This is an excerpt from Paul’s letter to the Philippians.
“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work.
Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others about the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.
Always be full fo joy in the Lord. I say it again – rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
And now dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me – everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:1-9, NLT)
In the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians he writes:
“I passed on to you was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and He was raised on the third say, just as the Scriptures said.” (1 Corinthians 15: 3-4, NLT)
“But tell me this – since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God – for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there was no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of you sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if your hope in Christ is only for this life, we we are no more to be pitied than anyone in this world.
But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest for all who have died.
So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given a new life. But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when He comes back.”
Excerpts from the Apostle Paul’s thanksgiving and prayer in his letter to the Philippians.
“Every time I think of you, I gave thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard until now. And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart. You share with me the special favor of God, both in my imprisonment and in defending and confirming the truth of the Good News. God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus.
I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation – the righteous character produced in you life by Jesus Christ – for this will bring much glory and praise to God.” (Philippians 1:3-11, NLT)
The Apostle Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Growth as written in his letter to the Ephesians.
“When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with the inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should , how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will become complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through His might power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to Him in the church and Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3: 14-20, NLT)
I haven’t posted since October 3rd. A lot has been going on. On the following Monday, the water pump went out on my Toyota Solara. The good news is that I bought it new in 2006 and 120,000 miles later, this is the first time I have had any problem with my car. Fortunately, God has blessed my husband with the gift of repairing foreign cars. Due to a back injury, about 25 years ago, he had to quit his job as a mechanic. He continues to do maintenance and repair cars in the family, with the aid of a back brace.
Solaras come with a V6 or V4 engine. Mine is V6. With a bigger engine, there is less space to place things like water pumps. It took us four days to remove enough parts from the engine compartment to remove the timing belt and water pump. The thermostat was on the opposite side of the engine and more things had to be removed to get to it.
I quickly became the helper. After multiple trips back and forth to the basement, I quickly learned how to identify and find ratchets, wrenches, sockets, socket extensions, three different kinds of vice grips, screw drivers, a torque wrench, two types of magnets on sticks and a mirror on a stick, to name a few. Each day, I set up the air compressor, and learned about the different types of impact drills and ratchets.
Changing a water pump is like doing surgery. My husband would ask for different tools to do a specific job. I learned how to remove bolts and nuts in hard places that required an extension or a very small, ratchet that held in the palm of my hand to reach tight spaces. It took as long to replace the water pump and put all the parts back together again. Oh, and we had to remove the front right tire and place a jack and raise the car up high enough to wedge as steel beam underneath the car, since we obviously did not have a hydraulic jack to lift the car in the air.
Through a lot of prayer for God’s guidance for my husband repair the car without any injury, after eight days, the job was completed with only one minor skin abrasion on my husband’s arm.
On Oct 13th, we had a doctor’s appointment about an hour away from home. On the way back home, the right rear tire blew out. By God’s grace, we were able to turn around and drive a very short distance to our son’s home. Again, by God’s grace, our daughter-in-law was off work that day. They had the tools we needed to remove the tire from the car. Our son came home from work and assisted his dad in removing and putting on the spare tire. Again, by God’s grace, we called our local tire shop. They had the exact tires ( we need to replace both rear tires) we need in stock and told us if we came on over the could put the tires on immediately.
On the way home we stopped to get some lunch. This turned out be take out lunch because our car was leaking water with antifreeze in it, meaning something was wrong with either the water pump or thermostat. Again, by God’s grace, the man parked next to us, had a loose flannel shirt in his truck. He took off the hot radiator cap without any problem. The restaurant provide a gallon jug of water to fill the radiator. We were able to make it home.
We had lunch to allow the car to cool down. Again by God’s grace, my husband found the problem quickly. It was a rubber ring that had split in half, causing the leak from a pipe to the thermostat. Again, by God’s grace, a local auto store had the proper rubber ring. The next morning, he put on the rubber ring, added more water and antifreeze to the radiator and we went for a drive to check it out. Problem solved. No more problems.
