Hi y'all :)

Greetings from the burgh! The Lord bless thee and keep thee! The Lord be gracious unto thee and give thee peace! Amen!

 Quiet Times (Psalm 50, Proverbs 20, Matthew 20, & Philippians 1:9-11)

 "What I want from you is your true thanks; I want your promises fulfilled. I want you to trust in me in your times of trouble, so I can rescue you, and you can give me glory." (Psalm 50:14-15)

 What God wants from us:

1. God wants our true thanks.

2. God wants our promises fulfilled if we make a promise.

3. God wants us to trust in Him in our times of trouble.

For what purpose does God want us to trust in Him in our times of trouble?

1. So God can rescue us!

2. So we can give God glory.

 I do not know what you are facing right now. Each of us can have situations in our life that seem too big to handle. Our Lord knows what we face will not always be easy. When we are suffering, He is there to suffer with us. It is easy to trust God when things are going our way. What the Lord desires is that we trust in Him when everything that can seem to go wrong starts to go wrong. In times of trouble is when we need to continue to trust in the Lord.

What are the troubles you are facing right now? Is it with a relationship?, is it with your classes?, is it with your family?, is it with your friends?, is it with your own self? Whatever the trouble is, the Lord is watching over you. He will rescue you and you can give Him the glory. When God rescues us, He does it His way and not our way. So let us not presuppose that we know the best way for us to be rescued from a situation because we do not know! The Lord knows and will rescue us according to His will! What He wants from us is our total obedience to Him!

Please don't worry about anything. I know it is easier said than done but the Lord desires that you do not worry. In the Sermon on the Mount (ch.6) we learn, why worry? Will it add a single day to our life? No, it won't! We are in God's loving, Helping Hands and can rest in Him! Whatever happens there is a reason that we may not even understand.

"A man's steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand his own way?" (Proverbs 20:24)

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"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 until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God." (Philippians 1:9-11)

Observations:

Paul prays for the saints with 2 requests:

1. Their love may abound more and more in knowledge!

2. Their love may abound more and more with depth of insight!

 Reasons Paul brings these 2 requests before God on behalf of the saints:

1. That they may be able to discern what is best until the day of Christ.

2. That they may be pure until the day of Christ.

3. That they may be blameless until the day of Christ.

4. That they may be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ!

5. That God can be glorified and praised!

 Interpretation:

Paul's reasons for praying for the saints is focused on Christ too! He wants the saints love to abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight so that they can discern what is best, they can be pure, they can be blameless, they can have the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, for one reason: To the Glory and Praise of God!

Interpretation/Application:

 As Christians we need to take seriously what it means to love others. This kind of love is the agape kind and not the Eros or Phileo kind. It is through our love for the Lord Jesus and His saints that we can discern what is best, can be pure, can be blameless, and be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ! Think about it, most sins occur in our lives because we do not really understand the concept of loving. If we love Jesus so much, we would make sure we want Jesus to be happy. So, we will want to do things that will keep Jesus happy. We will also realize that we cannot do it on our own but we need the Lord's help so we will depend on Him to be able to discern what is best, be pure, be blameless, and filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ. It is important to realize that purity, blamelessness, and fruit of righteousness only come through Jesus Christ. If we try to be pure, blameless, or righteous on our own, we will fall with a THUD! No one is righteous, not one, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Being pure, blameless, and exhibiting fruit of righteousness will make Jesus happy. It starts with love. Let us love Jesus with our whole heart. Let our love for Jesus not be conditional. Let us not have the attitude, I will love Jesus only if this or that happens in my life, etc. Jesus deserves our love for dying for our sins and coming back to life to save. Only through our love for Jesus can we bring glory and praise to God because our love for Jesus will exhibit itself with the people around us. It is important we make the prayer in God's Word our prayer for the saints and ourselves. Let us keep the words of Jesus in mind:

"But among you it is quite different. Anyone wanting to be a leader among you must be your servant. And if you want to be right at the top, you must serve like a slave. Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:26-28)

Almighty's Truth Tells Instantly To Understand Deliverer's Emphasis: Servanthood (A.T.T.I.T.U.D.E.S)

Prayer:

Dear Lord Jesus, we thank you for your promises and how much you love us. Thank you for helping us in our troubles. Even when we do not understand many things, I thank you that you are there guiding us. Help us Oh Lord to live for you and serve you. Let love overflow through our lives Lord. Please forgive our sins and help us to become more and more like you. We thank you for your forgiveness and that you take care of us. I pray right now Lord Jesus for my brothers and sisters that their love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that they may be pure and blameless, so that they may be able to discern what is best until you come back being filled with the fruit of righteousness you give them to the glory and praise of God, the Father. Thank you Jesus you do hear us and answer us. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Thank you for hearing us and answering us! Amen!

Love in Christ,

Ramesh