Philippines Trip - Day 4
"And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."
Devotional Thought
Paul was thanking the Philippian church for their generosity in supplying him with the things that he needed for ministry. Their kindness and gifts continued to allow him to focus on the ministry God had given him. He calls their gifts "a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God." With their generosity in mind, he encoourages them with this truth... "And my God WILL meet ALL your NEEDS according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." He was reminding them that their sacrifice was an act of worship and faith, and that God would continue to meet all their needs. Two things come to my mind about this. First, this is a promise! Paul says God WILL... this is a promise. Of course, he is simply repeating the words of Jesus in Matthew 6. The second thing is that the promise is that God will meet all our NEEDS. Many times we have wants and needs mixed up. Certainly we have needs for physical survival such as food, water, and shelter, but their are greater needs that God will meet and these needs can only be met according to the glorious riches in Christ Jesus. The need for peace with God! The need for grace! The need for redemption! The need for forgiveness! The need to be loved! The need to be accepted! The need for our soul to be completely satisfied! He WILL meet ALL our NEEDS! He alone can satisfy the deep longing we all have to be satisfied for eternity!
Trip Report
Day 4 started the intense part of ministry. Jenny and I began sports camp. We had elementary kids from 9-11, stayed at the gym for lunch from 11-1, played a pick up game of ball (I think that was a mistake), and had the high school students from 1-3PM. Their was 47 students in the morning and 50 something in the afternoon. It went well for the first day. Pastor Mike, George, Dan, and Dick were working with the Nehemiah Project. They were building houses. I didn't get to talk to them much, but I know they did a lot of concrete work. They were outside in the sun all day as well. We are not used to this heat! Lois, Rita, Karen, and Paul were working with the special children in the morning and came to the gym in the afternoon to help interpret for the deaf who were in camp. Lois and Rita did something at 7PM at the church, but we went to TGI Fridays, and so I'm not sure what they did. I was in bed asleep before they got back to the guesthouse. Praise God, I finally slept through the night. Went to bed around 9PM and woke up at around 5AM. I have to be conscious about drinking water. I probably drank a gallon and a half alone yesterday and that wasn't enough. I am losing water like crazy. At one point yesterday I had to stop leading the camp to get some water because I was feeling very light headed. I was not aroound Pastor yesterday very much so I don't have any funny stories! I'm sure their will be more! We love the Filipino people! I am very thankful that God has put together this relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ here on Cebu. Pray for strength and a teachable heart, so that we might serve one another and learn from each other as well.
Philippians 4:19
Devotional Thought
Paul was thanking the Philippian church for their generosity in supplying him with the things that he needed for ministry. Their kindness and gifts continued to allow him to focus on the ministry God had given him. He calls their gifts "a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God." With their generosity in mind, he encoourages them with this truth... "And my God WILL meet ALL your NEEDS according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." He was reminding them that their sacrifice was an act of worship and faith, and that God would continue to meet all their needs. Two things come to my mind about this. First, this is a promise! Paul says God WILL... this is a promise. Of course, he is simply repeating the words of Jesus in Matthew 6. The second thing is that the promise is that God will meet all our NEEDS. Many times we have wants and needs mixed up. Certainly we have needs for physical survival such as food, water, and shelter, but their are greater needs that God will meet and these needs can only be met according to the glorious riches in Christ Jesus. The need for peace with God! The need for grace! The need for redemption! The need for forgiveness! The need to be loved! The need to be accepted! The need for our soul to be completely satisfied! He WILL meet ALL our NEEDS! He alone can satisfy the deep longing we all have to be satisfied for eternity!
Trip Report
Day 4 started the intense part of ministry. Jenny and I began sports camp. We had elementary kids from 9-11, stayed at the gym for lunch from 11-1, played a pick up game of ball (I think that was a mistake), and had the high school students from 1-3PM. Their was 47 students in the morning and 50 something in the afternoon. It went well for the first day. Pastor Mike, George, Dan, and Dick were working with the Nehemiah Project. They were building houses. I didn't get to talk to them much, but I know they did a lot of concrete work. They were outside in the sun all day as well. We are not used to this heat! Lois, Rita, Karen, and Paul were working with the special children in the morning and came to the gym in the afternoon to help interpret for the deaf who were in camp. Lois and Rita did something at 7PM at the church, but we went to TGI Fridays, and so I'm not sure what they did. I was in bed asleep before they got back to the guesthouse. Praise God, I finally slept through the night. Went to bed around 9PM and woke up at around 5AM. I have to be conscious about drinking water. I probably drank a gallon and a half alone yesterday and that wasn't enough. I am losing water like crazy. At one point yesterday I had to stop leading the camp to get some water because I was feeling very light headed. I was not aroound Pastor yesterday very much so I don't have any funny stories! I'm sure their will be more! We love the Filipino people! I am very thankful that God has put together this relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ here on Cebu. Pray for strength and a teachable heart, so that we might serve one another and learn from each other as well.
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