Category: Colossians

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Do It Right

Growing up there was a saying I heard in our home frequently. “A job worth doing is worth doing well”.

We didn’t take short cuts just to get the job done. I was taught to do things right but if I hurried through and didn’t do it correctly, I would have to do it again. This applied to everything from music scales on the piano, to baking, cleaning my room and homework.

Life lesson learned. Do it right.

But it really was so much more than that. It wasn’t just a philosophy to help me live better; I came to understand that it was the bedrock that I built my life upon.

Do it right!

“God has chosen you and made you his holy people. He loves you. So your new life should be like this: Show mercy to others. Be kind, humble, gentle, and patient. 13 Don’t be angry with each other, but forgive each other. If you feel someone has wronged you, forgive them. Forgive others because the Lord forgave you. 14 Together with these things, the most important part of your new life is to love each other. Love is what holds everything together in perfect unity. 15 Let the peace that Christ gives control your thinking. It is for peace that you were chosen to be together in one body. And always be thankful.

16 Let the teaching of Christ live inside you richly. Use all wisdom to teach and counsel each other. Sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Everything you say and everything you do should be done for Jesus your Lord. And in all you do, give thanks to God the Father through Jesus.” Colossians 3:12-17 ERV

A few days ago I shared how we should avoid the list of don’ts that the world tries to impose on us. These verses above give us a list of things we can and should be doing which are good and beneficial. I’ve even highlighted a few of them.

God used the Apostle Paul to give this instruction to young Christians. This teaching was the bedrock for their relationship in Christ. It was an amplification of the teaching that Jesus gave to his disciples when he said “by this will all men know that you are my disciples if you love one another”.

The verses above give explanation to how love acts: love is merciful, kind, humble, gentle patient, forgiving and thankful. Love seeks peace, not turmoil.

Do what’s right.

Everytime I read verse seventeen I am reminded of what we told our kids when they were little. “You have one rule, obey what we say”. Paul is saying the same thing here: Everything you say and do should be done for Jesus.

In other words, be obedient. Do it right!

A few years back a whole lot of folks were wearing those rubberized bands on their wrist – WWJD, that thought puts the verses above in a nutshell.

When there are areas where we’ve missed it, God’s love grants us a do over. If that’s where you are today, begin again and do it right.

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Be Focused & Aim High

On a number of occasions Dave and I have gone out to the desert to do some target practice. He is the skilled marksman, I am not. I have heard him say, on several occasions, “Kris, you need to focus and aim higher”.

That’s always good advice!

“You were raised from death with Christ. So live for what is in heaven, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Think only about what is up there, not what is here on earth. 3 Your old self has died, and your new life is kept with Christ in God. 4 Yes, Christ is now your life, and when he comes again, you will share in his glory.” Colossians 3:1-4 ERV

Focus. Aim High.

When we follow Christ we are given a new life. This life is higher than anything we could acheive on our own. We are empowered by the Spirit of God who lives within us. Our goal is not to look down on ourselves or others; it is to look up to the One who is our example.

In yesterday’s blog we looked at some of the man-made rules of religion, those that are always telling us the things we can’t do. But when we look to Christ, when we raise our aim and focus on Him, we gain a greater perspective.

  • Jesus loved the Father and His neighbor.
  • Jesus was forgiving and kind.
  • Jesus helped those who were in need.
  • Jesus elevated the outcasts and downtrodden.
  • Jesus sacrficed His own comfort to minister to others.
  • Jesus always spoke the truth.
  • Jesus always saw the best in others.

Who better to focus on than the One who gave His all for us!

Do I miss the mark? Absolutely!

There are days when my thoughts, and my actions, are self-serving. Sometimes I repent immediately and there are other times I wallow in my selfishness for a while. It’s then I hear that still small voice in my heart telling me “lift your gaze, look up, you’re missing the mark”.

“But now put these things out of your life: anger, losing your temper, doing or saying things to hurt others, and saying shameful things. 9 Don’t lie to each other. You have taken off those old clothes—the person you once were and the bad things you did then. 10 Now you are wearing a new life, a life that is new every day. You are growing in your understanding of the one who made you. You are becoming more and more like him. 11 In this new life it doesn’t matter if you are a Greek or a Jew, circumcised or not. It doesn’t matter if you speak a different language or even if you are a Scythian. It doesn’t matter if you are a slave or free. Christ is all that matters, and he is in all of you.” Colossians 3:8-11 ERV

Focus. Aim High.