The next day, we had to go to another doctor’s appointment about an hour away. Again no problems. God is good! Even though it took about 10 days for the car to be fully repaired, if we had taken it to a repair place for replacement of the water pump, timing belt and gaskets, it would have cost over $1000.00.
I will close with Ephesians 3:20-21 (NLT) “Now all glory to God, who is able, through His might power to work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to Him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.”
(Chapter 43 title – The Savior of Israel) “From eternity to eternity I am God. No on can snatch anyone out of My hand. No one can undo what I have done.” (Isaiah 43:13, NLT)
(Chapter 44 section title – Restoration for Jerusalem)”Pay attention O Jacob, for you are My servant, O Israel. I, the Lord made you, and I will not forget you. I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to Me, for I have paid the price to set you free.” (Isaiah 44: 21-22, NLT)
(Chapter 45 title – Cyrus, the Lord’s Chosen One) “For I a the Lord; there is no other God. I have equipped your battle though you don’t even know Me, so all the world from east to west will know there is not other God. I am the Lord, and there is no other. I create the light and make the darkness, I send good times and bad times. I, the Lord am the One who does these things.
Open up, O heavens, and pour out your righteousness. Let the earth open wide so salvation and righteousness can sprout up together. I, the Lord, created them.” (Isaiah 45: 5-8, NLT)
Meditation on God’s Word is more just reading the Scriptures. The best definition that I found while searching the Internet came from Our Daily Bread Ministries – ” Biblical meditation is pondering the words of Scripture with a receptive heart, trusting the Holy Spirit to work in you through those words.“* In their September devotion booklet for 9/29/20 “Eyes to See” goes on to say, “Christ’s parables work this way. Those who care enough to ponder them gain “eyes to see” their meaning…. and Paul told Timothy to “reflect” on his words so God would give him insight.” **
“”Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advise of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating it day and night.” (Psalm1:1-2, NLT)
“Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in Your instructions.” (Psalm 119:18, NLT)
“Oh, how I love your instructions! I think about them all day long. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are my constant guide. Yes, I have more insight than my teachers, for I am always thinking of Your laws.” (Psalm 119: 97-99 NLT)
“”His disciples came and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people.”
He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets for the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. To those who listen to My teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. That is why I use these parables.
For they look, but they don’t really see. They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand.
This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says, “When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you’ll not comprehend, For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes- so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to Me and let me health them..
But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.”” (Matthew 13:10- 16)
“Think about what I am saying. The Lord will help you understand all of these things. “(2 Timothy 2:7)
*Used with permission from Our Daily Bread Ministries, from “What is Biblical Meditation?”, from their website (author unknown), ourdailybread.org
**Used with permission from Our Daily Bread Ministries, “Eyes to See”, written by Sheridan Voysey, September 2020, ourdailybread.org
“For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for Him and how you have shown your love to Him by caring for other believers, as you still do. Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.” (vv. 12-12, NLT)
God’s Promises Bring Hope
“”For example, there was God’s promise to Abraham. Since there was not one greater to swear by, God took an oath in His own name saying: “I will certainly bless you, and I will multiply your descendants way beyond number.”
Then Abraham waited patiently, and he receive what God has promised.
Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. God also bound Himself with an oath, so that those who receive the promise could be perfectly sure that He would never change His mind. So God has given both His promise and His oath. These two things re unchangeable because it is is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to Him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain to God’s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.” (vv. 13-20, NLT)
“…For I have chosen you and will not throw you away. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with My victorious right hand.” (vv. 9-10 NLT)
“”For I hold you by your right hand – I, the Lord your God. And say to you, “Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.””(v13. NLT)
“Who else has held the oceans in His hand? Who has measured off the heavens with His fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountain on a scale?
Who is able to advise the Spirit of theLord? Who knows enough to give Him advise or teach Him? Has the Lord ever needed anyone’s advise? Does He need instruction about what is good? Did someone teach Him what is right or show Him the path of justice? “(vv . 12-14, NLT)
“Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. “(v. 26, NLT)
“Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. Non can measure the depths of His understanding.
He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and the young men will fall in exhaustion.
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will talk and not faint.” (vv 28-31, NLT)
