So that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. — Phlippians 1:10-11
The fruit of righteousness through Christ.
So God will be given all the praise and glory.
Not to lift up Paul or me, but to glorify God.
So all my actions will be an offering of praise to Him.
A life dedicated to God's glory.
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. — Philippians 1:9-10
So their love may spread and deepen.
That's our prayer for today, too.
That we will grow in knowledge and depth of insight.
And that we can discern what's best.
So we can be pure and blameless.
Ready for the day of Christ's coming.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. — Matthew 6:33
Our Father God gives us all good things.
And He asks us to seek first His kingdom.
The kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And the righteousness of Jesus.
And all these things will be given to us by God as well.
All God’s people here send their greetings. — 2 Corinthians 13:13
They support and uphold each other.
Providing comfort in times of sadness.
Rejoicing together in times of joy.
And all God's people send their greetings to Christians far and wide.
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. — 1 John 2:1
And He has given us an advocate in His Son, Jesus.
He is the Righteous One, our Savior.
We are encouraged not to sin.
But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father.
Praise God!
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. — Romans 15:7
And we can respect their viewpoint even when it's not ours.
Sometimes easier said than done.
Just as Jesus accepted me before I even knew Him.
So He gives me the power to accept others.
Through His Holy Spirit, I can show the love of Jesus to those who seem unlovable.
In order to bring praise to God the Father.
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. — Hebrews 10:35-36
And to persevere in doing the will of God.
When we hesitate, He pushes us along.
Holding us up when we lose heart.
Providing the strength we need to persevere.
He is our Rock!
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. — Romans 5:3-4
Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit,[a] striving together as one for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
This passage is titled, Life Worthy of the Gospel.
Of course, none of us are worthy.
It's only by God's grace that we are saved. And that by God.
Paul tells us to glory in our sufferings, as he did.
We struggle, and through our struggles, God gives us perseverance and ultimately, hope.
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. — Ephesians 4:29
Build them up according to their needs.
That whatever you say may help those who listen.
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. — James 3:13
Solomon had wisdom, yet even He was not wise when it came to marrying wives who worshiped other Gods.
As a result, they led him away from the Lord.
So how do I get wisdom and understanding?
Especially when it seems nearly impossible to live a good life.
And it's especially difficult to live in humility.
James 1:5 reminds me that "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you."
Only God is truly wise.
So when I ask Him before I take action instead of afterward, He can help me live a good life, do deeds in humility, repent when I miss the mark daily, and turn back to Him.
I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. — Psalm 141:1-2
I know my help comes from the Lord.
The Maker of heaven.
And the Creator of earth.
Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. — 1 Peter 3:8
And to be sympathetic to those around us.
Even when we disagree.
To love one another — even our enemies.
The Lord calls us to be compassionate toward others.
Even when they don't extend that compassion to us.
And God asks us to be humble, especially in times when we start to puff ourselves up.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! — Philippians 4:4
But God's mercy and grace give us a reason to rejoice in Him each day.
From His beautiful creation to each amazing moment He blesses our lives with, He shows His mighty power.
And His love radiates from other Christians around us.
Surrounding us with comfort and hope even when we're despairing.
Filling us with joy to face each new day.
Rejoice in the Lord!
Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. — Isaiah 46:4
And as our hair turns gray, God will sustain us.
He has made us.
And He promises to carry us.
He will sustain us.
And He will rescue us.
After all, God is our Creator and Lord.
He loves and cares for us.
And He always keeps His promises.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. — Romans 12:2
To be transformed by the renewing of our minds in Christ.
Not to conform to the pattern of this world.
All this so we will be able to test our for ourselves what God's will is for us.
To approve what He has in mind for us.
God's good, pleasing and perfect will for you and me.
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. — John 14:23
And that person will also obey Jesus' teaching.
God the Father will love them.
And we will come to them.
We will make our home with them.
This is Phil Wickham, who we saw in concert last week.
It was a powerful worshipful experience.
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. — Psalm 143:10
For He is my God.
May His good and holy Spirit lead me.
And keep my feet on level ground.
Here's the baby ring neck snake that crawled into our house yesterday.
We'd left the door open throughout the evening during dinner.
He knew a good place when he saw it.
Fortunately, Kyle spotted it and he and Kirk managed to get it into this bucket.
He released it safely into the wild.
He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. — Colossians 1:28
Admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom.
So that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ Jesus.
Our Lord and Savior.
Who took the penalty we deserved for our sin.
So that we may present everyone fully mature.
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household. — Ephesians 2:19
We are no longer strangers.
Now we are fellow citizens with God's people.
And we are also members of His household.
He has adopted us into His family.
And He has a wonderful plan for each of us.
Plans to prosper us and not to harm us.
Plans to give us hope and a future.
Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if only you would hear his voice. — Psalm 95:6-7
At their beautiful home.
Megan is due on Christmas!
Their first baby - a girl.
We had a fun barbecue with friends we hadn't seen in a long time.
And it was great to have Kirk's brother and sister-in-law in town.
Katie arrives today.
We are the people of God's pasture.
The flock under His care.
Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. — Proverbs 22:6
Today we celebrated Abby's 26th birthday.Yesterday we walked on the beach in Coronado after dinner.
And we came to the carvings by the sandcastle man.
Lo and behold, he had created a birthday sculpture for the next day!
It says, Sept. 4, 2023 on the left heart.
And Happy Birthday to You! on the right heart.
A perfect early birthday wish for Abby!
God is good.
All the time.
This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. — Isaiah 48:17
The Holy One of Israel.
His is the Lord our God.
He teaches us what is best for us.
The Lord directs us in the ways we should go.
This Sunday we had a wonderful preacher, Andrea.
She reminded us to show gratitude each day to God.
He alone is deserving of our praise.
What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. — 2 Timothy 1:13-14
It was more a worship service than a concert.
And it was fun to attend as a family.
Singing praise songs together and praising God.
And watching hundreds of people sign up to sponsor a child with Compassion International after hearing the testimony of a mom who was sponsored by Compassion when she lived in the Philippines.
A wonderful time a worship.
Thanks be to God!
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