Observations/Interpretations:
I asked myself what does Paul do when he remembers the Philippians and why?
Paul thanks God every time he remembers the Philippians and prays with joy because of their partnership with Him in the Gospel from the first day he got to know them to even when he is chained in jail at Philippi.

Implications:
I saw important implications for my own. I saw Paul setting an example to thank the Lord for those he remembers because of their partnership with him in the Gospel throughout his ministry whether he is in chains or not.  I should take the  opportunity to thank the Lord for those I remember every time realizing this remembrance is a remembrance of joy.

HOW THE GOSPEL GIVES ME TESTIMONY REGARDING INVEST:

I was blessed to invest my time in a particular person in 1994 who was impacted by the time I invested in Him sharing the love of Christ, helping him to learn how to study the Bible inductively that recently he emailed me when he remembered about me and the time I invested in him. There have been few special people in my life that I cannot stop thanking the Lord for every time I remember them. They have a special place in my heart that I remember frequently, for the times they have been there for me and continue to be there for me through the hardship, struggles, joy, and especially in my weaknesses. When I remember them, my heart goes out to the Lord to thank Him for them. I start with my beloved dad who is with Jesus now. I thank Jesus for my mommy and brothers. I thank Jesus for Elizabeth, Kevin, Kathleen, Jim, and Sean of IVCF.  I thank Jesus for Becky, Sara, Brad, Josh, and Jonathan of IVCF.   I thank Jesus for Liz who was such a support and a listening ear when my dad was in the ICU.  I thank Jesus for Ryan who my mom saw as a son who was there for our family daily caring for us and our dad when my dad was in the ICU. I thank Jesus for Pastor Bucknell, Pastor Hugo, Edwin & Marie, Kristen & Josh, etc. My heart wells in thanksgiving because of their impact in my life, some of them even to this day. I am so blessed to have special people in my life who have been there for me through the thick and thin reminding me of how thankful Paul must have been, even though he was in chains, because of the special people Jesus placed in his own life.  I don't want to forget to thank Jesus for those He brings to remembrance because of their impact in my life in a special way. I know as the days go by our Lord will bring more people into my life that I can feel close to and share deeper things. For me those that I have become close to and those that have made an impact in my life have been those that impacted me during the weekdays beyond church and small group. For names of the past, it was a 7-day community with them and for the names of the present, it is still a 7-day community with them without it just being reserved to church and small group time. It is a thankfulness that did not just happen after a day or two but because of their investment in my life through the month/years, the thankfulness bubbles. There are people in your life to that you can be so thankful for. For every friend of mine I have something to be thankful for but those mentioned above have become special to me through the month/years and I know Lord will bring more into my life that will become special. It starts with investing!

I ask you now dear friend, who do you I.N.V.E.S.T your time with?
Dear friend, who you invest your time with in a loving and non-judgmental way are those that will remember you for making an impact in their lives. It starts with months and sometimes years of making time to invest even when they are not someone easy to invest time in. Many times they will be the ones you want to get away from or stay away from but lovingly instead of escaping from them, if you continue to invest time, they will realize their own mistakes and come to see the Light as the Lord will work in their lives through you. There will always be those that are incorrigible but our job is to love them and not make them feel judged. I have been blessed to have those kind of people in my life to help me. I have finally found a church that I can call a permanent home not because it is perfect but because of the senior pastor who saw me in my worst weaknesses and encouraged me to stay put and invested so much time in my life even with all the other congregation responsibilities he has. To know you are loved and valued even through your worst weaknesses is a special feeling. But what is more special than that is Pastor Hugo has been loving and yet firm when it comes to helping me see my weaknesses and let the Lord Jesus work in me and through me. I know I have come a long way since where I was and have been blessed to not have committed the same mistake multiple times even though I was so tempted to. It went beyond Pastor Hugo to certain members of Potters Clay and Living Acts.

Our age does not necessarily determine our spiritual growth if we become stagnant along the way. For me it has been especially my mommy, then Pastor Hugo, and Edwin&Marie who have mostly influenced my life to stay the course in my walk with Jesus. It is such a blessing.

I share this with you to let you know the time you invest can become special in a person's life when they know that they are loved, valued, and not looked down upon even through their weaknesses. If anything as the Lord Jesus uses you, He will be bringing change in the person's life you are investing in because of your faithfulness, availability, compatibility, and teachability in their lives all because of your love for Christ compels you to show Christ's love to them by which they are touched by God's power through you. For that to happen, you need to know Jesus as your Lord and Personal Savior first and foremost.

Each of you can and should invest your time in another's life because your gifting is what that person the Lord Jesus lays upon your heart may need at that time. Don't neglect the gift the Lord Jesus placed in you to make an impact in someone's life. Especially, don't ever think there will be someone else to invest in their life if you are called to invest because otherwise they could fall to the wayside.

