Category: Colossians

Posted on

A Basket of Gratefulness

I asked you if there is someone in your life who is an example of loving-kindness. Someone who gives never expecting anything in return?

This morning I was thinking of how I could bless that “someone” in my life. In mind of the cost-cutting we are doing with our budget, I came to realize there are some simple and inexpensive things that can be done.

A heartfelt note, a coffee cup filled with little treats, a basket of special things (a book, something homemade, some fruit and nuts). A basket of gratefulness. Anything to express thankfulness for who they are.

“Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. 4 Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, ” Philippians 1:3-4 NLT

Thankful – to be filled with thanks! What a great way to look at a Sunday morning, full of thanks!!

Thankful for the love of family and friends. Thankful that there was a bed to sleep in last night, thankful for the roof over my head, thankful for a cup of hot coffee, thankful for the sunrise that is coming, thankful that I am safe but most thankful for my Father God who has promised to never leave me or forsake me.

Thankful that He’s always there and there is no place, none, that I go that He will not be with me – yes, I’m thankful!

“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.” Colossians 3:14-16 ERV

Always have a heart filled with thankfulness and possibly a basket filled with gratitude.

Posted on

Smile Big!

This is a teaching I have used before but it’s an analogy I like. Just something to remember.

We see a lot of pumpkins around that still have their yucky parts, we are all in a process of cleaning!

“Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new. 18 God has done it all! He sent Christ to make peace between himself and us, and he has given us the work of making peace between himself and others.

19 What we mean is that God was in Christ, offering peace and forgiveness to the people of this world. And he has given us the work of sharing his message about peace. 20 We were sent to speak for Christ, and God is begging you to listen to our message. We speak for Christ and sincerely ask you to make peace with God.” II Corinthians 5:17-20 CEV

Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin. God picks you from the patch and washes all the dirt off of you. He cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate and greed. He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see.

We, all too often, look at ourselves and others and become critical. We aren’t what we want to be or should be. But when the Father looks at us, He sees us complete in Christ.

“I say this because all of God lives in Christ fully, even in his life on earth. 10 And because you belong to Christ you are complete, having everything you need. Christ is ruler over every other power and authority.” Colossians 2:9-10 ERV

Jesus didn’t give up on Peter who denied Him or Paul who killed Christians. He loved Zacchaeus and the woman who committed adultery. The thief on the cross next to Him went to Paradise without having ever been to church, been baptized or having given anything in the offering plate. Why? Each of them received God’s forgiveness for their sins.

When we accept the work of Jesus on the cross, we are forgiven and given a new life. We are all in a process of growing in that new life and we are being transformed, its a daily renewal.

So too all my fellow pumpkins, welcome! Smile big and let the light of God shine brightly.

Posted on

Not Like the Other

Do you remember the little song from Sesame Street, One of These Things is Not Like the Other? Well, this basket of fruit has one thing, unlike the others.

Not all fruit is the same.

Paul writes to us in Galatians about the fruit of the Spirit.

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Galatians 5:22-23 NLT

These are all good fruit. In fact, Paul says there has never been a law written against any of these characteristics. Who’s going to condemn us if we have loving, joyful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled. These are good things, but…not all fruit is good like this.

“ A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 44 A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. 45 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.” Luke 6:43-45 NLT

Patience is a good fruit. Impatience isn’t.

Think about that. I heard Joyce Meyers say this years ago.

It’s true – “I” don’t have time to wait; “I” could do it better; “I” deserve to be treated better than this; “I” told you to do it “my” way. And it goes on and on. Most of our objections around things that make us impatient start with I.

How contrary that is to God’s character! He waited for just the right time to send Jesus. Jesus walked this earth teaching the same thing over and over, the love of God and restoration to Him, and still people didn’t get it. And now God is waiting again, He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

“The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” II Peter 3:9 NLT

Those of us who know a little something about “end-time” prophecy are watching the events unfolding in our world today with great interest. As far as we can tell, events are lining up according to Scripture for the Lord’s return.

But let’s not get impatient!

We need to continue to be the examples of God’s love and forgiveness that He has placed us in the world to be. We need to be producers of good fruit. We need to be like Jesus.

He knew time was short; soon He would be crucified but instead of lamenting His fate, He continued to serve with an unselfish love.

“It was almost time for the Jewish Passover festival. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go back to the Father. Jesus had always loved the people in the world who were his. Now was the time he showed them his love the most.

