Fri 8.5 - Like Jesus, Like Jesus

Today’s Readings: Colossians 3.17-25; Philippians 2.5-8

As we close out this passage in Colossians, we’ve noted that God addresses a variety of real-life relationships. Let’s now make sure that we are reading about those relationships in the correct context.

Remember if you would the thought of 3.17 for a moment. Basically put, we are to make sure that our very WORDS and DEEDS are done IN THE NAME of the Lord Jesus Christ, correct? So then, what is the connection between that verse and the list of relationships that follows in the next verses?

I think we can argue that 3.18-22 are simply examples of how 3.17 should look in our lives. For example, if we are living our life in the name of Jesus Christ then:

As wives, we will SUBMIT.
As husbands, we will LOVE.
As children, we will be OBEDIENT.
As parents, we will be HUMBLE.
As SERVANTS, we will OBEY.

Now, you may be looking at this list and think to yourself, those are not exactly the first qualities that I think of when I think of Jesus. While majesty, holiness, power, and preeminence are the things that we typically associate with Him, do not lose sight of the time he spent here on earth and what that it took for GOD to become a MAN.

I find a lot of similarities between the teaching of Col 3.17 and of Phil 2.5. Read them together and see if you can sense the heart of the author as you read. They both seem to be calling us to a selflessness and a pursuit of Jesus’ life in ours don’t they? As our WORDS and DEEDS are taken captive to Christ and our MIND becomes His, then it seems that we would begin to live that life of seeking things above and setting our affection on things above.

Check out the similarities in the description of the mind of Christ is Phil 2.5-8

He SUBMITTED to the will of God, “but made himself of no reputation”
He was made a SERVANT, “and took upon himself the form of a servant“
He LOVED us enough to be, “made in the likeness of man“
He was HUMBLED, “being found in fashion as a man, he bumbled himself”
He was OBEDIENT, “and became obedient unto death, even death of the cross“

Do you see some similarities? I can’t help but think that God has a desire that we stop living this life ourselves and allow the life of Christ to invade and rule as we continue our days. May your life be lived IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, and may THIS MIND BE IN YOU WHICH ALSO WAS IN CHRIST JESUS, as you go today! Amen.

Thurs 8.4 - Three Hundred and Sixty Five Days

Today’s Readings: Colossians 3.17- 4.6 

In today’s reading, what you’ll see is how Paul closes out the PRACTICAL LIVING section of Colossians.

As I hope you remember from the previous devotions this week, our last thought for the Directions series is that our WORDS and DEEDS be done IN THE NAME of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I encourage you to read carefully through what God describes next. He (more or less) gives us a glimpse into the everyday relationships most of us have, and gives us an example of living IN THE NAME of Jesus in each one. Notice all the relationships he talks about… Wives, Husbands, Children, Fathers, Employers, & Employees.

Although it’s not completely clear, He covers all the bases, Family & Friends. Now, I Know what you’re thinking…Friends? There’s nothing in here about Friends Aaron. Well, although he doesn’t spell that out completely, where (as an adult) do you think most of your friends are going to be from? Work? If you have many friends at work, they will be watching how you interact with your boss, putting that “Christianity” of yours to the test. Old friends? Maybe they were long-time friends. Well, surely they’ll come over to your house for dinner and see how you interact with your family. How your children behave, and how you treat them as a “Christian” parent. Maybe your friends would come from church (and I hope so!). Well, your church friends are definitely going to see how you and your spouse interact with each other and parent your children.

Again, I know it’s indirect and not exactly what you would think God was saying in these verses, but I just want you to remember how much our lives bleed over from one area into another. As you are at school, as you are at church, as you are at home, as you are out with friends, whatever! And no matter where we are and when we are, God says do ALL in the name of Jesus.

With those thoughts in mind, re-read Colossians 4.5. WOW! What a vital truth! Time really does fly. I can guarantee you, when we stand before Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat (Judgement) we will never say, “I wish I had done less” or “I wish there was less time for me to serve you.” But, even the most faithful believer will find himself saying, “I wish I had more time, I wish I had done more to serve you, I wish I had more to give.”

