BLESSINGS IN LACK AND BLESSINGS IN PLENTY

BLESSINGS IN LACK AND IN PLENTY
My Dear Precious Child,
   In Paul's letter to the Philippians he wrote as a man who was imprisoned in chains in his own house so he was unable to continue to work to support himself, as he had proclaimed in his letter to the Thessalonica church.  He was, at the time of imprisonment, dependent upon the body of Christians to make sure that he needs were met.  He wrote to the Philippians that he was happy that they showed interest in his welfare since it had been so long since he had seen them.  He wrote that he had found that he was happy whether he was provided for lavishly or meagerly, whether he had lots to eat or little to eat.  He proclaimed that he could do all things through Christ who strengthened him. (Philippians 4:10-13)  He told them that it was right and noble of them to contribute to his needs.  He reminded them that when he left Macedonia that the Philippians were the only people who had an account for giving and receiving and they had twice sent contributions for his needs while he was in Thessalonica.  (Philippians 4:14-17) 
    Paul wrote that he never sought help from their giving, but he was always excited about the harvest of blessings that were coming to them because of their giving.  He assured them that at the present time he was not in need of anything, that he had received what they had sent to him, an offering in which I was delighted.  He assured the people in the church at Philippi that because of their generous giving that I would liberally supply every need they had, according to My riches in glory by Christ Jesus, which was followed in the letter by his command to give glory to Me forever and ever. 
    As a closer to his letter, Paul asked to be remembered to all of the born again believers in Philippi and he sent the same salutations to them from the believers in Caesarea, especially those who were of the household of Caesar.  Because of Paul's background he had a natural ability to mix graciously with royalty.  It benefited his ministry because he was even able to minister to Caesar's household while he was in chains.
    Paul's calling from Me was to minister to the Gentiles but he also ministered to the Jews, especially the Pharisees because he had once been a highly ranked Pharisee.  The transformation in him had been visible and believable.  His only complaint in his writings to the people in the church at Philippi related to the two women previously in ministry with him there who had obviously experienced some disharmony among them. (Philippians 4:2-3)  Other than mentioning that previous disharmony, his letter was upbeat and filled with love for the people in the church.
    He was blessed abundantly by the Philippians Christians because of their love, their joy and their steadfastness in spreading the Gospel.
    Your Father of Perpetual Steadfastness 
              

BLESSED BY GOOD THOUGHTS

My Dear Precious Child,
     In his letter to the Philippians written when he was in prison Paul told the church members that he loved them and that they were his delight and his crown, and that they must stand firm in Me.  He encouraged two women to work in unity and harmony and he challenged the men in the church to help those women because they had toiled along with Paul in spreading the Good News along with Clement and the rest of the workers whose names were written in the Book of Life by being born of the Holy Spirit and baptized in the Holy Spirit.  Having been confined with chains Paul depended upon many different people for doing his evangelistic work so that he could spend time in writing to the churches his wisdom and knowledge that he gained from Me to help them in their efforts toward being molded into My image by their having the mind of Christ in them.  To have the mind of Christ is to always choose thoughts of faith in Me instead of choosing worrying and fretting thoughts from hell.
     Paul encouraged the members of the church at Philippi to rejoice in the Lord and again he told them to rejoice, knowing that rejoicing brings blessings and peace.  He knew that rejoicing words from your mouth or in our mind will cause worry and fretting thoughts to leave because the demons behind the evil thoughts can't stand for you to rejoice in Me.  It deafens their ears.   Another brotherly command was that they be known for their unselfishness, which he had also written to the church members at Thessalonica.  He wanted them to be known for their forbearance and their generous behavior toward other people. (Philippians 4:4-5)
    Paul's next advice was for them to not fret or worry about anything, but instead in every situation and circumstance that they pray and petition Me for their needs with thanksgiving to Me, continuing to make their wants known to Me. (Philippians 4:6-7) His teaching mirrored the teaching of Jesus Christ in one of His very first teachings where Jesus gave His disciples exactly the same advice, that they should choose not to be fretful or anxious about anything such as daily needs, but instead Jesus told them to seek Me and My kingdom and everything that they needed, wanted or desired would be added to their lives.(Matthew 6:24-34)  Paul's similar advice told the church members that refusing to fret and worry would allow My peace to transcend all of the logical and reasoning thoughts that had invaded their minds from hell in an effort to capture their minds and turn them away from their having peace in the minds and hearts the same way that I taught through Christ Jesus.  In that same teaching by Jesus Christ he said that it's a matter of choosing who is your master, whether it's the demons of worry and fretting or if it's Me with My assurance that I will supply every one of your needs, wants and desires.  It's a matter of whose words you allow to take up residence in your mind, either the words of the worrying and fretful demons from hell or My words of peace from the Holy Spirit. 
   You must always remember that the battle between good forces and evil forces is always a battle for your mind, a battle between which spirits will occupy your mind because what a person treasures in his mind and heart determines what forces rule every area of the person's life, either good forces or evil forces.  (Matthew 6:19-23)
     As far as the rest of your thoughts, Paul told the followers of Jesus Christ in the Philippians church that they should only choose certain thoughts that are injecting themselves into their minds, those being thoughts of Truth, reverence, honor, justice, purity, loving, lovable, kind, gracious, unselfish, charitable, virtuous, praiseworthy, always thinking of other people's needs above their own, that they should fix their mind on those kinds of thoughts.  He said to practice what they had learned from Paul and model their ways after what he had taught them and demonstrated to them, as taught to Paul by the Holy Spirit.  He said if they had control of their thoughts, as advised by Paul and Jesus, that I and My peace would be constantly with them and envelop their mind.  Paul had found that level of peace in his life, even though he was imprisoned and in chains.  (Philippians 4:7-9)
    Paul's advice mirrored the advice of Jesus Christ.  There is no better confirmation than My words through My Son Jesus Christ. 
    Your Father of Confirmed Truth 

