"Make my joy
complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in
spirit, intent on one purpose".
(Phil. 2:2). "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together
in unity! It is like the precious oil
upon the head coming down upon the beard" (Psa. 133:1).
Hey Gang: Did you
begin your day with your armor in place? Is your helmet down so Satan cannot
tell you from Christ? Our Scripture of
the day suggest," Making your day
complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in
spirit, intent on one purpose".
Before I get into Paul's joy principles found in
Philippians, I want to share two quick ditty's that are filed in my human
computer banks. I recall an old country
preacher that was asked to define ‘joy’.
After several moments of deep thought he responded, "It is like to ‘spin
around alike a top’". Now I do not believe you would find that
definition in the Greek or Hebrew or Aramaic Lexicon's, but it is a definition
the kids remembered and I tend to think it is a pretty good definition.
The second ditty is a verse that all should tuck away, but
not too deep, in your heart and mind. It
is found in one of my favorite 66 books in the Bible - Nehemiah 8:10. Nehemiah was dealing with very perilous times
when he wrote the following antidote to the grunges: "Do
not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength" (Neh.
8:10b). I like the way David put in
Psalm 28:7, "The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in
Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank
Him". I believe he is saying
here that we have a choice, we can have the "fear of the Lord which is our
strength” or the ‘grunge's’ which is Satan's forte.
With those two ditty's banging around in your head, let us now
return to Paul's teaching to the Philippian people on how to live a very joy
filled and effective life for Christ. Remember the first point: there is joy in knowing there are brothers
and sister in Christ who are praying for us.
To that I say Whoopee".
Paul's second point on joy reminds us that there is joy that
Jesus Christ is preached. "What
then? Only that in every way, whether in
pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice"
(Phil. 1:18). I could write a long
dissertation on this point but will restrict it to one, we are all
preachers. I believe this was very
bothersome to Paul. In Romans, in the midst of his sermon on how to bring folks
to salvation, Paul asked this question, "How
then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have
not heard? And how will they hear
without a preacher? (Rom. 10:14). As
I read the story of hell and the Lake of fire, I vowed once again to do all in
my power to prevent even the vilest person from being sentenced to eternity in
such agony.
Soooo, good buddies, I close this epistle with that
wonderful passage from Jesus where He (Yeshua) assured all who lay down their
lives before Him that they will "Abide
in Me, and I in you...I am the vine and you are the branches". Can you say a loud Amen to that? Do you want joy this day? Not as the world gives for it is as the grass
that fads but the joy that Jesus promises in these words, "These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you,
and that you joy may be made full". (John 15 read 1 thru 17).
Blessings,
Gramps
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