when everything is falling apart. Joy means you have the joy of the Lord in those circumstances. Joy is often hard to explain. It is a feeling you get inside, knowing all will be ok. The dictionary defines joy as a feeling of great pleasure and happiness. Pray for joy; you will see how amazing it is and how hard it is to describe.
The verse above says, “Live a cheerful life, without complaining or division among yourselves. For then, you will be seen as innocent, faultless, and pure children of God, even though you live in the midst of a brutal and perverse culture. For you will appear among them as shining lights in the universe, holding out the words of eternal life.” Live your life so that when people look at you, they want what you have. What we don’t want is to be a negative example of Christ. We don’t want people to look at our lives and think, if that is what our lives are like with Jesus in them, then I don’t want Him. If we are constantly complaining and miserable, why would someone want what we have? Whether we like it or not, we are all representative of Jesus. If people know we are followers of Christ, then they will look at our lives to see the fruit of following Jesus. What is the fruit of your life? Is it peace, joy, and love? Is it complaining, worry, anxiety, and hate? If it is any of the negative things, how can you begin to change that so you can be a shining light to the world?
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening today. Lord, you are amazing, and we want to be a shining light to the world. We want others to look at us and see you. We want to bring people to you. Please help us. Please put on our hearts all the ways we are not doing this now. Please purify us, Lord, so that some can be entirely yours. Help us to focus on your beauty in this world instead of the destruction of the enemy. Help us not to complain, Lord. Help us to talk about your miraculous ways. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If this podcast is helping you in any way can I ask that you share it with at least one person today? It would really help getting these devotionals to more people. I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. Remember Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day and may the grace and favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you!
Today’s Word from the Lord was received in March 2024 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “My children, hear my whispers of joy and love. Hear everything I say to you and then go out and put it into practice. It is not enough that you hear. You must obey. It is so important to obey.”