Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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LIFE FILLED WITH FRUITS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
Philippians 1:3-11
So that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1: 10,11)
We are always reminded that the ending is more important than the beginning. Just watch any great movie or sports rivalry. What matters is not how a race or game or movie begins, all that matters is the end. Like the famous movie The Sixth Sense, or even the recent The Dark Knight Rises, films which end well become most memorable in the eyes of the masses.The same holds true for our lives. However what is most amazing about our lives is this amazing truth:
"God, who began the good work within you WILL FINISH IT"
Just as a movie begins and ends in the hands of its director, so does our lives, beginning ending if we lay it in the hands of our Father — Director.
By God's help, Paul tells us three aspects, which help our Father direct His goal.
1. Deepening the love between us & HIM, which leads to...
2. Living pure lives, which leads to...
3. Righteous character, which brings GOD GLORY.
Paul & Timothy reveal the fundamentals in following Christ: Once we are filled with his love, like any other muscle in our body, it has to grow (overflow); but how? In richness of knowledge and insight from Christ alone. No one else on earth can help our love for Him grow. Because NO ONE on earth can GIVE THIS LOVE. Jesus said we cannot live on bread alone. We must be sustained by the Living Word of God. Is that the food that we are giving our souls to grow in the love of Christ? How essential the world's food is to our bodies, how much more essential is God's Word in helping the soul grow?
Once we are filled with His pure love, it doesn't just make us sit idle, it OVERFLOWS. When He reigns, we pour. If He is not reigning in our lives, we are not pouring into others. If His love does reign, then Paul tells us that we will discover what really matters. Everything else in life is on the outside of what really matters. This understanding from God of what matters most will help us to live pure lives.
Once we are living pure lives, our character becomes solidified in Christ;we become filled with the fruit of our salvation . Not partially filled, but ful-filled! We become the literal hands & feet of Christ on Earth; fulfilling the Great Commission, discipling as we have been discipled; marching forward as one body, the Bride of Christ, to our Beloved, Bride-Groom.
We have to ask our Lord, where can I grow in this love? He promises to answer. Which I it her would not give his own child their best. Christ's best, is His Love, Himself. Let us discover that there is no end to the feast he sets before us!
"What Lies Behind Us and What Lies Before Us are Tiny Matters Compared to WHO Lives Within Us" - Anonymous
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Life filled with fruits of righteouness is a blessing to all.
Christian Education Forum, Diocese of NAE of the Mar Thoma Church

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