Mon 7.1 – Putting on the Ritz

Today’s Readings: Colossians 3.10-16; Ephesians 4.21-32; 2 Corinthians 5.17

Today, we are starting our next to last week in our DIRECTIONS study. We are looking at the next step in the SPIRITUAL PRESCRIPTION that God gives to believers in Colossians 3, to PUT ON the New Man, or the LORD Jesus Christ. Let’s look at the foundation we have built so far and hopefully that will help us to see how this next thought fits into the equation . . . (you didn’t know there was math in the Bible did you?)

• We saw that we are to be SEEKING and SETTING OUR AFFECTION on the THINGS ABOVE.
• We saw that we are NOT to be doing that on THINGS OF EARTH.
• We saw that the PRIMARY thing of EARTH is our BODY/FLESH
• We saw the DANGERS that come with having this BODY and how they will keep us from doing the things that will matter for ETERNITY
• We saw how to keep from being distracted, we are to MORTIFY and PUT OFF our bodies and their desires, members, etc…

Today, we build upon this foundation with this thought, Since we have PUT OFF the old man, with his deeds, his members, his ways, his deceitful lusts, and …. We are not to PUT ON the new man. We will spend the next week looking at this new man, who he is, what he is, how we put him on, and what all of that should look like in our everyday lives.

Before we get there, I think it would be a good idea to just slow down and hover in this passage from Colossians today. I have some references above, but for today they are just references, for your further thought. Today, I want us to open our Bibles, lay them beside a notepad, and make a list with me.

Find Colossians 3.8-9, and on your paper, just jot down the heading “OLD MAN”. Now put down some of the things our Bible associates with him.

Next, find Colossians 3.10-16, and make a similar list under the heading “NEW MAN”. Do not simply copy the exact words out of your Bible, read the phrases that describe the NEW MAN, and brew over them for a moment, and then write down the things that your find.

Do you see the contrast between those two MEN? Now, as we go through this passage, what we will find is that the new man, IS someone different than the old man, and the reason for these differences will be obvious. However, for today…just ask God to help you make this practical in your life. As you go to school, work, practice, home, and wherever life takes you today, look for these men in your life. Identify them, and them MORTIFY the one while you RELEASE the other. (please understand, I do not mean this is a very theological way, this is just speaking practically. The old man is ALREADY mortified, and the new man is ALREADY IN YOU, I just want us to be able to IDENTIFY them more easily so the next few days will mean more to us.)

May God bless your time with Him today. I pray that you will see God doing amazing things in your life as you begin to see the NEW MAN taking control of the body of your life! Amen.

Sat 6.6 – Standing in middle of the battle

Today’s Readings: Colossians 3.5-9; Judges 7

Just as we looked at how Israel conquering the Canaan Land (promised land) is a picture of the New Testament believer in Christ conquering their flesh in this life to live the abundant life of John 10.10.

Today, we will look at another example of that from the history of Israel’s continued battles over the land of promise and abundance…let’s look at Gideon and this battle with Midian.

“Midian” means “strife” or “contention” and is waging war against the Israelites who are CURRENTLY OCCUPYING the promised land. This would picture how the “strife” and “contention” of our lives can come against us in an effort to re-claim the promised land of abundant living back to the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Check out how Gideon conquers this enemy in 7.20-21, and see how it is an incredible picture of how we are to conquer our enemy of the flesh that causes us STRIFE and CONTENTION! (which only come by PRIDE, see Pro 13.10)

1. They blew the trumpets. We are going to have to speak and hear the truth of the Word of God if we are ever going to truly gain victory over the flesh and the STRIFE that it causes us. (Rom 10.17)
2. They broke their pitchers. We are to be broken, clay, vessels before God if we are to be used in His service and not in the service of our own flesh. (2 Tim 2.21, 2 Cor 4.7)
3. They held the lamp in their hand. Obviously the Word needs to be our Light (Ps 119.105) and we are to let OUR light shine to all (Matt 5.16)
4. They stood still, and let the Lord do the fighting. We have talked about how God doesn’t want our flesh to serve Him, but He wants us to allow Him to serve in and through us! The same truth in this battle is true of our lives today, not matter the battle, the Lord is the One who is going to have to fight for us, we just STAND (Eph 6.10-14)

Spend some time reflecting on this truth today. Ask God to help you overcome your enemies of strife and contention! May today be a day when you do not fight your battles, but you allow the Lord to fight FOR you as you simply STAND still! (Ps 46.10)

Fri 6.5 - Self Illustrated, part 2

Today’s Readings: Colossians 3.5-9; Judges 1-2

Yesterday we went over Part 1 of this devotion, please make sure to reference it again before completing today’s in order to understand it properly…

