"For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose."
Pay attention to God's will — as you continue to find joy in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God. 🙏
The fourth evening at Le Faou. And the verse Le brings holds the deepest small phrase in the letter.
"To will and to act." Le vouloir et le faire. Thelein kai energein. He works the willing too. Not only the doing. The wanting itself is His work in us.
Which is why Le's instruction is exactly right: pay attention to God's will. Because the desire you find in yourself for Him did not originate with you. It is the work already underway, surfacing. Paying attention is noticing what He has already planted.
And this is Le's testimony again, one layer deeper. I was mercied. It was gifted. Every single thing we have, God gave to us. Now even the appetite for Him is on the list.
And her two companions to it — joy in the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God — are Paul's own pairing. Philippians 1:25, two nights ago: your progress and joy in the faith. Philippians 1:9: that your love may abound in knowledge. Never knowledge cold. Never joy empty.
"If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded... Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves."
"Si donc il y a quelque consolation en Christ, s'il y a quelque soulagement dans la charité, s'il y a quelque communion d'esprit, s'il y a quelque compassion et quelque miséricorde, rendez ma joie parfaite, ayant un même sentiment... Ne faites rien par esprit de parti ou par vaine gloire, mais que l'humilité vous fasse regarder les autres comme étant au-dessus de vous-mêmes."
Philippiens 2:1-3 · Louis Segond"Fellowship of the Spirit." Communion d'esprit. Koinōnia — Le's word, for the fourth time this month. September 12: my goal is fellowship with God. 1 Corinthians 1:9. Philippians 1:5. And now here.
"Nothing through strife or vainglory." Par esprit de parti. The same disease as 1 Corinthians 1 — party spirit, rivalry. And two nights ago, Philippians 1:15-18: Paul refused to join the contest at all.
"Esteem other better than themselves." Regarder les autres comme étant au-dessus de vous-mêmes. Not pretending they are better. Choosing to treat them as though they were.
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
"Ayez en vous les sentiments qui étaient en Jésus-Christ, lequel, existant en forme de Dieu, n'a point regardé comme une proie à arracher d'être égal avec Dieu, mais s'est dépouillé lui-même, en prenant une forme de serviteur, en devenant semblable aux hommes; et ayant paru comme un simple homme, il s'est humilié lui-même, se rendant obéissant jusqu'à la mort, même jusqu'à la mort de la croix."
Philippiens 2:5-8 · Louis Segond"Made himself of no reputation." S'est dépouillé lui-même. Ekenōsen — he emptied himself.
Le — you met this verb thirteen days ago. 1 Corinthians 1:17: lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect — kenōthē. The same word.
There, eloquence empties the cross — a loss.
Here, Christ empties Himself — the gift.
Same emptying, opposite direction. One drains the cross of its power. The other is how the cross got its power.
"The form of a servant." Une forme de serviteur. Morphēn doulou. Le — this is where the whole thread comes from. Romans 1:1. 1 Corinthians 9:19. Philippians 1:1. Paul keeps calling himself doulos — and here is why. He is not claiming a humble office. He is wearing his Master's own form. Christ took it first.
"Obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." The descent has steps: God → emptied → servant → man → humbled → obedient → death → crucifixion. Seven downward stairs, and He took every one.
"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
"C'est pourquoi aussi Dieu l'a souverainement élevé, et lui a donné le nom qui est au-dessus de tout nom, afin qu'au nom de Jésus tout genou fléchisse dans les cieux, sur la terre et sous la terre, et que toute langue confesse que Jésus-Christ est Seigneur, à la gloire de Dieu le Père."
Philippiens 2:9-11 · Louis Segond"Wherefore." C'est pourquoi. The exaltation is the answer to the descent. Seven stairs down, and God raises Him above every name.
"Every knee should bow." Isaiah 45:23 — the second time in this journal. Le read it on September 11, at Sword Beach, in Romans 14:11. There the point was: do not judge — every knee bows to Him, not to you. Here: the name above every name. Same prophecy, two uses.
And note where Isaiah puts those words: God says them of Himself. Paul applies them to Jesus without hesitation.
"To the glory of God the Father." À la gloire de Dieu le Père. Glory closes the hymn — as it closed Romans, 1 Corinthians 1:31, Philippians 1:11. Every road in this journal ends there.
"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life."
"Mettez en œuvre votre salut avec crainte et tremblement. Car c'est Dieu qui produit en vous le vouloir et le faire, selon son bon plaisir. Faites toutes choses sans murmures ni hésitations, afin que vous soyez irréprochables et purs, des enfants de Dieu irrépréhensibles au milieu d'une génération perverse et corrompue, parmi laquelle vous brillez comme des flambeaux dans le monde, portant la parole de vie."
Philippiens 2:12-16 · Louis Segond"Work out... for it is God which worketh in you." Mettez en œuvre... car c'est Dieu qui produit en vous. Katergazesthe... energōn. The command and the reason sit side by side and do not cancel each other. You work it out because He is working it in.
Three nights ago, Philippians 1:6: he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it. Same God. Same work. Still underway.
"With fear and trembling." Avec crainte et tremblement. Not terror. The carefulness of handling something precious that is not yours. You do not work casually at something God Himself is working in.
"The sons of God, without rebuke." Des enfants de Dieu irrépréhensibles. Le — last night you wrote: we are God's children. Tonight Paul hands the phrase straight back.
"Ye shine as lights." Vous brillez comme des flambeaux. Phōstēres — the word used of the heavenly lights in Genesis. Stars do not generate the day; they hold light in the dark.
"Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all. For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me."
"Et même si je sers de libation pour le sacrifice et pour le service de votre foi, je m'en réjouis, et je me réjouis avec vous tous. Vous aussi, réjouissez-vous de même, et réjouissez-vous avec moi."
Philippiens 2:17-18 · Louis Segond"If I be offered." Si je sers de libation. Spendomai — poured out as a drink offering, the wine emptied beside the altar.
Le — Romans 5:5: the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts — ekcheō. Love poured in; a life poured out. The second follows the first.
And he says he is glad. Twice, in one breath. Written in chains, about the possibility of his own death. Joy that does not depend on the outcome — which is the whole letter in one line. 🙏
"Pay attention to God's will — as you continue to find joy in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God."
Le · Le Faou, Finistère · September 28, 2026 · He works in us both to will and to do — even the wanting is His workTo Will and to Do
He works the willing too, not only the doing. The desire for Him did not begin with us — paying attention means noticing what He planted.
He Emptied Himself
Ekenōsen. The same verb as 1 Corinthians 1:17, opposite direction. Eloquence drains the cross; Christ's emptying filled it.
Every Knee
Isaiah 45:23, the second time in this journal. At Sword Beach: don't judge. Here: the name above every name.
Children Who Shine
Phōstēres — the word for the heavenly lights. Stars do not make the day; they hold light in the dark.