Prayer
Grace
to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 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. And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will
bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel
this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all
partakers with me of grace. For God is my witness how I yearn for you all with
affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more
and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is
excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the
fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise
of God.
Yes,
and I will rejoice, for I know that through my prayers and the help of the
Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager
expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full
courage now as always Christ will be honoured in your body, whether by life or
by death. For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the
flesh, that means fruitful labour for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot
tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with
Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on
your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with
you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample
cause to glory in Christ Jesus. Amen
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