via TJC
“Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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 1:1-8 (NIV)
The Philippian church was the first church on European soil as a result of Paul seeing in a dream the call to go to Macedonia.
There Paul met Lydia and then wound up in a Philippian jail. The jailer and his family come to Christ after Paul stops him from killing himself when he thought all the prisoners had escaped. (Great story in Acts, 16:16-31).
Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians (as well as the letters of Ephesians, Colossians and Philemon) from a Roman prison. Paul’s letter to the Philippians is basically a thank you letter to the church for the gift they had sent to him by Epaphroditus. This was the third gift they had sent Paul, so obviously a giving church.
What began for Paul as difficulty in Europe, became a church that directly supported Paul when he was in Rome. The theme carries through Philippians is the all sufficiency of Christ. Christ is our life in life and death.
Continue with us this week, as we celebrate the coming of Christ, as seen through lens of Paul’s letter to the Philippians.
Daily Battle Order:
Take this moment to consider your circumstances today. Are you feeling overwhelmed?
Paul had followed his vision, and found himself and his companion unfairly beaten and jailed. Even while in chains they both prayed and worshipped, LOUDLY. And the foundations they laid at Philippi went on to serve Christ, as Paul noted in thank you note to the Church.
Now, consider again the difficulty of your circumstances. Can you take a note from Paul, and still serve Christ, while feeling chained and anchored in place?
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