Sorry I didn't post yesterday..

27 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation,[d] and that from God. 29 For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, 30 having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.
Philippians 1: 27-30.

Paul is instructing the Philippians to stand firm together so that when suffering and trials come, they will be one unit. Not IF suffering and trials come - but when!

This spoke to me... I'm all about physical and mental toughness - the I-can-do-it-myself attitude... but what about spiritual 'toughness'? Shouldn't I be cultivating that too? Physical and mental toughness MAY help when suffering and trials come, but ultimately the thing that will help me is spiritual toughness. However, there is a difference. I can foster the growth of mental and physical toughness on my own - but spiritual toughness can never be strengthened by myself. It can only be through Christ.

So let us look to Christ for Him to strengthen our spiritual toughness and help us to stand firm when suffering and trials come!

A slightly gross, but I think funny story.

I was chatting to a friend of mine who's daughter and grand-daughter had just had gastro. the grand-daughter got it first, and the daughter had gotten it from looking after the little girl. My friend told me the following story:

He and his family were at a friend's place for lunch. Now, ordinarily he would have had a great time. These were long-time family friends of his whom he enjoyed seeing. Not this time. He was feeling sick, and soon after the meal (which was outside), he threw up. Turns out - he had gastro.

(I promise this will relate to a Biblical idea, just keep reading!)

I don't know how many of you know this, but if a dog vomits, it will return and re-eat what it threw up. This family had a dog. And the dog... ate up the vomit! YUCK! Anyways... the dog got gastro, and, being a kind, generous dog, shared it with the family! So not only did my friend have gastro, but so did his friends and their dog


Not a pleasent story really. But here's how it applies (I promised it would):

Proverbs 26:11
As a dog returns to its vomit,
so a fool repeats his folly.

A dog also returns to vomit that wasn't his own. I don't think it's stretching the idea to say that fools also repeat the folly of other people. Don't be like that! Don't keep repeating things you know aren't wise, whether it was something you did or you saw someone else do - you may just infect those around you.


May God grant you all wisdom today, and may He keep you from throwing up

My stomach feels a little upset after reading that...