We’ve been given a new life; every day we should become more like Him. Christ is all that matters and He lives in us!

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Too Many Don’ts

When I grew up there were a lot of don’ts. Don’t do this and don’t do that. Some were for my own protection, i.e. don’t touch the stove, it’s hot, while other’s were rules set up by religion, i.e. we don’t go to dances or movies.

There was a whole list of them and they outnumbered the things that we could do. The emphasis was more on the negative aspects than it was on the positive.

The college I went too was very strict. As in-coming students we had a list of things we could and couldn’t do.

But this list of what was acceptable and unacceptable behavior wasn’t just limited to the religious world in the United States. I was shocked to learn that at one time in the Middle European countries it was considered shameful for Christians to drink coffee but perfectly acceptable for them to drink beer and wine.

No wonderful so many people think if you claim to be a Christian you can’t have any fun!

There are God-given instructions for our well being and then there are those that men have added on because of religious piety. The Bible has something to say about these add-ons.

“Don’t let anyone tell you what you must eat or drink. Don’t let them say that you must celebrate the New Moon festival, the Sabbath, or any other festival. 17 These things are only a shadow of what was to come. But Christ is real…20 You died with Christ. Now the forces of the universe don’t have any power over you. Why do you live as if you had to obey such rules as, 21 “Don’t handle this. Don’t taste that. Don’t touch this.”? 22 After these things are used, they are no longer good for anything. So why be bothered with the rules that humans have made up? 23 Obeying these rules may seem to be the smart thing to do. They appear to make you love God more and to be very humble and to have control over your body. But they don’t really have any power over our desires.” Colossians 2:16-23 CEV

The list of man-made don’ts cause us to focus on ourselves. We develop a type of tunnel vision. “I can’t do this, I can’t do that, I can go here or there”. We become Rule-Centered instead of being Christ-Centered. As the verses above point out, we should be looking at Christ and the reality He brings to our lives.

It was life-changing when I realized there was a different list for my life in the Bible – it is a list of “do’s”. We’ll cover some of those tomorrow. It’s time to evaluate our actions or, in some cases, lack of action to man-made rules.

Our relationship with the Lord sets us free to do good works. Let’s get started!

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No Data Found!

If you’re like me most of your computer knowledge comes from trial and error. Lots and lots of error!!

In the early days of my computer ownership I had a dear friend help me with some inputting and formatting I was trying to do. He gave me some advice I still use. “When working in a document or on a page, play around as much as you want but if you don’t like the result, close the file but don’t save. Everything will revert back to the previous version.” Words to live by for sure. It has saved me tears and frustration, not to mention many hours of trying to recreate something that I had messed up.

However, there are circumstances when I’ve been glad to hit delete and see everything on the screen or in the file completely disappear. No longer can it be found. This takes intentional thought – it’s gone with no way to retrieve the information.

I can hear someone say “perish the thought, that would be horrible”. In many cases that would be true. Yet, I would like to relate a situation where this is amazingly welcomed.

“You were dead, because you were sinful and were not God’s people. But God let Christ make you alive, when he forgave all our sins. 14 God wiped out the charges that were against us for disobeying the Law of Moses. He took them away and nailed them to the cross. 15 There Christ defeated all powers and forces. He let the whole world see them being led away as prisoners when he celebrated his victory.” Colossians 2:13-15 CEV

Before we come to Christ our lives are spiritually dead. Our sins separate us from a life with God. But when we come to Christ He gives us life by forgiving all our sins. It’s then that God, the Father, hits the delete button on the file with all our transgressions and failures – they are wiped out! No search will find them, they are gone, vanished as if they never existed.

How great is that!

The greatest system failure of all time is for our benefit! In place of our failures and sins there’s a new file with a one word name – “Forgiven”!

But He doesn’t stop there, although that would certainly be enough. Christ goes on to defeat all the powers and forces that would like to defeat us and hold us captive to our past. Then He puts them on display, for all to see, they are defeated.

We are now alive in Christ, totally forgiven and the list of sins, the charges against us, are wiped out!

Praise God! There is no data found.

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Don’t Be Fooled!

Have you ever had someone mislead you? Perhaps their actions were an intentional misrepresentation to get a desired end that would benefit them, perhaps not. It’s never a good feeling when you realize you have been duped.

