And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 NRSV
Sometimes, you can take a single verse and gain spiritual insight from its meaning. Frequently though, that can lead to misinterpretation of its meaning. Instead, we must read the text before and after to obtain a context. Today's verse is one, if read alone, can lead to a misunderstanding of its intent.
To be clear, Paul's intention was not to propose a prosperity gospel–that God wants us to be rich. To fully understand his meaning, we need to back up to verse 10. He thanks the church in Philippi for their financial support of the ministry in Rome, so he might continue to bring more believers to Christ. The promise comes as a result of their faithfulness to God.
The focus here is not on our physical desires but on what we do for Christ. Our witness, mission, and ministries, everything we do to glorify God and bring about his kingdom on earth, will be blessed. While God has promised elsewhere in scripture that he will meet our physical needs (Matthew 6:31), the riches in Christ Jesus come in spiritual blessing.
Gracious God, we thank you for the privilege of being called your children. Help us to make everything we do less about us and more about you. Give us right hearts to witness and serve. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
Blessings,
Pastor Tim
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