Meditation Philippians 1v9

Philippians 1v 9

9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,

This is a challenging and good prayer for me. I think my tendencies towards efficiency and productivity distract me from truly loving people. Perhaps what I am subconsciously believing makes me try to have knowledge and wisdom of how to run my life that allows me to love. I am trying to get things done so I have time for the important things, or so that I have time for many people and many things. But am I really being loving towards people in the way I live by time and efficiency? Certainly i need priorities. But that's where this prayer and this verse speaks to having love grow in knowledge. 

5 Pray ask God to reveal his truth

God as I can clearly tell I don't have a good grasp on this truth. Please teach me not only to understand but more so I pray that you would teach my heart to feel and understand this reality of love abounding in knowledge and depth of insight. Teach me to love as you loved. Teach me to dictate my plans and strategies and drive for efficiency on love and not let love only be part of how I live. 

6 Emphasize parts or words as different focuses in the text.

It just sticks out to me so much that this is Paul's prayer. Paul gives those he leads and the Philippians many commands and instructions but this is a prayer to God for them. It is God who has the power to work this in their hearts and lives. But also Paul wants the philippians to know he is praying this over them, that somehow this might impact them some way simply to know he is praying that, or maybe for them to pray for that and to desire that as well, maybe for them to look for how God is changing their hearts to love with knowledge and depth of insight. 

7 Context

This fits right along with what Paul said earlier in chapter 1: 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.

The philippians more than most seem to have a special place in Paul's heart and they seem to really have been living for Christ and partnering in the gospel and following Christ in such a way as to bring Paul joy.

8 Cross references

1 Corinthians 13:2

2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 

This is such an intense contrast of the centrality of love to real life and meaning in Christ. 

Ephesians 3

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your heartsthrough faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

The start of the kind of love we are talking about is the incredibly awesome love of Christ. Surely when we truly know this crazy love and if we are following Jesus seeking to become like him then our love will be radical and central. In some ways wasn't love the central reality of Christ's life and death and resurrection. That God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son. What crazy love is this that God loves us though we were sinners. And now we who have been reconciled to God through faith in Christ we also can say as 1 John 3:1 says- See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

John 13:34-35

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

But what does it mean to have love abounding in knowledge? 

1 Corinthians 8

Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up.

- it is love with knowledge not knowledge with love

1 Corinthians 13:8New International Version (NIV)

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

Love is eternal

Really I can't just come to understand it. I need to pray and really ask God to fill my love more and more with knowledge and depth of insight. God I desire more love. I want my life to be like Christ's to be defined by love. To be a mission of love for the world and for people to come to know you and to really take hold of the eternal life to know you and dwell in your house forever. God I need love with wisdom to know how to interact with people, how to understand work relationships and to have wisdom about who to really connect with and how to share Christ in those friendships. 

God do your work in me and my heart!

Amen

9 What truth is the Spirit speaking to me to help me understand and apply this to my life. 

10 Praise God!

11 Live it out! 

Patience

Plan in decades. Think in years. Work in months. Live in days.

God teach me patience. I am always in a hurry, but you are a God of eternity. I have trouble being in the moment, thank you for Ivanna who is great at that and helps me. God teach me to think as you think and to be intentional in the things that really matter. 

Meditation Philippians 1v9-11 part 1

Phlippians 1

9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

1 Pray 

God I desire for you to change me from the inside out and to fill me with a love that is wise and with a depth of insight so that I may know how to live for you and for the love of others in the best possible way. I want to know your way and not my way. God open my heart and mind to begin to understand what it means to love with wisdom, to be a person defined by loving my Lord and loving my wife, my family, my friends, my coworkers, even my opponents. God I am eager for you to bear fruit of righteousness and the fruit of love that opens up opportunities for the gospel to be preached and received by people. 

2 Verse - memorization

Philippians1v9 

Topic: Transformation wisdom and love

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-to the glory and praise of God. 

