always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, (5) for your  fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.  (6)  being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; 

(8) For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the  affection of Jesus Christ.  (9) And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment (10) that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, (11) being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

The Apostle Paul wrote this letter addressed to the Philippians .  Paul clearly states that he is a prisoner while writing this epistle and I believe that he was in Rome (60 – 62 A.D.) at the time.  Paul was a citizen of Rome and this accorded him certain rights – apparently among them the freedom to preach the gospel even though he was under house arrest awaiting trial.  The dominant theme of this epistle to the Philippians was that of joy.  Paul rejoiced in the Philippians active involvement in his  ministry but the real joy that Paul expresses is his joy in serving God.  Paul expresses confidence that the work of sanctification that God has begun in the Philippians will continue until it is completed when Christ returns.

The word discernment is found only here in the New Testament.  It is a moral understanding based on the intellect and the senses – a perception or insight.  He prays that “you may approve” which is a term used in ancient times to describe the testing of purity of gold.  Paul is saying that the focus of knowledge is discernment – the ability to evaluate people and situations correctly.

To quote my favorite, C.S. Lewis, “We are to be remade.  All the rabbit in us is to disappear – and then, surprisingly, we shall find underneath it all a thing we have never imagined:  a real Man, an ageless god, a son of God, strong, radiant, wise, beautiful, and drenched in joy.”