Philippines Trip - Day 2
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."
Devotional Thought:
This passage is a promise! The promise is that the peace of God would guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. That sounds great to me! How often do our hearts wander away from God? How often are our minds dwelling on the things of this earth rather than on the things of God? We need God's protection! We need His help in guarding our hearts and mind! So how do we become recipients of the promise? Well Paul lays out three things:
1. Rejoice - There is much to rejoice about when we grasp the depth of God's love! His love and grace have taken me to places that I do not deserve. They have taken me to His forgiveness and righteousness. They have taken me to a relationship with the God who made us. You know many of us get a sense of wow or awe when we are standing in the presence of a powerful and important person. If we were to meet the president of the USA or Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan we may be in awe. Just think if you had a relationship with them... they knew you and you knew them. Pretty cool... but I know the God who made them and He knows me. In this I greatly rejoice! I rejoice because He has taken me from a road leading to destruction and brought me into His Kingdom... or as Paul says "He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son He loves in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin." Again I say Rejoice!
2. Let your gentleness be evident to all - I am sitting here thinking about the times I am not gentle and why that happens. Most if not all of the time its because I am trying to live life on my own. Self-preservation or selfishness, revenge, pride, annoyance, these are many of the root causes of my lack of gentleness. But God desires me to be gentle. To have conviction but be gentle, knowing that God is at work in the lives of people. I don't have to get worked up when someone challenges my faith... let my gentleness be evident! God is in control so be gentle!
3. Don't worry, be praying! - God desires us to entrust to Him those things that got us all worked up. We need to let our worries go and entrust them to God! We need not go to God with complaint after complaint, be thankful when you call upon Him. He knows your needs and has given you so much, besides how does worrying really help? Don't worry, be praying!
These are the conditions of the promise! Ask God to help you keep your end of the deal, because if you do the promise is that His peace will guard your heart and mind.
Trip Report - Day 2
Day 2 was a day of getting our heads together with our different teams. We were split off into four groups. Pastor Mike, George, and Dan went with Pastor Mike and Pastor Jim Boy to shop for necessities and to encourage Jim Boy's ministry. Karen and Paul were at the guest house for the morning but then Karen spoke to the special need kids and their parents. She was able to share the Gospel. I think she knows Cebuano in sign language (hehehe). Lois, Dick, and Rita were at the church in the morning and then worked on gift bags all afternoon. Jenny and I went to a camp ground were the MSDH were having their Spiritual Retreat. We met with those helping us out with basketball. It was fun! We went through orientation and even learned a few Filipino games (yes we will share). In the afternoon we went shoping to get the supplies needed for the sports camp and exchanged money. In the evening, the team went to dinner with Barb Wilkinson and the boys to a Thai restaurant. Its was great food. Jet lag is creeping in a little. I woke up this morning at 3AM and haven't been back to sleep yet. Still got 6 hours of sleep so I'm good to go! Today is Church and I'm sure the day will be full. Thank God for all He has done and will continue to do!
Philippians 4:4-7
Devotional Thought:
This passage is a promise! The promise is that the peace of God would guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. That sounds great to me! How often do our hearts wander away from God? How often are our minds dwelling on the things of this earth rather than on the things of God? We need God's protection! We need His help in guarding our hearts and mind! So how do we become recipients of the promise? Well Paul lays out three things:
1. Rejoice - There is much to rejoice about when we grasp the depth of God's love! His love and grace have taken me to places that I do not deserve. They have taken me to His forgiveness and righteousness. They have taken me to a relationship with the God who made us. You know many of us get a sense of wow or awe when we are standing in the presence of a powerful and important person. If we were to meet the president of the USA or Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan we may be in awe. Just think if you had a relationship with them... they knew you and you knew them. Pretty cool... but I know the God who made them and He knows me. In this I greatly rejoice! I rejoice because He has taken me from a road leading to destruction and brought me into His Kingdom... or as Paul says "He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son He loves in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin." Again I say Rejoice!
2. Let your gentleness be evident to all - I am sitting here thinking about the times I am not gentle and why that happens. Most if not all of the time its because I am trying to live life on my own. Self-preservation or selfishness, revenge, pride, annoyance, these are many of the root causes of my lack of gentleness. But God desires me to be gentle. To have conviction but be gentle, knowing that God is at work in the lives of people. I don't have to get worked up when someone challenges my faith... let my gentleness be evident! God is in control so be gentle!
3. Don't worry, be praying! - God desires us to entrust to Him those things that got us all worked up. We need to let our worries go and entrust them to God! We need not go to God with complaint after complaint, be thankful when you call upon Him. He knows your needs and has given you so much, besides how does worrying really help? Don't worry, be praying!
These are the conditions of the promise! Ask God to help you keep your end of the deal, because if you do the promise is that His peace will guard your heart and mind.
Trip Report - Day 2
Day 2 was a day of getting our heads together with our different teams. We were split off into four groups. Pastor Mike, George, and Dan went with Pastor Mike and Pastor Jim Boy to shop for necessities and to encourage Jim Boy's ministry. Karen and Paul were at the guest house for the morning but then Karen spoke to the special need kids and their parents. She was able to share the Gospel. I think she knows Cebuano in sign language (hehehe). Lois, Dick, and Rita were at the church in the morning and then worked on gift bags all afternoon. Jenny and I went to a camp ground were the MSDH were having their Spiritual Retreat. We met with those helping us out with basketball. It was fun! We went through orientation and even learned a few Filipino games (yes we will share). In the afternoon we went shoping to get the supplies needed for the sports camp and exchanged money. In the evening, the team went to dinner with Barb Wilkinson and the boys to a Thai restaurant. Its was great food. Jet lag is creeping in a little. I woke up this morning at 3AM and haven't been back to sleep yet. Still got 6 hours of sleep so I'm good to go! Today is Church and I'm sure the day will be full. Thank God for all He has done and will continue to do!
Comments