Remember guys, time really does fly. Every minute you live, you are another minute closer to standing before Christ in Judgement. How are you using your time here (seeking and setting your affection on things above) that will amount to something there??? May we all redeem our time in the way that will most benefit Christ! Amen.

Wed 8.3 - Another Name Angle

Today’s Readings: Colossians 3.17-25; Exodus 20.7;  Acts 11.26; Ephesians 3.14-15

So far this week we have noted two angles through which to look at the idea of “in the name” of Jesus, in verse 17 and 23 of Colossians 3. They were:

1) Acting like him, as we believe he would act were he there in the situation.

2) Acting on behalf of him, as his ambassador to the earth during this time of his physical body’s absence, and his spiritual body’s presence.

Today, let’s take a slightly different approach and round off this idea of acting in the NAME of Jesus Christ. I want to first direct your attention to the selected reading for today from Exodus. I would imagine that most people have at least heard this verse of Scripture before, if not read it or memorized it. We typically speak of this verse when talking about the 10 commandments. However, let’s lift it out of that context today and look at it through our idea from Colossians 3.

That verse tells us not to “TAKE the NAME of the Lord” in vain. So what does that mean. Well, let’s focus on those two words capitalized…

TAKE - what could that mean? Well, let me just say it doesn’t mean “say” or “speak” the name like we so often hear. While that would be included in this truth, it in NO WAY stops there. Think of how we would use that same word in other ways. If I walked up to you and offered you a gift, and I said, “go ahead, take it” how would you hear that word then? Would the idea of speaking about the gift ever even pop into your head? Of course not. You would think I meant it as “receive” or “make it your own”.

NAME - now apply that truth to TAKING the NAME of God…how do we TAKE someone’s name still today? Well, in case this scary wedding picture wasn’t enough hint for you, it’s at a marriage. When Sandy Smith married David Brown, she was no longer Smith, but Brown. She TOOK the NAME of Brown. In the same way, when we are saved, we take on the family name of our Father - the Lord. (one more aspect of the fact that we are now the “sons of God”, see John 1.12-14)

So, here’s the meat of what we should walk away with this morning…

- As a child of God, I have TAKEN His name upon myself when I was saved.

- Now, as part of His family, my actions reflect on Him. (have you ever heard of a father saying to one of their children, “You have disgraced the name of _____”?) It’s that same idea. WHAT WE DO REFLECTS ON HIM. It’s just the hard truth of the matter. As much as I hate to admit it and wish it was different sometimes. Our poor representation of Christ is oftentimes why the World around us wants nothing to do with Him. But then again, why would they if this is how His people act!?!?

- So, it is very important that my actions “WORD OR DEED” would live up to the reality of who I AM in Him. As one of His children, is this right by my Father? That should always be the question at the tip of our tongues.

May God help His children today to act according to who they are in Him. May we represent our Father and His Word well as we go throughout our days. And may all our WORDS and DEEDS be done according to His will and way. Amen.

Mon 8.1 - In His Name?!?!

Today’s Readings: Colossians 3.17,23; I Corinthians 10.31; Proverbs 3.6

Well guys, welcome to our LAST WEEK of the DIRECTIONS study!!! I’m kind of bummed that this falls on spring break week because that means many of you will be getting these devotions after the fact. However, I am very excited to be able to share this with those who are here! We have lots of great stuff planned for this week around the Fridge, and I hope that you guys plan on being here to hang out with us!!!

You’ll notice that our daily reading section is shorter today. That’s mostly because I want to slow down this week and just look at one thought from our passage in Colossians. There are three verses up there that pretty much teach the same thing. God desires that our life be completely lived IN AND THROUGH HIM!

As a matter of fact, this thought is such an important key to this passage that God repeats it in verse 23 in a slightly different form. There are about three angles we need to approach this verse through, so let’s take the first one today…

1. DO ALL IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS. Now, what’s that all about? Doing everything IN the NAME of Jesus? Well, let’s think about it this way….

Imagine you work for me, and I ask you to pay some bills. What I do is hand you a few blank checks with MY NAME signed on the bottom already. Now those checks BEAR MY NAME and I am asking you to act in a manner (or simply, do thing) that I would act in were I able to do that task. I would expect you to read the electricity, water, gas, and other bills, write in the amounts owed into the checks, as well as the payee. Now when you place those checks into the mail, you are DOING THAT TASK IN MY NAME.

