When I am stressed or don’t know where to turn to in God’s Word, my go to place is Philippians. It’s my favorite book of the Bible and even though it’s only four chapters long it’s packed with so much amazing insight and conviction. With the start of January I decided to go back to my favorite book and read it again, to see if God wanted to tell me anything new. He did, there were several new things that stuck out to me and other things that had a new meaning.
- How Paul prays for Philippi: First thing he prays for is that their love may abound more and more and that it would be with knowledge and discernment that way the people of Philippi can approve what is excellent. Through this they will be pure and blameless for the day of Christ and filled with the fruit of righteousness can only come through Christ. And all of this would be to praise and glorify God (Phil. 1:9). His prayer is so genuine and filled with so much love and wishing of well being for the people of Philippi. It’s so simple yet deep and beautiful. What would my prayer life look like if I used this model?
- Our purpose: Paul says it would be an honor to die and be with Jesus but for now he is alive and therefore if he is to live in the flesh, he shall work and have fruitful labor (Phil. 1:22). When times are tough and I’m questioning why God brought me to Berlin, my answer is right there: fruitful labor. It doesn’t matter where God has placed you in the world; your job is fruitful labor, to help others cultivate a loving and meaningful relationship with God.
- The way we should live: We are to stand firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel. And we shouldn’t let our opponents frighten us because when we stand firm in one spirit it is a clear sign to them of their destruction but of our salvation from God. But also for the sake of Christ we should not only believe in him but sometimes even suffer for his sake, just as Paul did (Phil. 1:27-30). Ok so no one I know likes the thought of suffering, but sometimes it does happen, but when we suffer we suffer for Christ and we don’t suffer alone because we are together as the Body of Christ, in one spirit. Without my Christian community around me I would not be where I am today, there’s no way I could have survived many hardships.
Also we are ALL together in one spirit and we need to stand firm in that. Berlin has a beautiful demonstration of that, organizations and churches of all denominations work together to see change in the city and let people know about God. The fact that my team here doesn’t try to start something that another organization is already doing but rather partners with them to support them and have many hands working together is how we stand together as one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, here in Berlin.
And that’s just chapter 1! I challenge you to read Philippians, or whatever book is your favorite book of the Bible, and try to read it with new eyes. Let God speak something new to you. And if you take me up on my challenge I would love to hear about what God spoke to you! Feel free to leave a comment or send an e-mail or a letter or carrier pigeon if you have access to one of those.
All my love,
Diedre
*picture from within the Jewish Holocaust Memorial in Berlin