2 Jesus and his followers were at the evening meal. The devil had already persuaded Judas Iscariot to hand Jesus over to his enemies. (Judas was the son of Simon.) 3 The Father had given Jesus power over everything. Jesus knew this. He also knew that he had come from God. And he knew that he was going back to God. 4 So while they were eating, Jesus stood up and took off his robe. He got a towel and wrapped it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a bowl and began to wash the followers’ feet. He dried their feet with the towel that was wrapped around his waist.” John 13:1-5 ERV

How many times has the Lord been patient with our failings, our shortcomings, our wanderings. He has been there to pick us up, welcome us home and encourage us to “go our way and sin no more”.

And now He is asking us to become patient with ourselves and with others. To show them the same love and compassion He has shown to us. When we are patient, we are Christ-like and our lives will reflect His love.

“My brothers and sisters, you will have many kinds of trouble. But this gives you a reason to be very happy. 3 You know that when your faith is tested, you learn to be patient in suffering. 4 If you let that patience work in you, the end result will be good. You will be mature and complete. You will be all that God wants you to be.” James 1:2-4 ERV

Let’s remove the character trait that is not like the others, impatience, and patiently love those around you today!

Posted on

Better Than

The theme of my morning Bible reading seemed to be “better than”. Let me explain.

First, I was reading in Isaiah, the last chapter, and I came across these words:

“My hands have made both heaven and earth; they and everything in them are mine.
 I, the Lord, have spoken! ‘I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at my word.'” Isaiah 66:2 NLT

It goes on to say that those who are trying to look religious and spiritual with all their actions have false and deceptive hearts. What God is looking for are the humble and repentant.

“But Samuel replied, ‘What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices
or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. 23 Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.” I Samuel 15:22-23 NLT

Samuel, the priest, was correcting King Saul because of his disobedience to what the Lord had said. Saul tried to cover up his rebellious acts by offering sacrifices but his heart wasn’t repentant.

Obedience is better than sacrifice.

From there, I went to the book of Proverbs. Solomon, in chapters 22 and 23, gives thirty wise sayings. He’s giving instruction to young men.

He says being wise is better than expending all your energy to get rich.

“Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit.” vs 4

He goes on to say that keeping silent is better than wasting your advice on fools.

“Don’t waste your breath on fools, for they will despise the wisest advice.” vs 9

His next wise saying has to do with raising children. Discipline is better than letting our children live a disobedient life.

“Don’t fail to discipline your children. The rod of punishment won’t kill them. 14 Physical discipline may well save them from death.” vs 13-14

At this point, I encourage you to read the whole chapter, Proverbs 23, and look at the wise sayings of Solomon. I’ll end with this one. Avoiding drunkards and gluttons is better than joining in their ways.

“My child, listen and be wise: Keep your heart on the right course. 20 Do not carouse with drunkards or feast with gluttons, for they are on their way to poverty, and too much sleep clothes them in rags.” vs 19-21

These all seem like such obvious instructions, don’t they? Our heavenly Father cares about every area of our lives and He doesn’t want us to be caught unaware of its dangers. His loving instruction and compassion is better than life without Him.

“Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you! 4 I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer.” Psalm 63:3-4 NLT

This is what our Father intends for us:

“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. 10 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 NLT

We are promised wisdom and understanding and a life that produces good fruit as we grow in our knowledge of the Father.

A life of knowing God is BETTER THAN anything else!

Posted on

Finish Strong

In my quiet time this morning the Lord reminded me of the importance of finishing strong.

Yesterday I told you about Caleb’s stand and how he said, “God is well-able”. It wasn’t just a slogan; it was his life’s mantra.

“Now, as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise—even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old. 11 I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then. 12 So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the Lord is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the Lord said.” Joshua 14:10-12 NLT

At 85, Caleb was still strong and still determined to see the will of God accomplished in his life. He didn’t care about the giants. He didn’t give up on God’s promise. Never give up on a God-given dream or promise.

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

If the Father has made you a promise or given you a dream He has also given you the power and the plan to see it come to pass.

“But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.” I Corinthians 15:57-58 NLT

We give thanks to God who gives us the victory over life’s situations because of our relationship with God through Christ Jesus. It may not always look like we are victorious but when we give Him thanks, we will see the circumstances change.

Jesus didn’t look victorious when they laid him in the tomb. Peter didn’t look victorious when he was sinking in the sea of Galilee. Daniel didn’t look victorious when he was thrown into the lion’s den. Paul didn’t look victorious when he was stoned and left for dead. At 85, Caleb probably didn’t look like a fighting man in his prime.

But…Thanks be to God who gave them the victory and He has given us victory as well. Paul said in Romans 8 that God calls us overcomers and more than conquerors. So, we will stand strong in doing the work that God has called us to do.

We have victory in Christ Jesus so let’s finish strong and give thanks.

Posted on

The Hills Are Alive

Today we will look at the final verses of Isaiah 55. What a great way to start the weekend!