LASTLY, FOR THE ILLUSTRATION ITSELF…

• Check out Judges 1.21-36. What is happening there is the Children of Israel do what seems to be the “Christian” thing to do. Rather than killing everyone, they show MERCY – God is a God of Mercy right??? So surely this was the RIGHT thing for them to do, it may have even felt RIGHT. However, What they were doing was MAKING A DEAL WITH THE ENEMY OF GOD. When they didn’t completely kill all of God’s enemies, they were disobeying! They were YIELDING to the very enemy of GOD (Romans 6.12-13)!!!
• Now, remember what it was that happens is NOT that they went out and joined up with the enemy of God. They didn’t change uniforms, join the other army, or strip the Israelite crest off of their battle gear…they simply allowed the inhabitants to beg for mercy, and made a deal with them – and that SIMPLE LITTLE MOVE cost them for GENERATIONS AND GENERATIONS TO THIS VERY DAY!
• It is interesting the reasoning behind their allowing them to live…that which represented the flesh (the inhabitants of the land) were allowed to remain in the land, and live, because the Israelites made two mistakes… (look at Judges 1.22)
  • THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE STRONG ENOUGH TO HANDLE IT. When we are having a spiritual growth spurt, we are likely to get big-headed about how much we can handle. When we used to run from the very presence of a dirty movie, now we think to ourselves, well, I can handle this…and we watch… allowing those inhabitants to remain….wow, how DECEITFUL ARE THOSE LUSTS!
  • THEY PUT THE INHABITANTS TO TRIBUTE. They took that which represented the FLESH and put it in tribute to THEIR FLESH. They were not letting these people remain alive because they wanted to be “good” folks, it was because they wanted to be wealthy folks. They wanted the TRIBUTE money – In scripture, that basically means they became the indentured servants of the children of Israel…they would work and the Israelites would get all of the income in exchange for not killing them.
• Please hear this – we do the same thing!!!! We will see some part of our flesh, and see the “good” that it can do, and we make a deal to allow it to remain so that we can put that part of us into TRIBUTE to please our flesh. We may know that cutting people down at the lunch table is wrong…but we see that it brings us popularity…comfort…social acceptance…so rather than kill it, we make a deal with it, we will let it remain, as long as it is benefiting us somehow…and we may even do it in some new SPIRITUALIZED way…like adding a phrase “bless his heart” or “I’m just kidding” after each SLANDEROUS AND HURTFUL REMARK. That’s how we are.
• This danger is not simply that we would use things of our flesh to our own benefit, but also that we would use them in the service of God. You better believe those Israelites excused their behavior because these servants were giving them the money, supplies, and resources they needed to build the temple of God. BUT, Never loose sight of the fact that God said He ABHORRED those things because of where they came from! – GOD NEVER HAS AND NEVER WILL WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH OUR FLESH! ESPECIALLY IF WE ARE TRYING TO USE IT IN SERVICE TO HIM!!!!

Oh God, please forgive me for all the times I have approached worshipping you through the flesh. I am so remorseful for every time that I have brought you offerings of my flesh and not of my own death so that your Spirit may live in me. Lord Jesus, I ask you today to strengthen me to mortify my flesh that You may life in me. I realize that I cannot make any deals with this flesh, I cannot allow it to keep any ground, or show it any mercy because it will draw me away from you every time. God, I yearn for you today, may you be alive in and through me today in a new way, fully, wholly, completely yours today! Amen.

Thu 6.4 – Self Illustrated

Today’s Readings: Colossians 3.5-9; Judges 1-2

I want to take up our Devotions today right where we left off last night. We were crunched for time, so I just want to take time to expound on what God was teaching us in the ILLUSTRATION about the Flesh from the story of the Children of Israel in Judges. (guys, I can’t encourage you strongly enough to check out the verse references to understand the strength of these passages of scripture as we spend time in the Word today.)

A COUPLE THINGS YOU NEED TO KEEP IN MIND FOR THIS…

• Don’t forget that the land of Cannan (the promised land) is a picture of the Abundant Christian Life. We see that by comparing Exo 3.8 & John 10.10 – God did not bring the children of Israel out of Egypt just to bring them out…it was to bring then INTO the promised land, where He was going to dwell with them! In the same way God didn’t bring us out of the bondage of Sin and the World (Egypt) just to save us, but to bring us INTO an ABUNDANT LIFE in the place where He wants to DWELL WITH US!
• Don’t forget that the ENEMY OF GOD in this situation is the inhabitants of the land, those who currently control the ground where God wants to dwell with His people. This is a picture of how our FLESH is currently on the throne of our lives (Eph 4.22) and is thus the enemy of God (Gal 5.17), and the earthly ways of the flesh are what we will have to battle as the Israelites had to battle those who were already dwelling in the land of God.

