" God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus." (Paul to the Philippians, 1:8; NIV)
I just read my twin bro’s blog titled, ""When you come looking for Me, you'll find Me!" WOW! An AMAZING and LIFE CHANGING blog post and if you will pray through it, you will find God…He’ll even FIND YOU! Can you think of anything more life changing than that? I can’t…so get to it!
I had in mind to write a blog on suffering for Jesus tonight. I am thinking about titling it, “Chains for Christ” based off of Philippians 1:13 and some other verses in Acts that the Holy Spirit is going to use to “kung fu” you and me into action with. However, I came looking for God…I found Him and He found me in my prayer tonight. That being said, my blog post is not going to be about “Chains for Christ” but “The Affection of Christ Jesus.”
You see…I have been reading and re-reading, praying and re-praying through Philippians these past few days. Not only that, God has been reading me! He pierced my heart tonight with a love arrow for Him and for my family. I want to love the Triune God and my family with the affection of Christ Jesus.
I want the affection of Christ Jesus for God the Father and God the Spirit. I want the affection of God the Father and God the Spirit for Christ Jesus! I want to long for them! I want the affection of Christ Jesus for my beautiful wife and my precious daughter. They are what the promise of God looks like…literally! I want the affection of Christ Jesus for my mom and my dad…for my older bro and my twin bro…for my older bro’s soon-to-be wife and her children…for my mother-in-law and my father-in-law…for my brother-in-law and for his girlfriend. They are what God’s beauty looks like…literally!
I cry out to God for the affection of Christ Jesus! Paul had it…that’s why he prayed for the Philippians and thanked God every time he remembered them. He prayed with joy because of their partnership in the Gospel. He was confident that God, who began a good work in his brothers and sisters, would carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. He even goes on to say that it was right for him to feel that way about them! Why? I will let Paul answer for himself, “…Since I have you in my heart.” (Philippians 1:7)
Is God in your heart? Is your family in your heart? Are they in your heart with the affection of Christ Jesus? Can God testify to that (1:8)? The affection of Christ Jesus, in a nutshell, will cause you and me to die for the Gospel and to lay down our lives for our families! There is really NO OTHER way to love or to live.
Fill in the blank prayer for you: "Father, give me the Affection of Jesus Christ for_______________! In the Affectionate One, Jesus my Savior, Amen!
