Today’s Reading: Colossians 4:7-13

Paul sure could have used email or facebook. He had so many people he was keeping in touch with, concerned about and preaching to. Of course, he had no idea centuries later he would still be teaching us. Without the postal service or social media, Paul had to rely on friends to deliver his letters and tell others about his ministry. The benefit of these letters was multiplied by the servants of Christ who hand delivered the letters.

Oh how God’s letters to us are multiplied by those He sends into our lives to carry His word into our presence as we enter His. There are many preachers, teachers, evangelists and authors who have helped me understand God’s word over the course of my life. As I read through the last section of Colossians this morning while thoroughly enjoying a hot cup of my morning coffee, I stop to think of all the people God has sent into my life for the very same reason Paul was sending friends into the lives of the Christians in Colosse.

Tychicus will send you a full report about how I am getting along. He is a beloved brother and faithful helper who serves with me in the Lord’s work. I have sent him to you for this very purpose – to let you know how we are doing and to encourage you. – Colossians 4:7-8

My mind immediately goes to those God has called to the same ministry He has called me – those I learn from and am daily encouraged by as we partner together in the Lord’s work. They are faithful and helpful. My coworkers are “beloved brothers” whom I love like family! Let’s stop and thank God for the “Tychicus” in our lives.

I am also sending Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, one of your own people. He and Tychicus will tell you everything that’s happening here. – Colossians 4:9

Have you ever had a friend who just “gets you” – someone who understands you consistently, laughs with you when no one else gets it, and someone you could tell anything and they would still accept you? I cannot imagine my life without “Onesimus” and so I take time this morning to thank God for the friends who play this role in my life.

As you were instructed before, make Mark welcome if he comes your way. – Colossians 4:10b

There are some people God sends into our lives not only for our benefit but so we can reach out to them. God wants to use us in the lives of others today. Maybe the “Mark” in your life is unpredictable, like this one who MIGHT show up in Colosse. Maybe the reason God sends someone into your life is not about you but about how God wants to work through you – which amazingly God uses to strengthen us and make us who He created us to be. So I guess we benefit after all! Let’s have our eyes wide open so we can see “Mark” for who he is, should he show up today.

This next one is my favorite and I wholeheartedly thank God for these people in my life!

Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays EARNESTLY for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God. I can assure you that he prays HARD for you and also for the believers in Laodicea and Hierapolis. – Colossians 4:12-13

I’m so thankful this morning for the prayer warriors in my life. I do not know where I would be if it was not for the many people who have EARNESTLY prayed for me. Their prayers for me have been for protection and provision, for blessings and for wisdom. They have prayed for God to make me strong in difficult situations and for His Holy Spirit to produce holiness in my life. They have prayed for God’s will to be clear and for my heart to obediently pursue that path. I am so thankful for my parents, my in-laws, and for the many other people who consistently pray HARD for me and my family.

Today people across our nation are deciding who they will be. They will create or purchase costumes, attend parties and eat lots of candy. It is a day to intentionally be someone else.

Let’s turn this around and look at who God is calling us to be in the lives of other people. Are you Tychicus, Onesimus or Epaphras? Who is God asking you to teach and encourage today? Who is God calling you to be a faithful and beloved friend to? Here’s the big one for me: Who am I praying for today and how am I going to pray? Can my prayers be defined as earnest? Do I pray hard for the requests others bring before me. What a great challenge for me today! I think it’s time for me to stop writing and start praying…

Today’s Reading: Colossians 3:25-4:6

Yesterday we talked about the daily struggle some of us have in picking out what to wear. I always gravitate to my favorite sweater or my favorite jeans and I have to remind myself that just because it’s clean again doesn’t mean I should wear it twice in one week. Paul ends chapter 3 by talking about favorites.

But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites. – Colossians 3:25

Wait. I don’t have an automatic “in” with God. But I am a pastor’s wife, a pastor’s daughter, a good girl, a nice person. Paul was pretty clear. God does not play favorites. He loves ALL of us and He loves us enough to require us to devote our lives fully to Him. He wants ALL of us ALL the time in ALL that we say and ALL that we do.

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. – Colossians 4:2

Paul is instructing the believers to not only take time to pray but to DEVOTE themselves to prayer. That is a much stronger word and I have to ask myself if I am truly devoted to prayer. Will it take top priority in my day?