“You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands! 13 Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up. These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.” verses 12 & 13 NLT

I toyed with two titles for this blog – The Hills Are Alive or Blessings of Peace and Joy. Both are appropriate for these verses.

Step back to one of yesterday’s verses.

“It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”

God’s word is the tie in to our joy and peace. The Israelites learned that often. As long as they were serving God and following His word they had peace in their land. However, when they followed after false gods and ignored God’s word they would be defeated in battle and at times were taken into exile.

We read yesterday where Jesus compared our hearts to soil and God’s word to good seed but not all seed is good. Some seeds produce thorns, nettles and stubborn weeds. Those are the seeds of bitterness, anger, self-righteousness, jealousy, maliciousness, envy, strife…

“But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,” Colossians 3:8-10 NLT

When we let God’s word take root in our hearts – in our thinking and our actions – He will give us the wherewithal to pull up the weeds. New trees will grow, new life with prosper.

“ Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:2 NLT

God knows there will be times we struggle with thoughts of doubt and anxiousness; He’s always there to see us through.

“When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.” Psalm 94:19

Have you ever asked yourself why, why would God do all of this for me? Why would He spend so much time and effort on my well-being? If you have, here’s the answer:

“These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.” verse 13 NLT

There are lots of gods in this world but they enslave instead of bringing freedom. They curse instead of bless; they damn instead of enriching. God is not the damn-er, He is a blesser.

When we walk in His word the world will see the blessings of God in our lives and it will be a testament of his power and love. Even the mountains and the hills will sing and the trees will be clapping with joy!

Posted on

Looking Up

I love taking pictures of clouds. In fact, the other morning, dressed in my jammies, I went out and crawled up on the flatbed of the truck so I could get a good shot of the sunrise.

Dave used to tease that I would probably be taking pictures of the clouds on the day the Lord returns and splits the sky! Oh, I hope so, that would be an amazing photo!

But, while I am always looking up at the skyline, many think that we as Christians have our heads buried in the sand like an ostrich, afraid to see things as they really are.

Not true! Our heads aren’t in the sand, they are in the sky. When our focus is up, we can be in perfect peace even in the worst circumstances.

Peace – perfect peace!

Looking at things the way the rest of the world does blurs the truth and causes you to “try” to fix things by ourselves. Being self-centered is a true recipe for disaster. Being God-centered is a place of peace and rest.

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. 4 Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength:” Isaiah 26:3-4 KJV

“The Lord gives perfect peace to those whose faith is firm. 4 So always trust the Lord because he is forever our mighty rock.” Isaiah 26:3-4CEV

Looking up has been an analogy for salvation throughout the Bible. In Moses day, the Israelites were dying in the desert because of an outbreak of snakes in their midst. This is what the Lord had Moses do.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” Numbers 21:8 NKJV

Hundreds of years later, Jesus made reference to that very same incident when He was talking with Nicodemus, the man who came to Him at night, asking about salvation.

“ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:14-16 NKJV

We followers of Christ have a hope for the future that others do not have. We must remember where our strength and peace come from.

“Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:2-3 NKJV

Keep looking up dear friends – that’s where our help comes from!

Posted on

More Than Expected

I love the mornings when I wake up thinking about the goodness of God!

Frankly, I used to have mornings when I would dread getting up because I knew the day was going to be chaotic and at times confrontational. I went to sleep focused on a problem and it would be the first thing on my mind when I greeted the day. But now, most mornings I am in awe of God’s love.

Do you want to know what was on my mind this morning?

“God is wonderful and glorious. I pray that his Spirit will make you become strong followers 17 and that Christ will live in your hearts because of your faith. Stand firm and be deeply rooted in his love. 18  I pray that you and all God’s people will understand what is called wide or long or high or deep.19 I want you to know all about Christ’s love, although it is too wonderful to be measured. Then your lives will be filled with all that God is.

20-21 I pray that Christ Jesus and the church will forever bring praise to God. His power at work in us can do far more than we dare ask or imagine. Amen.” Ephesians 3:16-21 CEV

God is wonderful and He wants us to know and experience the depth of His unconditional, unending, immeasurable love!

There is nothing more powerful than the love of God because God is the full embodiment of love and He wants to fill our lives with all He is. To be filled with that love, that power, working in us is certainly more than I could possibly imagine or ask for.

Our heavenly Father’s desire is to live through us so that we are experiencing the fullest life ever.

“I say this because all of God lives in Christ fully, even in his life on earth. 10 And because you belong to Christ you are complete, having everything you need. Christ is ruler over every other power and authority.” Colossians 2:9-10 ERV

Those aren’t my words, those come from the Apostle Paul who was writing to Christians who were young in the faith. He wanted them to know, and us to know also, the amazing depth of His love and commitment to us.

