My goodness, there is a lot to this book! I feel like I'm trying to drink an ocean. I pray that God will show His Word to me and cause me to understand and retain it.

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Philippians 1:27a

In a book filled with daunting tasks this may be the hardest and most important of all. Paul had just finished talking about his chains and imprisonment and I'm sure had this in mind when he wrote this verse. This was an admonition to the brothers who were free that if the law ever came to be sure to conduct themselves, at their arrest and in their imprisonment, in a way that glorifies Christ. Luckily I don't live in a country that will arrest me because of where I go to church but the spirit behind this verse still holds true. I am in the world, interacting with people all day long. I have guys that work with me, customers I work for, people I buy products from, etc., I must conduct myself always in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ. I need to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger. I need to (and this is a biggie for me) make sure I communicate clearly at every stage of a job so there are no surprises with the customer and no surprises involving money. Everyone needs to know up front everything they need to know, so that when it is all said and done my witness is intact and I can act with integrity towards all involved. I should be able to share with Christ with any person after any job and be taken seriously as someone who walks what he talks.

For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him
Philippians 1:29

Here's another Calvinistic verse. (They are everywhere! How did I miss this for so long?) Notice the words it has been granted. The gift of salvation was given to us, we did not go get it. In fact we could not go get it because we hated God before we came to know Him. We are His choice, we did not choose Him. Not only is our salvation chosen for us, but also the fact that we will suffer for Christ has already been chosen. I will readily admit I have only a theoretical idea of what it means to suffer for Christ. The closest I came is when I wore a T-shirt against abortion that says God gave Women a womb not a tomb and had babies peeking out of a garbage can. (Pretty graphic) Some woman saw this at the gas station and was mad enough to spit at me. But that doesn't even begin to compare with the sufferings Paul went through, or my brothers in China or Pakistan or any number of places around the globe. So what are my sufferings? Maybe it's holding my tongue when I want to say something that doesn't glorify Christ. Maybe it's not doing something I want to do and instead spending time in prayer. Maybe it's subjecting myself to doors being slammed in my face when I pass out tracts, (That happened again last week) I do not know what form my sufferings will take but I can be assured that if I'm going through them then God ordained them, and if God ordained them then He has a plan to get me out on to the other side.