Searching for JOY - Part 4

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.  Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.  

Philippians 1:2-3

We left off yesterday with discovering a sense of purpose for your life.  That is an intregal step to experiencing the joy of peace through prayer.

Here is a marriage Paul performed - the words grace and peace.  Grace is the Greek word, peace is the Hebrew.  The order is theological; grace comes first (from God’s forgiveness), and then the gift of peace follows, flooding our soul with joy. 

If we read our times correctly, many people are looking for peace, but are looking in all the wrong places. 

·       Politicians negotiate treaties, supposing that peace is the result. 

·       We look to police to keep the peace (their title is "peace officer"), supposing that legal order passes for inner peace (joy). 

·       The popularity of drugs shows us the craving for peace, as people attempt to gain escape velocity from the war (within and without) by getting high for a few hours. 

The high that is really needed is grace.  You cannot experience peace until you've known God’s grace; both are a gift from God.  There can never be a friendship with God, peace that passes understanding, until there is a settlement of the wages of sin.  The joy of peace comes after the gift of grace through the cross.  The order is important.  Peace comes after the grace.  That is the prelude to having joy when you pray, because prayer can never be heard in Heaven by those who have not settled the sin issue first.

Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.  Philippians 1.4-5 

The Philippian church had been faithful.  Their gifts, prayers, and encouragement had followed and undergirded Paul throughout his ministry.  It is wonderful to have faithful people who love you, and whom you can count on in the lean times to lift you in prayer to the Father. 

For Paul it was like watching his children grow up and outdo him.  My father came to all my high school football games.  Both Mom and Dad were there at all the important times in my life.  In a way only a person who knows he's loved can understand, I do understand that they rooted for me to be everything God wants me to be.  And they kept me in prayer daily; joy does that.

For You Today 

That’s the partnership in the gospel – the joy of casting your prayers with those you love and work with in Christ’s mission.  Paul's partnership with the Philippian church was joyfully connected at the prayer-joint.  Theirs was a partnership of prayer.  Frankly, there is no other way to serve Him.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©