all things to all people, a fellow labourer among the unwashed Gentiles, a word from Philippians.

Don't think, not for a minute, little shavers, that I asked for that, that I begged to you for more EBT or what-have-you, SNAP! benefits and the like, but that I conducted myself with dignity, not condescending to beg or make my need known.  Nonetheless, a fragrant offering, a benefit in the form of a tithe.

Philippians 4:11 can be seen through the lens of Paul "being all things to all people" as if, being among the Stoics, he became for that time period, a Stoic, for the furtherance of the Gospel, forging an understanding between himself and his audience, so he might preach to them the Gospel that he carried around with him, learned so well, and from firsthand experience.

"...I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, there with to be content.  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound."

We can get into the weeds, ignoring the overall message, thinking that Paul actually did not just take on a plastic frontispiece of stoicism, but actually seemed to learn from the Stoics before he preached to them on Mars Hill.  That he internalized his own natural spirit, and was thus not so effected by imprisonment and other forms of persecutions, and that even he could starve and not become downcast by his own sad state.

Just like a good stoic?

Neigh.  Bolstered by the power of the Gospel, instead of some man-made doctrine.

Verse 13:

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

We could cherry-pick verses for our own devotional purposes, even use 4:11 and 4:12 to try and strip-mine some sort of Stoic tradition in Early Christianity, but the thread is nebulous and apt to break under even the lightest scrutiny.  What we find instead is what I mentioned earlier, that Paul was bolstered by the Gospel, heartened by the very thought of Christ.

If one wanted to pick-out a pet scripture, then why not either of these:

"Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice."

"The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

It was an antiquated volume of Matthew Henry that set my to the right regarding a hermeneutic or an exposition of these particular words.  Something to the effect that "though you sent me a gift, I was doing quite well, generally happy whether in need or want or abundance, being contented by the immensity of the Gospel message to which I have devoted the remainder of my life."

The point being, one can dissect the passage into its various parts and pick out any number of corrupted meanings, but the overall message remains the same, regardless of Stoic leanings or what have you, as one kind even ascribed 4:4 as some kind of Dionysian "ode to consumptive joy" if one had the inclination.

But in verse 7, Paul notes the defying of the human understanding, that the Gospel is not only a mystery as he so often wrote, that we have our own difficulty, thanks to our roots to instinct, or forbearance to the soil of the earth, that sacrifice is so often un-natural.