Meeting 6/20/20
Phil. 1:3-11.
"I thank my God every time I remember you...in all my prayers...because of your partnership...I have you in my heart...I long for all of you..."
I'm missing all of y'all this morning. I miss the fellowship and encouragement we have when we meet together. It's a wonderful and awesome time. Looking back, I'm thankful for the Lord allowing us to have so many fruitful years of study together. Who could've predicted that a pandemic would put a halt to our gatherings? We are coming upon our twenty year anniversary of meeting as Firefighters for Christ. Though I never really know who might read these summaries, I'm humbled to discover that my oldest daughter has begun to read them from their inception and is enjoying them. I'm so thankful for her faith. It's been amazing to see her grow and mature in Christ. I hope the Lord will allow me to see what He does with her life. I'm also thankful the Lord prompted me to write these summaries down and maintain a website as an investment for the future. Who knew? He did! I pray He will use them to teach and encourage believers worldwide for His glory.
"And this is my prayer...that your love may abound...so that you may be able to discern...and be pure...filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ..."
First of all, I'm encouraged and commanded to continue praying for you. Lord knows, I've filled the airwaves with an abundance of selfish requests! It's good to pray for others. It gets your eyes off of your own issues. Secondly, their is an interesting connection mentioned in this section. Are you as surprised as I am that Paul is praying for his fellow believers' love? That's not usually on my prayer list. Maybe it's time for a change in how I pray: to pray that your love may abound. Another mysterious unfolding directly connects love to wisdom. It's tied to knowledge and depth of insight. I guess that makes sense. The Lord puts love at the top of His list. It would follow that if we are participating, cooperating with Him, and actually doing what He said to do, He would be pleased to unlock the doors of wisdom in our favor.
Why love? So we may be able to discern what is best and be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. Also, it is so we would be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ. We have learned that wisdom comes from God. He promised to give it if we asked Him and believed (James). Oh, how we need spiritual wisdom. It's become so difficult to discern what is best or what to do in this world, with so many voices and so much noise. We've also learned that fruit and righteousness come from God as well. Remember, these things are in God's domain, not ours. Wisdom and righteousness are not for us to manifest by human manipulation. Spiritual fruit and purity come from the Holy Spirit as a result of being intimately connected to Him in relationship and being obedient to the action of love. They are meant to be blessings for us and a benefit to fellow believers. Make no mistake, they can only come from Him. You cannot fake it until you make it! I pray your love may truly abound! For His glory!
