Letters to God

DAY 2 : PHILIPPIANS 1:9-11

And this is my prayer: that your lover may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God.
Philippians 1:9-11

Think Through:

Paul’s prayer for the Philipians is one that I believe I will hold close to my heart. It’s simple and yet so encompassing of all the most important points of living a Godly life.

DAY 2 : PHILIPPIANS 1:3-8

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:6

Think Through:

Name the brothers and sisters in Christ whom you are most thankful for and why. Commit to being there for them even when life gets rough. Turn your reflection into prayer.

I’m thankful for LF for always being there for me. I think back to the day of my baptism and remember how I didn’t even know she was my small group leader and was there for me that day. Also very thankful for my darling gf who has always always been there for me, no matter what, through thick and thin, ever-giving.

“I have you in my heart”
Philippians 1:7

I thank God for each of them.

My small group has embarked on a new book – Philippians and we’re using the Journey Through series as a guide.

Philippians

Considering the tough times we’re in, we hope that Paul’s letter to the Philippians will bring joy to us and remind us to be ever thankful for the small joys in life and our Lord’s mercies everyday.

Day 1 : Philippians 1:1-2

Of the 2 verses, verse 2 made me look twice, three times?

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give your grace and peace.

I googled “God’s Grace” and found some interesting explanations :

Grace is the opposite of karma, which is all about getting what you deserve. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve.

Grace is the love of God shown to the unlovely; the peace of God given to the restless; the unmerited favor of God.

Grace is Jesus Christ in redeeming action. And we live every day by the grace of God.

And thinking about peace, this verse immediately came to mind :

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:7

Think through:
When do we receive the blessings of God’s grace? What has been your own experience? When do we receive the blessings of God’s peace? IS it something you experience often, sometimes or rarely?

The Lord can use you to speak grace and peace into the live of others. What might hold you back from doing this?

When we receive Christ into our lives and hearts, His grace and peace are already made available to us. Do we accept it gratefully and humbly or do we think we are undeserving of it and push it away?

I choose to accept God’s blessings of grace and peace. He loves me and has given His son for me and I will humbly and gratefully choose to live obediently and according to His will for me.

I’ve been swamped with ministry work. God has been keeping me very busy during this lockdown. I’m not complaining. Just saying.

Lockdown has allowed many of us to attend several church services at a time – something we could and would not have done pre-lockdown. Today I attended one from my own church (Trinity Methodist Church Petaling Jaya in Malaysia) and also New Creation Church Singapore’s 11.30am service.

From Pastor Joseph Prince’s sermon today, I found that today’s Rhema (Greek word for “a specific word from the Lord that applies it to us individually”) is the word “prostrate”. This word holds deep meaning to me – it’s an act of humility. Humility which is so important in us being humans, especially leaders in all parts of society. Humility doesn’t make us any smaller than others. Neither does it make us look stupid. On the contrary, it shows maturity and a willingness to learn and be better.

In ministry, humility has taught me much. And today’s devotion from My Utmost For His Highest writes :

I delight in knowing that there is something in me which must fall prostrate before God when He reveals Himself to me, and also in knowing that if I am ever to be raised up it must be by the hand of God. God can do nothing for me until I recognize the limits of what is humanly possible, allowing Him to do the impossible.

I’m about to start on the book of Leviticus on my 1-year Chronological Bible Reading Plan.

If there’s one thing I drew from the book of Exodus, it would be that I want to have the same intimate relationship that Moses had with God and experience the radiance in my face (Exodus 34:29-30). And all of it comes from the same few things – obedience and trust in the Lord and reading and praying His word.

In these tough times, all we can do is cling unto Him and trust that He has the best plans laid out for us. And today’s devotional from My Utmost for His Highest is titled Out of the Wreck I Rise.

An excerpt taken from the devotional:

Either Jesus Christ is a deceiver, having deceived even Paul, or else some extraordinary thing happens to someone who holds on to the love of God when the odds are totally against him. Logic is silenced in the face of each of these things which come against him. Only one thing can account for it— the love of God in Christ Jesus. “Out of the wreck I rise” every time.