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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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.
It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, 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.
Philippians 1:2-8
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
How often do you take the time to show others how much you love and appreciate them?
I’m afraid that if we’re honest with ourselves, it’s not as frequent as we should.
The problem is that we take people for granted more than we should. Acts of kindness and goodness are extended by others all the time to us and we tend to move forward, get caught up in the things of life, and lose sight of how we’ve been blessed. This happens in our relationship with family, friends, and co-workers but unfortunately, it bleeds over into our relationship with the Lord.
As we look at the words of the Apostle Paul today, words penned from his place of Roman imprisonment and directed toward the Christians in Philippi, we see a good example of what extending love and thanksgiving looks like. Look again at his words here:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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.
It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, 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.
Philippians 1:2-8
Note here that Paul’s full attention is on his brother and sister Philippians who were in Christ. His devotion towards them is never in question as he wishes them to have the grace and peace of God and His Son Jesus.
The Apostle also makes it a point to let the Jesus believers in Philippi know he has not forgotten them, constantly lifting them up to the Lord in prayer as they continue his work for the cause of the Gospel. Paul was confident that the Lord would be with the Philippian Christians as they carried out the work He had in store for them up to the day of Jesus’ return.
Yes, Paul cared deeply for the Christ followers of Philippi, whether free or imprisoned for the cause of the good news of salvation through Jesus. He had the Philippians in his heart and held a deep affection and thanks for them.
So what are we to do with these words of Paul? How can we apply them to our lives today?
I think the scriptures are calling us to be intentional about letting others know they are loved and appreciated. With this, I would encourage you to get out a card (or cards) and write words that openly express your love and gratitude toward someone you know. Following Paul’s template as he wrote to the Philippians, include the following in your card:
1. Wish the recipient grace and peace from God and His Son Jesus.
2. Let them know you give thanks for them, that they are a gift to you and then explain why.
3. Make sure they know you pray for them, especially in regard to their place in God’s salvation plan.
4. Finally, share your feelings of love and affection for them, reinforcing how and why you appreciate them and who they are to you in your life.
Sometimes in life, we can find our attention on ourselves and when that happens, we lose sight of those who should show our care for. I give thanks for these words of Paul that nudge us toward adopting a better attitude of gratitude towards others.
Who will you reach out to today?
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com
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