Thoughts of “would’ve, could’ve, should’ve” have plagued me. The “what-if’s” and “if only’s” have played out in my thinking more times than I would like to admit.

Why am I telling you this? It’s something the Apostle Paul told the young Christians in Colossae and I wish I had known this teaching all those years ago.

“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. 9 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. 10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.” Colossians 2:8-10 NLT

Don’t let anyone capture you with philosophies and nonsense that comes from human thinking.

This is sound advice for all of us. I know that Paul was talking about our Christian faith and teachings involving our walk with Christ. But I also believe that it pertains to our everyday lives. There are all sorts of opinions and beliefs that go contrary to the Word of God and we need to be on guard so we aren’t deceived or drawn astray.

Paul repeats a major truth that we all need to completely saturated with, we are complete in Christ!

Just as Christ was complete because of His relationship with the Father, we are complete because of our relationship with the Son. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us to lead and guide us. It is imperative that we listen to that still, small, inner voice for direction and peace.

“But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you into all truth. He will not speak his own words. He will speak only what he hears and will tell you what will happen in the future.” John 16:13 ERV

“Let the peace that Christ gives control your thinking. It is for peace that you were chosen to be together in one body. And always be thankful. 16 Let the teaching of Christ live inside you richly. Use all wisdom to teach and counsel each other. Sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Colossians 3:15-16 ERV

The best way I know to keep from being fooled into wrong thinking and wrong actions is to let the peace of God rule in our hearts! Let it become the final authority. It will either give us a red light or a green light for the things before us.

Have I been perfect in this? Heaven’s no! But I’m a much better listener now to God’s prompting of peace than I have been in the past.

Good advice for daily life is “Don’t be fooled”!

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Discovering Your Roots

A few years ago we took our young grandson camping with us. We took a couple of “nature walks” around the campground.

He was excited to find different kinds of wild flowers (which he picked for his Mom), pine cones of every size, a hollowed out log, a downed tree which was wide enough to walk on and a tree stump which had been up rooted.

He was amazed to see how big the exposed roots were and fascinated by the rocks that were tangled in these large tenacles beneath the earth’s surface. We explained to him, as best you can to a three year old, that these roots were what helped the trees stand tall and not fall over when the wind blew hard or the snow was deep.

What was a fun adventure for a kid was also a great reminder for us as adults.

So many times I find myself drawing on things I learned or experiences I have had as a child. My parents taught me honesty, to be respectful, how to handle hardship, to be a gracious winner, to have a good work ethic and to be loving and friendly to all people. Those roots have supported me throughout my life.

In the last blog we saw that God had kept a mystery hidden through the ages and that mystery was Jesus. Like the lessons my parents taught me, the Apostle Paul is teaching us to have our roots in anchored in the wisdom and knowledge of God.

“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. 3 In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:2-3 NLT

There have been times when I have been tested to stand strong. Hard winds of adversity have tried to blow me over. Sometimes I have swayed dramatically with their force and have almost been completely devastated. But when the winds subsided I was standing, thankfully standing, because my roots were firmly planted in my faith in Christ.

“As you have put your trust in Christ Jesus the Lord to save you from the punishment of sin, now let Him lead you in every step. 7 Have your roots planted deep in Christ. Grow in Him. Get your strength from Him. Let Him make you strong in the faith as you have been taught. Your life should be full of thanks to Him.” Colossians 2:6-7 NLV

My faith in Christ is what has been my anchor. He is the one who holds my roots secure. Without Him in my life I would fail to stand, I would be completely uprooted during the storms.

I am so thankful that my roots are deeply planted in Christ and that I am growing stronger in Him with each passing day.

May I encourage you to discover your roots. Let them go deep – it will keep you from falling.

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I Know A Secret

Have you ever been asked to keep a secret?

When our oldest was about three she was helping me wrap some birthday presents for Dave. I told her it was a secret and she couldn’t tell “Daddy” what we had gotten him. Then we took the presents and put them in the hall closet for safe keeping.

Dave came home from work that evening and as he approached the little closet Kim threw herself against the door and frantically said “No Daddy, you can’t look in the door. It’s a secret!”

Dave and I both had a good laugh and needless to say, he opened his presents that night at dinner instead of the next day.

Some secrets are just too good to keep!

For years prophets had told of a coming Messiah, a Savior, but people ignored the message. Then Jesus arrived and he preached the message of restoration and forgiveness for all. He wanted everyone to know that the Father was lovingly reaching out to the world. They heard His message but they were angered by it and they crucified Him.

