The Pursuit of Happiness Daily Devotional -1
by David Joynt on January 03, 2021
Get Real November 23 Devotional
November 23, 2024
PHILIPPIANS 1:1| 1Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.
In this sermon and devotional series we will be reading Paul’s mail. He had planted the very first European church in a Roman colony called Philippi. This town was strategic in several senses. It was a pass in the mountains separating Europe and Asia, along the Egnation Way, the main trade and transport road between the West and the East. You can read the dramatic story of Paul’s trip there in Acts 16, during his second missionary journey. He had to leave after a storm of persecution and an illegal imprisonment.
Paul sometimes begins his letters by referencing his credentials as an apostle. Here, he refers to himself and to his young colleague, Timothy, as douloi, servants or slaves of Jesus Christ. Chapter Two will explore Jesus’ choice to become a doulos. A servant is an extension of his master’s will and a slave permanently so. A doulos is “bought with a price” and this image is used elsewhere, in 1 Corinthians 6:20, to refer to Christ’s sacrificial gift of Himself on the cross. Doulos was also a word used to refer to the prophets, like Jeremiah, Amos, Moses, Joshua, and also to David. Christian slavery is not abject but elevating!
Do you think of yourself as a servant of God?
