One of our challenges is that our strength is exhaustible. We all run out of energy sometimes and have to face the problem of being weary.
We simply have to deal with weariness. We cannot accept being sick and tired as a way of life. We all have to learn about how to tap into the strength of God to overcome the risks of exhaustion, because the risks are many and it holds danger for our physical health, emotional wellness and our spiritual vitality.
Isaiah 40:30-31 deals with the fact that we all become tired, even the youth and even vigorous young men! It says:
"Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength: They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary."
Isaiah, here deals with two truths we should be aware of to be able to defend our ourselves against weariness and to manage our risks. The first is the obvious truth, that every one grows weary. As we already said, even the fittest and healthiest young person does. The second truth is a deeper and most important truth and faith reality, that, as we learn to trust and expectantly wait on the Lord, we tap into his inexhaustible strength. Are we willing to remain sick and tired of being sick and tired, or, are we willing to learn about how to, through faith and trust in God, manage our energy, challenges and risks through a living relationship with the Lord?
We need to take note of the risks of allowing ourselves to become exhausted. And it is a choice to take on too much, to stress too much, not to be able to say no, in time, to have life priorities where being rested and having time to rest on God are too low on our list. Then we run the risk of being so vulnerable that we, in the words of Isaiah “stumble badly”. When our priories are primarily materialistic or when be defy reality thinking we can move mountains without faith – even spiritual mountains – we eventually will stumble badly!
When we allow ourselves to become too tired we also become vulnerable and defenseless against the enemy, namely evil attacks and temptations. We also loose perspective and we become victims of despair, of despondency and depression. We may burn all our energy to try to win the whole world and then we may loose our souls, our very lives, as Jesus warned.
During the following few Wednesdays we are going to discuss being sick and tired of being sick and tired here in the Midweek Devotion. And how God’s purpose, wisdom, strength and life can take us out of the rut that we may mount up with wings like eagles, running without getting tired and walking without becoming weary!
Here is a hint of where to start - if we in faith rest upon the Lord, trust his judgment, live according to his values, say no to the principles of darkness that run our plans, dreams and diaries, and return to the restful peace who is our God, and fellowship with the source of light, who is our God, and obey the Kingdom principles of the all wise and all knowing, who is our God, we will fly, run and walk with joy and hope and enthusiasm, again!
Say no to exhausting schedules today. Say yes to being recuperated by sharing quiet time and worship time with the source of rest, love, trust and hope, Jesus Christ, who died, that we may live triumphantly.
(I know this may sound airy-fairy – but watch this space for God’s reality!)
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Willing to pay the price for ministry!
Ministry is another word for service. The Apostle Paul had a passion for ministry, because he knew that it meant allowing God to use him for God’s purpose. Do you see serving God for the sake of the church, as a calling and a ministry? Do you have a passion for serving God? If we want to make a difference in people’s lives, we need to become passionate about this service.
We must know that to be used by God, we must be willing to even pay the price of ministry.
Paul says: (Colossians 1:24-25) I rejoice in what was suffered for you... for the sake of the body of Christ, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness.
If we desire to be used by God, we must know that it will involve sacrifice. If we are going to follow Jesus in suffering for the sake of the Church, then we, like Jesus, must be willing to pay the price required for our choice, and the price may even include suffering.
Paul knows for certain that his suffering as part of his service for the Lord had meaning. If the work we do for the Lord is even worth suffering for, we rejoice that the sacrifices we make produce something that matters. And we, the church of the Lord, work for a reason worth sacrificing for, even worth suffering for. The reason is the cause of Christ.
If we desire a life that counts and makes a difference, we will volunteer for duty. We will step out in faith. We will be determined to live a life dedicated to serve God and serve others. Then we will make a difference in this world for God. Our lives will count for a lot. It will touch others. It will bring glory to God’s Name.
We must know that to be used by God, we must be willing to even pay the price of ministry.
Paul says: (Colossians 1:24-25) I rejoice in what was suffered for you... for the sake of the body of Christ, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness.
If we desire to be used by God, we must know that it will involve sacrifice. If we are going to follow Jesus in suffering for the sake of the Church, then we, like Jesus, must be willing to pay the price required for our choice, and the price may even include suffering.
Paul knows for certain that his suffering as part of his service for the Lord had meaning. If the work we do for the Lord is even worth suffering for, we rejoice that the sacrifices we make produce something that matters. And we, the church of the Lord, work for a reason worth sacrificing for, even worth suffering for. The reason is the cause of Christ.
