Page 6 - Living Light - A Message of Joy!

PRAYER FOR TODAY
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Friday December 1 - Abounding love
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight... Philippians 1:9
The Message paraphrase renders this text, ‘So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush.’ Hmm... that is a challenging statement. How mature is your love? Interestingly, after the most profound description of love in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul writes, ‘When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me’ (v 11).
A love abounding in knowledge and depth of insight is a mature love. It has ‘put away childish things’; stopped ‘throwing the rattle out of the pram’ when offended. True knowledge is not about facts but understanding; insight is seeing beyond what is apparent. These are mature virtues. We are called to love with sanctified minds and perceiving eyes. This sort of love and the depth with which it is offered is an act of the will. The first and second commandments, to love God and our neighbour, are just that – they are commandments! It is therefore a matter of obedience; and then to receive the love of God and freely give it away (Matthew 10:8). Go and bless your world!
Father, I pray my love will flourish and I will not only love much but love well. Amen.
Saturday December 2 - The fruit of righteousness
...filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ –
to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:11
We end our week with Paul praying that the church might abound in love and be filled with the fruit of righteousness. Note that Paul did not say ‘filled with righteousness’ but ‘filled with the fruit of righteousness’. God clothes us in his Son’s righteousness (Isaiah 61:10) when we first put our trust in him. Wonderfully, God imputes his righteousness to us, giving us right standing before him. What then is the fruit of righteousness? It is nothing less than the outworking of the Holy Spirit as he abides in us; the supernatural blessings flowing from a Christ-filled life (Romans 1:17).
A tree bears fruit solely because of its type. An apple tree bears apples because it is an apple tree. We have been made righteous in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21) and therefore we should naturally bear the fruit of righteousness. This fruit is the confirmation of new life – seen in our honesty, kindness, integrity, generosity, humility, meekness, goodness and love. It becomes our responsibility to let this happen; but how? It happens by surrendering to God, putting our full trust in him, and accepting forgiveness through the sacrificial death of Christ. This humbling is a prerequisite to receiving the endued life of the Holy Spirit. The outcome of all this is glory and praise to God, because in bearing fruit we show that we are Christ’s disciples (John 15:8).
Father ‘let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me, all his wonderful passion and purity... all my nature refine, till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.’ Amen.
PRAYER FOR TODAY