The Grands Letter (Phil/GLJ)

Dear Grands,

Philippians 2:1-8, “Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Christ Jesus, To

all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers

and deacons:

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,

4 always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all,

5 in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now.

6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work

in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

7 For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I

have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense

and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me.

8 For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of

Christ Jesus.”

How important to you is the word “example”? How important do you believe it is to the LORD? The Bible mentions it only 16 times in both the Old and New Testaments. Yet, in those 16 times, the word is strategically positioned so that you and I might view our relationship with Him somewhat like the LORD Himself views it.

The author of this Philippian Letter is Paul. His companion in the faith is young Timothy. Paul had led Timothy to faith in Jesus Christ; now he, too, is an example of a believer! That’s exactly how conversion to Christ is supposed to work. Yet, before Paul could lead Timothy to faith in Christ, Timothy had to be willing to receive Him.

Here are two supreme admonitions for us: first, we should lead more people to faith in Christ and teach them to follow Him and witness to others. Timothy had trusted Christ; now, he was following Paul and sharing Christ with others.

Rethink your salvation experience! It’s spiritually healthy to revisit your time with Jesus Christ. If your experience is not clear to you, prayerfully confess your sins to Christ and ask for His forgiveness. There’s nothing like a clean heart and life! There’s no one like Jesus!

Heartily in Christ,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all we need

Until He becomes all that we have.” –Corrie ten Boom