Then Paul adds to pray with a thankful heart. Oh how I love to thank God, to stop and consider all I have to be thankful for and praise Him for the many blessings He gives me every day. This is an element to my prayers that I not only NEED to add, I WANT to add. When I come to God with a thankful heart, it affects my attitude toward everything else.

The NLT Study Bible explains that “with an alert mind” is referring to the Greek verb used in the New Testament exhorting Christians to be watchful in light of Christ’s return. I have to admit that I rarely think of Christ’s return. I stay focused on today and prepared for tomorrow without considering the possibility of His second coming. But Paul is asking the Church to keep their mind alert to the possibility that Christ could return at any moment. The next verses explain why this is important.

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. Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone. – Colossians 4:3-6

This puts new light on Colossians 3:24, which we looked at yesterday.
Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. – Colossians 3:24

When we keep the reality of Christ’s return as context for our day, we see the non-Christians around us differently. An urgency to lead them back to God flavors our day. When we make it a habit to ask God every day for opportunities, we will be more likely to see the opportunities throughout our day. The literal translation of this is that God might open for us a door.

Be devoted to prayer.
Pray with an alert mind.
Pray with a thankful heart.
Pray for opportunities.
Pray for clarity in our message.
Pray for wisdom.
Pray to maximize every opportunity God gives today.
Pray for right responses, for gracious and attractive conversation.

Dear Jesus, help me to see doors today that you have placed in my path and lead me through them. Give me the right words so that I might present your message as clearly as I should. Give me wisdom as I live among those who are not believers and help me to wisely make the most of every opportunity. May the words from my mouth be gracious and attractive so that I may always have the right response. Thank you in advance for the opportunities you are going to give me today. Amen.

Today’s Reading: Colossians 3:12-24

“What should I wear today?” This is the most frequently asked question at our house between the hours of 6 and 8am. Not only will I ask myself that question this morning, I have already answered it for two of my daughters. What do you wear to the Lincoln Museum field trip and what do you wear when it is a significant anniversary in your life? Madeira figured it out on her own and Brooke found her solution in my closet and in Madeira’s closet.

To find the answer for myself, I have to ask what the purpose is in the question. Is the motivation comfort or based on the weather forecast or to accomplish a purpose or to simply “look cute”? What am I doing today and how does this speak into the way I should dress? This is an important question (at least for me it is) because how I am dressed affects the way I feel the rest of the day.

What is my purpose today? How does God want to use me and what does He want to accomplish through me? God has chosen me…today…for a reason…for a purpose…

So, chosen by God for this new life of love, DRESS IN THE WARDROBE GOD PICKED OUT FOR YOU: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, WEAR LOVE. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it. – Colossians 3:12-14 (The Message)

It’s a good thing I like to accessorize because the decision of what to wear today has already been made for me – LOVE. All the other qualities are simply accessories to the primary outfit, which makes all the other details of the ensemble work, or as Paul put it, “binds them all together in perfect unity” (3:14 NIV).

If I purposely wear love today, it will affect the way I feel the entire day. If I start my day out clothed in the love of God, then everything else with be a natural outflow of my relationship with Him – compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and forgiveness (3:12-13 NIV). It will affect the way I feel and it will affect what I do. What I do – this is really where the importance of my day lies.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word of deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. – Colossians 3:15-17, NIV

If what I am going to do today is going to bear the name of the Lord Jesus, it is going to require love – not love produced by my own human effort, but the love of Jesus which He promises to fill me with as I spend time with him…drinking my morning coffee.

Paul goes on to talk about our appearance on the inside. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone (Colossians 4:6). To be gracious in what we say requires an attitude of submission. We give up our right to say what we feel like saying in order to submit to the voice of the Holy Spirit prompting us to say what God would have us to say.

Submission to our Heavenly Master is what makes it possible to do what he has asked us to do:
– Submit to your husband as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord (3:18)
– Love your wife and never treat her harshly (3:19)
– Obey your parents for this pleases the Lord (3:20)
– Do not aggravate your children or they will become discouraged (3:21)
– Obey and serve your earthly masters out of reverent fear for the Lord rather than for people (3:22-23)
– When in authority, be just and fair with those who answer to you for you have a Master in heaven (4:1)

As our Master, God is calling all of us to submission. When we submit to those in authority over us, we are submitting to the authority of God, who is our real Master.

Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. – Colossians 3:24

So, as servants of our Lord Jesus Christ, let’s do as Paul commands in Colossians 3:17: Represent Christ well today in everything that we do or say, with a thankful heart for all God has done for us through Christ.

We represent Jesus. It is not only about what we are wearing (love accessorized by compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and forgiveness) but WHO we are wearing. So tell us as you walk down the red carpet God has designed for you, who are you wearing today?

Today’s Reading: Colossians 2:16-3:11

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you ALIVE WITH CHRIST, for he forgave all our sins. He cancelled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. – Colossians 2:13-14

You have DIED WITH CHRIST, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world (Col 2:20a, NLT).

Because we died with Christ, we are alive with Christ! I know we have heard this before but let’s consider, as if for the first time, that we have DIED WITH CHRIST and that, by his death, He has set us free!

Knowing with whom we have died, Paul warns God’s holy people that there will be many “empty philosophies and high sounding nonsense that comes from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ” (2:8). Wow, no argument there! We are surrounded by a way of thinking that is slowly slipping its way into the Church. It is easy to avoid the crazier theories floating around but what about the ways of thinking that resemble what we have been taught but twist the truth, deceiving many? We need to be alert to the influence of the world when we begin to soften our stance on the things the Bible defines as sin.

Paul also says to beware of the tendency to serve a set of rules rather than walk into the relationship God plans for us, out of which holiness develops (2:16-19). When Christ is in us and we are walking in relationship with Him, the change in our life is a result of HIS righteousness, rather than a claim to our own self-righteousness. How easy it is to fall into this pride trap!

Legalism requires a strong devotion to a set of rules and provides no help in conquering our evil desires (2:23, NLT) – it produces false humility and lacks value in restraining sensual indulgence (NIV). Or as The Message rewords it, it’s “just another way of showing off, making yourselves look important.” That reminds me of verses we recently read in Galatians.

Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right by obeying the law…

My old self has been CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die (Galatians 2:16, 20-21).

But Christ did die and we are ALIVE WITH CHRIST because we DIED WITH CHRIST. He has set us free from sin, free from all the world wants to enslave us with. The world would like to steal the riches we have found in Christ and rob us of our hope of glory, which is Christ in you (Col. 1:27). Let’s continue to LIVE IN CHRIST, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith and overflowing with thankfulness (2:6-7).

A few of years ago, I read the book Necessary Endings by Dr. Henry Cloud. The concepts in the book are based on the foundational idea that endings are a normal and necessary part of life. Jobs, friendships, people, places, projects, programs, interests – all serve a purpose for a season in our life and it is natural for something that was once “the new” to eventually become “the old.”

Paul refers to necessary endings in Colossians 3 – we are ALIVE IN CHRIST because we DIED WITH CHRIST and then we are RAISED WITH CHRIST to a new life. It is necessary for us to die to the old life in order for us to find our real life, which is hidden with Christ in God (3:3). Letting go of our old life could mean putting to death some old sinful habits (Paul has a whole list of examples in 3:5-9) or releasing control of our lives and the plans we had made in order to follow God’s plan.

This real life takes form as we get to know our Creator and become like him. We are renewed and given a new nature, but we must also let go of the old in order to fully experience the new. In this new life, Christ is all that matters – we must focus on him and his plan for our lives, putting aside our own plans and desires.

This is consistent with what we have been studying all week in Colossians.
And now, just as you have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, you must continue to follow HIM. 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. – Colossians 2:6-7

As Paul said in Colossians 3:11b: “Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.” And there is no necessary ending to this fact. God will never change. Even when we are surrounded by changes in life or experiencing changes in our own hearts, He is consistent and He is faithful. We can trust Him through life’s necessary endings.

Today’s Reading: Colossians 2:6-15

And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. 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. – Colossians 2:6-7 (NLT)

What great instructions for us! Paul is very clear about what comes after our salvation decision – we are to continue to follow Him, growing into Him and building our lives on Him. When we remain in Him, rooted and established, daily spending time in God’s presence, we will grow. There will always be a next step and more understanding to be gained as we continue to follow Him, growing stronger each day. But this growth cannot take place apart from the source, which takes me back to three of my favorite passages of Scripture: John 15, Psalm 1 and Jeremiah 17.

Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who He is – when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples. – John 15:4-8 (The Message)

But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. – Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NLT)

But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. – Psalm 1:2-3 (NIV)

So, back to Colossians 2:7, when your roots are planted in Christ, your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught and you will overflow with thankfulness. This morning my coffee cups overflows with thankfulness – I choose to be thankful for God’s provision, thankful for God’s faithfulness, thankful for opportunities, thankful for friends, thankful for His Church, and thankful for the close relationship I share with Him. God is so good and we have so much to be thankful for.

Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. – Colossians 2:8-10

I love how the Message rewords these verses: You don’t need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him.

Several times in my life I have been asked how I know Christ is alive or what evidence I have that He is real. The answer is found in the experience of Christ. Once you have experienced Jesus, and as you remember what your life was like before you committed to Him, there’s no doubt of who He is and the difference He has made in your life. It is another hidden treasure as we get to know the mystery of Christ living within us (Col. 1:27, 2:3). In this personal relationship with Jesus, we experience fullness or as the NLT states it –So you also are complete through your union with Christ (2:10) – and that is enough evidence for me!

Let’s read on to the next few verses where Paul describes the difference Jesus makes in the lives of His followers.

When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision – the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you ALIVE WITH CHRIST, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. – Colossians 2:11-14

Praise God! More evidence that Christ is real – the change of who we are. We are no longer the person we were before we were raised to new life in Him. We are forgiven, we have been buried with Christ through baptism, and we know what it is to trust God and be filled to overflowing with peace and thankfulness.

Jesus is real. How do I know? The evidence is in my life and in the lives of God’s people all around me – lives changed and made complete through their union with Christ made possible by the cross.

When you were dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you ALIVE WITH CHRIST. He forgave us all our sin, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. – Colossians 2:13-15 (NIV).

Today’s Reading: Colossians 2:1-5

Let’s go back to where we ended yesterday in Colossians, chapter 1. It is in God’s presence that He makes known “the glorious riches of this mystery, which is CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory” (v.27 NIV). It is our union with Christ, our intimate walk that gives us hope – hope for us and for those watching us. So the secret of the mystery is to allow God to bring us into His presence and then remain there, allowing God to fill us so that He can work through us. It is in the “remaining” that we continue in our faith and produce a life that is worthy of the Lord and pleasing to Him in every way.

Colossians 2 continues with this same thought. “I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God’s great mystery. All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge are embedded in that mystery and nowhere else. And we’ve been shown that mystery!” – 2:2-3 (The Message)

The New Living Translation says it a different way: I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. – Colossians 2:2-3

Paul wanted his readers to understand God’s ways, His plan. In order for this to happen, he knew they needed to understand Christ Himself because it is in Christ where all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge exist. By getting to know Christ, the mysteries of God are unlocked and revealed. It is through Christ that we have a relationship with God Himself.

There are going to be times in our lives where we struggle to wrap our minds around the “whys” of life. There are going to be times when understanding God’s plan in the midst of our circumstances is a struggle. It is in those moments that we need to draw closer to Christ instead of pulling away in reaction to our hurt or confusion. It is at those times that we need the wisdom and knowledge that are found in Christ. We may not understand God’s plan but, when we have a relationship with God, we can trust His supremacy in any and every situation.

I was studying Colossians chapter 2 at a very important time in my life. Reading through what I wrote on April 16, 2012 brings back all the emotion of what was going on in the life of our family on that Monday morning. It was the Monday after Scott was elected District Superintendent of Northwestern Illinois District Church of the Nazarene. It was the day after we had announced to the Church family we loved so much that we would be leaving. This is what I wrote on that Monday morning:

“This weekend our lives took a turn we were not anticipating and I have to admit I spent most of the last two days trying to get my head to stop spinning. I needed to have conversations with several people that required me to explain something that I simply cannot put into words. The only thing I am confident about at this point is that I gave my life to God a long time ago, surrendering to His sovereignty and committing that I am willing to go anywhere He wants me to go and do anything He wants me to do.

“Understanding God’s plan is sometimes a mystery but it was encouraging to be reminded this morning that in seeking to understand the mystery there is treasure to be found – treasures of wisdom and knowledge, confidence and rest. I sure could use all four of those right now!…”

Perhaps where you are at this morning requires the kind of faith I needed in 2012. My prayer for you this morning is that you will be encouraged and knit together by the strong ties of the love of Jesus. I pray God gives you complete confidence that He has a plan, even if that plan is just out of reach of your understanding this morning. I pray that you will draw closer to God today, trusting He will provide and protect you through your current circumstances.