If we desire a life that counts and makes a difference, we will volunteer for duty. We will step out in faith. We will be determined to live a life dedicated to serve God and serve others. Then we will make a difference in this world for God. Our lives will count for a lot. It will touch others. It will bring glory to God’s Name.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
The Ultimate Love Affair (5) – with all your strength.
Not only do you have to love God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind, you are required to love him with all your strength. Christianity is more than heartfelt dedication or soulful passion for Jesus. It is even more than thoroughly considering the Scriptures and saying “Yes” to what God revealed about himself. Being a Christian needs to be lived in every aspect of our lives. To love God with all our strength means to love God in everything that we do.
In Colossians 3:17 it says, "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Christianity that is only in the heart or only in the mind may be the reason we fall for either sentimentalism or intellectualism. But being a true Christian is to practically live for the Lord. This changes our faith into a strong and powerful service to God’s Kingdom. It makes us soldiers of the cross.
A Christian lifestyle is required if we truly love the Lord. James says in his letter that faith without good deeds is a dead faith. We must be "doers of the word" he says. We can also say that faith that does not inspire Christian living is faith without love and Paul says that even if we have the faith to move mountains, if we do not have love, we are NOTHING.
We must be careful not to consent intellectually to the Christian faith while our lives, our practices, our priorities and the values according to which we live shout louder than what we say we believe. And what it may shout is that Christ is not relevant to everything in our lives. The powerlessness of many a church lies in the problem that too many whose names are on their rolls may not be far from the Kingdom of God, yet they are not in the Kingdom, of the Kingdom and for the Kingdom of God.
Hanging out with the Church does not make you a follower of Jesus. It is committing everything you are and you do to Christ and to surrender to his will in the most practical way imaginable that testifies of being truthful in your confession of being a Christian. What a tragedy it is to be so close to the Kingdom of God that you agree to what the Bible teaches, and you even sometimes wipe away a tear because you are touched emotionally by the Gospel, yet you live outside the City of God and the family of God, because you do not love the Lord with all your strength and all your choices and you are not doing what will make a difference to the glory of his Name and the extension of his Kingdom.
Jesus said – Seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness, and everything else you need will also be given to you.
What is the top priority in your life? We must surrender all that we are to all that God is, and dedicate ourselves to live for Christ. Submit to the guidance of his Spirit in a way that reflects a love for God that is genuinely devoted, full of passion, thoroughly considered, and finally, also fully lived for the Lord.
That is the ultimate love affair – an all consuming life for God.
In Colossians 3:17 it says, "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Christianity that is only in the heart or only in the mind may be the reason we fall for either sentimentalism or intellectualism. But being a true Christian is to practically live for the Lord. This changes our faith into a strong and powerful service to God’s Kingdom. It makes us soldiers of the cross.
A Christian lifestyle is required if we truly love the Lord. James says in his letter that faith without good deeds is a dead faith. We must be "doers of the word" he says. We can also say that faith that does not inspire Christian living is faith without love and Paul says that even if we have the faith to move mountains, if we do not have love, we are NOTHING.
We must be careful not to consent intellectually to the Christian faith while our lives, our practices, our priorities and the values according to which we live shout louder than what we say we believe. And what it may shout is that Christ is not relevant to everything in our lives. The powerlessness of many a church lies in the problem that too many whose names are on their rolls may not be far from the Kingdom of God, yet they are not in the Kingdom, of the Kingdom and for the Kingdom of God.
Hanging out with the Church does not make you a follower of Jesus. It is committing everything you are and you do to Christ and to surrender to his will in the most practical way imaginable that testifies of being truthful in your confession of being a Christian. What a tragedy it is to be so close to the Kingdom of God that you agree to what the Bible teaches, and you even sometimes wipe away a tear because you are touched emotionally by the Gospel, yet you live outside the City of God and the family of God, because you do not love the Lord with all your strength and all your choices and you are not doing what will make a difference to the glory of his Name and the extension of his Kingdom.
Jesus said – Seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness, and everything else you need will also be given to you.
What is the top priority in your life? We must surrender all that we are to all that God is, and dedicate ourselves to live for Christ. Submit to the guidance of his Spirit in a way that reflects a love for God that is genuinely devoted, full of passion, thoroughly considered, and finally, also fully lived for the Lord.
That is the ultimate love affair – an all consuming life for God.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Christ qualified us for an eternal inheritance
Colossians 1:12 : Give thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the believers in the kingdom of light. We have been qualified by God to receive an eternal inheritance in the kingdom of light. We have been made legitimate heirs of the kingdom of God. Only heirs receive an inheritance, and we have been placed on that list.
