Have You in My Heart...

1 Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, 5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; 7 just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. 8 For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. 9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, 11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.—Philippians 1:1-11

In reading Philippians 1:1-11 last night two things stayed with me.   The first was that despite writing to the Philippians from a Roman prison, Paul was joyful.  His chains were not in Rome, but in Christ.  All was to further God’s plan, not Paul’s. Paul had a single mind focused on doing the will of God. I don’t know about you, but this really convicted me.  Seeing God use my circumstances for His purposes especially when I am suffering is not usually in the forefront of my mind.  On the peripheral edges maybe...but not the forefront. 

Praying today, that I can see past me and my discomfort and desire for relief, and see the trials I face not only as opportunities for faith but for joy as well.  Why?  Because He is working His will and purposes not only in me but also in the lives of those around me...and that is always a good thing.

The second thought that stayed with me was that Paul LOVED those God had placed in His care. He longed for them. He had them in his mind, on his heart and he prayed for them. He thanked His God upon every remembrance of them and made requests for them with joy.  His attitude reminded me of some of my favorite verses from Colossians.

12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.—Colossians 3:12-17

Love is the bond that brings unity. The love of God was poured out in Paul’s heart and he was clearly filled with the fruits of righteousness which are only by Jesus Christ.  For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

I so want to be like Paul here but sadly, I am not.  My mind is on me and my problems most of the time.  I think that perhaps the secret to Paul’s joy was that his mind was not on Paul but on Christ.  Maybe the JOY acronym that we hear batted about was derived originally from Paul’s attitude as he wrote to the Philippians believers.  JOY=Jesus, others, you. Paul was miles from the Philippians believers but his fellowship with them remained unbroken. In fact, he furthered it not only by writing to them but by praying for them.  Like Jesus, Paul had the Philippians believers on his mind, on his heart and in his prayers. ❤️

May each of us be that kind of person to each other...

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.—Galatians 6:2