We don’t always get things right the first time. Sometimes it takes multiple tries to get it right. Occasionally it is a process that we have to be patient with, and learn as we go. Those times that it does not work out the first time, we have to figure out what didn’t work and make changes, then try again. Then maybe next time, or times, change a little something else, and a little more something else until we get it right. Just stick with it and don’t give up.
A while back my niece and her husband went to a birthday party where they had this amazing sweet potato cake with cream cheese frosting. She called me pretty soon afterward and asked me if I could make one for Thanksgiving. She described the cake to me as best she could and I told her I would give it a shot. So five weeks before Thanksgiving, I started on my quest of re-creating this cake, even though I am no baker and she was 700 miles away with no way to taste it.
During the first week the cake I made used shredded sweet potatoes and lots of nuts. It was actually my favorite. It was pretty amazing. When I sent her a text describing this deliciousness, she sent me back a text with just two words, “No chunks.” The second week, I found a recipe that had puréed sweet potatoes. The cake had no flavor. The third week’s cake had really good flavor but it had the consistency of a mud pie (like Frances and I used to make when we were little.) The fourth week’s cake was almost there, just dry and it still didn’t get me.
So during preparation for the fifth week’s try, which was to be the Thanksgiving cake, a friend gave me some hints on oven temperatures and ingredient swaps. Plus there was a mistakenly left out ingredient. This one seemed to be a winner to me. It smelled like fall. The consistency seemed right. It was not dry. When my niece, and her husband, tried it, they told me it was almost a perfect match!
It took five tries, but I persisted and stuck with it until I got it right. In Philippians 1:3-7, Paul is telling the church at Philippi to stay strong and stick with it, that God would help them get it right.
Paul began this letter to the Philippians by telling them how thankful he was for all they had meant to him. He told them how he frequently prayed for them with joy, and for the continued growth of the church there that they had begun together.
Paul encouraged them to be faithful and continue in the good things they were doing. He assured them that Christ would remain with them and help them in their ministries, even until the day of Christ’s reappearing.
He told them that it was only natural for him to feel this way about them because he had a deep love for them, and how even when he was in chains, they were still there, sticking with it, ministering to him and ministering to others.
Those were challenging times to be following Christ, and Paul was encouraging them to not give up.
The challenge today for those that belong to Christ and are attempting to stay the course and remain strong could be remaining thankful, joyful, consistent and unified to one cause, the cause of Christ. Remaining unified as one Body seems to be a particular issue the modern Church runs into. We need to pray for a way around this.
How can we apply this to our lives? This passage clearly shows us that all of the things God begins within us, He will complete. We should stay the course and never quit. Christ will be there with us through it all. No matter how long it takes us to complete our given task, we should remain strong and faithful.
What does this mean to my faith? For everything that I put into serving God, He will reward my faithfulness generously. My faith is strengthened when I look at God’s history and see that His faithfulness is unmatched. I have told my niece this over and over—and over—during her lifetime, “If you honor God. God will honor you!”
Lord, just reading in Your Word how faithful You have been to those who honor You gives me hope and joy in serving You. I ask You to keep me strong, help me stay the course and never quit. Help my growth process continue to make me more like Christ until the day I meet Him face to face.
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“3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, 5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; 7 just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace.” Philippians 1:3-7 (NKJV)
“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of [his] good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13 (KJV)
“Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;” 1 Thessalonians 1:3 (KJV)
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I feel that since God has given me the gift of this platform, I must always tell you about my Jesus.
What is your relationship to the all-knowing God of the universe? Do you know Jesus? Do you know the peace that can come only from an intimate relationship with Him? You can know Him. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, born into human flesh, sinless, crucified and giving His life freely, buried, arisen on the third day, will come into your life and change the outcome of your eternity. You just have to be willing to believe and accept His truth.
Here is an excellent website that can give you additional information about making your decision for Jesus Christ! PeaceWithGod.net
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Restricted Vision, Unburdened Sight 