Love The One who is Light

2 Peter 3:9

8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

John 3:16-17

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. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

Point to ponder:  

The last week's happenings in world history are probably on all of our minds. I have no real words for the unspeakable suffering of people under the ruthless rule of pure evil leadership.  But then God reminded me of the above verses.  God is so much bigger than us, somehow He manages to get all the principles together and weave them into a tapestry of perfection.  He spells it out that He is righteous and will not let evil run rampart unpunished, and at the same time God makes no secret of the fact that He is a God of love who does not condemn anyone who believes in Him.  He is longsuffering and does not want anyone to perish, but wants to bring us to repentance precisely so that we will not perish forever.  He did not come to condemn us, but if we do not believe we are condemned already, simply because we do not make use of our only way to safety, the only way by which we can get out of the trap the enemy sets for us.  He spells out so beautifully exactly what condemnation is - it is the rejection of God's light.  Even though light has come into the world - they loved darkness rather than light and therefore their deeds are evil.  Everyone - yes EVERYONE - no matter your political affiliation, or which team you support, if you practice evil, you hate the light and do not come to the light, simply because light will expose all your sinful evil deeds.  

However, if we love the truth, we will gladly come to the light so that our deeds will be clearly seen that they are of the light - done in God.  And this is the issue of the heart - what is in our hearts?  Is God's light there?  Then there is no place for evil deeds, the only time there is place in our hearts for evil deeds is when we love darkness more than God's light. Evil is the absence of light - the absence of He who is The Light.   

Let There be Light - Hillsong

Mortality swallowed up by life

2 Corinthians 5: 1-5

For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

Point to ponder

Today it is good to know that this earth with all its brokenness, failures and heartache, is temporary.  We but live in a tent - a temporary dwelling - our eternal house, our permanent dwelling is in heaven.  While we are longing for our eternal home, desiring to be clothed with the splendor of God's glory, once again let us be encouraged by knowing that ultimately mortality is swallowed up by life.  God prepares us for that life, by giving us His Spirit as a guarantee - to be with us.  He is Emmanuel, God with us in this temporary tent abode!  Heaven came to our earthly house so that mortality is swallowed up in life and we can be united with Him forever.

Emmanuel - God with us - Chris Tomlin 

Open our eyes Lord

 1 Thessalonians 1:1-4 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, 3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, 4 knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.

Paul addresses and greets the congregation in Thessaloniki with a blessing to receive the grace and peace of the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and then He continues by writing somewhat of a testimonial of this congregation.  He remembers their work of faith, love and their patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ - and this is what he thanks God for producing in this congregation's life.  

Point to ponder:  How about we take an inventory of the good things we see in someone's life, start thanking God for producing it in that person's life and then give them some positive feedback by bringing it to their attention? We all need some positive feedback from time to time.  What if we do this for 1 person this week?  Maybe the person who least expects us to do so? 

So let's ask the Lord to open our eyes to see who He is and what He is doing in those around us.

Open by eyes Lord - Stephany Gretzinger 

Speak and behave wisely

Colossians 4:5-6 AMPC

5 Behave yourselves wisely [living prudently and with discretion] in your relations with those of the outside world (the non-Christians), making the very most of the time and seizing (buying up) the opportunity.  6 Let your speech at all times be gracious (pleasant and winsome), seasoned [as it were] with salt, [so that you may never be at a loss] to know how you ought to answer anyone [who puts a question to you].

James 1:5 AMPC

5 If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him.

 In Colossians 5:5-6 Paul encourages us to behave wisely - especially in our relationships with unbelievers, so that we can make good use of every opportunity to be a testimony of God's grace and wisdom to a world that does not know Him.  He specifically mentions our words and the answers we give when someone asks us about our faith.  However, when I read these few verses, I thought but I do not always know what the right answer is to give.  Sometimes we are faced with situations that are beyond our understanding and we simply do not have the best wise answers.  And then Holy Spirit reminded me that the Word of God says - if we do not know, are deficient in wisdom - then simply ASK.  When we ask for God's Wisdom for a situation, the Word says He is a giving God Who will liberally give us Wisdom.  

1 Corinthians 12:8

8 To one is given in and through the [Holy] Spirit [the power to speak] a message of wisdom...

In 1 Cor 12:8 Wisdom is introduced to us as a gift of the Holy Spirit, thus we never need to feel out of our depth facing life, questions and unfamiliar situations without Wisdom, we simply need to ask for the Holy Spirit to come and give us His Wisdom for every situation.  

Point to ponder:  Ask the Holy Spirit - who is the Spirit of Wisdom (Is 11:2) to come and give us His wisdom for every situation that we find challenging.  

I Speak Jesus - Charity Gale

An intentional prayer life

Colossians 4:2-3 AMPC

2 Be earnest and unwearied and steadfast in your prayer [life], being [both] alert and intent in [your praying] with thanksgiving.  3 And at the same time pray for us also, that God may open a door to us for the Word (the Gospel), to proclaim the mystery concerning Christ (the Messiah) on account of which I am in prison;

Paul admonishes us to pray and keep on praying.  To develop the discipline of a continuous prayer life.  

Point to ponder:  So this week's point to ponder is simply - what does your and my prayer life look like?  Are we intentional with our prayers?  Take this week to focus on this question and maybe to make some changes to become more intentional with our prayer life?  

Our Father

Serve well

 Colossians 4:1

Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

This is such a sobering verse. In modern-day everyday life, Paul's admonishment would probably be something along these lines: Most of us work for an employer, we are bound by an employment contract. Some of us are employers, who have employees working for us. We should serve well if we are employed, and employers should treat their employees justly and fairly. However, in God's Kingdom there is a great equalizing principle. Whether employers or employees on earth, reality is that in heaven we all have a Master that we are going to serve for an eternity. Our Master in heaven is a just and fair King who is perfect in character and cannot treat anyone serving Him in an unjust or unfair manner - so the crux of this verse is that ultimately, we are all servants.

Point to ponder:  The kind of servant we are willing to be in the natural probably gives an indication of what kind of servant we are to God in the spirit.  Are we serving well, or do we need to make some changes as to how we serve Jesus, and those at work, in church or in our families, or our friends?  What kind of servant are we choosing to be in His Kingdom?  

Here be Lions:  For me and my house we will serve the Lord

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)