Philippi, unlike other cities of that time, didn’t have temples or cultic worship of gods, but instead had a culture of hero worship. It is into this culture of masculinity, dominance, and power that God called Paul — a small frail Jewish man with bad hearing. Amongst these war heroes God started the Philippian church using a woman, a teenage slave girl, and a suicidal jailer. It isn’t by man’s strength that God works, but by grace — a supernatural empowering of willing vessels. We are saints of Christ, called to speak grace into our own lives and the lives of others. Living a grace-filled life brings about the peace of God.

In the book of Genesis, Abram (or Abraham) has three encounters with his nephew Lot and the city of Sodom. Each time, he engages in a different type of faith. In one encounter he engages in passive faith — turning the situation over to God and trusting Him and His goodness. On another occasion he engages in prayerful faith — interceding with the belief that prayer can move the heart and hand of God. The final type, and often most difficult to engage in, is active faith — when God calls us to take action and be a part of what He is doing.

When we think of the victory of the cross we have to remind ourselves that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all our sins and we are forgiven in Christ. At the cross Jesus bore all our grief and sorrows. All guilt and condemnation is lifted because of His blood. At the cross mercy and peace took on a human face. Jesus Christ made a covenant with His Father and His blood brings us everlasting peace.

When God was moving, Moses got out of the way and let God move. Isaiah, the prophets, and John fell on their faces. In the book of Acts the church had to be fluid — willing to change. Our prayer is not to twist God’s arm to do what we want, but rather to submit ourselves to the direction God is moving.

Some of the deepest truths God reveals to us are the simplest and most clear. In Luke 10 the lawyer asks Jesus what he must do to live. Jesus’ answer was profound: love God, love others and (an often missed point) if you do these two things you will live life to the fullest. These are not religious obligations, but have to come from our heart. Proverbs 4:23 tells us to “keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”

When the Holy Spirit begins to fill our heart and mind we are given the ability to understand the truth of God's Word. When God speaks to us and we obey, we will be led into the miraculous. A cry will arise in our heart, "Oh Jesus use this frail vessel and glorify your name through my life." When everyone is planning their strategies there will be a church who will run into their prayer closets and get a word from the Lord for this generation. We do not have to figure it all out. All we need to do is to have a vision of the one who has all the power and authority we will ever need. Our prayer is, "God stretch forth you hand and fill us with boldness to minister your love and power."

In every single one of us there is a propensity to draw near to Jesus with all of our heart and to pull away at the same time. If it was not for the power of the Holy Spirit it would be impossible to serve God. It is better to take the promises of God and bring them back to Him in prayer than to make vows that we know we could never keep in our own strength. The key is to totally understand that it is not what we can do for Jesus but what He did and continues to do for us. With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible!