TUESDAY, May 13th, 2008

I must say (once a gain) that you all are the coolest youth group ever. I am so thankful for you guys! I love the unity and the spiritual insite on this devotional blog.

Many Thoughts from Yesterday:
Jeff: Thanks for Helping Yesterday! You are the man! (Even though I beat you in Monopoly... I dont NEED St. James place to Win. Ha! :)
Rachel: I KNOW THE FEELING! I hate it when My computer deletes everything I type. I think they are posessed!
Gaby: Wise Words: "You don't realize at the time that you are being changed, but you are"
McCue: That is exactly right! I think we should all do what you said: " pray for guidance before school every day"
Lucy: You are too funny. I am sorry, but I dont think that your birthday is better, JUST because you are a Girl!
Jill: I liked the fact that your devotions were different: That tells me that you actually read it and thought about it for yourself. Great Job!
Jessica: I am glad that you have such a great friend that you can be so transparent with. You should kidnap Darcy into our youth group :) J/K!
Jackieee: I figured there were not 3 "E's" in your name :)
Josh: I dont think that Paul called anyone an Idiot!... what is the greek word for that?

Whew... on to the devotions!

Philippians 4:1-7

1 Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved.
2 I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.
3 And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.


This passage starts out by telling us to Stand Fast in the Lord. In other words, stand FIRM in the Lord! Paul reminds the church of Philippi this while he is sitting in Prison, then Paul goes on to address a current issue. Imagine how easily it would have been to be very frustrated if you were Paul. You are in Jail suffering for Christ, and the people of the church are fighting and bickering with each other. Yet, Paul, the great example that he is, just tells them simply: Be of the same mind. Be unified! Remember that you are both children of God living to serve God therefore you should NOT be fighting with each other. In verse 3 Paul tells other people to get involved. If we see people in the church fighting with each other: We are not supposed to sit back and watch, or even worse gather around and watch (like they do at your school when there is a fight) We are supposed to get involved in unifying the two! Do you know any people that are not getting along? Well, Paul makes it clear that we as "True Companions, and Fellow Laborers" are supposed to help them work it out!

When we do that then all of us TOGETHER, can rejoice in the Lord! ALWAYS!

I think the next verse is powerful: Let your gentleness be known unto all men: I think of Jesus Christ when I read that. Jesus Christ could have sent fire from heaven to destroy anyone that mocked him, anyone who cursed him, but he showed gentleness. He showed Love!

You are going to love verse 6. DONT WORRY ABOUT STUFF! JUST PRAY ABOUT IT!
It is that simple. When you find yourself beginning to worry about something: Just pray about it, hand it over to God.

Application: I must not fight with my fellow children of God, and if I see any brethren fighting, I need to call them out and deal with it. When We are all at peace THEN we will be able to rejoice the way that God means for us to! I Love It!

Well there is so much in this passage: Maybe you even got something else. Well let us know what you got in your comments today!