The Devotional - A Look at the Book #696

The kingdom of God is not physical... it is spiritual. Now I could just leave that statement alone and let you deal with it as you see fit; but notice how the apostle Paul explains this wonderful truth. "For the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Roman 14:17

The epistle of Philippians is filled with the joy of the LORD so we should take a look at the Book. One of the thoughts that come to mind is that grace and peace always precede joy. Righteousness is grace in action. In other words, God grants grace to all of His saints to live in the Righteousness of Christ, their LORD. Philippians 1:1-2

For me the JOY of the LORD is like finding gold and the epistle to the Philippians is like a gold mine. At minimum there are seventeen direct references to the joy of the LORD. With confidence and joy the apostle prays for those he remembers. Do we do that? Well our prayers are a one on one communication with our Father; however we should seek to remember each other before the LORD, daily and with joy.

Also our confidence in one another should be as strong as the confidence that the apostle has for the saints on his list (if he had a list). If Christ is in us the work which began with Him will be completed by Him and that work will be rewarded by Him in the future day of the LORD. Philippians 1:3-6

Does this mean that we have no responsibility to actively walk in the Righteousness of the grace of God? Absolutely not! In fact; if we fail the disciplines associated with grace, we fail in Christ-likeness and when we fail here, we will fail to know the JOY that God has purposed for us to have daily.

A friend refers to God as her Papa, while we may think this is strange, it is not strange at all. I heard of a man who is CEO of the one of the largest companies in the world who places a white handkerchief in the breast pocket of his suit coat. Not to be stylish, but to provide a visual for him to see that he must stay pure as His Savior is pure. Philippians 4:8-9

For me; I find that just thinking of the rose that is trampled on the ground, He took the fall and thought of me. Song of Solomon 2:1. Each time like my friend and this CEO when we think on the truth these symbols of remembering come to the forefront we are immediately filled with the JOY of the LORD. There are a multitude of truths in the Holy Bible to help us to remember and rejoice in the LORD.

The word ABBA (papa) is found only three times in the Holy Bible; Mark 14:36; Papa Father all things are possible for You, take this cup away from Me, nevertheless not what I will, but what You will. Romans 8:15 we are adopted children of God and He expects us to refer to Him that way. 1 John 2:28 through 3:3. Now for Galatians 4:6; I truly believe that if you stifle the Spirit of God by disregarding that we are God’s children (His saints) then we will miss many of the rewards that Abba has for us.