Greetings ladies and
gentleman :)
The Lord bless thee and
keep thee! Amen!
"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, 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" (Philippians 1:3-6)
Observations:
Pauls' Prayer:
1. Thanking God every time he remembers the
saints.
2. Praying with joy because of their partnership
in the gospel.
Interpretations:
What have I learned about
Paul?
1. Even though he is in jail, he still has a
personal relationship with God. It is evident when
Paul writes, "I thank my God...".
2. Even through his suffering, he does not wallow
in his hardship but remembers the good things that
are happening to thank God.
3. His mind is not on himself but he puts God
first, others second, and himself last.
4. He knows God's promises and stands on them.
5. He always remembers to thank God for the
brothers and sisters that he remembers.
6. His prayers are still with joy because of the
saints partnership in the gospel even though he
could be suffering in jail.
Application of important implications for our
own lives:
Many times we can have a tendency to make God our
genie and expect Him to grant our wishes. When that
does not happen, it is so easy to get frustrated and
wallow in all the things that are going wrong in our
lives.
When we focus on the negative things we allow the
enemy to take control. Rather than focusing on what
is going wrong, thank the Lord for the things that
He deserves thanks for. No matter how bleak things
in our life look, we all have things to be thankful
for. Remember, you are special and precious in the
Lord's sight whatever you feel or others make you
think. This alone can be something to be thankful
for.
Jesus loves you so much and you can have a personal
relationship with the Lord. He desires that
relationship with you and you will find so much
peace in the Lord alone even when things are bleak.
Each time you remember a brother or sister, bring
them to the Lord in prayer. One of the best ways to
protect each other from the enemies reach is praying
for each other. God's Word is not just there to be
read but applied. Start applying the principles you
have learned from this passage. The Lord will start
bringing everything into perspective.
Thank the Lord for those whose partnership in the
gospel brought you to Christ. Each one of you have a
story how you came to Christ. None of us come to
Christ on our own, but it is the Lord's choosing
whether He uses people or events to do the good work
in our life.
Observation:
"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"
Interpretation/Application:
"Being confident" is a present confidence that
Paul has even though he is in jail. This confidence
lies in the fact that when God begins a good work in
someone, He will finish it to completion. We all can
take comfort in knowing that just coming to Christ
is a good work the Lord has performed in our life.
Since He began that good work, He will carry it to
completion (our Salvation is secure in Him). You can
be confident this very moment that the Lord will
finish the work, he has started in you even in other
areas of your life.
Paul is able to write this promise from jail!
I asked myself why is it
we have such a hard time claiming God's promises?
One reason is because we do not spend enough time
with the Lord to realize how much He loves us and
cares for us. When things seem to go wrong in your
life, don't automatically think that God is far from
you or has abandoned you. Scripture reminds us we
will have trials and tribulations but blessed is the
one who perseveres till the end allowing God to
finish the work He started. Please, please don't
give the Lord second place in your life. Most of our
sorrows and pain results because we give ourselves
first place and give the Lord the meager minutes of
the day if we even give him those minutes :( There
are times our sorrow and pain results not because of
anything wrong we have done but because we live in a
sinful world. Through it all it is important to
remember that Christ offers us forever infinite,
daily, never-ending truth in his promises.
I ask you now dear friends
who are you confident in?
Dear friends, it is easy to be confident when things
are going our way and we see where we are going. But
life is not always like that as I have learned.
Sometimes events happen in our lives that our
confidence can be shaken. People do hurt us and we
can lose confidence in people. I know for I have
been there. When we are confident in God, He will
not disappoint us. No matter how things are going,
He has given you a promise to claim and He will keep
His promise. Friend, may you be confident in the
Lord no matter what you are facing for He knows our
trials and tribulations. He knows our pain and
sorrow and wants to help us.
Won't you take His help and
rest in Him? He waits for you friend and you
can have joy in the Lord and be thankful even
through the pain.
There was a time years ago that I remember when
things were not going well at all for me. Yet, I
felt that I should praise and thank the Lord through
it all. As I lifted my hands to the Lord in prayer
even as I walked in Downtown, Pittsburgh not being
conscious of people around me, it was as if I saw an
image of Jesus' Hands reaching out to me to help me.
Hence the name Helping Hands came to my mind and
that was the name given to messages that I put out
in different places.
The first one was called "Let Go, Let God". As
the months went by, someone suggested that I make it
into a book. Years later, the online version of
'Helping Hands' was introduced on my site. You can
access the book at http://www.pitt.edu/~rcrst6/HelpingHands.html
Christ Offers Now Forever
Infinite, Daily, Everlasting, Never-ending Truth. (C.O.N.F.I.D.E.N.T)
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, it is hard
when things are going wrong in our lives to be happy
and thankful. Yet, we have seen the example that
Paul, your servant has set. We ask you Lord for
forgiveness for we have not served you with our
whole heart. We have made service to you secondary
whenever something that pleases our flesh comes
along. We are sorry Lord. We are sorry when we have
let anything come in the way of our relationship
with you. We ask that you help us give you first
place and forsake the desires of our flesh. Lord,
your Word says that when we walk in the Spirit, we
will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. We claim
your promise. We thank you when we have a
relationship with you that is unshaken, no matter
what happens we can stand our ground. I pray this is
the kind of relationship we all can have with you. I
know Lord, I am not there yet but I desire to have
that relationship. You say whatever we ask in your
Name it will be done by your Father in Heaven. We
pray that we can give thanks even through times of
sorrow. We thank thee that you will finish the good
work you have begun in us and you are our Jehovah
Nissi, the Lord our Banner. In Jesus Name We Pray,
Father God! Amen! Thanks you hear us and answer us!
We praise you and thank you for everything! Amen!
