October 10, 2014
The Bible is the very Word of God to those who bear His Name. His Word nourishes like real food. It’s promises, encourage and bring joy, filling our heart’s with delight. It’s admonitions, convict us and move us to yield to the Spirit’s correction and empowering. Those who attack the Bible, seek to lay siege to our faith, hoping to starve us out and cause our surrender. Yet, God’s Word has endured throughout the ages and it will outlast this generation of opponents as well. Those who bear the Name, believe the Book.
October 9, 2014
Paul said that the One who “entrusted” him with the gospel message was also the One whom he sought to please in its delivery. Those who claim to share the Word, yet water it down to please its hearers, are not approved by God. Not only do they not please God, they mislead the people. Whose approval do you seek? Whose applause?
October 8, 2014
Our independence is an illusion, our mortality always before us. We make our plans for tomorrow, but cannot determine whether tomorrow ever comes. Admitting our dependence, our mortality, our tiny limited perspective, we come before God in prayer as Jeremiah did. We approach Him as the only truly independent, self-sufficient, immortal, omnipotent, omniscient One. We pray, “You are God and I am not. Here I am. Use me.”
October 7, 2014
Paul said that we are to let the peace of Christ “rule.” The Greek word for rule is βραβευέτω, brabeuetō. It literally means to “umpire, arbitrate, to let make the call.” When our circumstances appear to overwhelm us, we are to let the peace, the shalom, of Christ act as our umpire, determining what’s in or out of bounds.
October 6, 2014
Human thinking is marred by sin’s mind-twisting effect. And it is further limited by its tiny perspective across time and space. Yet, this does not dissuade its foolish claims for superior wisdom. Paul calls man’s thinking “empty” and “high-sounding nonsense.” Instead, he calls us to place our trust in the revelation of God’s wisdom given in Christ. Christ is the Wisdom and the Power of God (1 Cor. 1:24). For those who would be lifted out of sin’s tangled-thinking and know the renewing of the mind, Christ is the answer.
October 5, 2014
Paul’s goal for the Colossians and for everyone to whom he preached is here revealed: that he might present them to God as “perfect” (fully mature, finished, complete) in Christ. He did not wish to just introduce them to Christ or to tell them a little about the Savior. No, Paul used every faculty available to him, “warning and teaching” them to not only believe, but to follow Christ, becoming like Him in all things. This should still be the goal of those who would answer the call to pastor. It should also be the goal of every person who would call themselves “Christian.”
October 4, 2014
Creation itself is a general revelation of God to those who would acknowledge it. Yet, the ultimate revelation is Christ. No one has seen the invisible God, but Christ is His “visible image.” If you want to know what God is like, then gaze upon the face of Jesus. Read the gospels and see God’s nature revealed. Through Christ, God has created all, offers redemption and sustains all. Everything was made by Christ and for Christ. You were made for Him. So, turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.
October 3, 2014
What is worry? Isn’t it anxious self-talk? It’s an internal conversation between you and you. Worry circles around your head like a cloud of gnats that you can’t swat away. What is prayer? It’s talking to God. Why not take the same amount of effort that you’re putting into worry and turn them into prayer? Paul taught us to stop worrying and to start praying. Worry at its heart is an expression of doubt. It is the opposite of faith. It is sin. Prayer is an expression of faith. Prayer causes us to lift our eyes from self to our Savior. Prayer pleases God. Turn your worries into prayers!
October 2, 2014
Paul was one of the most brilliant minds of his generation, yet he counted human knowledge worthless when weighed against the “value of knowing” Christ. Truth is not a philosophy or equation, it is a Person. Decide to know Jesus. Let Him be the criterion for knowing, the lens by which you interpret reality. Jesus is the Truth (John 14:6).
October 1, 2014
Paul warned the Philippians against the Judaizers who would have the Christians live under the law of circumcision once again, rather than the law of the Spirit. He taught them to “rely” on Christ’s finished work on the cross, rather than their own human effort. When we have acknowledged and accepted the finished work of Christ, we are able to have the complete joy and freedom that we are fully accepted by God. Our confidence, and therefore our joy, is in Christ alone!