The power of gratitude

Deuteronomy 29:10-18

10 “All of you are standing today before the Lord your God—your leaders, tribes, elders, officials, all the men of Israel, 11 your children, your wives, and the foreigners in your camps who cut your wood and draw your water— 12 so that you may enter into the covenant of the Lord your God, which He is making with you today, so that you may enter into His oath 13 and so that He may establish you today as His people and He may be your God as He promised you and as He swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 14 I am making this covenant and this oath not only with you, 15 but also with those who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God and with those who are not here today.  16 “Indeed, you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and passed through the nations where you traveled. 17 You saw their detestable images and idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which were among them. 18 Be sure there is no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Be sure there is no root among you bearing poisonous and bitter fruit.  HCSB

 Colossians 3:16-17

16 Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.  HCSB

In the book of Deuteronomy, when the people were at the brink of moving into the promised land, God reminded them of the covenant He had made with them.  At the same time, He also warned or admonished the people to make sure that their hearts do not turn away from their God and go and worship other gods.  and then he added the last sentence in verse 18 by saying "Be sure there is no root among you bearing POISONOUS and BITTER fruit" .

 

Point to ponder:  When there is bitterness growing in our hearts, we need to be keenly aware of the fact that that poison will kill us long before it kills the person to whom we are directing our bitterness, and it seems to me that this poisonous root of bitterness is a core open door that God is warning the people against - because it opens the door to the worship of idols and false gods.  So how do we come into the opposite spirit?  In Colossians 3:16-18 I think God gives us an idea.  If we come with wisdom, singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs WITH GRATITUDE in our hearts to God, giving thanks to Him for all things, there will be no place, no chance for a poisonous root of bitterness to grow and bear fruit in our hearts.  Gratitude uproots any root of bitterness and protects our hearts against worshipping idols.  Gratitude permeates our beings with songs of praise for our creator-God Who sent His Son Jesus to take all our poisonous bitterness upon Him and give us His joy.  Let us rejoice in Him this week, replacing our bitterness with thankfulness and gratitude.

Gratitude -Brandon Lake

Let peace control our hearts

Colossians 3:12-15

12 Therefore, God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 13 accepting one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive. 14 Above all, put on love—the perfect bond of unity. 15 And let the peace of the Messiah, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts. Be thankful.

Point to ponder:  Let us just take some time this week to intentionally put Paul's advice in these verses to practice.  Ask yourself how, where, to whom can I intentionally show compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience?  Who do I need to forgive and accept as a brother in Christ?  How can I 'put on the love of Christ and where and in which situations should I let the peace of Messiah control my heart?  How about thankfulness?  What can I be thankful for - let's be intentional about these things and make it a lifestyle, not an isolated event.  

Peace be still - Hope Darst

Seek what is above

Colossians 3:1-10

So, if you have been raised with the Messiah, seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God. 4 When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.  5 Therefore, put to death what belongs to your worldly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, God’s wrath comes on the disobedient, 7 and you once walked in these things when you were living in them. 8 But now you must also put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator.

Recently on an outreach weekend, a young lady asked me if it is sin to go to movies or e.g., read books that are of a worldly nature.  I do realize it's really difficult - we are in the world, but we are not of the world - thus, of course there will be times when we are in a place where not all we see and hear is squeaky clean in the spirit.  Someone once told the following story, I don't remember anymore who the person was or whether the story was real or fictional, but the lesson was good enough to have stuck with me for life.  The person explained that his children one day asked to go to a movie and said to him, there is only a little bit of filthy language in the movie.   He then decided to teach them a lesson, so he baked a cake for them and decorated it beautifully, only he took some of their dog's 'bollies' and mixed it into the cake batter.  Once the cake was finished, he called the children and explained to them what he had done, made tea and offered them some of the wonderfully decorated cake.  Of course none of them would have any of it, no matter how he tried to explain that it really was only a little bit of 'bollie' in the cake, really not a lot, and it would not make any difference to them eating it.  All the bacteria were dead from the temperature the cake was baked at, so they really had nothing to worry about.  When they all refused to eat any of the cake, he asked them:  "So if you do not want to eat the cake in the natural - why are you prepared to eat that cake in the spirit" (by going to look at a movie with questionable values).  He obviously made his point.  

We were raised with the Messiah, and we are being renewed into His Image

Point to ponder: I think this is exactly what Paul is saying in this scripture.  If we are dead to sin, why do we still compromise with some of the sinful behaviour in our own lives? What is there of my old life that is still left in this new life I have in Christ, that really just does not belong in my new life in Him?  Let us spend some time this week and get rid of all that is old to embrace the new in Christ in full.

Is He worthy?

Raised with Him

 Colossians 2:11-15

12 Having been buried with Him in baptism, you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive with Him and forgave us all our trespasses. 14 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; He triumphed over them by Him.

I remember many years ago, as I was grappling with the question of getting baptised or not, that God gave me this scripture one morning. Suddenly upon reading this, it was just so simple that I was wondering why I actually found it, for some time, to be a 'difficult' question?  Baptism is a simple prophetic act in the spirit of identifying with Christ's death, in our place, and being raised up with Him to a new life, to being a new creature in Him.  

And then verse 15:  ...He disarmed the rulers and authorities, disgraced them publicly and triumphed over them. Through Christ's finished work on the cross and His resurrection, He obliterated the hold and the legal right the enemy had on us through our own sin.  

Point to ponder:  What a privilege to have a God Who came down to us when we were completely lost in our sin.  A God Who made a humongous, out of this world, effort to make it possible for us to return to Him and walk in relationship with Him without fear or shame. The only thing He asks of us is our willingness to believe - because even then He comes and puts the faith we need for that in our hearts through His Holy Spirit.

Come Holy Spirit Come!

Open our Eyes - Stephany Gretzinger

(p.s put the song on repeat and just sit with Jesus a while)