Do you see? My NAME is attached to the things you did because MY name was on the checks. Well, GOD’S NAME is all over our lives. We have seen that clearly through Colossians 3 so far.

This truth brings up a natural question…How do I know what/how I am to do those things in God’s name??? Well, notice how God finished out verse 17. As we do these things (everything) in the NAME of Christ, we are to GIVE THANKS UNTO GOD AND THE FATEHR BY HIM. So, here’s the simple question that will clarify whether or not the action is being properly done IN the NAME of Christ, Can I thank God for this?

Simply put, if we cannot answer with a confident YES! then the thing is not done in accordance with His name. We cannot THANK GOD for that time we made out with that person in the car in their driveway. We cannot thank God for that job that is causing us to miss church. We cannot thank God for the fight we just had with our parents. Those things are NOT things done in the NAME OF CHRIST because they are NOT things that God can be thanked for, because He is nowhere near that stuff.

Spend some time today asking God to open your eyes to the truth of living in HIS name and not yours today! Ask Him to show you the things that He can get no thanks for in our lives that need to change! And as we change, and as He lives through us, let’s “give thanks unto God and the Father by Him.”

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Fri 3.5 – Family Matters!

Today’s Readings: Col 3.1-4; Eph 3; 2 Cor 5.17-21

Ok, I’m sure everyone remembers the 3 things we have talked about so far that are ABOVE. What were they…?

We talked about SEEKING these things, and about SETTING OUR AFFECTION on these things. We talked about how that must include the PURSUITS of our life and the engaging of our HEART and our MIND in these things…so, have you remembered yet, what were they?

Things Above:
    (1) The PERSON of God (I Jn 5.7; Deut 4.29, 6.4-5, Matt 12.30)
    (2) The WORD of God (Ps 119.89, 18; Luke 10.38-42)
    (3) The THRONE of God (Eze 1. 26-28; Isa 6.1-6; Rev 1.17, 4.1-11, Matt 6.33)

Today, let’s look at the 4^th thing God says is ABOVE, the FAMILY of God.

We will spend our time in Ephesians 3 today, so it is a good idea for you to turn there and follow along as we go.

God makes a pretty big deal about His Church in this chapter of scripture. Today, our study will simply be a guided reading. Notice some of the HUGE things He says about His church in this passage, noted below. As you read, ask God to help you see His Family with the same emphasis He does. Check it out…

-It was a mystery to previous generations until the time of the apostles and early believers in Jesus Christ. God kept it hidden from the OT saints, but he allows us to understand, and join in it. (v.4-6)

- It was a means for the Gentile (non-Jew) to become a full blown God-follower without having to convert to Judaism and keep a bunch of rules and regulations (v.6)

- God HID the truth of the Church in HIMSELF since the foundation of the world. That also means THE CHURCH WAS GOD’S PLAN FROM THE BEGINNING. This was not an after thought (v.9)

- The Church is God’s way of saying “In your face!” to the Devil and the powers that fight against God. It was BY THE CHURCH that God’s wisdom was made known to all principalities and powers, or satanic forces (v.10)

- This show of God’s wisdom through the church was God’s ETERNAL PURPOSE from the beginning, and the reason for Christ’s coming to earth (v.11)

- It was because he realized this that Paul BOWED DOWN before God in worship and humility, seeking and setting his affection on the person, word, and throne of God (v.14)

- This amazing thing that God has such big plans for, is described as the FAMILY OF GOD (v.15)

Back in the introduction to this book of the Bible, Paul sends greetings in the name of GOD OUR FATHER (Eph 1.2). Even from his second statement, he wants to prepare them to think of fellow believers and God as being one big family. Do you have a Father? Do you know of a good father? Imagine the care and concern that man has for his Family. Now imagine how much greater our Lords must be for His FAMILY. Wow…such a privilege to be a part of the FAMILY OF GOD, because to God, FAMILY MATTERS!

In closing today, if you have time, check out 2 Cor 5.17-21 in preparation for tomorrow’s study. Ask God to help you see the role He has left for His family here. Tomorrow… “FAMILIES GROW UP, AND FAMILIES GROW OUT”