That Your Love May Abound . . .

Philippians 1:9 “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.”

Paul knew the Philippian church to be a group of loving, devoted people. But in the Christian life, there is always room for growth! Paul had much time on his hands while in prison, and he spent much of that time in prayer. He prayed that his friends would grow in their knowledge and insight of the Christian life.

The goal of the Christian is to become like Christ. And that goal will never be completely met until we get to heaven! But as we journey through this life, we should seek to grow in our knowledge of God’s Word. We should seek to grow in our understanding and insight.

God is love. As our knowledge of Him increases, our ability to love will increase. The more we spend time with Him, talk to Him, and study His Word, the more we will see others with His vision. And when that happens, our love for others will abound, as He transforms our flawed spirits into a perfect replica of Himself.

We need to seek this kind of growth in our own lives. And, like Paul, we need to be diligent to pray for our Christian brothers and sisters. For the more we all grow in our knowledge and insight of our Lord, the more His work will be accomplished here on earth!

Dear Father, Please help me to grow more and more like You each day. I want Your love to abound in my life. Please be with ______________________________ as he/she grows in You.

Amen

Old Friends

Philippians 1:7 – 8 “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. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.”

Have you ever had to move, and leave good friends behind? Have you ever had a dear friend move away? I have dear friends spread from California to New York, and in many states between! I have a missionary friend in Canada. I have friends in the military, and they are spread all over the globe. Sometimes, I long for their company, and I wish they could all just move to Texas, so I could see them!

As Christians, it is good and right for us to develop strong bonds of friendship. We are family, really, for we share the same Father. It is important for us to take the time needed to build and nurture Christian friends. And it is important for us not to forget those friends, even when we don’t see them often. As we long for old friends, we can take comfort in knowing that we will see them again, if we share a bond in Jesus Christ. We will one day have all of eternity to celebrate together, in the presence of our Father and our Dear Brother! Until then, we need to put forth the effort to remember one another, pray for one another, and encourage one another as we look forward to that glorious day of our reunion.

Dear Father, Thank You for blessing me with friends. Help me to take responsibility for keeping those friendships strong.

Amen

Master Builder

Philippians 1:6 “. . . 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.”

Do you ever get impatient? I know I do. I get really impatient with God sometimes, just wanting Him to go ahead and do whatever it is He is doing in my life! And I get impatient with myself, because it seems I will never be the person that God wants me to be. But God has all the time in the world. He is in no hurry. Rather than just slapping together a sub-standard version of our souls, He likes to take his time, sculpting us into a beautiful masterpiece.

And He is not a quitter, either. He began His work in us on the day of our conception! From the moment we had life, He began drawing us to Himself, longing for us to someday choose to have a relationship with Him. And for those of us who have accepted His Son as our Savior, He has been whittling away at our souls from the moment of our salvation. He is molding, sculpting, whittling, . . . discarding the needless, ugly, useless parts, leaving behind only what is lovely and true and perfect. And He is taking His time doing it, because He already knows the finished product, which will be complete on the day our Lord returns!

My friends, God is the master architect, and He holds the blueprints of our lives. Trust Him. He will not leave His work undone. Let Him have His way, and the final results will be stunningly, breathtakingly beautiful.

Dear Father,
I know that You are always working to make me more like You. Thank You for not giving up on me.

Amen

Teamwork

Philippians 1:4 – 5 “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”

The Christians in the Philippian church were valuable partners in Paul’s ministry. They loved him, supported him, saw that his physical needs were met. They teamed together with Paul, and stood ready to do whatever was needed to assist him in spreading the good news of Jesus Christ.

Now, a couple of thousand years later, we are still a team. Each of us has different gifts, talents, strengths and contributions. And with any team, victory or defeat does not depend on one member. It depends on the ability of all members to work together.

We can’t all go overseas and live in huts, sharing the gospel with people who have never heard of the Bible. But we can pray. We can’t all spend years in seminary, and hours each week preparing sermons to deliver on Sunday. But we can give a portion of our income to support the church.

