Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Everybody Is So Busy

Are we busy doing anything that matters?


Colossians 1:24-29  I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church. 25 God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you.

26 This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. 27 For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.

28 So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. 29 That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.

Have you ever thought about how the gospel message got out of the small geographic area that Jesus worked in to become know all across the globe? After his three years of ministry, Jesus hadn't traveled very far from home, the events of his life would have been on the local nightly news but the major networks would have never covered him.

The only reason that the gospel got away from Jerusalem and spread around the world is the result of men that could say that they were glad to work for Jesus and his church despite having to suffer a lot of hardships and physical abuse. The Apostle Paul was such a man, he went through a lot, yet he tells us that he is happy to serve and to participate in the suffering that has come his way.

We are busy people and we are probably seldom as thrilled to serve as Paul was. All of our work and our pursuits are usually focused on ourselves. Paul tells us that we have a job that is way more important, we have a responsibility to warn everyone so that they will have the opportunity to be ready for Christ return.

We are powerful people

Ephesians 1:19-20 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.
We have a job to do and we have an incredible power source to help us, a source that goes virtually untapped by the average believer today. The early believers and the apostles used the power to get awesome results despite their persecution.

As a Christ follower in the United States with all of the freedoms and protection that goes along with it I must admit that I do not use the mighty power that God provides to do his work. I also must admit that I do not work as much or with the passion that the early believers did. If the early believers worked as hard as I do then the message of Jesus would have never gotten out of Jerusalem to reach the uttermost parts of the earth.

Lord, I want to be busy doing things that really matter, I am too comfortable and I need a passion to rise up in me to do your work.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Jesus Is First

I am second, hmm... no, actually maybe third.


Colossians 1:15-19  Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,  16 for through Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see--such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through Him and for Him.  17 He existed before anything else, and He holds all creation together.

18 Christ is also the head of the church, which is His body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So He is first in everything. 19 For God in all His fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through Him God reconciled everything to Himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ's blood on the cross.

It is important to have the proper point of view of Jesus, he isn't somebody that God invented to help us out, we need to know that Jesus is God himself. Some modern day religions try to say that Jesus was an angel or that God birthed a Son through the virgin Mary but the Bible is clear that Jesus is God as part of the trinity and Jesus was always with God and even participated in creation.

Jesus is Lord of creation


Jesus told us that he is God, other people told us that Jesus is God, even the demons acknowledged that Jesus was God, but in case you didn't get it Paul tells us again about who Jesus is. The invisible God is made known to us through Jesus, the Bible is clear that Jesus is not an angelic being, he is part of the trinity.

Jesus was a part of creation, everything that we can see and even the things in the spirit world that are invisible to us, it was all made through him and for his glory. He is the source of everything and he is in control of everything seen and unseen.

Jesus is Lord of the new creation


Jesus is not only the source of the physical creation, because of his resurrection from the dead, he is also the beginning of a new creation, the church. The church is his body of believers that have peace with God through Christ payment for our sin debt. Jesus blood made our relationship with God right again and now I can live in perfect harmony with him forever.

Jesus is Lord of my life

Philippians 2:3-7  Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.  Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.  Instead, He gave up His divine privileges.
It is amazing how we think that life is all about ourselves. Our culture tells us to look out for number one and get every good thing that you can get your hands on, after-all, you deserve it. That kind of attitude will keep us focused on ourselves which is something that the Bible doesn't allow us to do.

Since Jesus, who was God, was humble and took on the attitude of a servant, he never looked out for his rights, then how can I have a selfish attitude? How dare I say that I am too good to help somebody or how dare I say that I deserve to have this or that.

I have already been treated way better than I deserve, I need to follow God's example and put others ahead of myself, I need to love God first then others so that the spotlight isn't on me.

Help me to live by your example Lord.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Did You Hear The Good News?

This good news of God's grace is life changing.


Colossians 1:4-6  For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God's people,  5  which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.

6  This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God's wonderful grace.

Colossians 1:13-14  For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son,  14  who purchased our freedom [with His blood] and forgave our sins.

Maybe you have not heard the good news, good news travels fast, but there are still plenty of people that don't know about it. The good news is that you can switch neighborhoods! When you die, you don't have to reside in the kingdom of darkness, we have access to the kingdom of heaven. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sins so that my sins can be forgiven so that i can spend eternity with him.

