I got a Facebook message today that changed my day—elevating it from ordinary to extraordinary.
Yeah, I know. Hundreds of thousands of Facebook messages clutter the digital space on a daily basis. But I have to say, this message was amazing.
The message was an encouragement and a blessing. It was written by a friend who knows me well and at least some of what I deal with in maintaining and growing this ministry. He is a prayer warrior who “has my back” as I seek to follow God’s leading. I was encouraged, honoured and blessed by his thoughtfulness, his faithfulness and his obedience. And at the heart of his note was a passage of scripture from The Message’s paraphrase of Philippians 1:3-11.
3-6 Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart. I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God’s Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present. There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.
7-8 It’s not at all fanciful for me to think this way about you. My prayers and hopes have deep roots in reality. You have, after all, stuck with me all the way from the time I was thrown in jail, put on trial, and came out of it in one piece. All along you have experienced with me the most generous help from God. He knows how much I love and miss you these days. Sometimes I think I feel as strongly about you as Christ does!
9-11 So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover’s life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.
God encourages me many times as I read the Scriptures and meditate on the insights he gives me. But I don’t often use the encouragement I receive from these times of communion with God to ask the question, “Who can I bless and honour today with these words I have been encouraged by?”
As you read Paul’s overwhelmingly warm and encouraging words for the people he holds dear to his heart you get a glimpse of how much his relationship with God intersected and interacted with his relationships with his friends, his colleagues, his church. And that relationship drove him to prayers of thanksgiving to God for these friends and words of blessing for the work Jesus is doing in them.
Paul’s prayer for them is that their love will never diminish but expand to envelope the whole of their lives. So much so that the overflow of their lives would not only develop strength of character but fruit as well. He wants their lives—as they allow Jesus to live through them—to become so attractive to those around them that all will join forces in giving praise and glory to God.
Paul’s prayer and encouragement isn’t to make the Philippian church feel good about itself but to motivate them to continue doing the work of the Lord so that all their work and effort will continually bring glory and praise to God.
When we bless others—when we honour others for the work we see God accomplishing in and through them—we help to motivate their work and their lives to spreading the aroma of Christ.
The Facebook message I received today encouraged me in that direction once again. My friend’s words helped to clarify the work God has called me to do. They reminded me that it is not for my personal gain or advancement but for the glory of Jesus.
We are nearing the the end of the season of lent when we remember the suffering and death of Jesus—and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. It is a time of remembering the humanity and vulnerability he willingly placed himself in coming to live with us as our Emmanuel and to take our punishment upon himself. But it is also a time of year when we can bless and honour others—with words of encouragement—letting them know how they have encouraged us in our relationship with our Lord and Master. Letting them know the depth of our love for them. Letting them know how our relationship with Jesus is advanced by what we see in them—so that they can join with us in boasting about him.
And I think it also applies to letting our friends—who perhaps have not yet responded to Jesus’ gift of salvation and relationship—know the ways that their generosity of heart, their thankfulness for what they enjoy in life, their friendship to us, has been a part of helping us to praise God.
When we bless and honour people for the ways they have reflected large or small parts of God’s character—even if they don’t have a relationship with him—we open up a rich storehouse of possibilities for them to consider.
