Philippians 1:2  

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are a number of ways to greet one another when we encounter a friend. "Hey how are you?" "Good day," or even a "What's up?" are commonly used greetings. Ships passing will signal with a standard horn or whistle signal. And in some cases, signal flags will give an indication as to the condition of each vessel.

The Apostle Paul uses a very civilized greeting in his letter to the church in the city of Phillipi. It gives comfort, shows his love and reminds the Philippians of a very important aspect of their life in Christ.

Grace for god our Father is one of the key aspects of our life as Christians. We are doomed as sinners, but for the grace of God, we would remain doomed. But we are blessed with a loving God. He desires a relationship with us. He yearns for the day we can be together. And to that end, he sent his son to restore us to a state of righteousness. The state is one which we could by our own efforts achieve. But God, who is faithful and just reached out to us and restored all mankind who believe in His Son. No longer do we live in dread of death. It holds no end for us. Rather, we have life eternal through Jesus Christ.   Paul reminds the Philippians of this fact with his greeting. We need to keep that greeting in our hearts and minds.

PRAYER: Lord and Giver of Life, we stand before You forever grateful for the sacrifice on the cross of Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. As we go about our lives, help us to keep our focus on Him. Guide us in the path that You would have us follow. Strengthen us when we are tempted to stray from that path. We ask this in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with the Father and the Spirit. One God, now and forever. Amen.