We know what Christ did to qualify us as heirs of God’s eternal light. Col 1: 14 says “in whom [Christ] we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins”
The work Christ did for us can be summed up in the two words found in this verse. The words are redemption and forgiveness.
Redemption comes from the word "redeem" that literally means to buy back. It means that we were bought back by God.
This is precisely what Jesus Christ did for us. He made us and he bought us. We are twice his. He redeemed us by paying the penalty for our sin on the Cross. He died there in our place. He took upon himself our sins. He was our substitute. He purchased our redemption by giving his life as a sacrifice. And because we are redeemed, we now receive the forgiveness of our sins.
We have been qualified for our inheritance as God’s children, because we have been delivered from the penalty of sin. Because of what Christ did on the Cross we are set free from the penalty and from the guilt of sin. We can breathe a big sigh of relief. The burden of sin has been lifted. We are no longer guilty before God. Christ has taken our guilt away.
We are going to heaven! Praise be to God!
We know what Christ did to qualify us as heirs of God’s eternal light. Col 1: 14 says “in whom [Christ] we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins”
The work Christ did for us can be summed up in the two words found in this verse. The words are redemption and forgiveness.
Redemption comes from the word "redeem" that literally means to buy back. It means that we were bought back by God.
This is precisely what Jesus Christ did for us. He made us and he bought us. We are twice his. He redeemed us by paying the penalty for our sin on the Cross. He died there in our place. He took upon himself our sins. He was our substitute. He purchased our redemption by giving his life as a sacrifice. And because we are redeemed, we now receive the forgiveness of our sins.
We have been qualified for our inheritance as God’s children, because we have been delivered from the penalty of sin. Because of what Christ did on the Cross we are set free from the penalty and from the guilt of sin. We can breathe a big sigh of relief. The burden of sin has been lifted. We are no longer guilty before God. Christ has taken our guilt away.
We are going to heaven! Praise be to God!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The Ultimate Love Affair (4) - with all your mind!
Our love for Christ begins with a pure devotion with all our heart, and expresses itself by being full of passion, with all our soul.
But there is more to the ultimate love affair. Jesus says that you are to love the Lord your God with all your mind. Our love for God is to be one that is systematically thought out too.
Loving Jesus is more than excitement and more than euphoric warmth and experience. It is not emotion that is illogical, and that excludes good understanding and dedicated learning.
There is a brand of Christian teaching that creates the impression that clear thinking, study and considering the Bible can get in the way of our relationship with God. While it is true that when you rely on intellectual aptitude to figure out God, you will always fail. God cannot be fathomed by human minds. And if you wait until you have figured God out, all the reasoning and debate can stand in the way of a blessed and spontaneous love affair with the Lord. Yes, our minds can be a barrier preventing us from devoted, passionate love.
But that does not mean that our minds are not also a big help in growing our relationship with God.
It is clear from the Scriptures that God knows that our minds, our thinking, our insight and our contemplation are always involved in our love for him. In Romans 12, we are told that our minds need to be renewed and then we will live for God with pure commitment. And Jesus says we are to love God with all our mind.
A mind committed to Christ, transformed by the renewing power of the Spirit, is a remarkable asset to the Kingdom of God. Christianity makes sense and anyone who thoughtfully considers the plan of God will soon be able to communicate just how reasonable it really is to serve the Lord passionately. Faith is after all a certain knowledge of God, his heart, his plan and his character. Faith is a big, heartfelt “Yes” to everything God has told us about himself through Jesus Christ! And our love for the Lord grows as our informed faith grows as a result of better understanding what God is saying to us about himself and his plan for our lives.
A mind that loves God will become a mind into which God will pour his wisdom and his insight. After all, our love relationship is with the almighty God who made the whole universe. Our God has all wisdom and all knowledge.
And as we commit all our ways to him in love, even our thinking, reasoning and learning, he gives us of his wisdom and his knowledge. All our intellectual ability ought to be dedicated to God. When it is, he will show us how to think and how to reason with less flaws and with more understanding.
There is perfect order in God’s creation. We will find the same in his character as we learn to know him better through our love relationship with him. One of the main reasons that we love him so devotedly and passionately, is because his Gospel makes so much sense to poor sinners that are lost! It is what he showed us and taught us about himself that made us love him with all our hearts and soul.
Therefore we simply have to love him also with all our mind.
But there is more to the ultimate love affair. Jesus says that you are to love the Lord your God with all your mind. Our love for God is to be one that is systematically thought out too.
Loving Jesus is more than excitement and more than euphoric warmth and experience. It is not emotion that is illogical, and that excludes good understanding and dedicated learning.