BLESSINGS IN BEING WATCHERS

 My Dear Precious Child,
    In Paul's letter to the Philippians he told them that he was repeating what he had already taught to them.  He repeated to beware of religious dogs and to watch out for believers who cause mischief.   He warned them to watch out for "cutters."  He was referring to the believers who would try to entice them to yield to unnecessary circumcision in order to fulfill the Law.   Paul said that people who have experienced real circumcision are those who have been circumcised of the heart.  He explained it by saying that he and his converts worshiped Me in accordance with the Holy Spirit and that the real Christians have their own glory from Christ Jesus without relying on a physical operation. (Philippians 3:1-4)
     Paul testified that if becoming righteous depended upon a physical operation that he would qualify and would be a better qualifier.  He testified that he was born into the race of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrew parents, and he was circumcised when he was 8 days old.   He said that even by his persecuting Christians, as a Pharisee he was a confirmed persecutor of the Church.  He surmised that as far as how the law can make a person perfect, he was faultless.  But, because of Christ he had come to consider all of those advantages that he had as disadvantaged. Knowing that, for sure, he said that nothing could happen to him that would outweigh the supreme benefit of knowing Christ Jesus as his Lord.  He professed that because of Christ that he had accepted the loss of everything and looked on everything else as rubbish if he can only have Christ and be given a place in Him and His glory.  Paul said that he no longer tried to be perfect by obeying the Law, but he only wanted what comes through faith in Christ which is from Me and is based on faith.  (Philippians 3:5-9)
     In his confession of faith in the letter written to the Philippians, Paul wrote that his only desire was to know Christ, the power of His resurrection, and to share in His sufferings even to death.  Paul felt that that was the only way that he could reproduce the death of Jesus.  He wrote that he was not there yet, that he was still running the race, trying to capture the prize which Christ Jesus captured for him.  He wrote to his spiritual brothers that he was a long way from thinking that he had won.  (Philippians 3:10-13)
    Then Paul told the believers to whom he was writing that his motivation was to forget the past and to strain ahead for what was still to come, that he was straining ahead for the finish, for the prize to which I call people upward to receive in Christ Jesus.  He said that if he is wrong in anything that I would make it clear to his followers.  He told them to keep their eyes on the road ahead, not to look behind.  He advised them to follow his own rules of life, not the Pharisee's Law.  He said for them to model their lives after believers who had already attained the same workings as Christ and that they should pattern their lives after them.  He reiterated to them not to follow the people who were behaving as enemies of the cross of Christ.  He said that they were on the path to destruction.   They were worshiping other gods, made food for those gods, and they were proud of  some things that they should think shameful which are earthly.  
     Paul professed that our homeland is heaven and from heaven came the Savior for whom they were waiting who would transform their bodies into copies of a glorious body.  Paul said that He would do that marvelous task by the power of the Holy Spirit with which He can also subdue the universe.  (Philippians 3:20-21)
     Paul's advice was to watch out for people who have tasted Christ and then have returned to the Law in an effort to be made more righteous, as if having the same righteousness of the Holy Spirit that was in Christ Jesus were not enough.  There is no higher Power than My Holy Spirit's power.  Yielding to His power, His wisdom, His insight, His Truth and His knowledge will elevate you into being the image of Christ with the mind of Christ. (Romans 8:1)
    Your Father of Thrilling Rewards          

