The Word of God for wisdom:
Proverbs 24:10 (KJV)
10 If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.
The Word of God for inspiration:
Psalm 71:3 (KJV)
3 Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress.
The Word of God for encouragement:
Philippians 1:21 (HCSB)
21 For me, living is Christ and dying is gain.
My observation:
Paul writes this letter to the church at Philippi from his prison cell in Rome. He writes with at least two purposes in mind; one to thank the church for their love gift to him, and second, to encourage them to work together with the aim of being one in Christ.
In this first chapter, Paul leaves no doubt that Jesus is first in his heart, and that Jesus is on his mind. I counted the occurrences that he mentions Jesus in the first chapter, and it is eighteen (18) times. I selected one of those verses for the focal verse today; it is verse twenty one (21). Here is what I know.
If Christ is your life,
You don't have to fear death.
Another theme that runs throughout this letter is joy. You don't have to have perfect circumstances in your life to have joy. What matters most is the source of your joy. Jesus was the source of Paul's joy. He did not allow prison or people to rob him of his joy. If you rejoice in the Lord, he will be your strength regardless of the difficult people in your life or your difficult circumstances.
Philippians 4:4 (HCSB)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Nehemiah 8:10 (HCSB)
10 Then he said to them, "Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, because the joy of the LORD is your stronghold."
My prayer:
Our Father in heaven, my dear Father, I pray that Jesus will in fact be Lord in my life. Lord, my heart's desire is to enthrone you as Lord of all, and Lord over all of me. As I learn to rejoice in the Lord always, I can expect that the Lord will be my stronghold in every circumstance. O, give praise to the Lord, for he is so good to his people. In Jesus name, Amen.
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Philippians 4:4 (HCSB)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
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