OzThoughts Monday 8th October 2008

OzThoughts Monday 8th October 2008

On St Paul’s first visit to Philippi, Lydia and her friends became Christians and then through the healing of a young woman possessed of an evil spirit, Paul and Silas were whipped and imprisoned. God was with them even in these circumstances and they prayed and sang hymns. God sent an earthquake to released them but they stayed and the Prison keeper and his household became Christians.

St Paul opens his “Letter to the Philippi Christians including the Pastors and Ministers” by reflecting on his praise to God as he remembers them. Although he is under house arrest in Rome all through the Letter he comments on the love, joy, peace, and hope found in Jesus Christ.

There is much in this short but joyful Letter to give us hope and encouragement as we reflect on it and as we live in an attitude of joyful hope in Christ.

PRAYER:

Heavenly Father, I pray that today and throughout this week, Jesus will be a great source of joy, love and peace for me. Help me like Paul have a Christian attitude which praises you in all circumstances and is contagious to encourage other Christians and tells of Jesus to my non Christian friends. Amen.

Philippians 1 (The Message)

1Paul and Timothy, both of us committed servants of Christ Jesus, write this letter to all the Christians in Philippi, pastors and ministers included.
2We greet you with the grace and peace that comes from God our Father and our Master, Jesus Christ.

3Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God.
4Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart.
5I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God's Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present.
6There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.
7It's not at all fanciful for me to think this way about you. My prayers and hopes have deep roots in reality. You have, after all, stuck with me all the way from the time I was thrown in jail, put on trial, and came out of it in one piece. All along you have experienced with me the most generous help from God.
8He knows how much I love and miss you these days. Sometimes I think I feel as strongly about you as Christ does!
9So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings
10so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of:
11bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.

[Watch and Listen: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=sa6XPlgCUOU&feature=related

Rejoice, the Lord is King!
Your Lord and King adore;
Soldiers, give thanks, and sing
And triumph evermore:
Chorus
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice; again I say, rejoice.

Jesus the Saviour reigns,
The God of truth and love;
When he had purged our stains,
He took his seat above:

His Kingdom cannot fail,
He rules o'er earth and Heaven;
The keys of death and Hell
Are to our Jesus given:

He sits at God's right hand,
Till all his foes submit,
And bow to his command,
And fall beneath his feet:

He all his foes shall quell,
Shall all our sins destroy,
And every bosom swell
With pure seraphic joy:

Rejoice in glorious hope;
Jesus the judge shall come,
And take his servants up
To their eternal home:

We soon shall hear the archangel's voice;
The trump of God shall sound, Rejoice!
Author: Charles Wesley (1707-88)
The Salvation Army Song Book: Song Number: 164


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