Scripture: Philippians 1 6) For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. 7) For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you are all partakers of grace with me. 8) For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. (All Scripture taken from the NASB unless otherwise noted) Observations: Paul longs to be with these people, he loves them deeply. God is at work in the lives of the people who make up the church in Philippi- a work that He began and He will perfect. The Philippian church supported Paul during his imprisonment and continued to defend and confirm the gospel by the way they lived their lives in Philippi. Application: Being a quilter I have a picture this morning of my life in Christ being like the process of making a quilt. I start with a design, a pattern. Fabrics are carefully chosen to go together so that the finished product is lovely to look at. Pieces are carefully fit together in just such a way that the original pattern emerges. If I vary those pieces, the color, the way I fit them together, I end up with something that can look very different from the original pattern. I currently have quite a few UFO's in my quilt studio- UnFinished Objects. These need more attention to get to that finished pile. Some of them are just waiting for me to make time to complete, some of them have provided a challenge that I have yet to overcome, some are just not turning out the way I envisioned. That is how I see this work that God is doing in me. Jesus is the pattern. God very carefully selects the bits and pieces that go into my life, the things that will make me perfect and complete. He has added people who challenge and encourage me, circumstances that stretch and grow me in my faith, He has even provided me with His Word and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as my guides. At this point I am but a UFO- I am a work in progress. We are all a work in progress, and that should be wonderfully encouraging. No two of us are in exactly the same place in this process, but there will come a day- the day of Christ Jesus- when we will be complete, we will be perfect the moment Jesus brings us into His presence. What a day of rejoicing that will be! In the meantime, I need to be a woman who allows the Lord to work His will in my life. I have a stash of fabric in a closet in my quilt studio- without me it just sits there looking exactly like it did on the day I chose it. Can you imagine that fabric refusing to be picked up, cut and sewn, refusing to make itself available to me? That is what I am like when I refuse to spend time prayerfully in God's Word; the most life-changing thing I have ever done. When I neglect it I get grumpy and side-tracked. Let's face it, it is like plugging your ears when your master is speaking to you, not the sign of the bond-servant I spoke about in yesterday's post. Believe it or not I have been known to neglect my time in the Word, I have even refused to come to God in prayer...usually because it means letting go of something I know I should not be holding onto in the first place. I am coming from such a time just recently, and sitting here now, filled with joy even though absolutely nothing in my circumstances has changed, I am amazed that I so often respond to God this way. I would love to say that my application for today is that I see the error of my ways and I will never wander down that path again, but I know myself all too well. How comforting-how encouraging-are Paul's words, "He who began a good work in you WILL perfect it..." Prayer: Mine is a prayer of gratitude this morning. The same God who created the heavens and earth has chosen me to be His child. I am a partaker of grace with Paul and those in Philippi who have gone before me
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Scripture: I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now (all Scripture quotations are from the NASB unless otherwise noted.) Observations: -Paul is thankful for the saints in Philippi, and filled with joy whenever he prays for them. -he is joyful because of their "participation in the gospel" from the very first day he met with them and shared the Good News of Jesus life, death, and resurrection. Application:
Joy. Paul uses the word joy six times in Philippians, more times than in any other book. It seems to be a theme. Paul uses the word gospel nine times in Philippians. Do you think there could be a connection? I most certainly do. Remember that Paul is in prison as he writes this letter. It is not prison like we think of today. He was basically under house arrest in quarters he rented in Rome. He could not leave the house to preach the gospel, but was allowed to have visitors with whom he could freely share. He was also chained to a member of the Roman guard and I can't help thinking "talk about a captive audience." How many guards must have heard Paul share the gospel! Paul was in prison awaiting the decision of whether he would be set free or sentenced to death. And yet he had found joy. Not in some outside influence, not in something that temporarily makes one happy. He had found the true source of joy- faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior- a joy that comes from inside, from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. No matter the outcome in the Roman court, Paul would not be robbed of this joy. As long as the gospel was being preached, as long as people like the Philippians were participating in the gospel, as long as he was doing what God had called him to do, he had joy. It didn't matter whether he was being beaten and arrested as in Philippi, or whether he was sitting in the company of people who had come to pray; Paul's single-minded devotion to the gospel brought him unshakable joy. So how does all of this apply to me? If I want to know joy in all circumstances I need to have this same mind, this same mind that was even in Christ, to do the Father's will. To be wholly devoted to the Lord. Not just an act on Sunday mornings, not just going through my check list of things a devoted person does: read my Bible, pray, meditate, fast, and whatever else might be on today's to-do list for the Christian; rather it is having the attitude in myself which was also in Christ Jesus. (We will come back to that in Chapter 2 of Philippians.) Jesus took the form of a bond-servant, the same term we discussed yesterday in Philippians: By Way of Introduction. Can it really be that to have joy in any and all circumstances I need to take on that role myself, and take it on seriously? Prayer: Yesterday I said it was time to go to the Lord in prayer seeking His will and releasing my own. I confess I did not do that in my prayer this morning. These Scriptures are really convicting me here to make it a daily part of my prayer time, not to add another check mark for a job well done, but so that one day I can truthfully, joyfully, introduce myself as Debra a bond-servant of Jesus Christ. It is too easy these days to say we are Christians, one only needs to "believe in God" and maybe attend church twice a year. I am challenged by these verses, by the lives of Paul and the Lord Himself to be more than that. Grace and Peace, Deb |
AuthorI am a woman with a Mary heart and these are my musings as I read and study God's Word Join me on facebookArchives
October 2014
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