Year: 2020

Living Renewed

Colossians chapter 3 is all about living this renewed life. And to understand that it isnt a list of “you must” or “you mustn’t” statements, is to grasp the encouragement of the gospel, to rely upon the promises of God, and to surrender the throne of our heart to God.

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. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.
Colossians 3:1‭-‬2 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/col.3.1-2.NLT

Yes, being raised to life means putting to death our old life. It means resisting temptation, but that really means longing for God and His Way. A Christian who loves God ands is seeking first the Kingdom of God sees the worthlessness of what they are “giving up” in comparison to the riches they have found in Christ Jesus. Who would cling to stale bread that clearly has a deadly fungus growing on it when there is fresh, warm, good bread for our consumption? But this is exactly what we do when we don’t see sin for what it really is and we don’t fully trust that The Way is best.

So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.
Colossians 3:5‭-‬10 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/col.3.5-10.NLT

And as we shift our focus and direction, and as we set our eyes on heavenly things — The Way we are to go of true holiness is not high minded and alone like a religious zealot, looking down on the sin of others. It is The Way of forgiveness, humility, mercy, gentleness and love — not of pride. Pride is sin that we are putting behind us. So we are not looking harder at ourselves in a mirror — or looking harder at others — but we are setting our eyes upon God.

If we fall into the shame of self criticism or into the pride of self exaltation, we will see others with pointing fingers, accusations, unfair expectations, etc. We must choose to see “them” and “ourselves” how He sees us, washed by the Blood of the Lamb, clean from the stains of sin, forgiven, beloved, and holy as He is holy.

Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 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. 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. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
Colossians 3:12‭-‬17 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/col.3.12-17.NLT

Smells like…

Have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Philippians 2:5 GW
https://bible.com/bible/70/php.2.5.GW

Philippians 2:5 was my morning verse today, and it is quite a follow up to Mark Pangel’s sermon from Ephesians 5:1 calling us to imitate God:

Imitate God, since you are the children he loves.
Ephesians 5:1 GW
https://bible.com/bible/70/eph.5.1.GW

So I first looked at a few different translations to see the harmony between the different Bible translations:

And (laughingly) “like a good scholar”, then I started looking into the greek words themselves:

τοῦτο (“this” or “that”)

But as I began to dig this morning, it was as if I realized that the treasure wasn’t going to be in the digging into this particular verse — that I had highlighted in green (I use green to highlight commands/calls to action) — but in the following verses that I had highlighted in purple (I use purple to highlight verses about God’s character and nature):

If we are to have a mind (or attitude) like God, to be imitators of God, it seems our focus should be on Him, not ourselves.  So we should look to these following verses to see what that attitude/mind of Christ looks like — or in my experience, I like to say “smells like”. Outward behavior can “look” a certain way but also “smell” differently.  A common phrase to describe this is that we can see something “good” that someone is doing,  but that something can “seem fishy” about their motives. So we don’t just want to be a counterfeit hoping to “look” righteous ourselves — we want our lives to be truly filled with that sweet aroma of the Holy Spirit of Christ in us which does result in a different type of life testimony.

In these verses,  we learn about that “scent” of the genuine. Verses 6 tells us that He was on equal with God, but He didn’t consider his equality with God something to “cling to”. Verses that tell us about Christ being the head and we are the body come to mind, where we are reminded that we each serve a valuable purpose in the Kingdom of God come to mind. And that we should not strive to lift ourselves higher by our own striving for personal honor or glory, but let the vine dresser lift us up if He sees that we have fallen out of place and need to be moved for His glory.

As we look at the remaining verses, we see the pattern emerge — Christ emptied Himself of claims to titles and authority and chose instead to serve humbly. And in doing so, demonstrated the very nature and character that we are to imitate, The Way in which we are to walk — if we want God to be glorified.

Isn’t that the kicker sometimes? That we want to be appreciated, glorified, honored, respected ourselves? That we seek to demand from others the respect or kindness or assistance we expect they should be giving us? Or that we act the same way even towards God as if He owes us to let it go the easy way we think best, so we grumble, complain, or isolate ourselves from Him to chase after other things?

