Precious Memories
(KJV) Phil 1:2 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 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; 6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Today’s scripture is the greeting to the church at Philippi, founded during Paul’s second missionary hours. Paul had a vision of a man pleading for help (known as the Macedonian call). Paul, accompanied by Silas and Timothy, encountered a wealthy businesswoman named Lydia, who heard Paul’s message and received Jesus, both she and her household. Philippi was the first church established in Macedonia and Lydia was the first convert.
Paul wrote this letter of encouragement while he and Silas were imprisoned. The letter to the Philippians is different in tone to his other letters. It is clear Paul had a special relationship with this church, which supported him both spiritually and financially. We learn from this letter that Paul was able to have joy, even in the direst of circumstances. And if he can have joy in the midst of the persecution he often endured, surely we can find joy when hardships arise.
I had a tooth extracted yesterday as a result of eating an oyster poboy, which I enjoyed, and biting down on a piece of an oyster shell, which I did not enjoy. Oh well, the hazards of eating oysters. Prior to the anesthetic being administer the oral surgeon said I would probably become quite talkative, and one of the nurses said, “what is said in this room stays in this room.” I laughed and said you’ll probably just get scripture and singing from me. With that, I began singing song I wrote in the ‘80’s.
When Paul and Silas were in that old jail,
Beaten and bruised it seemed all hope had failed.
Paul said to Silas in spite of everything,
Sometimes you just have to sing,
You just sing praises, praises,
When life gets you down, you just have to stand
And sing praises, praises, praises to the great I AM.
The surgeon said, “How about that? We had our own devotional before we even went to work?” I am so thankful when people tolerate this old preacher.
May we be bold enough to risk embarrassment as we share Jesus with others.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Homy Spirit. Amen.
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