Guided!

Guided!

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. Philippians 1:9‭-‬10 NIV

Following yesterday's piece on love as defined by God, Paul here again takes time to pray for the church in Philippi. Let's look at the contents of this prayer and see where they apply to us. First, for all who claim to know and follow Christ, the start point is yesterday's position, where the love of God must exist and abound in my heart. If I do not have God's kind of love, how do I impact the world the way God wants me to? If I cannot see with his eyes, hear with his ears or feel with his heart, how does God then use me to effect change in the lives of men? 

Second, when that love has been founded and established in my heart, it MUST grow and abound. There is a right environment for that growth, and it is based on the right kind of knowledge, the type only the Holy Spirit can supply. How do I see beyond the facade and front that people present to me, if I do not have divine help? How do I recognize hurt and pain if God doesn't impress it upon my heart by the help of His Spirit? That is why the love of God in my heart, if it is there, has to abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. 

And that is the third reason for the need for growth: the world is pretentious and complex and a lot of pretence and hypocrisy go on. The devil too is on a rampage for the souls of men, just as God is also seeking to work in the hearts of men who truly seek Him. He wants us to truly know and follow Him. He wants us to walk with Him without blemish, spot or wrinkle. He wants us to be blameless as we walk in this wicked world. There is an end to all we see now, and the day draws near when Christ comes back for His own. When he comes, what will He find in your heart: love or pretence/prejudice; His Spirit or spurious allegiances? 

For all of us, Paul's prayer here applies. We are in strange times, but the standards of God never change. His love is stil the one tool that will never fail to make impact. Does this love have a place in your heart? Am I growing in my knowledge of God and His will and purpose for my life? Does God have control over all I am and do, or are there other allegiances that hold my heart? Eternity is too long a time not to be sure of where you will spend it. Sort it out today whilst you still have time. His time of favour is here.