READ: Philippians 1 (Focus vs. 3-11)
MEMORY VERSE
“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6
BACKGROUND
At the last night of summer camp, my teenage self felt conspicuous as I stood alone in a group of campers. When one of them mocked me, I felt hurt. I ran back to my tent, pretending to sleep when the group leader checked on me. The next morning I avoided her attempt to talk about it.
She later wrote to me, helping me understand that God truly cared for me. She quoted from the apostle Paul: We can be “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 1:6). I felt like the apostle’s words were directed right to me.
Paul wrote to the church at Philippi, which he’d planted over a decade earlier, to encourage them to root their love for God and each other “in knowledge and depth of insight” (v. 9).
God would carry on His work in and through them as He filled them “with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ” (v. 11).
At the time I didn’t understand the original context, but I started to comprehend that my identity as one loved by God came from knowing and accepting the love of Jesus.
God desires that we receive His love and that it would abound in us more and more. As He fills us with His joy and peace, we’ll grow in the knowledge not only of Him but of His good work in us.
Amy Boucher Pye
INSIGHT
Paul writes to encourage his spiritual children whom he lovingly describes as “God’s holy people . . . who belong to Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:1 nlt). He’s praying they’ll mature in their faith and become more like Christ (vv. 9-11; see 1 Thessalonians 3:12).
The apostle doesn’t simply want them to love each other; he wants them to overflow with God’s love (Philippians 1:9 nlt).
Because God is love and He’s demonstrated His love by sending His Son to die for our sins, the apostle John commands us to love one another just as God loved us (1 John 4:7-12):
“We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect” (vv. 16-17 nlt). Our identity as believers is rooted in knowing that God made us and loves us.
K.T. Sim
APPLICATION
How does knowing that God will complete His work in you shape you?
How can you root your identity in Christ more deeply?
PR’s (Pastor Richard) RE-EMPHASIS (From Today’s Post)
Our identity as believers is rooted in knowing that God made us and loves us.
PR’s TAKE
“For this reason…I bow my knees [in reverence] before the Father [of our Lord Jesus Christ… (that) He may grant you out of the riches of His glory, to be strengthened and spiritually energized with power through His Spirit in your inner self, [indwelling your innermost being and personality], so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith.
And may you, having been [deeply] rooted and [securely] grounded in love, be fully capable of comprehending with all the saints (God’s people) the width and length and height and depth of His love [fully experiencing that amazing, endless love];
And [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God
So that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself].”Ephesians 3;14-19
PRAYER
“Creator God, You made me and love me. Please help me look to You always for love, joy, and help.”
TODAY’S HYMN/WORSHIP/PRAISE/GOSPEL SONG
“ABUNDANCE OF GRACE”
There’s a promise I have found,
And this promise must be true.
God will make all grace abound;
There is grace enough to take us thro’.
There is grace, abundance of grace,
Grace to bless us day by day,
Grace to keep us all the way.
There is grace, abundance of grace,
There is grace enough for you and me.
Grace to make us free indeed,
Grace to keep us day by day,
Grace in time for ev’ry need,
There is grace enough for you and me.
There is grace, abundance of grace,
Grace to bless us day by day…
When the tempest still is high,
Night o’ertakes us on life’s sea,
Christ the Lord will hear our cry,
And has grace enough for you and me.
There is grace, abundance of grace,
Grace to bless us day by day…
When we rise to meet the King,
And behold His majesty,
This the song we then will sing,
There is grace enough for you and me.
There is grace, abundance of grace,
Grace to bless us day by day,
Grace to keep us all the way.
There is grace, abundance of grace,
There is grace enough for you and me.
