IN MY HEART!

IN MY HEART!

Phil 1:1-7

1 Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:

2 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,

4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,

5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;

6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

7 Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.

          Paul and Timothy wrote this letter to the people at Philippi expressing a great love for this church. The relationship between a pastor and his church is not always this cordial, but when it is, it is heaven on earth. In these first seven verses, Paul lists several things that is worthy of our focus.

          I have your best interests at heart! I want you to know God’s grace. The word for grace is charis and it means “the divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life.” I want God to be so very real to you that it transforms you! I also want you to experience God’s peace. The word peace is eirene which means not only quietness and rest but also prosperity. I want all this for you!

          I have you in my mind! Paul said, “I thank God upon every remembrance of you!” They were always in his thoughts – and they were good thoughts!

          I have you in my prayers! The requests Paul made for them were made with joy. I know that it is not always so. Sometimes when we pray we have a heavy heart because of some sin lurking in the lives of our friends or some tragedy they are experiencing. How pleasant it is to make requests with joy.

          I have good expectations of you! Paul was confident that God would continue to both bless and guide them “until the day of Jesus Christ.” God is faithful to us and will never give up on us! Paul was pleased with the responses of these people to the leading of the Lord. They were growing and he was glad!

          I have you in my heart! You are lodged there like fuzz on Velcro; like a sticker in my sock. I can’t get you out nor do I want to! You are a pleasant and permanent fixture deep inside me. Such is the love that a shepherd has for his sheep. Sometimes this love comes naturally as a result of our interaction with one another and sometimes it is placed there by the Lord Himself. We can’t always understand it but we can’t deny it either.

Ps 133

1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;

3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord  commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

Dear Lord, thank you for the love that exists between me and my flock. May it continue and grow even stronger. Amen

NO SPIRIT OF FEAR!

NO SPIRIT OF FEAR!

2 Tim 1:6-7

6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

          There is no need to be timid when openly sharing our faith. The chapter explains that Timothy had a strong foundation of faith in his grandmother and his mother. He knew the Scriptures because he had been taught them as a lad. He was personally trained and mentored by the Apostle Paul who was ready to give him his very own realm of ministry.

          Some think that Timothy was a timid soul but there is no particular reason to think so. Paul is simply driving home the fact that we have power with God through the Holy Spirit. In fact the word “power” is the same word used in Acts 1:8 and that word is dunamis which forms the basis of our word “dynamite.” Verse 7 in The Amplified New Testament reads this way: "calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control."

          There is no need to fear failure if we rely upon God’s dynamite power instead of our own. There is no need to fear challenge because the opposition tends to melt away at the presence of enthusiastic faith.

Lord, thanks for the reminder that there is a power within me that is not my own. Fill me today with a calm and well-balanced mind. AMEN

THE LORD WILL FINISH IT!

THE LORD WILL FINISH IT!

Ps 138:8

8 The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me:

Comfortingly, the Hebrew word translated “perfect” here is the word gamar (gaw-mar') and means “to end.” The idea is that God will bring all that concerns us to a successful completion. The New Testament confirms this thought in the following verse.

Phil 1:6

6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

The Greek word for “will perform” is epiteleo (ep-ee-tel-eh'-o) and means to fulfill further (or completely), i.e. execute; by implication, to terminate, to bring to a full and satisfying end.

God will keep working on me until He is satisfied with the finished product. He will keep on working in spite of my ignorance until wisdom begins to develop in me. He will keep on working in spite of my weakness until His strength is made perfect. He will keep on working in spite of my stubbornness until I am humbled  because He is a firm but loving heavenly Father. He will bring me to maturity.

God will keep on fine tuning His purpose for me. He will bring into my life those who can influence me for good even if the circumstances of these encounters seem bad at the time. He will shut down some of my pet projects because they do not fit His purposes for me. He will lead me through hard paths because they end in the accomplishment of His greater purpose. He will allow pain and restrain pleasure so that I may become mature.

Rom 8:28-31

28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

Dear Lord, thank you for not giving up on me. Thank you for seeing value in me that I cannot see in myself. Thank you for changing my good plans for your better plans. AMEN