No greater gift has ever been given than the Blood of Jesus Christ that covers our sin and lets us spend eternity with Him. Joy in this provides the strength we need to let our light shine.
I am so thankful for those He places in my life… Family, Church, the community and nation that I live in. Nothing was left to chance He knew us in our mother’s womb.
John 6:29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
Our prayers for others are powerful for their good! Our financial support is a blessing and a privilege to advance the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in every place of the world.
Through the power of Holy Spirit we can accomplish everything that the Father preordained.
Through His death on the cross, Jesus Christ, "the mediator of a new covenant" (Hebrews 9:15), paid the price for our sins, giving us eternal life with our Lord. (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 5:8-9)
"In [Christ] you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance..." (Ephesians 1:13-14). First5
Jeremiah 31:3: "The Lᴏʀᴅ appeared to us in the past, saying: 'I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness'" (NIV).
Remember as children, we sang—right index finger raised—“This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine.”
“You are the light of the world,” Jesus reminded us. And yet, we read it as a command rather than an affirmation.
Here's the deal. Jesus never said, "Create the light. Contrive the light. Design the light. Engineer the light. He never even said, ‘Be good at light shining.’"
He said simply, "Let." Meaning “allow."
Meaning, get out of the way. The light is already there.
Inside of us.
Now.
We arrived with it—with the light (dignity, compassion, empathy and connection, knowing the light is alive in those around us). And, each soul and each light is unique and imprinted by God, and we are invited to break out of our minimum-security prison of conformity or fear or smallness in order to experience our soul's true power and story. SabbathMoments
Philippians 1:3-11
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. The New King James Version
It was common for Graeco-Roman letters to include a thanksgiving section, but Paul’s language here goes beyond the customary expression of gratitude. Ever since Paul first preached the gospel at Philippi, the believers there had been among his strongest supporters. He thinks of them with warmth and affection and prays that their love and wisdom will grow. Faithlife Study Bible
Every time that others were brought them to his mind, Paul gave thanks. A prominent theme in Philippians, filled Paul’s prayers for the Philippians even when he interceded for their needs.
This is the first of five uses of the Greek word for joy in the letter. Paul also uses the Greek word for rejoice nine times in this letter.
Fellowship is a commercial term for a joint-partnership in a business venture in which all parties actively participate to ensure the success of the business. In the Christian community, the word expresses intimacy with Christ and other believers. In this case, Paul may be using the word fellowship to refer to the financial contributions the Philippians had given Paul from the first day until now. Immediately upon becoming Christians and continually thereafter, the Philippians had dedicated themselves to living and proclaiming the truth about Jesus Christ, and specifically to helping Paul in his ministry.
Paul had become convinced some time in the past that God would complete His good work among the Philippians, and his confidence remained unshaken. Since you is a plural pronoun, the good work that God was doing was taking place “among” the believers rather than “in” any isolated believer.
It expresses progress toward a goal and indicates that a time is coming when God will completely finish His work among the Philippian Christians. The ministry in which the Philippians participated continues (like a relay race) up to the present, and it will continue until Christ returns. The NKJV Study Bible
We must thank our God for the graces and comforts, gifts and usefulness of others, as we receive the benefit, and God receives the glory. The work of grace will never be perfected till the day of Jesus Christ, the day of his appearance. But we may always be confident God will perform his good work, in every soul wherein he has really begun it by regeneration; though we must not trust in outward appearances, nor in any thing but a new creation to holiness. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
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