There is a brand of Christian teaching that creates the impression that clear thinking, study and considering the Bible can get in the way of our relationship with God. While it is true that when you rely on intellectual aptitude to figure out God, you will always fail. God cannot be fathomed by human minds. And if you wait until you have figured God out, all the reasoning and debate can stand in the way of a blessed and spontaneous love affair with the Lord. Yes, our minds can be a barrier preventing us from devoted, passionate love.
But that does not mean that our minds are not also a big help in growing our relationship with God.
It is clear from the Scriptures that God knows that our minds, our thinking, our insight and our contemplation are always involved in our love for him. In Romans 12, we are told that our minds need to be renewed and then we will live for God with pure commitment. And Jesus says we are to love God with all our mind.
A mind committed to Christ, transformed by the renewing power of the Spirit, is a remarkable asset to the Kingdom of God. Christianity makes sense and anyone who thoughtfully considers the plan of God will soon be able to communicate just how reasonable it really is to serve the Lord passionately. Faith is after all a certain knowledge of God, his heart, his plan and his character. Faith is a big, heartfelt “Yes” to everything God has told us about himself through Jesus Christ! And our love for the Lord grows as our informed faith grows as a result of better understanding what God is saying to us about himself and his plan for our lives.
A mind that loves God will become a mind into which God will pour his wisdom and his insight. After all, our love relationship is with the almighty God who made the whole universe. Our God has all wisdom and all knowledge.
And as we commit all our ways to him in love, even our thinking, reasoning and learning, he gives us of his wisdom and his knowledge. All our intellectual ability ought to be dedicated to God. When it is, he will show us how to think and how to reason with less flaws and with more understanding.
There is perfect order in God’s creation. We will find the same in his character as we learn to know him better through our love relationship with him. One of the main reasons that we love him so devotedly and passionately, is because his Gospel makes so much sense to poor sinners that are lost! It is what he showed us and taught us about himself that made us love him with all our hearts and soul.
Therefore we simply have to love him also with all our mind.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Living worthy of our Lord
Colossians 1: 10 - 12 We pray that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the Father…
Hopefully, we never quit learning and growing and therefore maturing. Just as we had to learn how to live as human beings in this world after being born as completely dependent babies, so we also must learn how to live as spiritual people. Just as our parents taught us how to walk physically, so the Spirit of God teaches us how to walk spiritually.
Col 1: 10 – 12 shows us four ways in which we must walk to live lives worthy of the Lord. (1) We must walk in increasing knowledge of God. (2) We must walk in fruitful service. (3) We must walk in Spiritual power. (4) And we must walk in joyful thanksgiving.
Think of all God has done for you. Yes, the greatest blessing for which we should be thankful for, is our salvation. It is the greatest gift that anyone can be given. What Jesus did on the cross, dying and paying for our sins, changed the destination of our walk from hell to heaven. Even eternity is not long enough to thank God for that. And then God has continued to bless us with an inestimable number of other blessings. If we see all that God has done, we do not want to live any other way than worthy of the Lord, pleasing him in everything as we live as joyfully thankful Christians.
Giving thanks is the worship of mature children of God. It is an acknowledgment of the goodness and grace of God. It increases our faith. And it shows others our trust in God.
Being a Christian is something you must be, as well as something you must do. You can not do it, without being it, but you must do it or you can not be it.
Who you are – a Christian - and how you live - the Christian life - always go together.
Hopefully, we never quit learning and growing and therefore maturing. Just as we had to learn how to live as human beings in this world after being born as completely dependent babies, so we also must learn how to live as spiritual people. Just as our parents taught us how to walk physically, so the Spirit of God teaches us how to walk spiritually.
Col 1: 10 – 12 shows us four ways in which we must walk to live lives worthy of the Lord. (1) We must walk in increasing knowledge of God. (2) We must walk in fruitful service. (3) We must walk in Spiritual power. (4) And we must walk in joyful thanksgiving.
Think of all God has done for you. Yes, the greatest blessing for which we should be thankful for, is our salvation. It is the greatest gift that anyone can be given. What Jesus did on the cross, dying and paying for our sins, changed the destination of our walk from hell to heaven. Even eternity is not long enough to thank God for that. And then God has continued to bless us with an inestimable number of other blessings. If we see all that God has done, we do not want to live any other way than worthy of the Lord, pleasing him in everything as we live as joyfully thankful Christians.
Giving thanks is the worship of mature children of God. It is an acknowledgment of the goodness and grace of God. It increases our faith. And it shows others our trust in God.
