August 16, 2009

Philippians 4: 4-9

Doing It Right

Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again:  Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petitiion, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you.  Taken from Life Application Bible New Living Translation 1991.

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Thoughts...

Doing it right.  This is how to 'do it right'.  But only in part.  It's a great start.  

Ok.  So here is Paul....in prison.  Rejoicing.  That seems an odd comment...attitude.  But he has Jesus.  He has Jesus!  He has everything good in him and surrounding him.  Because of Jesus in him he has a great attitude.  He knows that what houses you is not what is within you....'Greater is he that is in me, than he that is in the world.'  THAT's what that means.  

So to do it right...live life right, we must first have Jesus in us.  In order to have joy, we must have Jesus in us.  In order to have a right attitude, we must have Jesus in us.  In order to live, love, be, do, and all of it be right, we must have Jesus in us.  

Let's break this passage down a bit.  'Rejoice in the Lord always.'  ALWAYS rejoice!

'Let your gentleness be evident to all.'  Yikes.  Are you gentle to all?  That includes the lilies of the fields and all creatures.

Be reminded....'The Lord is near.'  He sees all things and knows what you are thinking...even before you do it.  Oh my.

'Do not be anxious about anything...'  This speaks volumes.

'...but in everything'....EVERYTHING.

'...by prayer and petition,...'  Prayer is a two way street...it is a form of communication...it is speaking and then LISTENING.  On the other hand, perhaps you should LISTEN and then speak.   Petition...notice that petition comes after the listening.  When we say hi to someone, we should wait for an answer before we rattle off whatever we are going to say.  It is respectful.  Ask the Lord how he is doing and LISTEN to what he has to say.  THEN, if you must, petition him...ask him for what you want.  Perhaps you might start with, "What can I do for you, Lord, today?"

'...with thanksgiving...' This stands alone.  Do you thank him for what he has endured for you?  He did not just die on a cross, if that wasn't enough.  But everyday he does for you...endures you and what you do.  Every day you nail him to the cross again by what you don't do for him...with him...and what you do to him...and to and with others.  Think about it.  And pray about it....especially for forgiveness.

'...present your requests to God.'  Same as petitions, tho' I always feel like petitions are the ones on my knees with pleading tears and requests are of less importance...the little things, when in reality, they are one and the same and he hears them all equally.

And if we do these things, we are told

'And the peace of God...'  The peace of God...how overwhelming...how marvelous.  How peace full.

'...which transcends all understanding,...'  Transcends...rises above, rises up...within us?...all understanding.  Certainly beyond my comprehension most days.  Think about Paul.  In prison for loving and following and preaching Jesus....having complete peace.  Wow.  Think about my life....unsure how to pay the bills, unsure if there will be food, unsure if medical bills we be covered....and I have peace.  I have total peace right now.  I know it can only come from God.  Truly I do not possess within me self manufactured peace 'bubbling up', if there was such a thing.  Think about your life.  Ready for God now?

'...will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.'  Praise God!  Yes, guard my heart and mind.  How wonderful that we can know he WILL guard our hearts and minds....as long as we are IN him.  And how can we know we are 'in him'?  By having him in us.   By asking him into our hearts and our minds.

By 'Finally, brothers [and sisters]', thinking on 'whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable,'...'excellent or praiseworthy'.  

Paul goes on to say, 'Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you.'  I would like to say 'ditto', but I am far from perfect.  Tho' I don't think Paul was perfect, and he alluded to such, I do believe he strived, as I do.  I also think he achieved greater results!  But we still must strive...fight the good fight...the fight within all of us to do better in and with Christ Jesus.  Then you will have a great reward...the peace that passes all understanding and can rejoice! 

If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I urge you to do so now...today.  Pray the prayer above or below and feel free to call me and let me know or add your name to our prayer list for prayer support to help you be strong.  Find a church near you today that preaches from the New Testament, so you will know how you are to live your new life today!  The Old Testament is very useful, but it does not tell us how to live the new life Christ offered and offers us still today.  I always tell people if I have a choice of learning the Old and the New or learning just the New, I like to start with the New, so to have a firm foundation on how to live today.  And then learn the Old, so you don't get caught up in living by the law.  You learn first and foremost living by and with love, if you focus first on the New Testament.  Besides, my memory is only so big...and the chip in my brain is scratched, so I have to be careful that I only put in the most useful info.  Laugh. 

Begin your life anew.   Embrace all God has to give you....start with Jesus.  I know you will be glad you did.   Many blessings.....            

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Let Us Pray  

God, you created heaven and earth and are God of everything, and, you sent your son Jesus who died on a cross for me, so I could have forgiveness of sins and be offered eternal life.  Jesus will you come into my life now...today...again?  Forgive me, Father God, for my sins.  I would like to have eternal life.  Will you show me the way?   You've given me some truth, I need more.  You've now given me the light, which is Jesus.  Now show me the way, please.  I want all you have to give me, but I want to give back to you, too.  Wash me anew and fill me to overflowing with your Holy Spirit, so I can learn from him and he can comfort me.  Help me understand everything I need to understand to help myself and my family and those around me...and you!  Help me do all the things Paul says to do and rejoice!  I just praise you Father God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit, that I can now live a new life in and with you.  Thank you so very much.  Let the peace transcend!  Amen.    

Jesus said:  "I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."   

Alleluia!  You have received him today!  Alleluia!

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Benediction

Let us hear from Paul once again as he prays:  

When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, 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 resouces he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit.  And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him.  May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love.  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 really is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it.  Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now glory be to God!  By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.  May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages.  Amen.  Ephesians 3:14-21 NLT         

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Scroll down to read Jesus' Prayer of Thanksgiving...'The Unforced Rythms of Grace'.

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Definition of a Christian:  Anyone who believes in God, Jesus and Holy Spirit, and accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Regardless of church name or religious affiliation.  

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 to

 "Go and make disciples out of all the nations

baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.  And be sure of this:

I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

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Please accept my sincerest thanks....and may God bless you!

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    One last thing....

 Jesus' Prayer of Thanksgiving

'The Unforced Rythms of Grace'

 "Abruptly Jesus broke into prayer:  "Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth.  You've concealed your ways from sophisticates and know-it-alls, but spelled them out clearly to ordinary people.  Yes, Father, that's the way you like to work."

Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly.  "The Father has given me all these things to do and say.  This is a unique Father - Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge.  No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does.  But I'm not keeping it to myself; I'm ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen."

"Are you tired?  Worn out?  Burned out on religion?  Come to me.  Get away with me and you'll recover your life.  I'll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn how to live freely and lightly.

  Matthew 11:  25-30

  The Message

And the people said,

"Amen."

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I now write most prayers in the position of ' I ' (first person) because most people are sitting at their computer alone, not in groups, and it allows those reading and praying to personalize the prayer as coming from them going to God.  Variations may appear on holidays when families may wish to use the prayer provided.

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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996.  Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189.  All rights reserved.

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