“We speak of God’s hidden and mysterious wisdom that God decided to use for our glory long before the world began. 8 The rulers of this world didn’t know anything about this wisdom. If they had known about it, they would not have nailed the glorious Lord to a cross…10 God’s Spirit has shown you everything. His Spirit finds out everything, even what is deep in the mind of God.” I Corinthians 2:7- 10 CEV

After Jesus’ death and resurrection the secret was out!

Everywhere people were believing this message that Christ died to bring, “God loves and forgives sinners. He has a plan for them to have a new and abundant life”. This was the message that Paul was bringing to the Colossians and to us.

“God’s plan was to make me a servant of his church and to send me to preach his complete message to you. 26 For ages and ages this message was kept secret from everyone, but now it has been explained to God’s people. 27 God did this because he wanted you Gentiles to understand his wonderful and glorious mystery. And the mystery is that Christ lives in you, and he is your hope of sharing in God’s glory.

28 We announce the message about Christ, and we use all our wisdom to warn and teach everyone, so that all of Christ’s followers will grow and become mature. 29 That’s why I work so hard and use the mighty power he gives me.” Colossians 1:25-29 CEV

The mystery, the secret, is this: “Christ lives in you, and he is your hope of sharing in God’s glory”.

Christ lives in me, in us! What a secret – it has to be shared.

What could the day present that Jesus couldn’t conquer? What problem could we have that Christ couldn’t solve?

Paul had been stoned, beaten, imprisoned and ostracized for preaching this message but that didn’t stop him because he knew that Christ lived in him and was strengthening him in every situation.

The secret’s out – we have been made right with God and He has given us abundant life!

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Clean & Spotless

I’m hoping most of you recognize this image, a clothes line. Some have probably never used one, however, it used to be one of my favorite places.

When Dave and I first started studying, really studying the Bible, we lived in a rental house that accomodated our family quite well. It had everything we needed except a dryer. I would sit at the kitchen table and read my Bible diligently. We were actually doing a word study at the time – faith, peace, love, wisdom, Holy Spirit, etc. We would look each word up in a concordance, write down each reference location and then look them up in our Bibles.

We wanted to know what faith really was, how we received it, how it was to control our lives, how to walk by faith…the same was true for all the other words I listed above.

During this study was when I learned to love doing laundry and it was something I did frequently for a working husband and two small children. It seemed the only time I really had to myself was when the clothes finished washing and were ready to be hung on the line. The smell of freshly laundered sheets and towels and the warm sunshine gave me a sense of God’s presence and peace. The clothes line became my chapel.

It was there, I was alone with my thoughts and the things I had read in the Bible that day would flood my mind and my heart. It was there the Holy Spirit showed me how to apply those verses to my life.

The Bible became practical for the first time in my life. The clothes line was my personal Bible School and the Holy Spirit was my instructor. For the first time, I realized that not only had my sins been forgiven but they had been completely removed from the list of accusations against me. God, the Father Himself, had chosen to forget them completely.

I was clean and spotless in His sight.

“God himself was pleased  to live fully in his Son. 20 And God was pleased for him to make peace by sacrificing his blood on the cross, so that all beings in heaven and on earth would be brought back to God.

21 You used to be far from God. Your thoughts made you his enemies, and you did evil things. 22 But his Son became a human and died. So God made peace with you, and now he lets you stand in his presence as people who are holy and faultless and innocent.” Colossians 1:19-22 CEV

I am faultless and innocent!

Cleansed, just like those sheets I hung on the line. My sins have been removed, no spots left. I had tried for years to atone for big mistakes and I had gotten no where. The guilt plagued me. However, when I read verses like the ones above I came to understand just how amazing God’s grace and how wonderful His love was!

The Father made peace with me because of what Jesus did and I can stand in His presence washed clean and spotless. In His presence I find help for every situation I encounter. You can too!

You have been made holy, faultless and innocent through Jesus’ sacrifice. Let the world see that you are clean and spotless basking in the light of the Son!

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It’s Good Tuesday

Today’s title is interchangeable. It can be used any day of the week!

Why?

God is good all the time and He shares His goodness with us. Who among us doesn’t feel that love, trust, hope, wisdom, strength and joy are good things? All of these characteristics are for us and when added to the grace and peace we learned about yesterday make everyday a good day.

