WATCHWORD:
1 Dear brother Christians, I love you and long to see you, for you are my joy and my reward for my work. My beloved friends, stay true to the Lord. 4 Always be full of joy in the Lord; I say it again, rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are unselfish and considerate in all you do. Remember that the Lord is coming soon. 6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don’t forget to thank him for his answers. 7 If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:1,4-7
10 let me clearly state to you and to all the people of Israel that it was done in the name and power of Jesus from Nazareth, the Messiah, the man you crucified—but God raised back to life again. It is by his authority that this man stands here healed! 11 For Jesus the Messiah is (the one referred to in the Scriptures when they speak of) a ‘stone discarded by the builders which became the capstone of the arch. 12 There is salvation in no one else!” Acts 4:10-12
1 So now, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith in his promises, we can have real peace with him because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 For because of our faith, he has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to actually becoming all that God has had in mind for us to be. Romans 5:1-2
Meditation:
In Christ Alone
From his Roman house arrest the Apostle Paul wrote to his friends, the Christians, in Philippi. He was waiting for his court appearance before Caesar. It had been during his second missionary journey, ten years ago, when Paul and Silas had founded the church in Philippi,. This was the first church established on the continent of Europe, and it is obvious, from his letter to the Philippians, that this congregation brought him great joy.
One might say that when Paul prayed for the Philippians, he became happy. It is remarkable to know that Paul’s first reference to his own feelings of joy and a positive frame of mind was when he wrote this letter as a prisoner facing possible execution. This was Paul’s great singing letter. In Acts 16 we read that it was at Philippi that he sung in prison at midnight, in the company of Silas.
Martin Luther, at the time of the Reformation, joined with theologians Calvin (France), Knox (Scotland) and others who drew heavily upon Paul’s letter to the Romans. In the first chapter of that letter, Paul sets the stage for the strong declaration of “faith alone”. This statement angered Pope Leo and the hierarchy of the Catholic Church to the point where they issued a reward for his death!
We see the determination in Paul that nothing would stop him from doing exactly what God wanted. Which raises a question about me and you; when confronted with a choice, do we choose to follow God’s will? Oswald Chambers, in his devotional My Utmost for His Highest, tells us that before we truly follow God’s will, there must be a crisis in our lives. I’m not sure what he means by that, except through crisis and difficult times, God nudges us to follow His will.
So, how do we take that? We often think of God’s guidance as gentle, often subtle, and sometimes we are not very responsive to them. But His direction sometimes comes with pain, confusion, uncertainty, as God asks us for our utmost for His highest. Which may cause us to stutter, to hesitate, to debate, and, maybe, just maybe, we eventually ‘get it’ through our thick heads and hearts and follow His will. May we all obey his invitation to trust and follow Christ Alone. May it be so with each one of us. Amen.
Bulletin Board:
In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
Closing Prayer:
Dear God,
Thank You that You make all things new. Thank You for all that You’ve allowed into our lives this past year, the good along with the hard things, which have reminded us how much we need You and rely on Your presence filling us every single day. We pray for Your Spirit to lead us each step of this New Year. We ask that You will guide our decisions and turn our hearts to deeply desire You above all else. We ask that You will open doors needing to be opened and close the ones needing to be shut tight. We ask that You would help us release our grip on the things to which You’ve said “no”, “not yet”, or “wait.” We ask for help to pursue You first, above every dream and desire You’ve put within our hearts.
We ask for Your wisdom, for Your strength and power to be constantly present within us. We pray You would make us strong and courageous for the road ahead. Give us ability beyond what we feel able, let Your gifts flow freely through us, so that You would be honored by our lives, and others would be drawn to You.
We confess our need for You…fresh…new…again. We ask that You make all things new, in our hearts, in our minds, in our lives, for this coming year. We pray all of this in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