BLESSINGS IN ADMONITIONS

My Dear Precious Child,
    While in prison the first time, Paul wrote letters of exhortation and encouragement to the Philippians in the church there.  In his letter to the believers in Philippi he complimented them for many things, as was his habit in his letter writing to the churches.  He reminded the believers that he never ceased joyfully praying for them, thanking Me for their fellowship in promoting the Good News from the first day of hearing it until the present time.  Because of their loyalty in advancing the Gospel, Paul told them that he was convinced that I, who began a good work in them, would continue until the day that Christ was completely formed in them.  He knew that they were partners with him in spreading the gospel, whether he was in prison or free.  He assured them that he longed to pursue them  in love and the tender mercies of Jesus Christ, Himself.
     Paul's prayers for the believers at Philippi were that their love would grow more and more until their love eventually extended to the full knowledge and greater depths of acquaintance with My Love so that they would have more comprehensive discernment in all matters.   He wrote that he wanted them to be untainted and blameless, not stumbling themselves or causing other people to stumble.  He wanted them to be filled with all of the fruits of righteousness so that My glory would be made visible in them because his imprisonment had worked for good and had served to advance the Gospel.   He reminded them that his imprisonment had  advanced the other believers, as well as himself, to speak more boldly with freedom and indifference to any consequences.    
     He was assured that there were some people who preached the gospel out of competition and others who preached from a pure heart.  Paul was not concerned with the motivations because he was just thrilled that the Gospel was being preached.  He surmised that some who preached the gospel were doing it to annoy him, supposing that they would make his imprisonment unbearable.  He knew that their bad motivations would actually turn out to enhance Paul's spiritual health and well-being toward the work of the Good News.  He proclaimed that he would not disgrace or shame his work of spreading the good news of Jesus Christ because he was determined that Christ would be magnified in him, whether in death or in life.  
    Paul assured the Philippians that whether he lived or died while in prison, that he was okay with either one.  He wrote that to live was gain and to die was gain; but if My will was for him to remain in the flesh, then he had no preference.  His heart wanted to depart and be free of this world, knowing that to be with Christ would be a better result.  However, living on in the world would be beneficial to the converts in the churches.
     Paul admonished the readers of the letter to remember that their citizenship was in My kingdom of God and that they needed to conduct their actions so that they would be worthy of the Gospel of Christ so that whether he was free to travel to see them or still be in chains, he wanted to be assured that they would stand firm, striving side by side for their complete salvation by being of one mind with other believers.   He told them not to be intimidated or frightened by their adversaries because to view them without fear would be a clear sign of the adversaries' own destruction but of the believers' salvation.  He wrote for them to consider it a privilege to suffer on behalf of Jesus Christ.  Paul wanted them to remember that his imprisonment was working for the good of the Gospel, not to its detriment.  (Philippians 1:1-30)   
     I made Paul's imprisonment work for his good and for the good of his spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He had his own house and his own provisions even though he was in chains.  He had favor with his captors, another gift from Me.  I had opened prison doors for him in the past, but later his being imprisoned in chains was working to further the Gospel.  In your day, people are still learning My lessons and instructions in his letters to the churches.  Paul had time while in prison to hear from My Holy Spirit by not being involved personally in the problems confronting the bishops and deacons in the churches that he had established.  His admonitions in his letters served their purpose for them as well as for other churches and believers since then who study them.   My Holy Spirit makes them alive and filled with power to enhance the growth of Jesus Christ inside of My children while they come to a full knowledge of the truth.
      Your Father of Insightful Plans 