Lord, we enter your presence with confidence that you will lavish gifts of wisdom and understanding on all of us as we seek YOUR will for our lives and as we surrender to YOUR sovereignty and trust in YOUR provision. Help us grow in our knowledge of Christ and grow in our relationship with you. May our love for you and our understanding of your love for us give us the strength to rest in you today – to simply enter in to your presence and remain there. Amen.

Today’s Reading: Colossians 1

I am so excited about my morning coffee today – yes, both what is in the cup and what is in the Word! This morning we look back over the entire first chapter of Colossians again. Today we are going to see how Paul wrapped it all up and tied it in a bow!

For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 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.

THIS INCLUDES YOU who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 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. – Colossians 1:19-22 (NLT)

Just as it was the fullness of the presence of God living in Christ as He surrendered Himself on the cross, so God brings US into His presence and strengthens US as we surrender our sovereignty and let Jesus be King. He gives us the strength to do what He has asked us to do – what kind of King does that?!!

God equips us with all His glorious power so that we will have the endurance and patience we need:

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… – Colossians 1:11

And He equips us with wisdom so that we can live the kind of holy life that produces every kind of good fruit:

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. 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. – Colossians 1:9-10

This brings us to the next point:

There is no POWER without PRESENCE

And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory. 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. That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me. – Colossians 1:27b-29 (NLT)

It is in God’s presence that He makes things known to us – he solves the mystery. It is because Christ lives in us that we can share in His glory. It is our union with Christ, our intimate walk that gives us hope – hope for us and for those watching us.

So the secret of the mystery is to allow God to bring us into His presence and then remain there, allowing God to fill us so that He can work through us. It is in the “remaining” that we continue in our faith and produce a life that is worthy of the Lord and pleasing to Him in every way – fruit that comes from faith and holiness He produces in our lives. He rescued us from darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. Let’s surrender and rest in His presence, positioning ourselves to receive the fulfillment of all of His promises.

Thank you, God, for the truths we find in Colossians chapter 1. Thank you for your presence – for the ability to spend time with you each day. Thank you for the truth that we are never alone, that you are always with us. We recognize your power in our lives today and we surrender to your Lordship. Amen.

Today’s reading: Colossians 1:19-23

We must remember that we cannot earn our way into Heaven – the fruit of our lives needs to be a natural outflow of God’s presence in our lives so that He gets the glory. In the same way, holiness doesn’t have to be something we strive for or try harder to obtain, but instead a result of God’s work in our hearts. Every good and wonderful thing in our lives comes from God. It goes back to the source of our salvation, as we talked about yesterday.

Confession time! When I first heard this point, I immediately thought, “Oh yes, in order to experience salvation I have to surrender my life to God.” And there’s nothing wrong with that thought except that once again I made it about me. IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT ME – something I have to often remind myself. The surrender Paul is talking about here begins with Christ’s surrender. Let’s look further at Colossians 1 but this time in The Message:

We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels – everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment…

You yourselves are a case study of what he does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving himself completely at the cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. You don’t walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. – Colossians 1:15-17,21-23a

Christ gave himself COMPLETELY at the cross – He surrendered so that we could be reconciled to God. This brings us to the fourth point. There is no faith without fruit, no inheritance without holiness, no salvation without surrender, and…

There is no REDEMPTION without RECONCILIATION

God rescued us from the dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He’s set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating. – Colossians 1:13-14 (The Message)

Without Christ’s surrender, there would be no salvation, no forgiveness of sins. Sin separates us from God because He is holy. Jesus’ selfless act of sacrifice on the cross gives us the opportunity to be reconciled with our Creator – to the place where we started and can now find our purpose. By dying on the cross, Jesus brought us over to God’s side and put our lives together, making us whole and holy in his presence. What a gift!

And now let’s go back to making it about us, because we have a decision to make. Are we going to accept that gift? Are we going to surrender to our own plans and purpose, or accept the gift of redemption and allow God sovereignty in our lives? That means GOD GETS TO BE IN CHARGE and we submit to His purpose for our lives – for our day.