But this is not about accusations or condemnation today. It is about confessing our shortcomings honestly and boldly in the throne room of grace, and by our confessing Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and trusting in God to fulfill His promises — that we can empty ourselves, humble ourselves — that we can bow our knee at the name of Jesus, and declare that Jesus Christ is Lord — to the glory of God.

This shift in mindset, in attitude, is to one of appreciation and gratitude — willing to face whatever lies ahead as opportunity for God to be glorified even in our trials, challenges, and suffering. And with it comes a peace that passes understanding, and a distinct aroma of a life on fire for God’s glory.

Lord, we are not seeking our own breeding laid low to martyrdom to be thought of highly by other men, nor to be lifted up high in position, title our authority to rule over others — even though we can confess that at times we have thought and behaved in such foolish, wicked ways before when we’r have made it all about getting drunk on the wine of our own gifts, talents, abilities and blessings bringing us attention. Lord, we are reminded that drunkenness of pride smells wretched like the fallen angel and is a stark contrast tho the sweet aroma of Christ Jesus the humble, suffering servant who you have lifted on high as our Lord and Savior. Rid us of the counterfeit, and make us imitators of God. We are Children of God, come walk with us and teach us, and let our time with you have us conformed to your image in everything we do. And let it be in our hearts, truly for your glory and honor alone. Amen.

Are We Listening

If you listen to constructive criticism, you will be at home among the wise. If you reject discipline, you only harm yourself; but if you listen to correction, you grow in understanding. Fear of the Lord teaches wisdom; humility precedes honor.
Proverbs 15:31‭-‬33 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/pro.15.31-33.NLT

Listening doesn’t happen with our ears. Sound can be picked up by our ear drums and transmitted to our brains just fine and we can still completely miss it. When Jesus talks about having “ears to hear”, it isn’t about people who are physically sound and don’t need cochlear implants or hearing aids in order to properly receive the sound waves in their physical ears.

When someone has a different opinion from us,  do we diminish or dismiss what they are saying — or take the time to truly consider their perspective?

When someone has something to say about us personally or about something that we have said or done, are we only interested in what strokes our ego — or are we considerate and grateful for the opportunity to consider criticism that we can learn from?

When God tells us His way, are we grumbling and defiant like a child not getting their way in the moment — or are we trusting that He knows best ands that there is a purpose and plan in it that is worthy of us conforming to His way instead of demanding our own?

And I know from personal experience that “truly listening” isn’t just taking the time for my conscious mind to process something either. For example, even when something makes it through my eyes or ears and into my conscious mind to be weighed or considered — if I am already offended, or bitter, or unforgiving,  or hard headed in certain ways — I can see that I have not “truly listened” or given fair consideration to criticism, alternative perspectives, etc. So true “listening” is more than our auditory systems working properly, and it is more than a “conscious mind thing”.

Truly listening, truly hearing, is a thing of the spirit/heart/will of a man. A deaf man cannot hear with his ears, but a proud man does not listen with his mind — because He does not have a receptive spirit/heart/will guiding his thoughts, words and actions.

Do we see the distinction there between cannot (ability) and does not (willingness)?

I wonder how many times I (an able bodied man) have not listened and missed it like a deaf man? Have not seen, and missed it like a blind man? Have not walked with God, and missed it like a lame man? Have not lived an abundant life of humble repentance,  and missed it like a dead man?

And isn’t whether we are listening or not really an indicator of our heart/spirit/will — and whether it is surrendered  to and is aligned/imitating/emanating Christ — or whether we are still trying to rule over our own lives?

What a great opportunity this offers us for repentance, for listening,  for discipline,  for pruning — so that we can bear much great fruit and produce that fragrant aroma that is pleasing to God. What areas of our life need to be cut off and burned so that we can know joy that lasts and grows and expands — rather than momentary happiness, pleasure or escape that is fleeting.

Heavenly Father, we are so grateful for Christ Jesus who can not only heal the deaf, blind, lame, diseased, and dead bodies — but who can do even greater with our innermost being. Help us to eagerly listen, to willingly submit, and to humbly receive. Amen.