BLESSINGS FROM LABOR

My Dear Precious Child,
    In Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians he reiterated some truths to the church members, that being the instructions for the men in ministry to work in order to feed their families and help in feeding the homeless and the sojourners.  In the second letter he wrote that men should follow the examples of their spiritual leaders who worked and also ministered, like Paul.  He wrote that he did not eat another man's bread without paying for it, but instead he toiled and struggled to work night and day so that he and his fellow ministers would not be a burden to anyone for their support.  He complained in his letter that he had heard that some people were passing their time in idleness, becoming busy with the affairs of other people instead of their own because they did not work.  Paul advised them to work and earn their own food and necessities.  He wrote that if some people did not work and do other things that Paul instructed in his letters, that they should be admonished and then shunned if they did not work.  He said not to consider the person as an enemy, but instead to warn him as a brother. (II Thessalonians 3:6-15) 
      In his second letter to the Thessalonians Paul was just as adamant that the men in ministry work to earn money to care for their families.  Paul wrote that he did not want to be obliged to any person and instead he wanted to provide for his own needs.  In the first letter He had written that they should work with their own hands and to live quietly and peacefully by being self-supporting, dependent upon no one and having no need for anything.  (I Thessalonians 4:10-12; I Thessalonians 5:5-8)  He instructed the people to be sons of light who sleep at night instead of sons of darkness who get drunk at night.  He told them to admonish the people who were out of line, the loafers, the disorderly and the unruly. 
     Paul was not admonishing the people in the church to judge people outside of the church who did not work in the labor force.  There were some people in his churches  whom he was advising to work so that My image in the earth would be as a giver instead of a taker.  The unbelievers were not to be held to the same standards at the people inside of the church.  The people inside have the Holy Spirit as their motivator and their guide.  If they do not work, then they are not listening to their Guide, the Holy Spirit.  They often are yielding to traditional or customary habits which teach that leaders do not need to work, that they need to busy themselves with church work instead of doing a day's work for pay.  For people outside of the church, he did not tell the disciples of Jesus Christ to expect from them what the people inside the church should do but do not do themselves.
    Some people were so convinced that Jesus was coming back soon that they quit their jobs and waited in idleness for His appearing.  Not until years later in Paul's teachings did he have the revelation that My kingdom of God had already come into the lives of the people who were born of My Holy Spirit, baptized in My Holy Spirit, led by My Holy Spirit and interceded in prayers daily in My Holy Spirit.  (Romans 8; Hebrews 12:22-29)  His insight and understanding into the veil, or barrier, having been removed between heaven and earth in his life and the lives of other believers was earth shaking, as he described it, where My army of spiritual beings would shake the demons out of their bodies and burn those demons in the lake of fire which I had prepared before the foundation of the earth. (Matthew 13:36-43)  Jesus Christ, Himself, had told His disciples that Truth in the parable of the weeds.  That was My plan for the earth, that My children of promise would assume their responsibility and pray in intercessory prayers and become obedient to My Spirit until they are purified of the demons who so easily control them.  ( Hebrews 12:1)
    My desire is that My children of promise shine in the world like the noonday sun after having been freed from the demons who have plagued them and their ancestors for generations.  It is then that unbelievers see My good works in My children and glorify Me for having done a superior job.  (Matthew 13:43; Daniel 12:3; Wisdom 3:7-9)  
    Paul made good use of his prison time by writing to the believers in the churches where he had ministered.  My Holy Spirit knew that they needed encouragement to hold steadfast to the truths that they had learned.  
    Your Father of the Truths That Make You Free  