“The Lord has done this. We think it is great! 24 This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us be full of joy and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:23-24 NLV

I don’t understand those who get up and consign themselves to a “bad” day. As believers in Christ we can roll all the cares of the day over on Him and take the joy He gives and fill our day with that.

It’s simple but it takes work to change our mindset. Our Father isn’t a genie with magic powers , no. He is God Almighty, our Father, and He promises to take our cares and direct our steps.

“Turn to the Lord for help in everything you do, and you will be successful.” Proverbs 16:3 ERV

This is the message Paul was writing about to the Christians in Colossae and it is just as true today. These people weren’t spiritual giants, they were new Christians who had only recently accepted the gift of Christ but they were having good days. Paul had received word about their faith and love.

It was a Good Day!

Because of their faith and love hope grew in their hearts. Hope of what was waiting for them in heaven. They shared this hope in their community and many were placing their faith in the Good News of the gospel. The love of the Father was spreading and changing lives.

It’s a Good Day for us as well.

The grace of God changes our lives. We have the same hope and can share in this very same love that they did. God’s love has not decreased through the ages nor has His grace (kindness) depleted. When we begin to understand the depth of His love and grace we will rely upon His strength and power, even in the rough times, knowing that He will carry us through.

May I encourage you to read the first chapter of Colossians. What I’ve shared with you today is in the first few verses. It won’t take long to read it. It’s a life changing message and it will certainly make for A GOOD DAY.

This is my prayer for you:

“I pray that you will be giving thanks to the Father. He has made it so you could share the good things given to those who belong to Christ who are in the light. 13 God took us out of a life of darkness. He has put us in the holy nation of His much-loved Son. 14 We have been bought by His blood and made free. Our sins are forgiven through Him.” Colossians 1:12-14 NLV

We are invited to share in the good things that belong to us in Christ and to know that all our sins are forgiven!

It’s a Good Day to have a Good Day!

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Grace & Peace

Have you ever found yourself in a place that is noisy and chaotic? A place of constant activity – people and/or vehicles rushing about? Yelling, sirens, loud whistles?

I try to avoid those places at all costs! I long for quiet and serenity. I don’t even like the commercials on TV because they come on louder than the programming I’m watching and it seems like they are yelling at me.

Our home is my place of peace. In fact, when we moved in we named it Casa de Paz, House of Peace!

It’s also a place where we extend grace.

Grace, as defined by Webster, 1a: unmerited divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration or sanctification b: a virtue coming from God c: a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine assistance 2a: APPROVAL, FAVOR stayed in his good graces barchaic : MERCY, PARDON c: a special favor : PRIVILEGE d: disposition to or an act or instance of kindness, courtesy, or clemency e: a temporary exemption : REPRIEVE

My simple definition of grace is receiving undeserved goodness.

So why am I talking to you about grace and peace?

For the past few days I have felt compelled to read through the Book of Colossians again. Years ago it became one of my favorite books in the New Testament. Paul’s letter tells of God’s wonderful love, forgiveness, grace, peace and authority. I want to share with you some of my thoughts from this book.

“I am writing to you who belong to Christ in the city of Colossae. May all the Christian brothers there have loving-favor and peace from God our Father.” Colossians 1:2 NLV

The terms loving-favor and kindness are also translations of the word grace.

Paul immediately identifies our relationship with God. When we accept the gift of salvation that comes through Jesus Christ we are adopted by our loving Father, God. He wants the best for us and that starts with Him showering us with grace; loving-favor and kindness.

I see the Father embracing us.

I imagine the outpouring of His love is something like what Dave and I do when the grandkids come to visit, only greater. We meet them on the driveway, help them out of the car and the first thing we do is hug and kiss them. (Their parents also) We mix in a couple of tickles too. Then we take them into the house and show them the special surprises and treats we have planned for them.

Loving-favor.

There have been a couple occasions when these same grandkids have awaken in the night crying, uncertain of where they are or just a little frightened by something. Immediately, we are there. Sshing their fears, kissing their heads and telling them everything will be ok. We create an atmosphere of peace.

This is what God, our Father, does for us. This and so much more is what we receive from Him. Paul wrote thirteen letters to new Christians in the New Testament. Each one of them brings a message of grace and peace. God wants all of His children to know His goodness!

I want everyone to know it too. I pray that you will experience the Father’s kindness and His peace today.


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