Philippians review continued

Paul told the Christians at Philippi to rejoice in the Lord, and this should be true for us today as followers of Christ as well.  We should not allow anything that is happening in the world or our life in particular to keep us from rejoicing in the Lord.  Paul also warned them to beware of false teachers who would sow concision among them.  Some people who profess to be followers of Christ seem to like nothing more than to create friction with other Christians, and Paul warns us to stay away from them.  Paul also told the believers at Philippi, and tells us today, that human credentials, the things that we might think would make us acceptable to God, will never bring us salvation.  They, nor we, can never be more qualified than Paul was, and he counted all his qualifications as nothing.  It doesn't matter where we were born, who are parents are, how much we may have studied the Bible or even done in the name of God if we do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Paul said that he forgot all those things that went before his meeting of Jesus Christ and accepting Him as His Savior and Lord, and so should we.  Just as Paul said he was, we should be pressing toward the mark, the standard, set by Jesus Christ.  What came before that time cannot save us nor prevent us from claiming salvation.  Paul also called for those in the church at Philippi to settle their differences.  We cannot effectively serve God and share the gospel if we are fighting amongst ourselves.  We as followers of Christ must be united with one another spiritually in order to advance God's kingdom.  Finally, we learn that we are to support God's work financially.  Just as Paul commended the Christians at Philippi for their giving, we should also give to support God's work, not so that we will be praised, but so that God's work might be done.  A secondary point is that we should never demand that anyone give to us financially.  We should just allow God to direct us in our giving.