Singing Life in the Key of C

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6; KJV)

If racing against mere men makes you tired, how will you race against horses? (Jeremiah 12:5; NLT)

The word “Philippians” literally means “Lover of Horses”. I believe that God does not only desire that we keep up in the horse race of life, but that we actually love and enjoy this rapid pace. But the question is: How? How can we keep this rapid pace without being anxious, annoyed or even angry with life? I believe that Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi holds the answer. This is why during this month we’ve been speaking on a series entitled “Running with the Big Dogs”.

By “Big Dogs” we mean people of influence. People who are impacting their worlds. People of great accomplishment. In other words, folks who get significant things done!!! Big Dogs have to eat. Big Dogs like to C.H.O.W. In other words, they feed on four types of attitudes:

• Confidence
• Humility
• Oblivion (oblivious; they forget the past)
• Worship

During last week’s sermon, we discovered that the Greek word for “Confidence” means “Assenting [to the evidence]”. We also noted that one definition of “assent” is the word “accord”, which speaks of “being in harmony”. Thus, God desires that we live our lives in harmony with the evidence that since He began His good (God) work in us, He will certainly complete it.

What evidence? Evidence such as how God saved us. Evidence such as the condition we were in when Christ found us. Evidence such as the difficult, if not impossible, situations through which God has brought us. We need to assent to the clear evidence that what God started in our lives, He will finish.

And yet, there is one problem with this concept called harmony. Harmony means that we must sing the same note as another person, in this case God’s Spirit. What I love about the book of Philippians is that the Apostle Paul is very clear regarding what it takes to possess an attitude of Joy. In chapter one alone, Paul mentions the word “Christ” eighteen times. In other words, if we are going to live lives full of God’s joy, then Christ has to be at the center of our lives. Yes, we must live our lives in the key of “C”.

So let’s move away from attitudes of doubt and unbelief, for unless we learn to conduct our lives in the key of “C”—lives full of the Spirit of Christ—we will always feel like life is just one big hassle. That’s certainly not the manner in which God has saved us to live (John 10:10). I still invite your thoughts.