2. “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose”

3. How do we view our future? – Paul was confident that whatever time he had left on the earth would be time involved in “fruitful labor”. – Do we anticipate being involved in God’s work and do we believe that this work will be enjoyable, productive and edifying?

5. “Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother named him Jabez saying, ‘Because I bore him with pain’. Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, ‘Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!’ And God granted him what he requested”

7. There is nothing wrong in wanting to receive God’s blessings, both spiritual and physical, to use them in His service. – “You do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:2). “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling” (Matthew 23:37)

9. “Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children. For You said, ‘I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered”

10. “And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

11. Do we plead the promises? – When unity is threatened do we plead Jn. 17:20-21? – When we feel alone do we plead Hebrews 13:5-6? – When we are tempted do we plead 1 Cor. 10:13?

13. For Jabez this may have meant an increase of land; especially true during the period when the Israelites were seeking to drive out the Canaanites. – For us, enlarge our spiritual borders in terms of opportunities, more responsibilities, & more influence.

14. “When was the last time we prayed and asked God that He would give us more to do in His kingdom?”

15. “He had served the purpose of God in his own generation”

16. “The Lord will accomplish what concerns me”

17. “so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might feel for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;”

18. “God is seeking men and women with good and honest hearts—and God is seeking such people who are available.”

19. “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us”

20. “You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world”

21. “But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.”

22. Do we pray that the gospel message would penetrate borders that seem unconquerable? Do we pray that we can drive back the armies of darkness and regain territory that has been lost to Satan?

24. “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here”

25. “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.”

26. “Do we feel an absolute dependence upon Him and are we unwilling to go any further in life unless we know that we are right with Him and that He is with us?”

27. “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.”

29. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me”

30. “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world”

31. I don’t believe that Jabez was praying for an immunity from temptation, earthly pain, or suffering, but protection from evil. Jabez may have been praying that God would keep him alive during battle.

32. “Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil”

33. We need to remember that the more spiritually significant we become, the more we grow and make a determined effort, the more that the devil will try to bring us down. – Do we pray for men and women who are giving themselves to the work? Do we realize the pressures that they are under & what is at stake if they fall?

34. Jabez did not want to live up to the negative undertone of his name (“pain”, “sorrow”). – “Are we afraid of what we might become if God is not with us?”

35. Jabez realized that in the end only God could protect him. – Do we feel this way, that all our efforts to protect ourselves are not enough and that in the end only God can truly protect us? – “Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain” (Psalm 127:1).

37. Are we confident like Paul that whatever time we have left on the earth will be time involved in “fruitful labor”? – Are we anticipating being involved in God’s work this coming week? (work will be enjoyable, productive and edifying? ) – Are we available to God?

38. “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose”