“Every Time I Think Of You, I Give Thanks To My God.”

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Song of Solomon 5; Song of Solomon 6; Song of Solomon 7; Song of Solomon 8; Philippians 1

“Every Time 

I Think Of You,

I Give Thanks To My God.”

Scripture

Philippians 1

³ Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. ⁴ Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy… 7 So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart.

Observation

It is my desire to be like the Christians that Paul loved in the church at Philippi.

I am afraid though that when some people think of me it is not gratitude that fills their hearts! Yes, I have messed up in the past and not everybody has warm fuzzy feelings about me. I am probably the last person on earth that those folks would want to even think about.

Oh … you don’t have any people in your life like that … then you have never been a pastor of a church!

But I have plenty of people in my life that when I think about them they cause me to give thanks to God. I am so thankful that God has brought them into my life. I hope you have people like that too.

Willie Stephens is a friend like that. I don’t know if you have had the privilege of getting to know Willie. She is a joy. Kathy and I went to see her in the hospital this past Friday and left that hospital talking about what a great attitude Willie had even after suffering a stroke that has affected the right side of her body including her right arm and right leg. I give thanks to my God for allowing me the opportunity of being her friend.

Have you met Zane Edwards? Zane has been a close friend for the 10 years that I have been at our church. I have watched him serve over those 10 years and I marvel at his servant’s heart. He is usually one of the last volunteers to leave Christ Fellowship Church on Sunday afternoon. I could call on him any time any day of the week and he would be right there to help me. I could go on and on mentioning lots of other people that are just like Willie Stephens and Zane Edwards. They make me smile and they make me grateful to God when they come to my mind. I am so thankful for them.

You and I have the opportunity to either be a bright spot in someone’s day or be a dreadful nightmare! I would like to be a bright spot … how about you?

Application

I will encourage someone today!

Prayer

Heavenly Father, the church at Philippi was Paul’s favorite church. It was his favorite because the people were a total joy. Help me to be a joy to those around me and not a pain. Thank You for all the wonderful people that You have brought into our lives. Kathy and I are blessed with so many great friends. Thank You for our church and so many faithful people who serve so faithfully week after week. I am so grateful for them. They make me smile. I know that they make You smile too.

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