kupnsaucer1

they both teach the concept to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. When a believer passes away he/she is immediately in the presence of Jesus. To be with Jesus with no sin nature to entangle me gives me great comfort. I'm not sure how it energizes me. it certainly removes fear of death. It also helps me to want to help others to know and understand this truth.

Fear can keep us from a bold witness when we fear the possible consequences more than we love , believe, and fear God. The fear of people binds my own tongue in the same way. It is easier to share the gospel or even truth in love with someone when I am not facing a possible huge consequences. This is something the Lord and I are working on and am not there yet. I know in my heart that laying down or loosing my life for Christ's sake will actually give me more life spiritually. it's easy to share with someone when I truly feel I have nothing to loose, but that is really not being bold. It is my desire and prayer that God would give me boldness even in the face of possible severe consequence, when He wants to speak through me and nudges my heart. that I will obey no matter the consequences.

To the degree I truly believe God is in control, the more joy I will have, inversely the less I truly believe He is control the less joy I will have. I still get bogged down with unbelief. I say I believe and even think that is true until the trial shows me how weak my belief is. That is where the trial is working in me the fact that I can trust God to be working behind the scenes and that He is in control of my future. Romans 8:28 is my basis for choosing to believe God in spite of my emotions. He is refining that belief in me with each trial. After a trial ends, I usually have deeper trust in Him.

When when I am going through hard times people see Jesus in me when they see how I handle the trial. Even when when I fail and have attitude struggles they see us get up and move on with the Lord. It is when I'm about ready to "throw in the towel" I take another look and see I only have one option and that is to trust Him even when only He is hanging on to me because I only have strength to put one foot in front of the other. When I get on the other side of the trial there is joy and relief. People see that we came through the trial better and stronger. It is so, because God said through Paul that He is strong in my weakness. I do not understand how it works, but when I feel the weakest He is at work behind the scenes and somehow shows Himself. Paul's witness so powerful because He never stopped showing God's love with people even though he was in prison. I doubt Paul ever missed an opportunity to share the Gospel. His audience may change but he never stopped in spite of the fact that he was imprisoned when he wasn't guilty of wrong doing. Right now I'm off work with worker's comp injury, waiting for Worker's comp to decide what to do with my case. I would like to be working and not sitting at home doing only things that won't make my injury worse. Everything is out of my hands though, and I have to trust the Lord that He will work this out one way or another. I actually feel like a pawn in a gave of chess between my lawyer and the WC company. I've been at this since May and this is December. It's been hard to wait, especially on the days I am in less pain and feel I should be working, but my job is a full time job. I need to be there 40 hours a week not just on days the pain level permits. So I wait. My attitude wavers from time to time, I also complain some, but in spite of it all He is working, and I know it, just can't feel it or sense in. He's gotten me through other rough trials, He'll get me through this.

Through the years, I have had a few women who have been a mentor to me. Years ago when I was going through some very serious personal and family issues my pastor's wife was a very helpful mentor to pour what she had learned from the Lord into my life. She also was constantly pointing me back to Jesus and the word of God to work through my struggles, yet at the same time being there for me. More recently, I have another Godly woman as my mentor. We actually learn much from each other but she has helped me out of her personal Godly reservoir (her life experiences with Jesus including nuggets from the Word of God, help from other sisters and brothers in the Lord, help from Christian authors, pastors, and etc.). She and her husband have been there for me as I have walked through many a trial in the last 6 or so years. I was privileged to have been one of several mentors of my friend that recently passed away and am still helping to mentor another woman through Bible studies as well as spending time with her. It is a privilege and honor to be a mentor and yet it is a huge responsibility before the Lord. I am so glad I can trust Him to speak through me into the life of another. I can also trust Him that at times when I get it wrong, He is there to cover for it and either lets me clarify it with her or when that is not possible, I can trust Him to clarify it Himself through the Word or through another person. No one gets it right all the time when we are coming along side another, but we have a perfectly wonderful God who works all things well in the tapestry of life for each of us who love Him and are called according to his purposes (Romans 8:28). I am so grateful for His grace that makes Him willing to work through flawed every day people as He always has.

