Text: “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now” (Philippians 1:3 – 5, NASB)
Truth: Joy is a characteristic of God’s love and can be experience at all times.
Commentary: To bind ourselves to God does not limit our freedom, but sets us free to receive the kindness of his grace and provides us with eternal peace; and Paul, who at the time was a Roman prisoner, was able to say that each time he thought of them at Philippi he would thank God for them. Paul remembers the people he has met because we find him thanking God for the Romans (Rom. 1:8), the Corinthians (1 Cor. 1:4), the Ephesians (Eph. 1:16), the Colossians (Col. 1:3), and the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 1:2; 2 Thess. 1:3) as well as certain individuals.
Because of Paul’s relationship to God, God’s grace filled him and as a prisoner he was not bitter (Heb. 12:15) but filled with joy in his imprisonment as he remembers those he has come to love while serving with them in Philippi. When we experience suffering during times of trial are we filled with a sufficient supply of God’s grace to protect us from a root of bitterness forming in us? Can we with joy, turn our thoughts away from our circumstances and think about our experiences with others and offer up prayers on their behalf, thanking God for them?
When Paul first met the Philippians they joined with him in the things of Christ. It was in Philippi that Paul and Silas were seized and beaten and secured in prison, but it is also the place where God came to visit them in their prison cell and demonstrated his power in such a way that the jailer and his family became believers and were baptized. They treated the wounds of Paul and Silas and fed them. The next day they were released from prison and went to the home of Lydia and encouraged the brethren and then departed from the city (Acts 16).
Those in Philippi shared with Paul in his affliction (Phil. 4:14) and helped him in their financial support (Phil. 4:15 – 16). Like the believers in Philippi are we the kind of Christian that gets behind and supports ministry leadership? Do we provide support and encouragement for those serving on the mission field? Are we seeing the needs of others as more important than our own needs (Phil. 2:3 – 4)? Paul remembers those in Philippi in this respect and he thanks God for them as he continues to pray for them.
Application: As believers, are we willing to take the time and pay the price to support those whom God has called to serve on the front lines of his work? Are we willing to participate in the gospel with them and bear fruit to the glory of God?
· Indicate how you are taking time and paying the price to support those whom God has called to serve on the front lines of his work and if you are not doing that, why not?
· How are you participating in the gospel in impacting the lives of others?
Prayer: Father, thank you for those you have brought along side of me to encourage me in times of service and in times of need in life. I think of how you have used people to touch my life at various times and in various ways that has encouraged me in my walk with the Lord. As you bring them to my mind, I thank you for them and their acts of kindness to me.
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