The Star
God is Working – Part 2

Scripture Reading: Philippians 2:12-18

Key Verse: Philippians 2:13

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

Yesterday’s devotional reminded us that God is working in us as He worked in the wise men. The Apostle Paul continues, in our printed key verse, to tell us one of the many ways God is working. Take note, in Philippians 2:13, that God is working in our desires.

We parents know that if we can figure out how to get our kids to want to do something, they will do it so much better than if we simply force them to do it. Isn’t it true that as adults we still operate best when we are working on things that we desire to do? Our heavenly Father certainly knows how we operate at our best; God works in our desires. God’s patient work in us creates desires that we would never have or feel on our own. Even before we are Christians, God was working in us, giving us desires that would lead us, in various ways, to Him. This work, as we have studied earlier, is called prevenient grace—God at work in unbelievers’ lives!

It is certainly true that even with all of God’s work in us, He never crosses the line of our free moral choice; we must make all the final decisions. Our heavenly Father sets a wonderful meal before us, but He never forces us to eat. All of God’s work can be rejected; don’t be that person! (Continued)

Father, I am unworthy of Your continual efforts to guide my life. I will keep my heart and mind open to Your leadership today. In Jesus’s name, amen.