It truly is so much greater than anything we could dream of, imagine or ask for but that’s how God is!

When Christ came to earth one of His names was Immanuel meaning God with us. This is so much more than a baby in a manger. This is Christ, the full expression of the Godhead, making us complete and providing all that we need to live the same type of life that He lived while He was on earth.

“The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].” John 10:10 AMP

More than expected? Absolutely. Our heavenly Father has a life planned for us that is beyond our dreams.

Posted on

Free to Forgive

How hard is it for you to forgive? Sounds like a loaded question doesn’t it?

When we look at forgiveness from a strictly personal, human perspective it can seem almost impossible to forgive some and easy to forgive others. It all depends on how deeply we have been hurt or wronged. Forgiveness seems to be based on our feelings and quite frankly, we often don’t want to take responsibility for letting them go.

However, we are free to forgive because we have been forgiven.

“We have been bought by His blood and made free. Our sins are forgiven through Him.” Colossians 1:14 NLV

In this morning’s reading Jesus was teaching on this very thing.

 “Watch yourselves! If your brother sins, speak sharp words to him. If he is sorry and turns from his sin, forgive him. 4 What if he sins against you seven times in one day? If he comes to you and says he is sorry and turns from his sin, forgive him.”

5 The followers said to the Lord, ‘Give us more faith.’ 6 The Lord said, ‘If your faith was as a mustard seed, you could say to this tree, ‘Be pulled out of the ground and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.’

7 “What if you owned a servant who was working in the field or taking care of sheep? Would you say to him when he came in from his work, ‘Come and sit down to eat?’ 8 No, instead you would say, ‘Get my supper ready. Dress yourself and care for me until I am through eating and drinking. Then you can eat and drink.’ 9 Does the servant get thanks for doing what he was told to do? I am sure he does not. 10 It is the same with you also. When you do everything you have been told to do, you must say, ‘We are not any special servants. We have done only what we should have done.’” Luke 17:3-10 NLV

Jesus talked to his disciples about forgiveness. They tried to make it a “faith” issue. Jesus quickly refuted that and told them they didn’t need more faith – even a small amount of faith was sufficient to make earth moving changes.

What he did talk to them about was their obedience. Verses 3 through 5 don’t seem to tie together with verses 6 through 10 but read it again and you will see the correlation. Jesus starts in verse 6 telling them their faith is sufficient and then immediately goes into a teaching on obedience, the obedience of a servant.

The disciples, servants of Jesus, are being challenged to obey what the Master has said. Forgive!

Take forgiveness out of the realm of feelings and place it where it belongs – it is an act of obedience. We don’t need to struggle with doing something we are commanded to do. Just obey!

Obey because it’s what the Father has instructed us to do. Obey and know that we have done our duty as a servant of the most high God. We have been forgiven and we are charged with following His lead.

We’ve been forgiven so we are free to forgive!

Posted on

Making Choices

The last few mornings I have had to make a choice that has delayed my blog. I have been getting out earlier for my morning walk because the temperatures in the desert have been increasing.

It was already in the mid-80’s when Dave and I walked out the door at 5:30. Yep. By the time we got back we were both a sweaty mess. Choices.

I know if we didn’t go out then it would be too hot later. There was something about turning 70 a couple weeks ago that told me I MUST be serious about my health for me and my family. It’s never easy but it’s beneficial.

“He will call upon Me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will take him out of trouble and honor him. 16 I will please him with a long life. And I will show him My saving power.” Psalm 91:15-16 NLV

Now, I don’t want you to think that I am some great fitness achiever – I’m not. In fact, I still have another 20+ pounds to lose before I will feel I have accomplished my weight goal but I am working toward it.

“Growing strong in body is all right but growing in God-like living is more important. It will not only help you in this life now but in the next life also. 9 These words are true and they can be trusted.” I Timothy 4:8-9 NLV

There you have it – a strong body and a strong spirit are both important. God has given us His word on it.

I know how hard it is to make good and healthy choices at any stage of life so I want to encourage you and I would appreciate your prayers too.

“This is why I have never stopped praying for you since I heard about you. I ask God that you may know what He wants you to do. I ask God to fill you with the wisdom and understanding the Holy Spirit gives. 10 Then your lives will please the Lord. You will do every kind of good work, and you will know more about God. 11 I pray that God’s great power will make you strong, and that you will have joy as you wait and do not give up.” Colossians 1:9-11 NLV

More words to live by…God’s great power makes us strong, don’t give up. That’s where my failure comes, giving up before reaching my goal. Maybe you experience that too. So, today Scripture becomes very practical to me.

Trust the Lord to lead you and give you His strength to reach your goal. We have victory in Jesus!

Privacy Policy Proudly powered by WordPress