by Hugh DeLong<\/p>\n
“Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved<\/em>” (Philippians 4:1).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Our relationship with the Lord comes with resistance <\/b>from the world and the devil. Often, it isn’t the ‘big pushback’ but the smaller, continual one that wears us down. There are several aspects in this fourth chapter that help strengthen us for this.<\/p>\n
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!<\/em>” (Philippians 4:4).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Here we see that our perception of life and its settings isn’t a matter of mood or emotion but of will. Knowing what we have and are IN THE LORD, offsets any and all negatives against us.<\/p>\n
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God<\/em>” (Philippians 4:6).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
One of the greatest elements that strengthens us is consistent, effective prayer. When you find resistance to obeying Jesus’s teaching, pray.<\/p>\n
“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything, worthy of praise, dwell on these things<\/em>” (Philippians 4:8).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This shows the need for good thinking. So many passages address this in different ways: transforming our minds (Romans 12:2), being renewed in the spirit of our minds (Ephesians 4:22-23), and setting our minds on things above, not on things below (Colossians 3:2).<\/p>\n
How firm is your standing?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Hugh DeLong “Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved” (Philippians 4:1). Our relationship with the Lord comes with resistance from the world and the devil. Often, it isn’t the ‘big pushback’ but the smaller, continual one that wears…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1857],"class_list":["post-93917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-steadfast"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40524,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-till-my-raptured-soul-shall-find-mean\/","url_meta":{"origin":93917,"position":0},"title":"What does “Till my raptured soul shall find” mean?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In the song, \"Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross\", what does \"Till my raptured soul shall find\" mean? Answer: \"In the cross, in the cross, Be my glory ever; Till my raptured soul shall find Rest beyond the river.\" \"Rapture\" is an older English word for \"a feeling of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90878,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/god-is-good-all-the-time-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":93917,"position":1},"title":"God Is Good All the Time (2)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores God is good! That pithy phrase pops up in my newsfeed several times a day, usually in a comment where someone reports something good in their life. It could be favorable results from a medical test, the arrival of a new baby, a financial windfall, the purchase\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53442,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-joy-of-obedience\/","url_meta":{"origin":93917,"position":2},"title":"The Joy of Obedience","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 9, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Peter 1:3-9 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Despite the persecutions Christians faced in the first century, there was joy - I Peter 1:3-9 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A great joy, an inexpressible joy, was had knowing that they were saved \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That joy overrode all the hardships of life II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This attitude is strange\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67106,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/rejoice-in-the-lord-always\/","url_meta":{"origin":93917,"position":3},"title":"Rejoice in the Lord Always","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 19, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton It is noteworthy that Paul had been in prison for two years in Caesarea, then had a terrible shipping mishap from Caesarea to Rome, and was under house arrest in Rome for two more years, but writes to the Philippian brethren to \"rejoice in the Lord\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20544,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-a-sin-to-want-to-die\/","url_meta":{"origin":93917,"position":4},"title":"Is it a sin to want to die?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 19, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it a sin to want to die? Answer: There have been people in the past who because of depression expressed their desire to not continue life. Job rue the day he was born, \"Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27243,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-love-mean-you-miss-people-when-they-are-not-there\/","url_meta":{"origin":93917,"position":5},"title":"Does love mean you miss people when they are not there?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: When you love someone, does it imply you need to miss this person in case you're too far away? If not, how is this love?\u00a0I remember that Paul was always saying in his letters that he missed the people from the churches he wrote to. What do you think?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93917\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}