Verse of the Day 10-9-22

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:3-8

Paul’s thanksgiving for the Philippians is extensive and intensive. Extensively, he repeats “all” and “every” to show that he remembers every one of them at all times in prayer. If competitive self-interest threatens the Philippians’ unity and mutual concern, Paul opens his arms wide to embrace them all and draw them together. The joy with which he prays permeates this letter. Paul’s chains give little reason for rejoicing, but his partnership in the Gospel with his friends in Philppi overshadows his sufferings and theirs. His memory goes back to the first day when he and Silas preached the Good News to Lydia and other women and later to a jailer and his family. Their partnership began immediately: Lydia offered the hospitality of her home and the jailer washed his prisoner’s wounds. Paul will use language about partnership or sharing to thank his friends for their financial support. Yet they share with Paul a treasure infinitely greater than silver: they share God’s grace!

Paul’s bond of love with the Philippians is also intensive, for he holds them in his heart, longing to be with them again. The affection of Christ is the intense compassion that moved Jesus to care for harassed and helpless people. Paul’s presentation and defense of the Gospel may refer to the hearings before Jewish and Gentile authorities that led to his present incarnation in Rome, awaiting the emperor’s verdict on his appeal. Paul’s thanks for his Philippian friends is grounded in his confidence that God’s Holy Spirit, who gave them spiritual life and faith when they heard the Gospel, will carry to completion his good work of conforming them, inside and out, to Christ’s image. Those whom God has predestined, called and justified, he will also glorify. Growth in Godliness demands that believers work out their salvation with serious intent, but they can and will do so only because God is at work in them, conforming desires and actions to what pleases him.

Today’s Bible Readings:

Jeremiah 12:1-14:10, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-2:8, Psalm 19:1-3 and Proverbs 24:30-34