All too often, we focus on what we can’t do. Instead, we should focus on what we can do. And we should pour our time and energy into developing and using whatever unique gifts God has given to each of us, for His glory! Do you love children? Volunteer at a local school, and change a child’s life! Are you a great cook? Keep some pies frozen to deliver to people who are ill, or who have lost a loved one. Are you a whiz on the computer? Offer to help out in the church office, or at a local charity. Together, we can change the world with God’s great grace, mercy, and love.

Dear Father, Thank You for creating me with a unique personality and unique talents. Help me use my life to share Your love.

Amen

Remember This

Philippians 1:3 “I thank my God every time I remember you.”

What a great example Paul set for his dear readers! He was in prison. Things couldn’t get much worse. There was not much Paul could give thanks for in his current circumstance. So, he looked inside, and pulled out good memories! He remembered people he loved, and he thanked God.

How many times do we get so caught up in our current bad situations that we forget how good God has been? Our Heavenly Father has shown His love to us in countless ways, and has given us the ability to remember all the wonderful things He has done for us! He has given us food and shelter. He has surrounded us with people to love. And, no matter how bad things get, most of us can pull up at least one good, positive, praiseworthy memory.

When we find ourselves in circumstances beyond our control, circumstances which make us angry or break our hearts, we should follow Paul’s example. We should think of something that makes us smile, something for which we are thankful. And we should give thanks to God for His eternal goodness.

Dear Father,
Thank You for all of the good things You have given me in my lifetime. Please help me to remember those things when my circumstances are difficult.

Amen

Look Up!

Philippians 1:1 – 2 “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul wrote this letter from prison. The church at Philippi had shown great support and love to him, and he wanted to thank them. In the midst of what must have been very difficult circumstances, Paul took the time to write a joyful, kind, loving letter to his friends. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, he focused on his dear readers, wishing them grace and peace.

Sometimes, life is hard. Really hard. During those times, we often are so frustrated with our circumstances that we focus only on ourselves. And in focusing on ourselves and our rotten circumstances, we see only gloom and doom. By keeping our chins to our chests and looking only at our problems, we actually make our situations seem worse!

We can learn an important lesson from Paul. Look up! Look at God, and at those He has placed around you! Take the time to love them, to help them, to thank them for kindness shown. By taking our eyes off of our own darkness, we widen our vision to take in some light!

Paul was able to wish his readers grace, because he had experienced the grace that only God gives. He was able to wish them peace, because he had unlocked the secret to peace in his own life. He set his attention on God, and on others, and he barely had time to remember how bad things were. And those bad things seemed not quite so bad, as he remembered and shared God’s blessings.

Dear Father, Thank You for Your grace and peace. Please help me not to get so wrapped up in my own problems that I forget to be a blessing to others. I love You.

Amen

American Idol

Proverbs 9:7 - 9 "Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse. Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.

American Idol is one of biggest pop-culture shows of our time. One of the stars created through that show is the singer, Clay Aiken. He had tremendous talent, but then, so did everyone else who made it to the finals of that show. Clay was cute, but gangly, and a little nerdy. (Sorry, Clay! But you were.) While we all loved this nerdy guy, he needed some work. And one of his harshest critics during the show was - you guessed it - Simon!

While many of the contestants left the stage in anger or tears after Simon's harsh words, Clay seemed to lean forward, eagerly drinking in every mean, nasty word! And the next week, while many contestants continued making the same mistakes, Clay would have fixed whatever problem Simon had addressed! Clay used Simon's criticism to his advantage. He was wise. He made it to the top two in that show, and is now a huge pop star!

One of the main differences between a wise, righteous person and a foolish, wicked person is his/her ability to accept instruction and correction. None of us is perfect - not a single one of us. We all have times when we need to be rebuked, or corrected. The foolish person will take correction, scoff at it, and hate the one who delivered it. The wise person, on the other hand, will take the correction, examine it, apply it to his/her life, and will appreciate the one who delivered it. Even if the rebuke was given harshly, and was intended to bring hurt, the wise man will use it to his advantage, and will grow to be a better person because of it.

Dear Father, Please give me a teachable spirit. When correction or rebuke comes my way, please help me to be wise, and use it to become more of the person You want me to be.

Amen