I Long
Eggs dyed with silk necktie technique.
What have you longed for lately?
Our daughter longed for her husband to not travel so much. That's a prayer answered.
Many young families have longed for a slower pace and more time together. Done!
With Easter ten days away, we are usually longing to don a new dress and join our voices with other believers singing "Alleluia Christ is risen"!
The whole world is longing for a cure for the corona virus.
Are you starting to feel like Paul?
Can you imagine if we didn't have phone, cable or internet service right now?
"Dear friends, I love you and long to see you." Philippians 4:1
"My friends, we were kept from coming to you for a while, but we never stopped thinking about you. We were eager to see you and tried our best to visit you in person."
1 Thessalonians 2:17
"Timothy, you are like a dear child to me,. I pray that God our Father and our Lord Christ Jesus will be kind and merciful to you and will bless you with peace! Night and day I mention you in my prayers. I am always grateful for you, as I pray to the God my ancestors and I have served with a clear conscience. I remember how you cried, and I want to see you, because that will make me truly happy." 2 Timothy 1:2-4
To those in Rome who were loved by God, Paul wrote: ..."I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you-that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith." Romans 1:10-12
Paul obviously had a close relationship and deep affection for the church. His heart was tied to those people. They weren't a homogenous group, they had very different backgrounds, but what wove them together was their commitment to Christ.
Paul was missing this unique kind of fellowship where people loved and prayed for one another. Likewise, our remembrances of our brothers and sisters in Christ aren't just warm feelings. Our remembrances translate into heartfelt prayers for the people who pray for us.
Romans 12:12 says to "be devoted in prayer."
Some people go to church to be served, but Paul knew he was called TO serve the Lord. These acts of serving most often were accompanied by strife, conflict and even imprisonment. When you sacrificially serve in Christ's army with others you bond quickly and deeply.
In the first chapter of Philippians, verse 7, Paul says, "It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace." There is something so special about friends who grasp God's undeserved favor that was bestowed upon us at the cross. We needed a boatload of grace to be saved and now we need God's grace daily to go forward with Jesus. These precious saints, who are also sinners saved by grace, are so dear because they know how to offer grace to a friend.
Oh, dear friends, I do love you and long for the day we can worship and serve the Lord together. A time where we can bow together to pray and encourage one another in person.
Here's the next peek from my Coloring the Promises book.
"I can do all things because of Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13
