Philippians 1:2-7

Philippians 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, 5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 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; 7 just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace.

Paul sometimes gets a bad rap as being rough, but we can clearly see how deeply he loves the Philippians.  He blesses them (v2),  he thanks God for them (v3) .... I can almost imagine a smile there.   He (v4) prays for them often.  (v6) He encourages them with the fact that it is Christ that will complete what they need in their spiritual journey.   The apostle tells them they're in his heart (v7).

C'mon, you know you were thinking it ;)

 He doesn't sound so tough to me.  Kinda sounds like a 'softy'.

And though he is in prison (v7), his focus isn't like mine would be: "oh poor me... I'm scared", "I'm hungry",  "Where do I plug my blow-dryer?", "this floor is like a rock".... #pathetic.   But he isn't thinking about himself.  He takes the focus off his massive problems, and shifts it to his fellow servants of the gospel.  He encourages, validates, appreciates, and reminds them they are loved and valuable.

Paul reminds them that Christ will complete what He started in them.  As much as we try, we have no power to transform this 'hot mess' that we are ... that is His job...He will complete it and He will do it far better than we can.  I don't know about you, but wow, what a huge relief!

"Grace". The first word in this section and the last.... Paul throws it around all the time like it's free... cuz it is.  Instead of the condemnation we deserve, God let's us off the hook and gives us grace & forgiveness paid for by Christ's death.  Instead of getting snippy when things go wrong today,  let's start throwing around some of that grace we have been so generously given... throw some at others who don't deserve it ... and throw some at yourself while you're at it... Christ is still working on you too. 

"Thanks".  Can we take our eyes off our situation long enough to recognize others... shoot them an email or a text to cheer them on and thank them for their fellowship in the gospel... for their ministry or service in the body of Christ or their example we look to?  A little encouragement goes a long way, especially in hard times. 

The Philippians didn't need a task administrator... they needed a praying, caring, fellow-servant to model a godly life and cheer them on through the hard stuff.  I'm sure after 'feeling the love' from Paul, the Philippians were more than ready to hear whatever he had to say to them in the rest of this letter, because they knew it was out of his love and appreciation for them. You see, no one cares how much you know til they know how much you care.    Paul aced this one.  I'm grateful for the reminder.

If you are weary, may God bless you with grace and peace.  Remember, He isn't done working out His plan for you yet (v6), and your fellowship in the gospel impacts those around you, even when you don't see it.  Let's throw around some grace, thanks and encouragement today... it goes a long way in the hearts of others when life is hard and I pray He throws some right back 'atcha.