911…Love for God above ALL and love for His creation, our neighbors both near and far. Love is an action word. By our love for others we show our love for God and His salvation in the birth, death and resurrection of His beloved Son. While we were yet sinners He gave His life for us.
Holy Spirit is our ever present help in all seasons of life!
Acts 24:16 This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.
1 Thessalonians 3:12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you,
James 3:18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Meister Eckhart says that if you only learn one prayer in your whole life, learn this one: "Thank you.”
With presence, we are no longer waiting for our real life to begin.
This week, can we embrace the reality—even in a world heavy with pain—that the dance, the perseverance, the abundance, the light, the tenderness, the intimacy, the wholeheartedness, the spine-tingling elation of joy, comes to life in the tiny moments soaked in grace? Sabbath Moments
Pure grace. Grace is God’s greatest idea. That he would treat us according to his heart and not ours. Amazing grace! Max Lucado
Philippians 1:9–11
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
As Paul explains later, love (agapē) involves putting others before oneself. The knowledge that Paul has in mind is not just intellectual but experiential, acquired through acts of love. The Greek term used here, aisthēsis, refers to the ability to make decisions for the benefit of others. When the Philippians’ love abounds, they will be able to determine what is most valuable or beneficial to the community of believers. Sincere and without blame refers to being without fault. The fruit of righteousness refers to the natural results of belonging to Christ, whose death and resurrection bring righteousness to all who believe. Faithlife Study Bible
The love that Paul sought for the believers is the highest form of Christian love, based on a lasting, unconditional commitment, not on an unstable emotion.
The first of two terms on which a directed love is built, knowledge suggests an intimate understanding based on a relationship with the person. Here the focus of this knowledge is God. Discernment, found only here in the New Testament, is the Greek word which means moral or ethical understanding based on both the intellect and the senses. The word implies perception or insight into social situations.
That you may approve is the verb used in ancient literature for the testing of gold to determine its purity, and for trying oxen to assess their usefulness for the task at hand.
The purpose of increasing in love, controlled by knowledge, is to be able to evaluate people and situations correctly, pure, unmixed, and free from falsehood.
Christ died to free the church from every blemish. Without offense uses still another graphic term to describe the Christian, Paul conveys the sense of not striking out at someone. Here the phrase means not leading others into sin by one’s own behavior.
The goal ahead for the believer is the day of Christ in which the believer will stand for evaluation before the Savior, who is the faithful and true witness.
Fuits of righteousness is best understood either as “fruit that results from being justified” or “fruit characterized by morally correct conduct.” The NKJV Study Bible
1 Corinthians 1:8 who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:6 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;
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