Ramesh C. Reddy
Editor in Chief
Hi everyone :)
May you all know that the Lord Jesus teaches you His new deliverance that starts with His awesome love shown in different ways! Amen!
Quiet Times (Psalm 132 and Philippians 4:1)
“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity.” (Psalm 133:1, NIV)
“Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!” (Philippians 4:1, NIV)
What stuck out right away is the word “Therefore” bringing back to my mind citizenship.
“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” (Philippians 3:20-21)
By being citizens of Heaven, Paul wants them to stand firm in the Lord.
Before telling the Philippians to stand firm in the Lord, Paul lets them know 4 things:
Paul is in love and longing for the Philippians. I found that very significant because it was not a sexual or romantic kind of love or longing, but a family kind of love and longing for the Philippians. They have become his joy and crown to him.
For Paul to be able to describe them as his joy and crown, they must be acting as true citizens of heaven. His love and longing for them shows that love can be in different languages and does not always have to be the sexual or romantic language.
I saw important implications for my own life. As a believer in Christ, I should not back down to write to others that I love them and long for them. I should not fear people getting the wrong message. Sadly in society many times the whole concept of love is twisted.
“I love you” usually signifies that “person is interested in a person romantically”. That is not always the case. This passage also shed light on King David’s relationship with Jonathan. People who are for homosexuality love to use David and Jonathan's relationship to insinuate a sexual kind of love. That is way so far from the truth!
Loving one another and longing for them is so biblical and does not have to be sexual or romantic. I also realize when love is verbalized between sexes, there should be clarity in how that love is being expressed so mixed signals are not sent.
It is Paul’s love and longing for the Philippians that prompts him to write a letter to them and exhort them to stand firm in the Lord as citizens of Heaven.
I ask you now dear friends, where do you stand?
Dear friends, love in any language reaches the heart and it goes on and on. It is exciting to know that we are capable of loving because God loved us first. I don’t know where you stand on love but I want you to know this passage gives us an example that there is nothing wrong writing to people that they are loved and longed for. As it is done in the right context without mixed signals, it can be powerful.
Also, a person’s love can change someone else. I have seen that happen. Because they are loved they want to make the other person happy and it serves as an external motivation to change their lifestyle. You can be that one that can help someone as you let them know they are loved by you and most of all loved by the Lord.
Love is really strong and can make people stand firm for their beliefs. Because of Paul’s love for Jesus Christ which flowed out of him to the people, he is able to stand firm in his belief in Jesus w/o renouncing Christ though he is shackled in chains. Paul knows he is loved by Jesus and is able to stand firm.
No matter what happens to the Philippians, Paul wants them to stand firm in the Lord Jesus Christ which is what we should do too. We can love others and long for them as we stand firm in Jesus Christ.
There are a lot of you I do not know personally but I share these devotionals with you because of Christ’s love for me and my love for each of you. I long for each of you to know Jesus Christ more and more and allow Him to get you through your college years, career, and life itself as I learn from the Lord through these times.
For me it started because of how Jesus Christ showed His love for me on the cross and through my mom, then through Elizabeth Leibach & Kevin Leibach (former IV staff workers), Kathleen Sweeney (Former IV President), Sean King (Former IV Vice-President), Jim Ranking (Former IV leader).
Because of all them I joined IV, then IV student leadership, and later I went on staff with IV. As a IV staff I was blessed to be under the leadership and mentoring of Kent Walley, my former staff worker who is now a pastor in South Carolina. To this day I have been so excited to be part of IV retreats and conferences, etc because I can show love to others.
I was loved unconditionally by all of them w/o being judged even though I was told when I was messing up for my own good. I never felt they had a judgmental attitude towards me but so much love.
Sharing all these devotional times to this day has been a result of my love for each of you because of being loved and the Lord teaching me new deliverance. My prayer is that we all stand firm in the Lord through all circumstances taking the Lord’s new deliverance regardless of what we think will deliver us in our life.
May you know you are loved by the Lord Jesus Christ more than anyone else loves you! May you also come to stand on the promises of the Lord Jesus Christ knowing His love for you! Amen!
Savior Teaches All New Deliverance! (S.T.A.N.D)/"Where do you stand?"
Prayer:
Dear Jesus, thank you for loving us so much first before we loved you. You love us and acted on our behalf. You long for us to come to you Lord as you have prepared the Way for us to come. Thank you for being our Truth and Life. Thank you that I am able to love Jesus because you loved me and poured out your love in my life in so many different ways. I want to thank you for all those that you put in our lives to show us love. Help us Oh Lord to reciprocate your love to those around us. Thank you Lord when we know we are loved, it gives unbelievable motivation to stand up in support of those who do love us. You love us more than anyone and can help us stand firm in you Lord Jesus as citizens of heaven without giving up. Thank you Jesus you have heard our prayers and you answer us. Come Lord Jesus and help us see the answer. Thank you that we can stand firm. Thank you so much Jesus for your deliverance in our lives. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!
Love in Christ,
Ramesh
P.S. Check out the ZanyCrossword puzzle I created for you all.
It is interactive which means you can solve it online.
Give us your feedback if you agree or disagree