Phil 4

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

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Philippians 4:1-23
1Dear brothers and sisters, F12 I love you and long to see you, for you are my joy and the reward for my work. So please stay true to the Lord, my dear friends.
Paul's Final Thoughts
2And now I want to plead with those two women, Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. 3And I ask you, my true teammate, F13 to help these women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. And they worked with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.
4Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! 5Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.
6Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
8And now, dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.
Paul's Thanks for Their Gifts
10How grateful I am, and how I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but for a while you didn't have the chance to help me. 11Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to get along happily whether I have much or little. 12I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need. 14But even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty.
15As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. 16Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. 17I don't say this because I want a gift from you. What I want is for you to receive a well-earned reward because of your kindness.
18At the moment I have all I need—more than I need! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable to God and pleases him. 19And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. 20Now glory be to God our Father forever and ever. Amen.
Paul's Final Greetings
21Give my greetings to all the Christians there. The brothers who are with me here send you their greetings. 22And all the other Christians send their greetings, too, especially those who work in Caesar's palace.
23May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
FOOTNOTES:F12: Greek brothers; also in 4:8. F13: Greek true yokefellow, or loyal Syzygus.
Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living Translation

~ Lena’s Journalin’~
The fruit of God’s Holy Spirit, the evidences of Christ in us are and will always be challenged by God’s enemy and his servants. Gold tried by fire is purified. Our faith should be on a journey of purification, to become finer and finer, purer and purer, proven to be of the greatest value. There should be rewards for the word of faith and for growth in faith and there are, for those who stay the course.
Trials and testing’s are no respecter of persons. From the least to the greatest of those who walk in their faith in Christ and in God’s word, there is a refining process we should actually be happy to be subjected to. I’ve heard people say, Oh man, that person is so strong, so faithful etc. Almost as though they should not be tried because of their faithfulness? Those who are found faithful should the more be tried, they need to grow up in Christ also as demonstrators of the greatness of God at every level of growth.
The American gospel has become a self-centered gospel, a gospel that preaches Christ is for us and we’ll be blessed in following him, so blessed all of our problems will go away, and our pain will be relieved etc. Much of this is true, but it comes as a benefit of growth and of kingdom seeking. We’ve thought that God is our servant and serves us all good things. He does serve us because of love, but we were created by Him to respond to Him and serve His will. That takes the daily giving of one’s life, pain comes to those who work and serve. It is pain worth suffering when one sees the end as Abraham saw the end of the suffering.
For the joy set before Jesus he endured the cross. How much suffering do we willingly go through for a joy set before us? Is proclaiming and living out the gospel message worth our while?
I’ve heard so many in times of the pressure of the proving of the gospel in us, say, “I don’t know if it is worth all this?” I ask of you, what is worth it? Life will give you the squeeze anyway, doesn’t it?
Do we purposely set a guard over our hearts and minds? Do we purposely pray preparing our souls for the squeeze of the day? Do we keep our tongues from evil and our minds fixed on Him?
If not why not? Is it important? It is to God, or he would not have forewarned us so urgently.
It is the immature that tells you after the fact that they are now hurting after doing the very thing they were forewarned not to participate in. Let’s grow up into maturity and turn from our self-centered ways and serve the living God while we still have days to do so. We were created to preach the gospel with our lives, using words as powerful tools to move governing powers in the spirit world that we may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty.
Time to change thoughts, speech, actions for Christ.

Daily Recital Verses -
Psalms 118:24 This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Proverbs 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength.