Joy in the Fellowship of the Gospel

Thankfulness and Prayer

³ I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, ⁴ always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, ⁵ for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now,⁶ being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;⁷ just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. (Philippians 1:3-7 NKJV)

As I look read this passage I must ask of myself, how much do I rejoice over the good work the Lord is doing in other peoples’ lives? Do I get excited when I have the opportunity to bless someone else? Do I look forward to these opportunities? How thankful am I to God for my church family? How much of my prayer life is dedicated to praying for those diligently serving the Lord, thanking God for all they do?

So much of the time, it is the hard and terrible things which draw our attention. When I know of someone who is sick or hurting, I am quick to pray. When someone is in need of help which I can offer assistance, I give it. The world is full of hurting people. My heart breaks when I see a child suffering from some disease, and that it should. I find joy when I see a criminal taken off the streets by the law, so that we citizens are safer. These are things we all should do.

I do not say to ignore the pain someone is suffering nor care if whether the police make our streets safer, or not. But let’s also rejoice over the good things in life. What a precious thing it is to have fellowship with the saints. Let’s lift up our voice in praise and thanksgiving to our God giving Him thanks for the godly people we are blessed to know. Let’s rejoice in someone else's victories. Let’s lift up our voice in praise when we see a pastor standing firm on the gospel, not compromising for the sake of being politically correct.

Thanksgiving is next week here in the USA. However, be it Thanksgiving, or not, let’s be thankful to God for other believers and their commitment to Christ. Let us all rejoice in the good things in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ, and thus, experience the joy of the “Fellowship of the Gospel.”

Happy Thanksgiving

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I have not been around much lately in blogger land, but all is good and I have so many things to be thankful for. One of which is I will be getting married in December to a wonderful Christian woman I have been seeing for the last couple years. I am so thankful the Lord has blessed me with this relationship.  Here in the USA tomorrow (Thursday November 24) is Thanksgiving, yet for all of us Christians, everyday should be a day of giving thanks to God for all He has done for us. He has given us eternal life and “supplies all of our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians4:19) He leads and directs our paths and heals our broken hearts. He is always there to comfort us and gives us strength in the time of need. He is our Prince of Peace and anoints our heads with oil. Our cup runs over. The list goes on and on, let us all remember to lift up our thanks to God, not just on Thanksgiving, but every day.

 

¹⁶ Rejoice always,  

¹⁷ pray without ceasing,  

¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (I Thessalonians 5: 16-18)

 

 

(Psalm 23)

¹ The LORD is my shepherd;
         I shall not want.
 ² He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
         He leads me beside the still waters.
 ³ He restores my soul;
         He leads me in the paths of righteousness
         For His name’s sake.
       
 ⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
         I will fear no evil;
         For You are with me;
         Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
       
 ⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
         You anoint my head with oil;
         My cup runs over.
 ⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
         All the days of my life;
         And I will dwell in the house of the LORD
         Forever.

 

I wish to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and may the Lord bless each and everyone of you.

 

Lord, Help Me Understand

Over the last week things in my life has caused me to reflect back on my journey through grief. It was in November 2008, the Lord called my wife home. During this time, God’s Word spoke to me in ways it never had in the past. Also, His comfort was beyond what words could do justice. I could write about this, however, in this blog post I would like to discuss something I had a hard time understanding. In fact, I still do not fully comprehend it. That is, we are to rejoice always and in everything give thanks. This means even in my wife’s passing. I could understand being thankful in the good things the Lord provides. But rejoice and be thankful in death?

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I believe this is an important passage to consider regardless of what we are going through in life, both good and bad.
 
In my prayers I would say, “Lord, your word says to rejoice always and in everything give thanks. How do I rejoice and give thanks in this?” I remember saying many times, “I just do not get it, please help me understand.” I have come to believe He wants us to be thankful for what He is doing through the situation and still give Him praise. He wants us to be thankful for what He has already done for us. And, He wants us to be thankful for what He has for us in the future. He is still a good God who loves us more than we could even imagine. He loved us enough that He sent His only Son to die for us. He paid a debt we could not pay to redeem us out of our lost and sinful state. A state we are in because we choose to rebel against Him. Jesus was in heaven, humbled Himself and became a man who was obedient to the Father, even to death on the cross. (See Philippians 2:5-8). Think of this, He did not even have to create us, but He did. Because of Jesus, we have a future and a hope beyond our greatest imagination. We get to spend an eternity with Him in His perfect kingdom. Because of Jesus, we can be thankful even in death.

  

In my grief, here are some things I am thankful for:

• Everything Jesus has done, (see above).
• My wife is in heaven with Jesus and one day I will be there also. 
• I am thankful for the wonderful times we had together and the amazing relationship we shared.
• Jesus was glorified during the memorial service and many unsaved people heard a very solid message of salvation.
• The Lord used this to bring her brother to faith in Christ.
• The Word of God spoke to me more personally than it ever had before.
• The Lord never abandoned me. 
• When I was hurting, He was faithful comforting me.
• He provided all my needs.
• He still loved me.
• My relationship with Him grew. 
• My faith increased.
• As the Lord comforted me, now I can comfort others.