In all my prayers for all of you…
November 25, 2007 – 1:52 amI was having a conversation earlier this evening with my parents that got me thinking. What does it mean to be “proud” of someone? Or, to pull in the holiday we just celebrated, what does it mean to be “thankful” for someone? What should spur us to thankfulness? To whom should we be thankful? I remembered that in most of his letters to specific churches (all except the Galatians – apparently there wasn’t much there to be thankful for) Paul opened them with a greeting and then he gave thanks for them.
Rom 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.
1Co 1:4-8 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge– even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you– so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Eph 1:15-16 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,
Php 1:3-5 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
Col 1:3-5 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.
1Th 1:2-3 We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
2Th 1:3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.
To pull out some highlights from those verses, Paul is thankful TO GOD for the believers in these churches because of:
- The faith in Jesus that has been produced in them by the Holy Spirit (salvation)
- The spread of their faith (the Gospel) around the world (missions/disciplemaking)
- The grace that God has displayed in changing their lives (sanctification)
- Their love for each other
- The good work that is spurred on by the faith in Jesus and love for God and others
- The steadfastness and perseverance that comes from hope in Jesus
And so I want to publicly thank God for some of the believers that he has placed in my life. This isn’t to put them on a pedestal and proclaim how great they are, but to proclaim to you how great their God is, using sinners like them to encourage a sinner like me, and to offer some encouragement, as Paul encourages Timothy: “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
I’ll start with my parents, since it was my conversations with them that spurred this post. I thank God for their love for me and the grace that He has given them to display to me, that despite my pride, arrogance, callousness, apathy, they still love me and care for me unceasingly, giving me a glimpse of how my Heavenly Father loves me and cares for me completely unconditionally and unceasingly.
I thank God for the guys in Crusade, who have strengthened and encouraged me by continually pointing me to Christ despite my desire to point towards me, who have placed their faith in Jesus and their hope in His sovereignty.
I thank God for Cru’s Small Group leaders, who work every week to strengthen and equip Crusade with the truth found in God’s Word, so that we might be able to “teach, rebuke, correct and train in righteousness.”
I thank God for Cru’s Praise Team, which works every week to contextualize the Gospel to believer and nonbeliever alike, making the truth of God come alive to us through song.
I thank God for the Freshmen in Crusade, who have been more and more desiring to get involved in bringing the Gospel to Cornell through loving service and evangelism.
I thank God for my co-shepherds – past and present – who have show me grace I certainly don’t deserve, loved me by pointing me to Jesus, and fought steadfastly alongside me in the work that God has prepared for us to do, reminding me daily that God is sovereign, I am not, and He will work all things out for His glory and our joy.
I thank God for men like John Piper, Mark Driscoll, and Tim Keller, by whose teaching of the Bible I have grown immensely.
I thank God for Liang, for the years of friendship, the tears, the patience, the necessary rebukes – gentle and harsh, the vision of God he’s helped me attain – a Sovereign God who pursues His own glory for His joy and ours, and the unity that’s by God’s grace stood firm, despite the storms that might destroy it.
This list is far from comprehensive – there are many more people, entities, and programs that should be here than I could possibly list, or even name, right now. God has blessed me with much, and has allowed me to be witness to much. Seeing lives change – my own, my friends’, and total strangers’. Seeing people realize that giving up everything to follow Jesus is the easiest decision to make because Jesus is that satisfying and that real and that worth it. Seeing people see God in new ways – marvelous ways that brings light to their eyes and joy to their hearts as they glimpse and understand something new and glorious. Seeing repentance and forgiveness and redemption and reconciliation – in my life and in my relationships.
By the grace God has given you, press on!
-Ben
