The first few verses of Philippians tell us that Paul is the author and he is writing to the church at Philippi. We see from several verses (1:13-14) that Paul was in prison when he wrote this book. There are debates over which imprisonment this particular book was written from, however, that isn’t the important thing for me, so I won’t be trying to guess where I think he was. 🙂
The letter to the Philippians seems to have several purposes:
- a “thank you” for the gift they had sent to him in Rome
- to give an update on how he was doing, where he was, etc.
- to encourage the Philippians
- to give commendations for Timothy and epaphroditus
When I read the very beginning of Philippians, I always love reading verse 3. “I thank my God every time I remember you.”
Are there just some people in your life that bring a smile to your face every time you think about them? I can think of a few such people in my life. I am reminded to not only smile, but to lift up these loved ones in prayer. “In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy…”v. 4
But, one of my all time favorite scripture verses – for the encouragement it brings me – is verse 6. “…being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
I don’t know about you, but oftentimes, in my walk with the Lord, I find myself wondering why He doesn’t give up on me. I have certain struggles that seem to plague me. I am much too worried about myself. I am selfish. I seem to get it wrong more than I get it right.
And then I read Philippians 1:6. He started something in me. He started something good. And He is going to finish it!! Praise God!! Sometimes it is hard for me to believe that truth…gosh, if I’m still this messed up at 33yrs, it must be taking Him a REALLY long time to complete the work in me.
However, He isn’t going to finish this work while I’m here on this earth…I believe He will be bringing all good works in us (His children) to completion when we see Him face to face one day. Our eternity with Him will be the final completion of everything He started in us. I can’t wait.
Do you have any thoughts on these first few verses of Philippians? Please share! 