Today I was reading Philippians, and when I was reading the first chapter I was reminded of all my fellow Christians. I thought of those with whom I fellowship and worship at my local church, some of whom I know read my blog on occasion. I thought of those I worshipped with when we were on vacation in New York, who were so kind to us even though we were quite late for the service. I thought of friends and family around this country who attend other churches. I thought of all the Christian bands that I listen to and who inspire me with their music. I thought of all my fellow Christian bloggers, many of whom comment on my posts and encourage me daily.
I decided that I wanted to lift up to all of you in prayer the words of thanksgiving that Paul wrote to the Philippian church:
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 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.
It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
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 until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:3-11.
I don’t really have any more to add to this. I just wanted you all to know how much I love you.