Study Desk

Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God.

The Lord has made me very grateful that at last you have thought about me once again. Actually, you were thinking about me all along, but you didn't have any chance to show it.

I am not trying to get something from you, but I want you to receive the blessings that come from giving.

But his Son became a human and died. So God made peace with you, and now he lets you stand in his presence as people who are holy and faultless and innocent.

But you must stay deeply rooted and firm in your faith. You must not give up the hope you received when you heard the good news. It was preached to everyone on earth, and I myself have become a servant of this message.

For ages and ages this message was kept secret from everyone, but now it has been explained to God's people.

but all wisdom and knowledge are hidden away in him.

Don't let anyone fool you by using senseless arguments. These arguments may sound wise, but they are only human teachings. They come from the powers of this world and not from Christ.

You were dead, because you were sinful and were not God's people. But God let Christ make you alive, when he forgave all our sins.

These things are only a shadow of what was to come. But Christ is real!

Don't be cheated by people who make a show of acting humble and who worship angels. They brag about seeing visions. But it is all nonsense, because their minds are filled with selfish desires.

Obeying these rules may seem to be the smart thing to do. They appear to make you love God more and to be very humble and to have control over your body. But they don't really have any power over our desires.

But now you must stop doing such things. You must quit being angry, hateful, and evil. You must no longer say insulting or cruel things about others.

But Christ has no favorites! He will punish evil people, just as they deserve.

So, when you accepted the message, you followed our example and the example of the Lord. You suffered, but the Holy Spirit made you glad.

As you remember, we had been mistreated and insulted at Philippi. But God gave us the courage to tell you the good news about him, even though many people caused us trouble.

God was pleased to trust us with his message. We didn't speak to please people, but to please God who knows our motives.

But as apostles, we could have demanded help from you. After all, Christ is the one who sent us. We chose to be like children or like a mother nursing her baby.

My friends, we were kept from coming to you for a while, but we never stopped thinking about you. We were eager to see you and tried our best to visit you in person.

We really wanted to come. I myself tried several times, but Satan always stopped us.