Do we believe what God says to be really real?  Do we believe that God did indeed sent a part of Himself, His One and Only Son, Jesus, to earth to demonstrate His love for us as a living sacrifice for our sins?  The depth and reality of our inner belief with be reflected in our behaviors—especially when pushed into a corner by circumstances that challenge our entire being. 

The more we get to know God by reading His Word while listening to His Holy Spirit speak to us in the stillness of our desire to know; we can only begin to scratch the surface of the way God thinks and why He does what He does for and in us.  Isaiah, the prophet, is told by God that His thoughts will always surpass the thoughts of mankind in this world!

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts”. –Isaiah 55:8-9

David wrote songs from his heart to God’s ears about God’s character.  David’s psalms declare the merciful actions of the God he loves.  David declares God’s greatness and power in humbled praise.  His songs help us understand more about God—who is unfailing and unchanging in His love for us!

Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.

If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord, more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.

Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.” Psalm 130

Now Paul, centuries later, is sitting in a prison cell for preaching the glorious Good News of salvation made possible by the sacrifice Jesus. In Paul’s current situation he learns even more about God.  We hear in his writings, that Paul is becoming certain of God whose thoughts are so opposite than mankind’s that God can make a bad situation work for His glory and our good through those who serve Him!  Paul is gaining even more God-confidence as he watches God at work from his jail cell! 

God’s upside-down, right-side up Kingdom thinking easily turns a bad circumstance in a beautiful opportunity to proclaim that Jesus is alive and well and that all our sins have been paid in full!  Yes, that’s who God is and how He works!  God rises above all, is in all, and loves us through it all.  Man plans; but God decides.  And where God guides; He provides.  Here is report from God’s eye-witness with proof and evidence—

Philippians 1:12-30, The Message

They Can’t Imprison the Message

^12-14 I want to report to you, friends, that my imprisonment here has had the opposite of its intended effect. Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually prospered. All the soldiers here, and everyone else, too, found out that I’m in jail because of this Messiah. That piqued their curiosity, and now they’ve learned all about him. Not only that, but most of the followers of Jesus here have become far more sure of themselves in the faith than ever, speaking out fearlessly about God, about the Messiah.

^15-17 It’s true that some here preach Christ because with me out of the way, they think they’ll step right into the spotlight. But the others do it with the best heart in the world. One group is motivated by pure love, knowing that I am here defending the Message, wanting to help. The others, now that I’m out of the picture, are merely greedy, hoping to get something out of it for themselves. Their motives are bad. They see me as their competition, and so the worse it goes for me, the better—they think—for them.

^18-21 So how am I to respond? I’ve decided that I really don’t care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on!

And I’m going to keep that celebration going because I know how it’s going to turn out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything he wants to do in and through me will be done. I can hardly wait to continue on my course. I don’t expect to be embarrassed in the least. On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn’t shut me up; they gave me a platform! Alive, I’m Christ’s messenger; dead, I’m his prize. Life versus even more life! I can’t lose.

^22-26 As long as I’m alive in this body, there is good work for me to do. If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I’d choose. Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better. But most days, because of what you are going through, I am sure that it’s better for me to stick it out here. So I plan to be around awhile, companion to you as your growth and joy in this life of trusting God continues. You can start looking forward to a great reunion when I come visit you again. We’ll be praising Christ, enjoying each other.

^27-30 Meanwhile, live in such a way that you are a credit to the Message of Christ. Let nothing in your conduct hang on whether I come or not. Your conduct must be the same whether I show up to see things for myself or hear of it from a distance. Stand united, singular in vision, contending for people’s trust in the Message, the good news, not flinching or dodging in the slightest before the opposition. Your courage and unity will show them what they’re up against: defeat for them, victory for you—and both because of God. There’s far more to this life than trusting in Christ. There’s also suffering for him. And the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting. You’re involved in the same kind of struggle you saw me go through, on which you are now getting an updated report in this letter.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

There’s far more than trusting in Christ!  There will be times of trouble and suffering as we follow Christ!  Not to worry, embrace those times because God is still work.  Our best lessons are learned in the challenges that get our attention.  We grow stronger in our resolve to follow the One and Only who willing died for our sins and rose again to give us hope for eternal life! 

^“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”           —Jesus, John 16:33, NLT

We live to please God while delivering the message of Jesus Christ with confidence that comes from knowing and believing in Jesus.  We daily offer ourselves to Him so that His Holy Spirit can go to work to help us become more and more in every way like Jesus!

We stand firm because Jesus willingly hung firmly on a cross for us.  Jesus, beaten beyond recognition, could have called ten thousand angels to rescue Him in power—but He did not—love held Him there.

So, do we really believe God or not?  What is imprisoning our witness to tell?

Lord,

I believe.  I believe in Your Word that reports some of the ways you think with how you respond to mankind with a love that is beyond this world’s thinking.  The more we live in this world that lives the opposite the more we see the difference of Kingdom thinking and living. There is a difference—a stark, definite difference.  Help us to know the difference by knowing you more and more.

In Jesus Name, Amen

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” –Paul, Romans 8:28, NIV