NOW FOR THE BACKGROUND OF THE ILLUSTRATION…

• We noticed last night in Exo 23.27-32 that God said NOT to allow anyone to remain alive when they come into the promised land. He said for the children of God to DESTROY everyone when they get in there.
  • The same principal is true as we conquer this ground (our bodies – 2 Cor 5.1 & Gen 2.7), we must COMPLETELY DESTROY all of it’s NATURAL inhabitants – that is LUSTS! (Eph 2.3)
• Then, we saw that in Deut 7.1-10, God specifically repeats the instruction RIGHT BEFORE THEY BEGIN TO TAKE OVER THE PROMISED LAND, and in this passage He specifically says to SHOW NO MERCY to the inhabitants. People would surely be begging for their lives, trying to make deals with the Israelites and bargaining with them for survival.
  • Again, the principal repeats itself with the life of the believer – as we begin to realize and live in the PUTTING OFF of our flesh, and we begin to KILL it (MORTIFY OUR MEMBERS)what is going to happen is that our members are going to BEG, PLEAD, BARGAIN, and try to make DEALS with our Spiritual self in order to SURVIVE! And THAT is NOT what God said to do with the inhabitants of the LAND! This is where we run the risk of becoming PARTIALLY OBEDIENT, and thus DISOBEDIENT.
• And Lastly we saw from Psalm 106.34-40 that God said He ABHORRED the people who disobeyed His command, and did not completely wipe out the inhabitants of the land (our flesh).
  • Now, the reason for such strong language is because when they allowed the inhabitants of the land to remain, those inhabitants kept their false Gods with them…then they eventually bled those false systems of worship into the TRUE WORSHIP of THE TRUE GOD and thus led God’s people AWAY from HIM – Those inhabitants used DIECETFUL LUSTS to draw God’s people away from HIM, the very One who SAVED them out of EGYPT (SIN) to BE WITH HIM!!! No wonder he ABHORRED it. (I encourage you to look that word up on dictionary.com if you are not familiar with it’s meaning…and remember this is GOD who feels this way!!! WOW – so humbling.)

Spend some time dwelling on that today…then tomorrow we will pick up right here and keep going. So, tomorrow you will need to reference back to today’s devotion so that some of the things will make sense…

Pray that God will open your eyes to see wondrous things today from His Word (Ps 119.18), that He will give you strength and power to completely mortify your flesh as you go throughout this day! And I’ll see you here, tomorrow.

Wed 6.3 – iFlesh

Today’s Readings: Colossians 3.1-9; Judges 1.21-36, 2.6-13

Today I want to stop and talk about a simple truth from our familiar passage in Colossians, and compare that to an illustration the Lord gives to us in Joshua.

Have you ever seen the Apple Software series that all start with “i-Whatever the software is for”? Like, iTunes, iWork, iLife, etc…? That is a great marketing strategy for their software. Without actually coming out and saying it, they are personalizing their product to the consumer. Their branding is one of the most successful of all time because of their ability to present it in such a “our way is better” model. This is even subtly seen in their “PC and MAC” commercials with the dorky PC guy in glasses and a suit from the 80’s, and the hip MAC guy.

Unfortunately we seem to take that same approach with our FLESH! We look at the scriptures, and we hear God saying to MORTIFY that flesh, and to PUT OFF that same wicked flesh, so that we can PUT ON the new man (Col 3.1-9). However, what we begin to do, almost instantly, is to excuse us keeping our flesh around. Too often we try to make it sound spiritual. We will let our flesh remain UN-MORTIFIED, and not completely PUT IT OFF because it can HELP us in the work of God.

Here’s an example of what I mean. Have you ever looked at someone and thought to yourself, “man, if that guy would just give his life to Christ, he has so much potential.”? Well, the BASE problem with that kind of thinking is that we are immediately connecting his USEFULNESS to God with his FLESHY ABILITIEIS. The last time I checked, God was in the business of taking that which was NOT FLESH, and making it useful in spite of the flesh so that the whole world knows this thing must be of God (see 1 Corinthians 1.27).

So, what we do is see some part of us that may even LOOK like it is potentially good for the work of God, and we let that one part of our flesh remain alive, remain on, and we just try to take that FLESH as a PRISONER OF WAR to our Spirit…which will never work.

We have no leg to stand on in our passage in Colossians if we think God was saying that we could keep some of the flesh alive and around…absolutely not. Look at an illustration of this in the Old Testament.

As the Children of Israel were delivered from Egypt (Salvation) and were led through the wilderness by Moses (law) to the Promised Land of God, they encountered many things and failed many times. Then God raises a new generation of Israelites to possess THE LAND (abundant spiritual life, John 10.10) under the new leader Joshua (Jesus). When they get there, God says to COMPLETELY wipe out everyone that is in the land (just as we are to completely mortify/kill/destroy our flesh before we can possess abundant life) and just like so many of us, they DISOBEY.

Rather than simply obeying God, they decided that these people who they were to kill could be kept alive as slaves and pay them tribute (or money) and be a profit to them. While this system worked for a generation, check out the commentary in Judges 1 and 2 as noted above. Because they kept those people around, those HEATHEN PEOPLE exposed God’s people to HEATHEN WORSHIP and HEATHEN GODS which eventually led the CHILDREN OF GOD away from the ONE TRUE GOD unto another. If they had simply OBEYED God in the beginning the sad, sad, sad, commentary of Judges 2.11-13 would not be the case because the enemy would not have been there to present the false gods.

Today, let’s ask God to show us areas of our lives where we are allowing FLESH to remain because we think it benefits us, and maybe even Him. No matter how impressive your flesh may be, God wants nothing to do with it. He wants no sacrifice of it, no worship from it, no things concerning it, because “God IS a SPIRIT and they that worship Him MUST worship Him in SPIRIT and truth.” May we completely destroy and put off that wicked flesh that tempts us so!!!