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Daily Devotion: Philippians 1:3-5

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Philippians 1:3-5    "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,  (4)  Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,  (5)  For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now"

It is interesting that Paul begins and ends this letter with the words, "My God".  "I thank my God..... My God shall supply."  We will see in this book that Paul speaks of his former self and his current position in Christ.  We all can think of our former selves and our current self in Christ.  Without trying to incorporate the entire book in one devotion, we all have things in life that we would like to leave behind as we press toward the mark.  The difference between former and present is found in God, and only in Him.

Paul speaks of God as he expresses gratitude for the saints at Philippi.  There is a special bond between them. It was at Philippi that the Holy Spirit directed Paul to go. It was at Philippi where Paul went to the river and found the women who had met there to pray. It was at Philippi where Paul and Silas were imprisoned and the Lord came to them in a mighty way at midnight.  Paul had wonderful memories of his time in Philippi, including those times when he was treated harshly. Through it all, the Lord was with him in a mighty way as the church was established in that place.

I thank my God for every memory and I " Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy."  We are to pray for others. We know that. We try to pray for people around the world who have a need for the Lord. But, there are certain ones for whom we pray with great joy. There are people who are close to us for whom we try to pray on a daily basis. The saints at Philippi were such people for Paul. He was grateful for his time in that city and for finding people there who joyfully received the good news of Jesus Christ, our Saviour. There was a sweet fellowship "in the gospel" between Paul and those people.

We are blessed when God places people in our lives with whom we have a common love for the Lord. Conversations are made sweeter when the Lord is interjected into the subject. Our faith is made stronger and bolder when we have someone with whom we can share God's Word. There is great joy, just as Paul experienced, when we can talk about Jesus. May we be more determined to share our faith with others.

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