Friday, August 14, 2009

Lurking

Today, Paul offers two very important reminders for our journey.



Colossians 3

1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.

2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.

3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.

4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.

5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.

6 Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming.

7 You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world.

8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.

9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.

10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.

11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.



Lurking. I appreciate Paul’s honesty. When you begin to follow Jesus, your life doesn’t magically get easier and your live doesn’t instantly become perfect (actually that never happens in this life; but don’t tell my wife). The temptations we struggled with before we met Jesus didn’t disappear ... they are still there, lurking around, waiting for an opportunity to present themselves again. Thankfully, Paul doesn’t hang us out to dry on this issue. First, he offers some suggestions ... do your best to avoid places where these temptations exist by refocusing your life and your thoughts (verses 1,2). Then, do your best to say no when they are unavoidable (verse 5). Second, he offers some encouragement ... we aren’t alone. When we accepted God’s forgiveness, He put a part of himself (known as the Holy Spirit) inside of us to help us with the journey (verse 10,11). In church lingo, this process is known as sanctification. I pray God reminds you that you are not alone on this journey ... that He is present and wants to help.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Thankfulness

Today, we return to Paul’s letter to the Jesus followers in Colosse. He continues to contrast the truth of Jesus in Colossians 2:8-15 (His humanity, authority, forgiveness and victory) with the false teachings in Colossians 2:16-23 (legalism, mysticism and asceticism) that were getting connected to Jesus in Colosse. I appreciate the simple picture of following Jesus that Paul offers as a preface to that complex discussion.



Colossians 2

6 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. 7 Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.



Thankfulness. As a former teacher, I appreciate simple tools that gauge progress. According to Paul, thankfulness is the product of consistently building your life on the principles that Jesus taught ... of being a Jesus follower. If you want to gauge the progress of your journey, take inventory of how grateful you are. If necessary, ask an honest friend to rate your level gratitude.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Furious

Every Wednesday, we review the previous weekend’s message. This past weekend, I talked about the story of David and Bathsheba and our need to have a “Nathan” in our entourage. Take a minute to reread how Nathan confronted David ...



2 Samuel 12

1 So the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to tell David this story: “There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and one was poor.

2 The rich man owned a great many sheep and cattle.

3 The poor man owned nothing but one little lamb he had bought. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man’s own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter.

4 One day a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing an animal from his own flock or herd, he took the poor man’s lamb and killed it and prepared it for his guest.”

5 David was furious. “As surely as the Lord lives,” he vowed, “any man who would do such a thing deserves to die!

6 He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity.”

7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! The Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul.

8 I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more.

9 Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife.

10 From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own.

11 “This is what the Lord says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view.

12 You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.”

13 Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied, “Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin.



Furious. As I mentioned this past weekend, I was struck by David’s response. Nathan confronted David’s wrong thoughtfully. David wanted to confront this “rich man’s” wrong emotionally. Unfortunately, there will be times when God sends us to confront a fellow journeyer ... a friend. I would encourage you to do it thoughtfully, not emotionally.


Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Supreme

There are several different areas of concentration within the study of God, known as “theology”. One specific area is the study of Jesus or Christ, known as “Christology”. The following verses provide one of the most important passages for this study. Paul included this description of Jesus because the church in Colosse was being impacted by some false teachers that were basically creating their own religion by trying to harmonize aspects of several different beliefs. In the process, they were minimizing the importance of Jesus. Paul wanted to remind them of the absolute supremacy of Jesus.


Colossians 1

15 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.



Supreme. Interestingly, things have come full circle or maybe they never really changed. Today, we live in a culture where people “collect” aspects of a variety of faiths to create their own personal belief system. It is considered politically incorrect to say that Jesus is supreme over other faiths. I’m not suggesting you become militant in your beliefs regarding following Jesus; but I do hope that passages like these remind you of exactly who Jesus is and help you stand confidently while on your journey.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Please

After writing his letter to Rome, Paul continues his journey to Jerusalem (Acts 20:3-21:16). While in Jerusalem, Paul is arrested (Acts 21:27-23:30) and eventually transferred to Rome for trial (Acts 27:1-28:16). During his imprisonment in Rome, Paul wrote four letters (Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians and Philippians). This week, we will read through his letter to the Jesus followers in Colosse.



Colossians 1

1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.

2 We are writing to God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. May God our Father give you grace and peace.

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

4 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.

7 You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf.

8 He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.

9 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.

13 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 and forgave our sins.



Please. The following is a quote from Warren Wiersbe regarding this passage that I found helpful. “In my pastoral ministry, I have met people who have become intoxicated with 'studying the deeper truths of the Bible.' Usually they have been given a book or introduced to some teacher's tapes. Before long, they get so smart they become dumb! The 'deeper truths' they discover only detour them from practical Christian living. Instead of getting burning hearts of devotion to Christ (Luke 24:32), they get big heads and start creating problems in their homes and churches. All Bible truths are practical, not theoretical. If we are growing in knowledge, we should also be growing in grace (2 Peter 3:18).” That is my prayer for you ... that you would grow in knowledge that leads to expressions of grace.