BLESSINGS FROM LIVING IN THE LIGHT

My Dear Precious Child,
    In Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians he had acknowledged that Jesus' promise to come back to My children would come soon.  However, Paul had no revelation at the time that when My Holy Spirit came to live inside of them that He, Jesus Christ, had already come back to them individually, and his appearing as a Messiah for the Jews had also happened when some Jews had also become born of My Holy Spirit and baptized in My Holy Spirit.  My promise to them had also been fulfilled at the same time as when the Gentiles became My children.   The problem was that none of them realized that My Holy Spirit, Jesus and I are One, One Being, and where My Holy Spirit lives I also live and Jesus Christ lives.  Just like you are a spirit, and that your spirit, who is the real you, lives in your body and that you have a soul, just like I do, which is your mind, that there is no separation between your body, soul and spirit, and so there is also no separation between Me, Jesus Christ and My Holy Spirit. 
    So the Jews and the Christians alike missed out on the revelation at the time that when My Son Jesus Christ breathed upon His disciples and told them to receive the Holy Spirit that they were becoming My children with My authority to forgive the sins of everyone.  (John 20:19-23)  Then when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the barriers between heaven and earth were split apart and My kingdom of God came into their lives as an answer to their prayers that Jesus taught them to pray, that My kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven.  (Matthew 6:10)  That day was the beginning of My new covenant with all of humanity because there were people in that upper room from every country in the world.  The Jewish people who became filled with the Holy Spirit began to pray in languages they had never been taught in order for the newly converted Christians to speak the mysteries of Jesus Christ having died for the sins of the world, gone to hell for those sins, and then ascended from hell back into the earth to fulfill his promise to His disciples that He would soon come back to them.  He came back then and He came back on the day of Pentecost in the person of the Holy Spirit. 
    Paul wrote in his letter to the Thessalonians that they were children of light, not darkness, and they must be alert to recognize the devil's temptations of sexual sins, temptations to defraud others, temptations to assert power over other people and the temptations for political ascendancy in government.  He wrote that they must not be like unbelievers, getting drunk at night and sleeping long hours at night.  He said that they must be sober to work laboriously, to not be like the loafers, the disorderly and unruly, but instead to give their help to the weak and to always be patient with everybody by controlling their temper.  He reminded them not to return evil for evil done to them but instead to aim to show kindness, doing what is good to one another in the church and to everybody. 
    He also wrote to them to be unceasing in prayer, thanking Me in everything because that is My will for you in order for you to obtain My blessings.  Also Paul encouraged the people in the Thessalonian church NOT TO QUENCH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND NOT TO SPURN THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.  However, he also wrote to them to test and prove everything until they recognize that is good and pure in My will.  He added that the people must ABSTAIN FROM EVIL in whatever form they see it and discern it.  He said that if they keep all that Paul advised them to do, that My peace would sanctify them through and through and that they would be blameless at the appearing of Jesus Christ when he appears to take them to heaven when their days on earth are over. (I Thessalonians 5:5-23)
    Paul was concerned about the steadfastness of the church members so he used two letters to encourage and instruct them.  His words are worth heeding.
    Your Father of Wise Instructions 

BLESSINGS IN GUIDANCE

My Dear Precious Child,
    In Paul's first letter to the people in the church at Thessalonica, it being his first letter of encouragement and guidance to any church, he encouraged them in love, to make sure that they loved everyone in the church and also people outside of the church.  In that letter he was concerned about the people using their bodies impurely but instead he wanted them to be consecrated to Me with honor.  Also he warned them about the demonic spirit of lust, admonishing them not to use their bodies to fulfill lust in any area, spiritually, bodily or mentally.  He told them that the heathen used their bodies in many ways, their being ignorant of Me and having no knowledge of My will.   He warned them against sexual vice, shrinking from it completely.  (II Thessalonians 4:3-10)  He also warned against defrauding anyone in lust for money or goods that belong to someone.  The demon of lust has many faces and when someone yields to its temptation in one area they open themselves up for yielding to lust in other ways also.  Paul repeated that I have not called My children to impurity and instead to dedicate yourselves to Me spirit, soul and body. 
    Paul encouraged the people again in the church to display My love to everyone.   He wrote that they were already known as excelling in loving other people and he encouraged them to excel in love even more and more.  In his exhortation on daily living, Paul advised the people in the church to live quietly and peacefully with everyone, to mind their own affairs, to work with their hands as he already had charged them to do. 
   Then he wrote advising them about people in the church who had died, telling the members not to grieve like the rest of the people grieve who have no hope beyond the grave.  He reasoned with them that since Jesus Christ rose from the dead, that they and their fellow believers would also rise to meet Him in the sir, since Jesus, Himself, would descend from heaven with a loud cry and the blast of My trumpet, knowing that the people who are already asleep in death will rise first.   He assured them that the people who are alive in the earth whose bodies die will eventually also be caught up to meet Me in the clouds so that you will live with Me eternally.  (II Thessalonians 4:11-18)  There were people in the church who had belonged to the sect of the Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection.  They needed to be again reassured about the afterlife that is guaranteed to My children who will live eternally with Me in heaven.  Paul reiterated to the believers the truth of the hope to which they are called, which is to live with Me for eternity.  I am Love and to live with Me is to live surrounded and infused with My Love.  Paul could only remind the people of the blessing.  Each person experiences knowing Love personally as revealed by the Holy Spirit, but they needed to be reassured of their posterity in order to have peace.  
    Your Father of Loving Reassurance