Apparently, Timothy had let the Lord work in him to refine him and mature him in such a way that he could love and serve more closely to the way Jesus did. It is only as I let the Lord help me love sacrificially and as He has allowed the refining fires in my life that I have even begun to love selflessly. I have in more recent years gone through a house fire where nearly all my worldly possession were ruined, yet I have watched the Lord take literal ashes and turn them into beauty both physically and spiritually. Presently, I am going through some health issues that are teaching me to trust the Lord and let Him work in me as He wishes. I have also in the last few weeks watched a dear friend and dynamic sister in the Lord die of cancer. That was a huge lesson in loving and caring as well as giving up my will to God. I have a long way to go in this area, but the Lord just keeps working away at the selfish places to transform my heart closer to His likeness.

. (1:9-11) Why does Paul ask God to give the Philippian Christians discernment? What will be the result of discernment in their lives? How does selfishness cloud discernment? How is the good the enemy of the best in our lives? The Philippian Christians as well as all believers, need to have discernment to know what we need to do and be so we can partner with the Lord to do that which is most important to Him in His kingdom. If we or they are being selfish they/we will think and do that which is important to us or as Pastor Ralph has put it, we get caught up in the good and forget the best. Our priorities are not totally in line with what God wants for us and wanted to the Philippians. The good can blind us to what is best.

Paul expect God to complete what He has begun when we trusted Jesus to be our Savior. This is both to individual Christians and to the Philippian church, but to the church He is saying He lead people to start the church in Philippi and He will continue to work through the people there until He comes back. He is encouraging them to grow in Christ collectively and indidvidually. His confidence is in God to do what He says He will do. We can trust Him to work in us as we partner with Him.

When we become financial partners in a ministry of any kind, we receive spiritual blessings that come in many forms. There is joy in giving, sometimes we receive the benefits of the ministry such as our local church or a Christian radio ministry that we listen to. Other times the blessings are more hidden.When we give to a ministry that is not directed at us, such as missionaries to other areas and countries, we can rejoice with them that we can indirectly be a part of the ministry through them. One of the most important things we can give a ministry of any kind is prayer for the leaders, the ministries effectiveness in bringing the gospel to the people, those who are hearing the gospel to be open to hearing and taking to heart that which they hear. There are all sorts of way to pray for a ministry. Other ways we can give is to give our own time or send a note of appreciation, there are endless ways we can give. Thankfully we can ask the Holy Spirit how to pray for and help those in ministry, knowing He will lead us.

A slave is committed for life to his/her master, set apart compelled, joyfully to do the master's will. This reminds me something I heard or read that on the year of Jubilee (49 years) all Jewish slaves were released to go back to their families, but a slave can choose to remain a slave. If he does, his master makes a hole in his ear lobe which indicates he has chosen, irrevocably to be the person's slave for the remainder of his life. I thought that I read it in the OT, but a quick search this morning was unfruitful. Does anyone out there know where that story came from? At any rate, I see it as an illustration of our being a slave or bond-servant to God. When we come to know Jesus as our Savior, we are set apart and bound to Him. Out of love and gratitude we obey Him and let Him transform us more into His image, we cooperate with Him in the process of healing our brokenness and cleaning us up. A saint is also one set apart, consecrated, holy. Has nothing to do with the functional state of one's walk with Christ. It is a joy and privilege that takes place at the point of salvation at the same time the Holy Spirit indwells us. We did nothing to earn this privilege but it is now our joyful duty to walk in obedience to our Savior as we cooperate with Him to clean up our life making us more like Him. A life time process. We are compelled to walk with Jesus but not forced. It is a daily and sometimes a moment by moment choice.