SCRIPTURE:

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God." (Philippians 1:9-11)

EXPOSITION:

Observations:

Paul prays for the saints with 2 requests:

1. Their love may abound more and more in knowledge!

2. Their love may abound more and more with depth of insight!

There are five reasons Paul brings these 2 requests before God on behalf of the saints:

1. That they may be able to discern what is best until the day of Christ.

2. That they may be pure until the day of Christ.

3. That they may be blameless until the day of Christ.

4. That they may be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ!

5. That God can be glorified and praised!

 Interpretation:

Paul's reason for praying for the saints is focused on Christ too! He wants the saints love to abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight so that they can discern what is best, they can be pure, they can be blameless, they can have the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, for one reason: To the Glory and Praise of God!

Interpretation/Application:

I saw important implications for our own life. 

I ASK YOU NOW

I ask you now dear friends, how is your attitude?

Dear friends, as Christians we need to take seriously what it means to love others. This kind of love is the agape kind and not the eros or phileo kind. It is through our love for the Lord Jesus and His saints that we can discern what is best, can be pure, can be blameless, and be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ!

Think about it, most sins occur in our lives because we do not really understand the concept of loving. If we love Jesus so much, we would make sure we want Jesus to be happy. So, we will want to do things that will keep Jesus happy. We will also realize that we cannot do it on our own but we need the Lord's help so we will depend on Him to be able to discern what is best, be pure, be blameless, and filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ.

I learned it is important to realize that purity, blamelessness, and fruit of righteousness only come through Jesus Christ. If we try to be pure, blameless, or righteous on our own, we will fall with a THUD!  ”No one is righteous, not one, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

Being pure, blameless, and exhibiting fruit of righteousness will make Jesus happy. It starts with love. Let us love Jesus with our whole heart. Let our love for Jesus not be conditional. Let us not have the attitude, I will love Jesus only if this or that happens in my life, etc. Jesus deserves our love for dying for our sins and coming back to life to save. Only through our love for Jesus can we bring glory and praise to God because our love for Jesus will exhibit itself with the people around us. It is important we make the prayer in God's Word our prayer for the saints and ourselves. Let us keep the words of Jesus in mind:

"But among you it is quite different. Anyone wanting to be a leader among you must be your servant. And if you want to be right at the top, you must serve like a slave. Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:26-28)

Almighty's Truth Tells Instantly To Understand Deliverer's Emphasis: Servanthood (A.T.T.I.T.U.D.E.S)

 PRAYER:

Prayer: