Philippians 4:6 - 9 to Frank (3)

 

Dear Frank,

Have you noticed that there are two express contingencies in the text of Philippians 4:6 – 9? First we have verse 6, and then we have verse 9. There is also an implied contingency in verse 8. While verse 9 is what I really want to consider, let’s first look at verses 6 and 8.

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Simply put, this is a picture of a man or woman in koinonia with God, living in intimacy with Him. The action and attitude of thanksgiving is critical, for thanksgiving entails gratitude and acknowledgment of the goodness of God and the sovereignty to God.

When people speak of wanting to know and do the will of God, they often do not mean what they say because they want to live life on their own terms, not on the terms of the Cross, not on the terms of worship, not on the terms of confessing that Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords.

How do I know this? Because when I point folks to 1 Thessalonians 5:28 they often say, “Yeah…but.”

“In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thess. 5:28).

Thanksgiving is God’s will for us, yet we say “Yeah but I have other things to do. Yeah but I have pressing needs. Yeah but I want Him to give me something big to do.”

I think that Paul might have a difficult time hearing such objections, for after all Paul and Silas sang praises to God after they had been beaten and thrown in jail in Philippi – there were no “Yeah buts” coming from them, but rather worship and praise and thanksgiving. No prison that we may find ourselves in can withstand worship and praise and thanksgiving to Jesus Christ. But let me hasten to add that this is a way of life, this is not a method or a “how to” program – our Father is interested in our way of life in Jesus Christ.

Is thanksgiving our way of life?

“Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.” (Hebrews 13:15).

Thanksgiving and praise and worship can indeed be sacrificial; we worship when we don’t feel like it, we worship when we are in difficulties, we worship when we are in a valley of the shadow of death, we worship when darkness covers the land – when it envelops our souls. The core and ground of our being must be loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and worshipping Him in Spirit and in truth with thanksgiving and praise.

Indeed, I’m not sure that we really know what thanksgiving and worship are until we know what the Cross is in our own lives, until our souls are pierced with sorrow and distress, until we have come to the end of ourselves.

When we worship God, God is our Refuge and Rock, and when He is our Rock and Refuge His peace guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. In worship we experience koinonia with the Trinity, we are drawn into Him and He comes to us – and we walk together in the cool of the day.

There is no question in my heart and mind that our days must begin with worship, for the early moments of each day set the trajectory for that day. When we awake in the morning our primary purpose for that day is to worship God – all other activities must be subservient to worship, and we declare this fact when we worship Him…this is how we lift-off from each day’s launch pad. This must be our testimony and our way of life!

My dear brother, I have worked as a laborer, a carpenter, in a rock quarry, as CFO of one of the largest closely – held group of companies in a region, and as a COO. And of course I have served as a pastor. I have no idea what it is to work only 40 hours a week. In business, most of my positions had the pressure of generating income for companies, providing employment for men and women and their families.

I write the above to say that throughout my life, no matter my vocation, that worship has developed as the ground of my being in Jesus Christ – it has been a nonnegotiable element of my life in Christ – we do what is important to us, we make time for what is critical to us, there is no excuse not to worship God as a way of life in Christ, no reason why we should not begin our day with worship and continue to worship Him throughout the day, giving thanks to God in Christ.

“Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” Colossians 3:17.

You and I have talked of being Christ to our families, of being Christ to the people around us. We cannot be Christ to others if we are not worshipping Him as a way of life, if we are not offering thanksgiving to Him and praising Him and adoring Him and loving Him.

Worship is critical to knowing the peace of God which surpasses understanding.

 

Much love…more later,

 

Bob