"Open my eyes, that I may see glimpses of truth Thou hast for me..."
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice!" This is a favorite verse for a lot of folks. Certainly it gave Paul joy to express this to his Philippian friends. It is interesting to note that he said this right after he urged two of them to live in harmony in the Lord. Philippians 4:2, 4. It saddens us to see that our friends have trouble getting along but if they see us rejoicing in the Lord it may just help them take their eyes off each other and look to the Lord for their peace. The hymn writer said "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace." The more time we are praising the Lord the less time we have to persecute one another. The more we pray the less we pout. The more we focus on Jesus the better our neighbors look and behave.
"Let your gentile spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near." Philippians 4:5. Several years ago there was a man in our church named Rube Coles. Rube was a big burly man with a ruddy complexion and a "Jimmy Durante" nose. He was a retired police chief. Rube worked in the nursery at our church and the children loved him. He was a big old "teddy bear". He would get down on the floor and the children would crawl and climb all over him. Where do we get gentleness? The best place is from the Lord Himself. Even in His anger, when He was cleansing the temple, He was not mean. Sometimes we can be just mean spirited to our Christian brothers and sisters. I have learned that the Holy Spirit has a way of erasing our meanness. His presence produces love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. When we surrender all to him He will give us all we need to be like Him.
I like this whole passage of Philippians. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, what- ever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." Philippians 4:6-8.
Paul exemplified these things and recommended that others practice what they saw in him. I wonder, if others practice what they see in us, will "the God of peace" be with them. I certainly hope so.
Blessings to you all,
Bro. Vince
