Philippians 2:12-18 – Our culture is permeated with a self-help, pop-psychology mentality — using past hurts and experiences as excuses for present behaviors. As Christians we are called to “work out [our] own salvation.” This doesn’t mean we save ourselves; rather salvation is a gift from God that must be engaged. There is more to our faith than professing with our mouth that we are Christian. We must live a life that is pleasing to God and demonstrates the transformation that has taken place in us. Let your life be a testimony, not only to the world, but to other professing Christians.

Paul says that “to live is Christ and to die is gain,” but often times we seek life outside of Christ — some look for life in success, wealth, and fame; others turn to drugs, drinking, and sexual immorality; while many just seek escape through television and entertainment. Religion proposes to offer a solution, but only asks us to give up “things” rather than completely dying to self. Have you been crucified with Christ? How do you handle difficult circumstances? How do you react to difficult people? What do you do when you don’t get what you want when you want it? A life fully surrendered to Christ is one of rejoicing, abundance and victory.

Discouragement can be debilitating. We can get so despondent that we will begin to doubt the existence of God. God will allow seasons of discouragement when:

• There is something hidden in our heart and He wants to get at it.
• When we take that which belongs to the Lord and keep it for ourselves.
• When we fail to realize there is a divine purpose even in the darkest of times.

We must cry out to God and ask Him to take away the perception that coming to Christ is all about us. We are not called to live for ourselves. It is Christ is in us for the betterment of others. When we understand this truth God will transform the valley of trouble into a gateway of hope!

Before anyone ever knew us or saw our face, God knew us in the most intimate of ways. God sees everything in our life as it truly is, and yet He does not withdraw His hand from us. Even if we make our bed in hell He is there with us and does not despise our failures but desires to deliver us from every stronghold that has us gripped with darkness. We can close our eyes in our worst nightmare and we will still see His face. It does not matter how disappointed we feel about ourselves we cannot squander the revelation that God loves us. We must run to Jesus and revel in the fact that He will never leave us of forsake us.

We can be thankful no matter what circumstance we go through, and find joy no matter what we face. Most of us are trained to say to ourselves, “I can make it. I’m determined. All I need is Jesus.” In Philippians 4:13-14 Paul says, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble.” There is a truth to Jesus being all we need, but sometimes God sends people to help us and meet our needs. It can be hard to say that we are in need of help. We must learn not only to be a servant, but also to receive the gift of service.

The concept of being a servant is not highly esteemed today, as we live in an age where our theology in the church at large seems to have focused on personal gain and social gain, power, influence, authority and individual greatness. The Bible says that Jesus took upon Himself the form of a servant and in doing this He teaches us that heaven's order is completely reversed from the world's order. Carter Conlon reminds us that serving Christ and then serving others unlocks power and revelation. You may feel trampled, pounded, unappreciated and passed by, but as a servant you have found the secret of spiritual strength! Take heed — the last will be first and the first will be last!

God is always ready to give us faith for a new thing but are we ready — do we desire it? So many times we hold on to the things of old — the brokenness or blessing of yesterday — but God wants to speak a new thing. To man so much is impossible, but to God all things are possible. There are four convictions that need to take place in us for this faith:

• Conviction with a calling — God is calling our name
• Conviction with a commitment — God’s commitment to us
• Conviction with a choice — What I do affects others
• Conviction with a commission — We are called with our brothers and sisters for a purpose to make Him known

However, a new thing will not take place until we allow the Spirit of God to confront the things that are in our life.

If faith is going to emerge in difficult days we will be invited by Jesus to follow Him into the supernatural. We might not always like these places but if we trust the leading of the Holy Spirit we will be led into situations that will increase our faith. We might not understand all that is going on but we can trust that God knows our future and He has everything under control. In these times we must stand in the presence of God until He gives us what we need for every situation.

Jesus is reaching out to those who are spiritually dead and offers them supernatural life through the power of the Holy Spirit. There is an emptiness that God has planted in the heart of man that eventually makes us miserable. God will move heaven and earth to save one soul. This life is made available through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Son of God! This is all about getting a new life, not about religion. God's mercy reaches out to all those who are dead in their sin.