Maybe you have already heard the good news but maybe you need to be reminded just how good the good news is. Do you realize the dreadful condition that you were in? Jesus put an end to the despair and he has given us "confident hope." Paul calls it a "confident hope" because we are not wishing on a star, this hope that we have is a sure thing for those that know the good news.

God's kingdom is built on grace.

Ephesians 2:8-9 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
God's grace changes lives everywhere it goes, everybody that it touches should be a lot different than the rest of the world, the fact that the most important relationship in our life has been repaired should give us peace beyond what the world has to offer.

My life has been changed by grace, it has changed the way that I live, God's grace came at a high price and I should not live my life for my own desires and satisfaction. The way that I treat others and the way that I use my resources should be affected by my understanding of the gospel.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Praying Often And Praying Well

Praying in the Bible looks a lot different than how I pray.


Colossians 1:3  We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Colossians 1:9-12  So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you.

We ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.  10  Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

11  We also pray that you will be strengthened with all His glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy,  12  always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to His people, who live in the light.

Colossians 4:2-4  Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.  3  Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about His mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains.  4  Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.

The average Christ follower in America probably doesn't spend enough time in prayer and then when we finally do pray it is usually very weak or selfish. We say that prayer is important but do we really believe it? We prove how important we think it is by how often we actually pray.

The Apostle Paul told the church in Colosse that he was always praying for them. It sounds like he wants us to pray just like we breathe, we don't stop breathing for too long and it should be the same way with our praying, a breath of air here and there isn't going to get us very far in life.

I know that when I finally do slow down and pray it can look like a check list of request that are pretty lame. Do you find yourself praying for a good day or for safety or for help to get a pay raise? We usually pray for self family and a few sick people. While there isn't anything wrong with praying about all of the details of your life at the same time you will not find the types of prayers that we pray anywhere in the Bible.
 
Most of us probably would not pray for our friends the way that Paul told the church that he prayed for them; he prayed for them to have:

✔ Complete knowledge of God's will and that they will have spiritual wisdom and understanding
✔ Strength for endurance and patience
✔ Joy and a thankful spirit because of their inheritance

My prayer list needs to be focused more on others and also on what's really important for them. When Paul prayed for his friends there was a higher purpose and a greater good that he was wanting them to know.

I need to pray more and I need to pray better, Lord help me to be consistent in coming to you in prayer and help me to pray for bigger things.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

God Has My Back

A mighty fortress is our God.



Psalm 46:1-3,10  God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.  2  So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.  3  Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!  10  Be still, and know that I am God!

What an awesome Psalm to consider; Martin Luther was inspired by Psalm 46 when he wrote the famous hymn, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” Luther wrote the words and composed the melody in the 1500's.

David wrote some awesome Psalms to praise God for how wonderful that he is, but if you have been in the Psalms for any amount of time you know that David had a habit of forgetting how great his God is, in one chapter he was praising and in the next chapter he was belly aching about his circumstances.

To us the world is out of control and really huge, we start looking at events in the weather and in politics, we can look at the situation that we find our lives in and get discouraged, we can easily forget that there is somebody much bigger than ourselves that is in control.
 

Look how the Bible describes my God:

The Almighty
God Most High
The Eternal God
The Ancient of Days
The Mighty One
The Living God
The Holy One of Israel              
The Lord
The True God
The Shepherd
The source of:
love
grace
comfort
peace
hope
provision
security
strength
light
It helps me out when I look at the characteristics of God. It becomes very clear, really fast that he can handle everything and all of it is in his control.

This Psalm gives us the best advise that we can apply to our daily lives, when everything is going wrong, when all of the news is bad news just be still and know that he is God. 

Keeping a calm and peaceful attitude is so unlike all of us, that's why over and over again in the scripture we find verses telling us not to worry or to be strong and courageous. I don't have to be strong, I don't need to run and hide, God is taking care of me.

Thursday, June 07, 2012

A Dangerous Silence

Four realities the Christ follower must accept.


Proverbs 24:11-12 Deliver those who are drawn toward death, And hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.

If you say, “Surely we did not know this,” Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?

Did you ever read a part of scripture and think to yourself "where did that come from" or "I didn't know that was in there?" That happened to me this past Sunday morning.

We had a guest speaker at Exciting Idlewild Baptist Church,  Tom Eliff, president of the International Mission Board as our guest speaker and this scripture from Proverbs came as a surprise to me.

Here is the outline of his sermon with my notes filled in for each point:

There is a compelling reality you must face

Hell is real and lost people are being led away in mass. We don't like to think about it is a reality that thousands are headed to an eternity of dark, loneliness in agony.

