meditation

Colossians 3

I need to learn how to meditate.  It's not like there aren't any good passages to meditate on; I just get so busy during the day that I forget.  Somehow I need to learn how to reflect on a passage multiple times per day - all day - so that it will really soak in and water this wimpy tree so I can produce some Fruit!  Here's some good stuff:

 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. ...  ¹⁴ Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵ And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. ¹⁷ And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

You could soak on that for a week!  But I am much too OCD to do that; I have to stick to my reading schedule!

Heavenly Father, please help me soak on your Word.  Lord, I want to be obsessed with Christ and His message of love, grace, hope, and peace.  Lord Jesus, please pour into me so that I will overflow with singing about how good you are.  Holy Spirit, please produce your fruit in me!  Please help me be a thankful person.  I pray in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

nourishment

Colossians 2

I have been impressed recently by the need to be constantly abiding in Christ and growing in Him.  It is so stinking easy to focus on the actions of praying, singing, reading, fellowshipping, but these are means, not ends.

 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.

Heavenly Father, thank you for making my heart good soil for the Gospel to be planted.  Lord, thank you for grafting me into Christ; please help me abide in Him.  Holy Spirit, please produce your fruit in me.  Lord Jesus, I want to know you more and enjoy you.  Father, thank you for nourishing and cultivating my growth.  Please continue to take me deeper into you through your Word and prayer.  May I overflow with thankfulness so that people will see your goodness and experience you for themselves.  I love you, Lord, and I want to honor you today.  I pray in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

the secret

Colossians 1

I never read the book The Secret, but I read the synopsis on Amazon, and it seems like the core idea is New Age mind-over-matter stuff.  Well, here is the Real Secret:

 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.

 ²¹ This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. ²² Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. ...

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.

It really is amazing: we sinned against God and deserved to be killed, but He killed Himself instead of us, but His Life defeated death, and now He infuses His Life into those who Believe and makes them as holy as He is.

Heavenly Father, how could you love us so much that you would spill Christ's blood for us?  It is amazing love.  We were worth nothing and deserved only wrath, but because of Christ's sacrifice, we are now your treasure.  Dear God, how is this still a secret?  This is so amazing!  Lord, please break us over our sin and the magnitude of Christ's redemption.  Lord, please use me to serve the church and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  May I work diligently to advance your Kingdom today.  I ask in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

more joy

John 19, Philippians 2

I sat next to a guy named Alex on the bus this morning.  I sat next to him a few days ago, but he told me today that he didn't want to interrupt me the other day because I was reading the Bible.  We had a great conversation about how God has blessed us in knowing Him and serving him.  He shared about how he put his faith in Christ as a young boy, rebelled as a teenager, and repented later.  It was so encouraging to hear from another Brother who is conscious of the spiritual battle around us and sincerely devoted to following Christ and leading others to know and follow Him.

Paul explains that there is such a joy in our corporate cooperation with the Lord:

^{P 2:14} Do everything without complaining and arguing, ¹⁵ so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. ¹⁶ Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ's return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. ¹⁷ But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy. ¹⁸ Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share your joy.

Heavenly Father, thank you so much for the sacrificial death of Christ, and for faith to trust Him for salvation.  Thank you for the joy of working with you.  The victory is in Jesus Christ!  Lord, please pour your victorious power through me, and may others see the joy of true life with you.  I pray in the name of Jesus - the name that is above every name.  Amen.

stick to your guns

John 18, Philippians 1

Jesus was double-betrayed.  Judas sold out, and Peter chickened out.

Conversely, Paul toughed it out.  And he challenges us to keep fighting:

^{P 1:9} I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. ¹⁰ For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ's return. ¹¹ May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God. ... ²⁰ For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. ²¹ For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. ...  ²⁷ Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News. ²⁸ Don't be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself. ²⁹ For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. ³⁰ We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it.

This struggle is not tactical machine warfare; it is hand-to-hand combat.

Heavenly Father, your Word promises that you began a good work in me, and you will carry it on to completion.  Lord, please give me grace to walk in a way that will never bring shame to you.  And please give me grace to keep on fighting the evil forces against us. I trust Jesus for the victory, and it is in his name that I pray.  Amen.

feedback loop

John 17, Ephesians 6

I think an expansion of "abiding in Christ" from chapter 15 is given here; notice the reverberation of glory, unity, and love in Christ's prayer:

^{J 17:1} After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. ² For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. ³ And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. ⁴ I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. ⁵ Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began. ... ²⁰ "I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. ²¹ I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. ²² "I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. ²³ I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. ²⁴ Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began! ²⁵ "O righteous Father, the world doesn't know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. ²⁶I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them."

Heavenly Father, thank you for giving me to Christ.  Lord Jesus, thank you for bringing me to the Father.  Lord, I want to abide in your Spirit - to be united with you in function so that you will be glorified as your love pours through me.  I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

birth pains

John 16, Ephesians 5

Brandi and I were able to have dinner at Brother David's home with some missionary friends from our congregation who have served in Africa and are returning soon.  We pray for them regularly, so it was great to be able to visit with them and hear about their ministry opportunities and specific prayer requests. 

During the conversation they asked us about Beau and his arrival, and we explained that our main goal is that God will be honored by our thankful and joyful attitude through the entire labor and delivery process.  So, I was intrigued this morning by the parallel that Christ gave:

^{J 16:19} Jesus realized they wanted to ask him about it, so he said, "Are you asking yourselves what I meant? I said in a little while you won't see me, but a little while after that you will see me again. ²⁰ I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy. ²¹ It will be like a woman suffering the pains of labor. When her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new baby into the world. ²² So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy. ²³ At that time you won't need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name. ²⁴ You haven't done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.

I think some of Paul's encouragement is related:

^{E 5:15} So be careful how you live. Don't live like fools, but like those who are wise. ¹⁶ Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. ¹⁷ Don't act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. ¹⁸ Don't be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, ¹⁹ singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. ²⁰ And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Heavenly Father, thank you for blessing us with a son.  Lord, we want to honor you in how we raise him to love you and fear you.  Lord, please give us right attitudes through all of the preparations for bringing him home.  And please bless us with a smooth labor and delivery so that your name will be praised, and people will see how wonderful you are.  I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.