Being a Christian is something you must be, as well as something you must do. You can not do it, without being it, but you must do it or you can not be it.
Who you are – a Christian - and how you live - the Christian life - always go together.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
The Ultimate Love Affair (3) - with all your soul!
We are not only to love God with all our heart, we are to love him with all your soul.
The soul speaks of our emotions. To love God with all our soul means that our love for God ought to be passionate. When we think of a love affair, we all think of passion. And we are all people of passion.
While we may try to deny our emotions, our emotions have a way of rising to the surface in spite of all our efforts to hide them. And emotions can be very good. God created our ability to feel and to feel passionately. Our emotions can make a most positive impact on our relationship with God and we must confirm that it is OK to express our emotions, especially as we express them in love for God. We simply ought to be emotional about our love for God. No, we are not talking about sentimentalism exposed in bad taste. We do not mean emotion only for emotion’s sake. We are talking about warm, passionate, self consuming love for the Lord who saved us.
Many people within our current society became cynical . They also became disillusioned and apathetic regarding “church”. Apathetic literally means "without passion." Others became passionate about less important matters and cooled off regarding the matter of salvation, of a lost world that needs to be reached with the Good News of Christ and about living holy lives for the Lord.
We cannot afford to be apathetic about our love for God. We must be excited about our relationship with Jesus. We must be passionate, because real, true love is passionate love. To love God with all our soul means that we must involve all our emotions in expressing our relationship with him.
When you gave Jesus your heart, sincerely and devotedly, it will be easy to become excited about following him.
The soul speaks of our emotions. To love God with all our soul means that our love for God ought to be passionate. When we think of a love affair, we all think of passion. And we are all people of passion.
While we may try to deny our emotions, our emotions have a way of rising to the surface in spite of all our efforts to hide them. And emotions can be very good. God created our ability to feel and to feel passionately. Our emotions can make a most positive impact on our relationship with God and we must confirm that it is OK to express our emotions, especially as we express them in love for God. We simply ought to be emotional about our love for God. No, we are not talking about sentimentalism exposed in bad taste. We do not mean emotion only for emotion’s sake. We are talking about warm, passionate, self consuming love for the Lord who saved us.
Many people within our current society became cynical . They also became disillusioned and apathetic regarding “church”. Apathetic literally means "without passion." Others became passionate about less important matters and cooled off regarding the matter of salvation, of a lost world that needs to be reached with the Good News of Christ and about living holy lives for the Lord.
We cannot afford to be apathetic about our love for God. We must be excited about our relationship with Jesus. We must be passionate, because real, true love is passionate love. To love God with all our soul means that we must involve all our emotions in expressing our relationship with him.
When you gave Jesus your heart, sincerely and devotedly, it will be easy to become excited about following him.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Stand by faith, and walk in love
You stand by faith, and you walk in love. Faith is our response to God’s Word, his Good News about Jesus. The authenticity of this faith is proven by the way we love one another.
Look at Colossians 1:4.
…we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints (fellow Christians) …
Love is indispensable for every true believer. Jesus said:
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35)
John says: “If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” (1 John 4:20)
Do you believe that love is important? You certainly can’t read these passages of Scripture and come to any other conclusion. Following God in faith and walking in love are synonymous. You can’t have one without the other.
Are you walking in love?
We stand in faith, walk in love, and rest in hope.
Look at Colossians 1:5. “…the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven…”
Hope makes us willing to endure, even sacrifice for the sake of the Faith, the love and the future glory. Hope allows us to rest in God’s promises. We will be encouraged, even enthused, if we focus more on hope and on heaven. The glorious destination we expect inspires our faith in God and our love for our brothers and sisters!
May we be blessed by the gifts of faith, love and hope. It gives real meaning to our lives!
Look at Colossians 1:4.
…we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints (fellow Christians) …
Love is indispensable for every true believer. Jesus said:
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35)
John says: “If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” (1 John 4:20)
Do you believe that love is important? You certainly can’t read these passages of Scripture and come to any other conclusion. Following God in faith and walking in love are synonymous. You can’t have one without the other.
Are you walking in love?
We stand in faith, walk in love, and rest in hope.
Look at Colossians 1:5. “…the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven…”
Hope makes us willing to endure, even sacrifice for the sake of the Faith, the love and the future glory. Hope allows us to rest in God’s promises. We will be encouraged, even enthused, if we focus more on hope and on heaven. The glorious destination we expect inspires our faith in God and our love for our brothers and sisters!
May we be blessed by the gifts of faith, love and hope. It gives real meaning to our lives!
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