Daily Bread 2011 - Philippians 1
Daily Bread 2011 – Philippians 1
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
What Does This Mean?
We begin today Paul’s thank you letter to the Philippians. We can see how fond Paul is of them by these opening verses. We can see how much affection he has toward them which is increased by his commitment to pray for them. The more we pray for someone, the more we love them!
Verse 6 gives us one of many promises to hold on to in this great letter. As he encourages the church at Philippi he states, “He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.” This reminds us that from beginning to end, from our initial salvation to when God calls us home, it is God’s work, not ours. This doctrine is commonly called, “the perseverance of the saints”. Though the life of faith isn’t always an easy one, it is good to know that it is God’s work and He will complete it. Though we go through “ups and downs” in our lives and in our spiritual walk with Christ; there is a power greater than ourselves that is writing the story with an ending that is good.
With this in mind, Paul’s prayer is that their love and knowledge might increase and become deeper so that they can discern how to make good decisions that lead to lives of great meaning and significance and subsequent glory and praise given to God! Sounds like a good plan doesn’t it!
What Does This Mean For Us?
It means that we are not alone in our walk of faith. This becomes apparent both with our partnership with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; and other believers who come alongside this walk with us. Someone has said, “An isolated Christian, is an at risk Christian.” This is why it is good to honor the Sabbath Day and go to church every week. This is why it is good to go to other classes for growing in insight of your faith. This is why it is good to be in a small group of other believers for encouragement, prayer and sharing of trials. This is why it is good to read a little of the bible and pray a little each day! These are all means of grace and help us to realize we are not alone.
Even when we shun all of these means God has given us to stay connected to Him, the fact remains that even when we go far away from God; He will finish the work He has started. As the story of the Prodigal Son reminds us, the Father always searches the horizon for the lost Son (or Daughter) to come home. When they return to the Father, He runs to meet them and throws a party! This is how great God’s love is for us. Though he prefers to stay in constant contact with us; He will never leave or forsake us! Do you believe this? I hope so!
Jesus, thank you for Your promise to never leave or forsake us and finish the work you began in us when we heard and believed the Word of Promise that you love us and died for us. Help us by the power of Your Spirit to stay close to you in all we say and do, so we can live life to its fullest! Amen.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
What Does This Mean?
We begin today Paul’s thank you letter to the Philippians. We can see how fond Paul is of them by these opening verses. We can see how much affection he has toward them which is increased by his commitment to pray for them. The more we pray for someone, the more we love them!
Verse 6 gives us one of many promises to hold on to in this great letter. As he encourages the church at Philippi he states, “He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.” This reminds us that from beginning to end, from our initial salvation to when God calls us home, it is God’s work, not ours. This doctrine is commonly called, “the perseverance of the saints”. Though the life of faith isn’t always an easy one, it is good to know that it is God’s work and He will complete it. Though we go through “ups and downs” in our lives and in our spiritual walk with Christ; there is a power greater than ourselves that is writing the story with an ending that is good.
With this in mind, Paul’s prayer is that their love and knowledge might increase and become deeper so that they can discern how to make good decisions that lead to lives of great meaning and significance and subsequent glory and praise given to God! Sounds like a good plan doesn’t it!
What Does This Mean For Us?
It means that we are not alone in our walk of faith. This becomes apparent both with our partnership with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; and other believers who come alongside this walk with us. Someone has said, “An isolated Christian, is an at risk Christian.” This is why it is good to honor the Sabbath Day and go to church every week. This is why it is good to go to other classes for growing in insight of your faith. This is why it is good to be in a small group of other believers for encouragement, prayer and sharing of trials. This is why it is good to read a little of the bible and pray a little each day! These are all means of grace and help us to realize we are not alone.
Even when we shun all of these means God has given us to stay connected to Him, the fact remains that even when we go far away from God; He will finish the work He has started. As the story of the Prodigal Son reminds us, the Father always searches the horizon for the lost Son (or Daughter) to come home. When they return to the Father, He runs to meet them and throws a party! This is how great God’s love is for us. Though he prefers to stay in constant contact with us; He will never leave or forsake us! Do you believe this? I hope so!
Jesus, thank you for Your promise to never leave or forsake us and finish the work you began in us when we heard and believed the Word of Promise that you love us and died for us. Help us by the power of Your Spirit to stay close to you in all we say and do, so we can live life to its fullest! Amen.
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