PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
Philippians 1:9–11
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 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 2:1–2
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.
CONSIDER THIS
Philippians. It’s a book of joy.
The Philippians have been very good to Paul. They have shown compassion to him during his imprisonment. His heart is full, his spirit is unchained because of Christ, and his love for God’s people is renewed because of the kindness of these precious brothers and sisters.
When one’s heart is full, especially in the midst of otherwise challenging circumstances, we experience joy.
As Paul writes his letter to the Philippians, it is clear that he is full of joy.
In Philippians 1:9–11, he lifts up a prayer that is a companion to his Prayer for Union and Love in Ephesians 3:14–21. In his prayer for the Philippians, he begins, characteristically, with love.
He prays that our love would abound, expand, and flourish with a new depth of understanding and insight. He wants love to become more than a word to them, more even than an action or an idea. He wants love to become their way of seeing God, seeing themselves, seeing people, seeing circumstances, and seeing the whole of creation.
Paul wants them to have a lens of love before them at all times, in all circumstances. Not a sentimental, sappy love devoid of strength and truth and transformation, mind you. He wants them to see as Jesus sees.
Paul wants them to have this lens of love before their eyes so that they can discern what is best and most beautiful in the sight of God. This discernment will inform wise decisions and right actions. Love will be their approach to all things. This, it could be argued, is the aroma of Christ that drew so many to him (2 Cor. 2:15–17). He wants them to fill rooms with the fragrance of God’s love.
Seeing through the lens of love is to be their new normal so that they can grow in purity and innocence of spirit, filled with the fruit that comes from relating rightly to God and others.
This, for Paul, would engender praise of the most magnificent and appropriate sort—praise that befits the God who loves us beyond our imagining.
Then, in Philippians 2:1–2, Paul turns to their union with Christ. He knows that joy comes when we are united and moving in step with Jesus at every level of thought, feeling, and action. This is the telos, the end goal, of discipleship for Paul. He groans until Christ is formed in them (Gal. 4:19).
He frames his words to graciously exhort them to take a deeper step into the waters of Christlikeness: “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then . . .” What does he ask of them? “Make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love [as Jesus], being one in spirit and of one mind [with one another].”
Love-abounding—we see like Jesus.
Like-minded—we think like Jesus.
Of the same love—we feel and act like Jesus.
One in spirit and one of mind—we treat one another as Jesus treated us.
United with Christ—we are people of joy.
THE PRAYER
Lord Jesus, I am in you and you are in me. I ask you that my love would abound, more and more, in understanding and insight. I ask you to make me like you, in mind, in love, and in unity with your people. I want to be a person of joy, wherever I go. In Christ Jesus, I pray, amen.
THE QUESTIONS
What phrase in today’s passages moves you, and why? What would it mean for you to put on a lens of love today as you go about your normal routine? How might it change your perspective?
For the Awakening,
Dan Wilt
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2 Responses
Depth of insight looks for more than rational analysis and intellectual comprehension. It looks beyond the collecting, processing, and categorizing of information. It sees and experiences life directly with and through the heart.
Depth of insight is never satisfied with mere information about God. It hungers and thirsts for direct, ongoing, and heart-to-heart interaction with Him.
Insight is revelational and experiential. It isn’t analytical. It consists of flashes of awareness that burst on the consciousness and take it over with a fresh, life-altering, and unending way of seeing. Knowledge can come by study and human effort, but depth of insight must come directly from the living God. “This was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in Heaven.”
Depth of insight caused Isaiah to say: “I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips.” It caused Paul to say, “O wretched man that I am.” It caused Peter to say: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” It has caused untold multitudes of Christ-followers throughout the centuries to joyfully surrender their all to the risen Jesus even unto death.
Unity in the body of Christ comes from depth of insight, not from theological analysis, doctrinal agreement, organizational systems, or religious programming. When two or more Christ-followers are undone in the presence of the Lord together, when their will, their desires, their pride, and their opinions are melted away by the radiant love and overwhelming presence of Jesus, they are one in the Spirit and connected heart to heart to the risen Jesus Christ and to each other.
Depth of insight is the norm for Christianity. It should have never be confined to rare occurrences and once-in-a-life-time-experiences. We can live in moment-by-moment revelation from God. In fact, we are called to that. That’s why we have been given the gifts of the Spirit. That’s why Christ lives in us. That’s why we have the day-by-day hope of glory! That’s why Jesus said: “I am with you always.” Step into the depth of insight. “Behold the Lamb of God,” throughout each day, all day long.
“Look unto Jesus the author and finisher of your faith.” Don’t just be content to study and analyze Him and to listen to sermons about Him. “Come boldly before the throne of grace,” and surrender your all to Him. Every time you stray from the conscious awareness of His presence, immediately refocus your heart on His living presence with reckless abandonment to His sovereignty and Lordship over your whole life.
“What phrase in today’s passages moves you, and why?” In order to live worthy of our calling into Christ’s Ekklesia, (Ephesians 4:1) it is imperative that we be drawn together, and be filled with the Spirit of Christ, so that we can, as His corporate Body, reflect His full mature stature into the world. This can only happen as we, “make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on the same purpose.” Otherwise, as Jesus said, “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and a house divided against itself falls.” (Luke 11:17) Our unity in Christ is a gift of the Holy Spirit, something we absolutely cannot accomplish on our own power.