If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to you own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Phil. 2:1-4)

Paul reminds us in Philippians 2:1 that as believers in Christ, we have encouragement from being united with Christ. By having tenderness and compassion, we will be like minded with Him, making His joy complete.  We need to have that same love and be one in the Spirit as we serve one another.

God doesn’t want us to do anything out of selfish ambitions or conceit. God wants us to humble ourselves. He tells us in Philippians 2:4 not to just think of our own needs but to think of the needs of others. Here at H*VMI, even though we are all involved in different ministries, God wants us to serve each other. No matter what  we are doing in life, we need to serve each other with joy and put others before ourselves. This will make us better servants for the Lord.

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Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?  Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.  And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  (Matt. 10:29)

If you were to list your favorite snack foods would Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers make it on the list?  I know these crunchy little fish shaped crackers would make it onto the snack list of many toddler and preschool age children.  In fact just the other day while I was taking care of two year old twin boys they both asked me for some of these Goldfish crackers.  Did you know that these Goldfish crackers now come in four different colors?  When I gave each child some of these colored Goldfish crackers I neglected to make sure they each got some “green” Goldfish.  Upon their request I went fishing back into the container for some “green” Goldfish.  Later that day I came across an advertisement for these colored Goldfish crackers that read, “God is in the details.”  Those words really caught my attention.  When I looked closer and read more slowly I realized the add said, “Good is in the details.”  Pepperidge Farm is right.  There is good in the details of their crackers like the fish shape with an eye and a mouth, the colors from natural sources and the real cheese they use.  All of which my little friends have discovered and take great delight in.  But I was also right when I misread their advertisement.  GOD IS IN THE DETAILS.  Matthew 10:30 tells us that God even knows how many hairs are on our heads.  Isn’t it comforting to know that our God is intimately acquainted with the details of our lives? Every single detail that concerns you concerns God.  We have a God who cares about everything. Are there any details of your life that you have neglected to bring before God in prayer because you have assumed that they were too small?  You might want to grab a handful of those Pepperidge Farm Goldfish colored crackers so you can taste and experience the good in the details for yourself.  As you are munching away take some time to talk with God about the details of your life and the concerns of your heart. Remember, God cares about it ALL, not just if it’s big but also if it’s small.

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I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all that saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all that fullness of God.  (Eph. 3:16-19)

Jesus who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords left his heavenly home to be born in a smelly stable. Because His family was poor he grew up in a humble setting. Even as an adult Jesus choose to not accumulate possessions but to minister to others. He showed His love for people in how He talked to them and treated them. Although He performed many miracles to help people physically, His main purpose was to help people see that He was the true Messiah. Then Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice out of His love for us and to pay for our sins. He was crucified after being tortured and humiliated. He was buried and rose again to have victory over sin and death. “But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:8)

Jesus loves us unconditionally and wants us to come to Him for forgiveness, strength and peace. Only as we go to Him through prayer and reading His Word, the Holy Bible, can we begin to understand His great love for us. May you more fully understand His love as you spend time with Him.

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 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed…
 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Cor. 4:8-9,17-18)

Our H*VMI constituents, you readers, may feel hard pressed, perplexed or persecuted so these verses from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians are for you. They say that though you may feel that way, you are not, in fact, crushed or destroyed. Some things you have to take on faith. You are not abandoned.

He deliberately made us out of weak stuff, clay, that could be crushed and broken, so that everyone can see that when we’re crushed but not destroyed, it’s not us. We survive these troubles because God is with us and we are not alone in the trouble. It’s all about showing off God!

The difference between being crushed and hard pressed or being perplexed and in despair is the being renewed part. It may look to someone watching you that you are wasting away or that you should be wasting away because your life is so burdensome. But you can be renewed daily for that day’s issues. Your part in the whole picture is to put yourself in the place where the unseen eternal Savior fills you up with His unseen eternal Spirit so that you don’t waste away, so that you are not crushed nor destroyed. You are, in fact, not abandoned because He is with you.

Doing that helps us get the perspective Paul speaks of in verses 17 and 18. From the perspective of eternity, the things that truly feel overwhelming here in our lives in history are actually little. They are light weight, short-term issues. They are “light and momentary troubles.” Actual troubles to be sure, but – and here’s the really important part – compared to eternity, they are light and momentary. Compared to what Jesus is making ready for you and me, they’re little.  

As I’ve listened to your stories, I know the troubles are real and seem like big deals. That’s reality in our earthly lives. But as I listen to your stories in the light of Paul’s insight, what really happens is that my expectations for heaven grow bigger and bigger. Paul says it and I believe it. When we compare joys of heaven to the troubles of this life, heaven is so much grander that the memory of the troubles will fade to a speck on the distant horizon, almost nothing. Keep your eyes on the unseen Savior for renewal and for perspective. You are not abandoned.

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