Jim begins by reading several encouraging Scripture passages, emphasizing God's faithfulness and His ongoing work in believers' lives. Philippians 1:6 assures us that He who began a good work in us will complete it until Christ's return. Ephesians 2:10 reminds us that we are God's workmanship created for good works, which He prepared beforehand. Isaiah 43:1-7 highlights God's redemptive love, His presence through trials, and His call to His people, emphasizing that we are formed for His glory. Psalm 16:1 and 6 express trust in God's preservation and the inheritance we have in Him. Jim then prays, thanking God for His presence and asking for His Spirit to make His Word real and encouraging. He explains that his focus on Philippians is driven by personal experience and love, not scholarly exposition. The main theme is that rejoicing in God's work gives us hope, but we also have a role: submission and cooperation. Jim stresses that God's work requires our willing submission, like the examples of Joseph, David, and Daniel, who trusted God's promises and submitted to His process, often through years of trials. He emphasizes that God's purpose is to build character, faith, and dependence, and that suffering is part of His refining process. Ultimately, our role is to have a mindset of submission and to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, trusting that God is working within us to will and to do His good pleasure. Jim concludes by encouraging believers to trust God's faithfulness, feed their inner man, and allow Christ to dwell in them by faith, so that His character can be formed in us, leading to the glorious completion in Christ.
6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
1 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
1 Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: