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| | Meditating on the Word of God; God's key to prosperity and success!
Developing A Habit of Daily Bible Study, Journaling & Prayer
“How is your SOAP today?”
William Barclay in his Introduction To The Letter To The Philippians, (Daily Study Bible Series) has this to say about the relationship between Paul and the Church in Philippi:
“There had grown up between Paul and the Philippian Church a bond of friendship closer than that which existed between him and any other Church. It was his proud boast that he had never taken help from any man or from any Church, and that, with his own two hands, he had satisfied his needs. It was from the Philippians alone that he had agreed to accept a gift. Soon after he left them and moved on to Thessalonica, they sent him a present (4:16). When he moved on and arrived in Corinth . . . they alone again remembered him with their gifts (2 Cor 11:9). ‘My brethren whom I love and long for’, he calls them, ‘my joy and crown in the Lord’ (4:1)”.
Further, William Barclay outlines the following as the occasion for this letter:
1. It is a letter of thanks to the Philippians for their gifts to him (4:10, 11).
2. It has to do with Epaphroditus. Not only did the Philippians sent Epaphroditus to bear their gifts to Paul, they sent him also to stay with him and be his personal servant. But he had fallen ill and had become home-sick upon which Paul sent him home. Paul did this to help in his recovery and to ease the anxiety of the brethren in Philippi. To ensure that they would not think he was a quitter, Paul added a testimonial to Epaphroditus’ ministry to him (2:29, 30).
3. It is a letter to encourage the Philippians in their trials (1:28 – 30).
4. It is an appeal for unity (2:1 – 11).
Reading Plan: Week of 16 - 22 August 2010
16 Aug Phil 2:12 - 18 “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling . .for it is God who works in you”
17 Aug Phil 2:19 - 24 “As a son with his father he served with me in the gospel“
18 Aug Phil 2:25 - 29 “ . . Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier”
19 Aug Phil 3:1 - 6 “For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh”
20 Aug Phil 3:7 - 11 “. . . that I may know Him . . . ”
21 Aug Phil 3:12 - 16 “Forgetting the things which are behind and reaching forward to things which are ahead”
22 Aug Phil 3:17 – 4:1 “For our citizenship is in heaven . . . “
Example of SOAP
Scripture: “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”, Philippians 1:6
Observations
1. Paul was confident that God who had begun this work of salvation among the Philippians would bring it to completion when Christ returns.
2. Observe that Paul had this confidence because the Lord had laid on his heart to pray for them (1:4, 9 – 11).
3. Paul had faith that his prayer for them would be answered and thus he was confident that no matter what happened, the work which God had started in planting the Church in Philippi would be completed.
4. Note how Paul prayed for this to happen (1:9 – 11) – that in their hearts, their love would abound in ‘knowledge and all discernment’, in their minds, they may approve ‘the things that are excellent’ and in their lifestyle and conduct, they would be ‘sincere and without offense’.
5. Lastly, that they would be ‘filled with the fruits of righteousness . . . by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God’.
Application
1. How important that I am committed to pray for the believers God has given to me as Paul did.
2. Not only should I give myself to pray for them, but I am to pray first and foremost for the work of salvation to be completed in their lives.
3. Even in this, I am not to be anxious but to present my requests to God “with thanksgiving” and allow the peace of God to come on me so I know my prayers have been heard and answered, 4:6, 7
Prayer:
“O Lord, teach me to win souls and to pray for them like Paul did until the work of completion in them is completed. In Jesus name, Amen!”
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