Meditate.
I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ's return. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God. Philippians 1:9-11
What really matters? Paul says to the church at Philippi…for I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. Understand what really matters. What matters to God? What matters to you? Are they the same things?
God expects purity; for us to live pure
and blameless lives. He wants us to live lives of integrity, doing what is
right. As Jesus explained to the Pharisee Nicodemus, God wants us to believe in
His Son, Jesus Christ.
God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world,
but to save the world through him. "There is no judgment against anyone
who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been
judged for not believing in God's one and only Son. And the judgment is based
on this fact: God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness
more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the
light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those
who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing
what God wants." John 3:17-21 (Underlined for emphasis.)
Is this what matters to you?
Personally, I believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and I want to live
to please God. It isn’t easy. Paul wrote about this to the church at Rome. Read
that entire book…and focus on Chapter Seven for some insight into doing what is
right. I sometimes feel the same way that Paul felt.
I love God's law with all my heart. But there is another
power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the
sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me
from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in
Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey
God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. Romans
7:22-25
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| Pure and spotless flowers. Viburnum plicatum - Summer Snowflake |
Prayer ~ Lord God, I humbly praise You…for You--Father, Son and Holy Spirit--are an awesome God, worthy of praise and honor and glory. Please continue to work in my life and the lives of my family, friends and neighbors that we would live lives that please you.
Verses of Salvation ~ Above
all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner
worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or
only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit
and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News. Don't
be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that
they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God
himself. For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ
but also the privilege of suffering for him. Philippians 1:27-29
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