There are critical responsibilities you must accept

We should be on a rescue mission, if we really understand what we have been saved from then how can we be so laid back about telling others.

There are calloused reactions you must avoid

You can't fool God and say that you didn't know about the situation, we should not neglect our responsibility by being indifferent.

There is a certain reckoning you must anticipate

We will be held responsible for the work that we did here for God's kingdom.

The passage in Proverbs sounds like it should be in the New Testament, it reminds me of this passage from Paul that he wrote to the church in Corinth:
2 Corinthians 5:10-11  For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.  Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too.
Jesus commissioned us to go tell the world, it's not a suggestion, it's a command and like most commands there is an accountability for our actions. We will be judged on what we did with what we know, it is very clear in this passage in Corinthians that we have a duty to our God and to the people around us. Some of them do not know about the dangers and there are others that have heard about the danger but they have decided to ignore the warning and they need to be told again and again so that maybe they will change their mind.

I need to be true to my mission and be willing to tell others more often than I do about the dangers that are waiting for them.

Help me Lord to be on fire about working for you.

Tuesday, June 05, 2012

The Hurt And The Healer

You know the hurt but have you met the healer?



Why?
The question that is never far away
The healing doesn’t come from the explained
Jesus please don’t let this go in vain
You’re all I have
All that remains

So here I am
What’s left of me
Where glory meets my suffering

I’m alive
Even though a part of me has died
You take my heart and breathe it back to life
I’ve fallen into Your arms open wide
When the hurt and the healer collide

Breathe
Sometimes I feel it’s all that I can do
Pain so deep that I can hardly move
Just keep my eyes completely fixed on You
Lord take hold and pull me through

It’s the moment when humanity
Is overcome by majesty
When grace is ushered in for good
And all our scars are understood
When mercy takes its rightful place
And all these questions fade away
When out of the weakness we must bow
And hear You say “It’s over now”

Jesus come and break my fear
Awake my heart and take my tears
Find Your glory even here
When the hurt and the healer collide

The number one question when you are suffering is "Why?" We struggle to see some purpose or reason for the pain that we endure. We do not like the unpleasant and we do whatever we can to put an end to our pain. We ask "Why?" so that we can say "Okay God, I get it, you can send me some relief now."

Our hope is in the Lord.

Revelation 21:4 "He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
The main purpose of suffering is probably to emphasize the frailty of man and our need for God, if our lives were in a state of constant peace and harmony then we would not see much need for God. The glory of God is made known to us through our difficulties, his grace and mercy are seen best through eyes that are aware that they need it.

Romans 8:23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.

Lord, you are our only hope, teach us to rely on you. We can't wait to hear You say “It’s over now!”

Friday, June 01, 2012

Go Against The Flow

Living the unpopular life in obedience to God.


Genesis 6:5-12 The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. 6 So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth.

It broke his heart. 7 And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.” 8 But Noah found favor with the Lord.

This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God. 10 Noah was the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. 12 God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt.

There are not too many stories in the Bible that are more popular than Noah and the ark, yet in Noah's day he was the least popular guy in town, he was consistently living a different lifestyle. Noah was probably made fun of for turning down party invites, he was probably approached by women that wanted a better man than what they had at home and he was the only guy in town that wasn't shopping at the idol store.

The story in Genesis tells us that God's heart was broken by mans behavior, Noah was the only man that pleased God, everybody in town wondered why this guy didn't join in and have a good time. (1 Peter 4:4) It didn't take long for us to leave the close fellowship with God in the Garden of Eden.

WWJD?

1 John 2:6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. 
I have to wonder how embarrassed we would be if our life story was included in the Bible. Would my life be a good story in the Bible or would people read my story and say "don't do what he did."

The Bible is filled with stories of people that took a stand and resisted the popular lifestyle but the ultimate example is our Savior. Jesus obedience to the Father shows us what it looks like to fully obey God and live each day for him.

Jesus warned us that the road to the Father is a narrow one and that there are few people on that road. (Matthew 7:13-14) We need to be obedient and follow Christ example, giving up a lifestyle that seeks to please ourselves and choosing to get on board the ark so that we can go against the tidal wave that is sweeping up most of the people around us.

I will not reach perfection until I reach my home in glory but I need to strive to live my life like Jesus did.

Help me Lord to go against the flow, I want to live to please you and have your favor like Noah did.