Year: 2020

What is at Home Within You?

Let the [spoken] word of Christ have its home within you [dwelling in your heart and mind—permeating every aspect of your being] as you teach [spiritual things] and admonish and train one another with all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Colossians 3:16 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/col.3.16.AMP

This verse speaks first about something that happens TO US:

• The spoken Word of God
• Making its home within us

And then about what WE DO in response:

• We teach (spiritual things)
• We admonish and train one another with spiritual wisdom
• We sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs in thankfulness to God

The gospel is the opposite of a virus, it is the cure. But it travels amongst us in a very similar way. The Word of Christ is spoken — and it travels through the air and is received by others “who have ears to hear” — and it is received into our hearts ands minds so that it permeates, infects, overwhelms, impacts every aspect of who we are.

Once we become aware of our own sinfulness. Once we stop listening to our own self justifications for why we have done the things we have done, why we have said the things we have said, why we have thought the things we have thought — and we realize our own filth in comparison to God’s perfect will –and we see our undeniable need for both forgiveness and for change — we know that we need the cure for no longer being blind to what is right and wrong. And the cure is not to ignore or forget the truth about ourselves — but to look to Christ the LORD and Saviour who provides cure and change from the inside out by coming to live in us and through us.

I remember SciFi movies from when I was young about body snatchers and alien imposters, where a person was replaced by someone else who looked and sounded like them, but whose actions were different enough to draw attention and cause suspicion that the person was an imposter. But I’m not talking about an imposter/replacement of a person by someone else — I’m talking about a surrender to walk with a companion and a comforter. A born again experience that changes the hearts and lives of men and women.

And this change, this “coming of the new”, it produces symptoms. Those symptoms are what we do in response to the gospel. Can those symptoms be faked? Well, teaching, correcting, training, and singing can easily be manufactured and imitated and performed by a mere man or woman to pass the “eye test” of onlookers. But spiritual wisdom and thankfulness to God has to pass the “smell test” of those who walk with Christ themselves and know His sweet aroma personally. So don’t judge others by outward appearances — teach, train, and admonish with spiritual wisdom — and sing and rejoice with thankfulness that flows from thankfulness to God.

And each of us has our part to play in this.

First, have you heard the spoken Word of Christ?

Have you received Christ into your life by turning away from your own ways to God’s will?

Have you believed that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead?

Have you confessed with your mouth that Jesus Christ is LORD?

If you cannot say yes to these four questions, if you have any doubt in your mind at all at this point — it is not too late to get it right, to make a change, to believe and receive. The Word of God would compel you to “choose today who you will serve” because “we are not promised tomorrow” and that “today is the day of salvation“. You can do this right now. Right here. It is between you and God, and He is here with you closer than the breath in your lungs.

If you know Him, tell someone today the hope you have found in Jesus — because we can all use hearing more of the spoken Word and praise and thankfulness being poured out into the world around us. Help build up and encourage, and even correct in love your fellow believers so that we all grow in spiritual wisdom. And give your thankfulness to God an outlet in praise and worship and service to God.

I stumbled upon this original song by a new acquaintance this morning on an app where I like to sing in thankfulness to God with people all over the globe. Don’t hide your light. Shine bright, friend!

What is at home within you? Is it Christ? Then GO, SPEAK, TEACH, TRAIN, CORRECT, and SING! This is your act of worship, to DO THE WILL OF GOD!

It’s what you think about it!

“It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.” – Dale Carnegie

Contentment and gratitude should breed activity and direction.

Being content and grateful doesn’t mean that we are complacent. If I am unhappy for valid reasons, I don’t need to just lie there in my misery and try to convince myself (lie to myself) until I believe I am happy – like some homeless Zen master. I need to change my thinking from being “this is where I am stuck” to “where am I going from here“.

Yes, there are circumstances where we need to “look on the bright side” — but a healthy mindset drives us forward in purpose and in action.

I’m reminded of the lyrics from a song of my youth that says “The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades… Well I’m heavenly blessed and worldly wise… Things are going great, and they’re only getting better”. And I wonder, do we realize right now that we’re are Heavenly blessed? I wonder, are we being wise to the ways of the world? And I wonder, are we standing on the promise that God has good in store for us?

Do you feel unchallenged, unappreciated, unsuccessful, stagnant? Do you feel stressed, anxious, unsure, and filled with doubt about where you are right now? Are you worrying about how many more tomorrows you can weather if they all turn out like today?

It doesn’t help us to run around looking for an immediate way out in a spirit of fear. Emotion can have us trading a manageable circumstance for a worse circumstance just because we are in a hurry to “get out”. That’s where the still calm voice of the spirit can share the fruit of self-control and patience with us to reveal so many valid reasons for gratitude and contentment. We must take control of our thoughts and not let an emotional drunkenness that comes from pride and expectation and self-interest lead us down the path of self-destruction.

