Paul’s description of the Church members as “my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and my crown” (4:1, ESV) is just beautiful.
He addresses the individual receiving this letter as his “true companion” in verse 3—in Greek, the phrase means “true/faithful yokefellow.” I love the imagery there. It’s someone who’s helping to pull the load WITH Paul. They’re sharing a common goal and working toward it, reliably and together.
I like that Paul frames Euodia and Syntyche’s schism as one between two people who labored with him in the gospel, whose names are in the Book of Life (verse 3). There is work to be done, but we’re not looking at the aftermath of a nuclear fallout—just a bridge that needs mending between two of God’s (respected) servants.
Verses 6 and 7 are beautiful but where I often struggle. Finding the balance between trusting God and making sure I’m doing my part is so difficult. I trust God but always second-guess whether I’m doing enough, too much, too little, the right amount in the right way, etc. I often overthink my way into anxiety and out of God’s peace. Still working on this one.
But I guess the key is in verses 8-9: Refocus your thoughts on the things worth thinking about. The God of peace will be with us when we do that.
I so admire Paul for being able to be content in whatever state he finds himself. There’s an art to contentment in abundance, too. I think it’s easy to assume that if we just had enough we’d be happy, but so many of society’s wealthiest just seem to want even more.
Verse 13—”I can do all things”—is so frequently taken out of context and abused that it’s almost beyond a cliche. But the original intent is so inspiring. We can survive any situation spiritually intact—abundance or poverty—because Christ gives us strength. There’s such hope in that. “I don’t know how I’ll make it through this, but I can because You’re with me.”
Also: the saints of Caesar’s household. I haven’t thought much about that. God used Paul to help call people within the household of the ruler of the ruler of the known world. Incredible.
Wrote more than I intended today! Love this little book. And loving the comments from everyone over the past couple days. This has been a really encouraging foray into a new function of the site! Thank you all for being part of it.
With all of today’s bad news and all of the social media pulls And with so many people being sick verse eight really spoke to me this morning. We are to look at what is worthy of praise and what is true. And I know God’s word is true. So that will be my focus today to look at the wonderful gifts that God has given us and what God will give us and His mighty works. This wonderful book has so many gems!
I like the verse in Philippians 4:6.
Paul says do not worry, but to pray about it and put it in God’s hands. First, it’s good to thank God in prayer about his answers to your prayers before praying about your specific concern or worry.
Then we can ask God to intervene in our lives so we realize when we are starting to worry.
It’s easy to say, but we must rely on God spirit to do it.
Paul’s description of the Church members as “my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and my crown” (4:1, ESV) is just beautiful.
He addresses the individual receiving this letter as his “true companion” in verse 3—in Greek, the phrase means “true/faithful yokefellow.” I love the imagery there. It’s someone who’s helping to pull the load WITH Paul. They’re sharing a common goal and working toward it, reliably and together.
I like that Paul frames Euodia and Syntyche’s schism as one between two people who labored with him in the gospel, whose names are in the Book of Life (verse 3). There is work to be done, but we’re not looking at the aftermath of a nuclear fallout—just a bridge that needs mending between two of God’s (respected) servants.
Verses 6 and 7 are beautiful but where I often struggle. Finding the balance between trusting God and making sure I’m doing my part is so difficult. I trust God but always second-guess whether I’m doing enough, too much, too little, the right amount in the right way, etc. I often overthink my way into anxiety and out of God’s peace. Still working on this one.
But I guess the key is in verses 8-9: Refocus your thoughts on the things worth thinking about. The God of peace will be with us when we do that.
I so admire Paul for being able to be content in whatever state he finds himself. There’s an art to contentment in abundance, too. I think it’s easy to assume that if we just had enough we’d be happy, but so many of society’s wealthiest just seem to want even more.
Verse 13—”I can do all things”—is so frequently taken out of context and abused that it’s almost beyond a cliche. But the original intent is so inspiring. We can survive any situation spiritually intact—abundance or poverty—because Christ gives us strength. There’s such hope in that. “I don’t know how I’ll make it through this, but I can because You’re with me.”
Also: the saints of Caesar’s household. I haven’t thought much about that. God used Paul to help call people within the household of the ruler of the ruler of the known world. Incredible.
Wrote more than I intended today! Love this little book. And loving the comments from everyone over the past couple days. This has been a really encouraging foray into a new function of the site! Thank you all for being part of it.
With all of today’s bad news and all of the social media pulls And with so many people being sick verse eight really spoke to me this morning. We are to look at what is worthy of praise and what is true. And I know God’s word is true. So that will be my focus today to look at the wonderful gifts that God has given us and what God will give us and His mighty works. This wonderful book has so many gems!
I like the verse in Philippians 4:6.
Paul says do not worry, but to pray about it and put it in God’s hands. First, it’s good to thank God in prayer about his answers to your prayers before praying about your specific concern or worry.
Then we can ask God to intervene in our lives so we realize when we are starting to worry.
It’s easy to say, but we must rely on God spirit to do it.