3 Paraphrase least words

Pray for transformation: that your life would be centered in love and that your love would grow more and more in wisdom and discernment so that you can discern what is best - pursuing the purity and holiness of Christ as an expression of the righteousness Christ has already won for us. For this is God's desire and his glory

Prayer for transformation: that more and more (you/we/I) would be driven by love with wisdom leading to discernment and growing in purity, holiness the fruit of the righteousness of Christ in us for God's glory. 

4 Ask questions

• Why this all about our love? How is wisdom and purity connected to love?
• Is it a continuous growth? 
• What does it mean to be pure and blameless? How is that different from righteousness Christ already won for us? 
• What is the fruit of righteousness? 
• Basically it seems like growing in Christ/sanctification/ training in rightesouness/obedience
• What is God's role and what is our role?
• Why does Paul prayer for this thing which is God's desire and surely God is working it already? 
• Why does Paul tell the Philippians this is what he is praying for them?
• How have they already been living out love and wisdom? It sounds like paul is praying for more of what has already begun? 
• 
  

5 Pray ask God to reveal his truth

6 Emphasize parts or words as different focuses in the text.

7 Context

8 Cross references

9 What truth is the Spirit speaking to me to help me understand and apply this to my life. 

10 Praise God!

11 Live it out! 

How to meditate on scripture

Here is a format to help guide me as I meditate on scripture.

1 Pray 

2 Verse - memorization

3 Paraphrase least words

4 Ask questions

5 Pray

6 Emphasize parts or words focus. 

7 Context

8 Cross references

9 What truth is the Spirit speaking to me to help me understand and apply this to my life. 

10 Praise God!

11 Live it out! 

This is mostly following the guidelines found in the book topical memory system by the navigators for memorizing and meditating on scripture plus few of my own additions. 

God I desire to connect with you through meditating on scripture, to know you and the hope I have in you, to know your promises and hold to them. To know your commands so that I can obey them. To have your word as a lamp unto my feet. 

In this new season of career and a very different work and time schedule in my week I want to be intentional and joyful in being with you and memorizing and meditating on your word. Please help and guide and inspire me. 

Amen

Verse Meditation and Getting back into Philippians

Today on the drive to work I listened to Psalm 1 over and over.

It strikes me just how much Psalms and David emphasized loving and delighting in the law of the Lord. Its such a powerful and not common picture. Its not religious duty, not burdensome, but literally delighting in the Law of the Lord. Finding joy and purpose and direction and hope in meditating on the Word of God.

Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.

I want that more, I think I have this delight in the Word of God. Meeting with some guys here reminded me that is not common and gave me some perspective to realize I really do have a big passion for the Word of God. And I want others to experience the joy of the Word of God even more with me. 

In particular meditation on the Word of God has really been a blessing, its been encouraging and so powerful in my life. I think meditating is really a key part of allowing the Spirit of God to move in power through God's word in our heart. Reading and studying are great and key parts of mediating, but it was something new for me to really allow the word of God to sit in my heart and mind. To have it on my lips and quick to come to mind by memorizing allowed the Spirit to bring Verses I had memorized and been meditating on to come to mind in specific situations or as how I lived revealed my character and contrasted with the Word of God. 

God I really have come to love memorizing and meditating on your Word. Thank you! Help me get back into that rythtym even more regularly and to find great joy in this connection with you!

As Ivanna and I study Philippians and though its been a slow start for me I am really excited to have this big picture view and then to be able to get into verse by verse and really be encouraged and challenged as we memorize and meditate on the word of rejoicing and truth you spoke first to the Philippians through Paul God. 

One of the key verses already for me from Philippians is 3:20
20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ

God I pray you would write this on my heart: that my citizenship is in heaven! That my hope is there with you Lord, where I will dwell in your house forever. Its such a great hope and so comforting in the midst of life which is sometimes busy, often confusing, as I struggle to figure out my purpose and try to balance it all. I can't wait to work and rest in your kingdom where all is made right and where I will have a glorious and transformed body! Lord please keep this verse on my heart and mind this week and I claim this promise and pray that it would shape my heart, my character, and my perspective! 
Amen