So first, we should assess ourselves with a sober mind — not biased by emotions like fear, bitterness, anger, or disappointment — but with humble self reflection and with trusted constructive criticism. But we don’t just stay where we are. We don’t just lazily accept where we are. We set our eyes and hands and effort upon what must be done, what must be said, what bridges must be built, what new lands and opportunities must be explored.

We do not have to foolishly waste time and emotional strength begrudging our current circumstances. We acknowledge our purpose and our goal, and we act and we move. We don’t put off today’s work to make time for grumbling and complaining. We work today towards our tomorrow, grateful for the eyes to see that we are strong enough to weather whatever winds and waves come today, because our foundation is solid.

My foundation is solid because it is built upon Christ Jesus, my Lord and Savior. I may take a beating at times from the circumstances that surround me, but I’m not alone in my walk through this life. I have a companion much stronger and wiser that is leading ands teaching me along the way. On my best days, I do not work for my employer, my customers, my family, myself, or even for honor and recognition — but I work because I am gifted and able to do so because of His grace and mercy and favor towards me. On other days, shamefully I have to admit that I can forget how much He has done for me and continues to do for me. It hurts my heart to think about how many times I have forgotten Him, even while He is always there for me — eager to forgive me, eager to restore me, eager to discipline and teach me every time. And can you see how the grace of God restores me to a sober- mindedness that is necessary for me to truly take a step forward instead of backwards?

I hope that you know my Jesus too as your personal Lord and Savior. I’m not trying to rope you into religion. I’m just hoping that you have met Him, that you have talked with Him, that you have felt His healing touch, and received His life giving Word. I don’t care where you are sitting on a Sunday morning, I care whether or not you truly know Jesus, closer than a friend.

Have you ever truly sought Him out?

Have you ever truly laid down your life and followed Him?

Have you ever truly confessed with your mouth and believed in your heart that He is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead?

I’m not asking whether you have gone through the motions before, or fulfilled some religious tradition or ceremony. Have you truly?

If you haven’t, I’m encouraging you today to take that step between you and God. And if you have taken that step truly between you and God privately, you should also be eager to take steps publicly to acknowledge this new life that you are choosing — to walk in the way of Christ instead of in the way of the world. Jesus said that, “You will know my disciples by the way they love one another.” Seek out true believers who LOVE ONE ANOTHER. Don’t just settle for a dead, Sunday morning religion — know Jesus and walk with Him and talk with Him and learn from Him everyday. He is your teacher. If you need a brother to talk with, reach out to me. God bless!

Provider and Disciplinarian

And you shall remember [always] all the ways which the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart (mind), whether you would keep His commandments or not. He humbled you and allowed you to be hungry and fed you with manna, [a substance] which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, so that He might make you understand [by personal experience] that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord . Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your feet swell these forty years. Therefore, know in your heart (be fully cognizant) that the Lord your God disciplines and instructs you just as a man disciplines and instructs his son. Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk [that is, to live each and every day] in His ways and fear [and worship] Him [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect]. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land where you will eat bread without shortage, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. When you have eaten and are satisfied, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by failing to keep His commandments and His judgments (precepts) and His statutes which I am commanding you today; otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have increases, then your heart will become lifted up [by self-conceit and arrogance] and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; it was He who brought water for you out of the flinty rock. He fed you manna in the wilderness, [a substance] which your fathers did not know, so that He might humble you [by dependence on Him] and that He might test you, to do good [things] for you at the end. Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ But you shall remember [with profound respect] the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore (solemnly promised) to your fathers, as it is this day. And it shall come about if you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will most certainly perish. Like the nations which the Lord causes to perish before you, so shall you perish; because you would not listen to and obey the voice of the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 8:2‭-‬20 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/deu.8.2-20.AMP

“Do not say in your heart when the Lord your God has driven them out before you, ‘Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord is dispossessing them before you. It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out before you, and to confirm the oath which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. “Know [without any doubt], that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked (stubborn, obstinate) people. Remember [with remorse] and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness; from the day you left the land of Egypt until you arrived in this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord .
Deuteronomy 9:4‭-‬7 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/deu.9.4-7.AMP

So circumcise [that is, remove sin from] your heart, and be stiff-necked (stubborn, obstinate) no longer. For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of Lords, the great, the mighty, the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe. He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the stranger (resident alien, foreigner) by giving him food and clothing. Therefore, show your love for the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall fear [and worship] the Lord your God [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect]; you shall serve Him and cling to Him [hold tightly to Him, be united with Him], and you shall swear [oaths] by His name. He is your praise and glory; He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which you have seen with your own eyes.
Deuteronomy 10:16‭-‬21 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/deu.10.16-21.AMP

Jesus answered, “The first and most important one is: ‘H ear , O I srael , the Lord our G od is one Lord ; and you shall love the Lord your G od with all your heart , and with all your soul (life), and with all your mind (thought, understanding), and with all your strength .’ This is the second: ‘Y ou shall [unselfishly] love your neighbor as yourself .’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:29‭-‬31 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/mrk.12.29-31.AMP

Lord, help us to not take credit ourselves for the great things you are doing. You forgive us when we humbly confess our sins, but you resist the proud. Amen.