Dear Jesus, thank you for loving me enough to surrender your life on the cross so that I could have an intimate walk with God – so that I could be reconciled to the One who created me and to His purposes. Thank you for bringing me from darkness into the light. I choose to start my day by submitting to your will, to your plan for my life. Please continue to do a work in my heart today. Help me to stay grounded and steady by trusting in you. Amen.

Today’s Reading: Colossians 1:15-18

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
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.
He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.
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. – Colossians 1:13-18

So Jesus is my Savior in whom I have redemption, He is my creator in whom I have purpose and He is the one thing in my life that holds everything together, that makes sense of all the pieces of my life. The question for me today as I drink my morning coffee is whether or not He is my King. There is no faith without fruit, no inheritance without holiness and…

There is no SALVATION without SURRENDER.

It is no secret to those who know me well that I like to be in charge. You would have to ask my parents if I was born that way but I remember this strong desire to be the one making the decisions even as a child.

One of my most humbling experiences was when I was in the fifth or sixth grade. I must have been offering too many “suggestions” in the children’s choir at church because the Director turned to me and asked me if I wanted to run practice for her. Unaware of her frustrations, I accepted her invitation, which sent her running out of the room in tears. That’s when I understood what she really meant – poor Miss Lucy.

That desire for control that runs deep within me is something God can and does use in my life, but first I have to surrender to His control. Daily I have to submit to the supremacy of Christ and surrender Lordship to Him. I don’t get to be in charge of my life – He does.

When God asked me to go back to work 2 ½ years before Brooke started Kindergarten, I had to surrender my plans to be a stay at home mom. When he asked us to move to Texas, I had to surrender my career plans and my future to Him. When he asked us to move back to Illinois, I had to trust that He knew what was best for my daughters, even though it hurt to watch them say goodbye to their friends.

It is in these moments of surrender that I find peace. I know I am in good hands when it is God making the decisions. If I truly want to save my life, I must lose it – I must surrender.

Then [Jesus] said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to HANG ON to your life, you will LOSE it. But if you GIVE UP your life for my sake, you will SAVE it. – Luke 9:23-24

Once again, I look to see what James would say about this concept of surrender. I am not disappointed but again reminded what it looks like to draw near to God:

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you … Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up. – James 4:7-8a, 10

It is only in those moments of complete surrender that I truly experience salvation. God saves me from my sins and He saves me from myself. Ever felt that way?

Today’s Reading: Colossians 1:12-14

Yesterday we reviewed the first point of Scott’s sermon on Colossians chapter one – There is no faith without fruit. Today we move on to the more controversial statement yet in many ways a repetition of the first statement:

There is no INHERITANCE without HOLINESS

Let’s look at the same Scripture from Colossians but read on a little farther:

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. 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.

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, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. – Colossians 1:9-14

I am so thankful that God did not save me and then leave me in the state that I was in. I’m so thankful His plan was for me to grow in Him. I remember when I went from being a little girl who loved Jesus enough to ask Him into her heart to a teenager who fully surrendered her heart to the Lordship of the Savior. I was so sick of myself by then – of my selfish tendencies, of my inconsistencies, and of my prideful strategies. I was ready to give up control and let God change me into the person He created me to be. His grace did not love me and then leave me the way He found me. God had a plan for my life and I have been a work in progress since that day.

I have to be careful here though. I cannot earn my way into Heaven, nor can I demand that God owes me Heaven regardless of how I live out my faith. It is the Father alone who “qualifies” or enables me to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

But the next statement gives me great hope – For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. – Colossians 1:14

He has rescued me from the darkness in which He found me and His plan is not to leave me there. His plan is for me to truly experience redemption in which the forgiveness of my sins changes my life, taking me out of the darkness and bringing me into the light. He then begins a work in my life, filling me with wisdom and understanding. I begin to grow in my knowledge of Him, being strengthened by HIS power and HIS might. I go from a sinner to a child of God in whom He has developed great endurance and patience; a life that goes beyond a faith that only believes to a faith that bears fruit.

My mind goes back to the book of James again this morning. James’ letter is a call to HOLY LIVING. I am going to close with a few of his words:

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. – James 1:12

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. – James 1:22

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? …In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead … You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. – James 2:14, 17, 24

Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. – James 3:18

My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins. – James 5:20

Dear Jesus, thank you for the hope we find in your Word. You have saved us so that we may serve you and so today we surrender Lordship to you. Jesus, today I allow you to be King – you are in charge. Please make me into the child of God you want me to be. Amen.