I am a prime example of someone who could have fallen to the wayside if the Lord Jesus had not impressed upon Pastor Hugo to shepherd me and recently Edwin to. To this day, they still shepherd me. If it were anyone else other than them, it is possible I would have fallen to the wayside. I don't mean not being a follower of Christ but leaving the church to do my own things. My point being is there will be those that just need you and God has called you to invest in them. Anyone else may not have the same impact as you do.

I am reminded of the verse in Esther: "For you have been called to such a time as this".

Pray to the Lord and seek Him so you can know who He wants you to invest your time in. This is not to say that those you or I invest our time in will automatically become strong in their faith, etc because sometimes they will still go their own way but at least you would have been faithful to invest in them in a loving and non-judgmental way making them see their weaknesses and strength. Jesus invested in the disciples even when they went their own way but they came back because of God's power working in them but not making them robots. Jesus will take care of the rest and people's lives will change because Christ's love compels them.

The Lord Jesus will take care of the rest for He who began a good work in you will finish it to completion.

I want to invest in other people's lives showing them the love of Christ especially in their weaknesses as the Lord Jesus has used so many to invest in my life in my weaknesses bringing me to a place of love and value. Everyone wants to be valued and you can be the one to invest your time in someone to value them. Praise the Lord.

Jesus always invests His time with us no matter how bad we have been or what wrongs we have done. He does that in love to deliver us from our sin. All humanity has been held in bondage to sin but thanks be to God for Jesus Christ who came into this world to invest His life in humanity to free humanity from the oppression of sin. Jesus did that by going to the cross and shedding His precious blood for you and me, coming back to life on the third day to save. Jesus did His part and calls us to take part in His redemptive plan for us. He made a way for us and now in confidence we can accept it. Praise the Lord for His free gift of grace. Now when we invest in other's lives it will be by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Thank you Jesus. More than anything I believe children, youth, and college kids are the one's to  invest our time in, if we can because they become tomorrow's leaders, without neglecting those in a career path.

"Invest Nurture Valiantly Expressing Savior's Treat!" (I.N.V.E.S.T)/"Who do you I.N.V.E.S.T your time with?"

Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you so much for the thankful attitude Paul had when he remembered the Philippians because of the impact they made in his own life and those he cared for. Oh Lord, Paul was excited about the time of investment for your Name's sake. Lord Jesus, thank you for those you have placed in my life to invest in me especially when I did not have it all together. Even now Lord, you know all my weaknesses and have placed those in my life to invest in me in a special way. Thanks so much Jesus. As I change because you work in me and through me through your Word and those you have placed around me, help me become an impact in other people's lives showing them your love without being judgmental. We thank you Lord when you pointed out wrong, you never made the other person feel less valued or judged but instead they felt convicted instead of being condemned. You always have been there for those who do not have it together. You reminded me yesterday about anointing us and claiming that promise when you have called us to lead. You lead me, you make me, you restore me, you guide me, you are with me, your are before me, and you follow me to make sure I am on the right path. Thank you so much Jesus. You make such an impact in my life. Help us to do the same for those you bring our path. Thanks so much Jesus. Thank you for hearing us and answering us. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!

May you experience the POWER OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION this day, and give Him the LOCKED areas of your life too so you can experience His PEACE as you become an ACTOR in the film called LIFE being directed by your DIRECTOR, JESUS CHRIST who comes to give JOY and PEACE.

You don't have to be locked away anymore for Christ is here to free you and give you peace to live out your actions.

How do you look at GODISNOWHERE?

One of my pastors, Pastor Hugo SHARED this example one Sunday at the RESURRECTION DAY SERVICE in the combined worship service of Pittsburgh Chinese Church-Oakland & Oakland International Fellowship:

If you look at it as GOD IS NO WHERE, you will still be lost in your sin and be in bondage locked away in your sins and problems finding no peace.

But  as my pastor spoke to the congregation and spoke to me, I am here to tell you that GOD IS NOW HERE.

Yes, friend God is alive and wants to bring a transformation in your life through the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ for He paid the penalty on the cross to rescue you and me and came back to life to save us and live with us.

Yes, friend that is exciting to know that we can experience HIS SAVING GRACE & LIVING GRACE.

When we mess up, we can go to Jesus with our shortcomings and He will forgive us and RESTORE us to Him and we will find peace in Him.

^"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (Colossians 5:17-21, NIV)

^"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23, NIV)

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:7-9, NIV)

Friend, we need Jesus because we have been separated from God due to our sin. Because of our sin, Jesus had to pay the price to become our bridge so we can reach God now not of our own good works but because of the finished work of Christ, the Lord on the cross.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV)

Come to Jesus as you are and pray this prayer to accept Jesus as your Lord and Personal Savior. He will transform your life around! Praise the Lord! You don't have to have all the answers! You can come as you are!