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”

Mon 2.1 – Walking in Wisdom

Today’s reading: Colossians 4 & Revelation 3.14-22

There is a famous letter to the church of Laodicea in the book of Revelation. Some of you may know that the letters in chapter 2-3 of the book of the Revelation represent the periods of church history. The period we live in today would be the Laodicean one, or the last one. As you read through Colossians 4, you will notice that Paul gives these believers some instruction to “read the epistle from Laodicea”. Maybe, as we study the book of Colossians, it would do us some good to also study the letter to Laodicea and follow Paul’s advice???

Truly, as Pastor Wood pointed out last night, there are many connections between the letter from the Lord to the church of Laodicea and the letter from Paul to the church of Colosse (Colossians). Let’s take some time today and see if we can notice anything that God may be speaking to our generation in these passages. Pray that God will open your spiritual eyes to see truth (Ps 119.18) and that you will receive the message He has for you today. I encourage you to continue this study much further than we will go today, but let me get our thoughts started with this thought.

Last night we talked about how Paul was writing the book of Colossians to overcome some wrong ideas these folks had about their faith in God. The way we decided to name that was a “quick-fix” type of relationship with God. One in which we just come to Him to fix our problems or help us when we’re down, but depends on US the rest of the time.  So, that’s what Paul was trying to help those believers overcome. We looked at a few of the ways he describes that relationship in the last part of chapter 2 in Colossians.

Today, let’s look at this letter to the Laodiceans and see if there are some similarities.  Now, you can find more for yourself, but I just want to make sure we do not overlook one important one. God describes these people at Laodicea as THINKING they are rich, but spiritually they are WRETCHED.  (Rev 3.17) Wow! Then He says explains that at this particular church He was actually on the OUTSIDE knocking, trying to get in. (3.20) Again, Wow! So why? How is this? Well, just before that He says that it is their LUKEWARMNESS that disgusts Him( 3.16). We understand that, don’t we? We hate room temperature water too! See, that lukewarmness meant they had no purpose. He even says I WISH YOU WERE HOT OR COLD (3.15) but you are simply room temperature. See, HOT water has a purpose – it is used for therapeutic purposes, it is used to disinfect, to soothe, and to relax muscles. COLD water has a purpose – it is refreshing, it is satisfying to the thirst, and it is used to ease pain of injury (ice). So what the Lord is saying to them, and I believe to us, is that HE desires that we be USEFUL. Some will be that hot water, and be used accordingly. Some will be that cold water. But either way, don’t be that lukewarm water that nobody wants for any purpose.

Let’s set our hearts to pursuing God’s plan for us through this directions study. To determine today that we are not going to allow our hearts and our spiritual lives to become LUKEWARM before God or others around us. Let us take the book of Colossians and develop into the people God planed for us to be, living life on PURPOSE.

1.1 – God’s Desire for the Christian’s Life

We will be taking much of our study in the DIRECTIONS series from the book of Colossians. This letter to the church serves as a sort of “Christian’s field guide” if you will. It is almost as if God is laying out the pattern for the Christian life He desires in this short epistle.

Notice the first point he makes once the 8 verse introduction is over. In Col 1.9-12, God describes a mature/developed believer. After describing what they heard about these believers, Pauls says they had not stopped praying for and desiring that these folks would have certain characteristics. So, what are the qualities of a mature believer? Take a minute to look through these verses and see how God described a mature Christian.

Now, the question we all knew was coming. Take that list and look in the mirror. Do you see your reflection? I hate to say that I do not see a great picture of myself there. I wish it would be more of one, and I know it is more than it used to be, but it is still nowhere near where it should be.

Today, let’s just look at the first thing He mentions, “be filled with the knowledge of his will in all widsom and spiritual understanding.” How do we do that??? Okay, maybe I can understand that I need to be filled with the knowledge of His will. That seems to make sense, right? I mean, of course God wants me to know His will. What I am having trouble wrapping my little brain around is how I am supposed to do that in “all wisdom” and ”spiritual understanding”? Maybe we could look at the Proverbs writer and see that Wisdom and Understanding are chiefly valuable (Prov 3.13-14, 4.7). Also, perhaps in our search of the WORD for GOD’S DEFINITION of the words He used (instead of trying to make up our own), we would find Job 28.28 where He reveals what Wisdom and Understanding are. So then, I am left to look for God’s will and do so with all wisdom (fear of Him) and spiritual understanding (fleeing evil).

Let’s take that jumble of verses and connect some of the dots. I think we all understand where we can go to learn the will of God…HIS WORD. Nobody in their right mind will argue with that. The trick comes when we try to do so with (#1) ALL WISDOM. Going to His word and with wisdom (FEARFULLY) searching for His will. When we begin to realize that God is a God of Truth, that He is a God that will NOT be mocked, and that He will ensure that all things about His Word come to pass, it takes on a new light. Maybe one of the reasons that we seem to be so distant from being able to “FIND THE WILL OF GOD” in our day is because so many of us search for it without FEARING God in the process. Now, of course I am not talking about fearing Him like you would bed-bugs when you were 6, but respectfully realizing the awesomeness of His power and nature. If we understand that about Him, how much more will we be likely to desire His WILL and persue it??? It has been said that knowledge is simply retaining facts and information, but wisdom is acting upon that and applying it to your lives. That’s the difference in knowing aboug God, and fearing Him. Sounds like wisdom to me.

The second thing that He says is to do so with (#2) SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING. Now, the book of proverbs explains understanding as getting away from evil. However, that doesn’t sound extra spiritual, does it – it is almost just logical. Where does SPIRITUAL wisdom come into play? It has a lot to do with being able to look past the shallow surface of things. There may be things in our lives that seem to be fine, nothing evil on the surface, but underneath lies the stinky odor of sin. We learn in I Cor 3 to compare SPIRITUAL things with SPIRITUAL things to find SPIRITUAL truth. If something seems to be right, that doesn’t mean it is. Having sex with someone you love may SEEM right, or FEEL right, and sometimes is. However, sex takes place outside the boundaries of marriage, it is not – no matter how it seems or feels.  God very clearly says that is SIN. So, feeling right is not enough. do you see what I mean? PHYSICALLY something may seem right, but SPIRITUALLY it may stink. So, how do we know what is SPIRITUALLY truth? How do we gain spiritual understanding? We keep our mind in spiritual things. The Word of God, the Person of God, the Church of God, the Praise of God, the People of God, the Place of God, the Plan of God, the Kingdom of God, etc…and as we do that, we compare spiritual things with OTHER SPIRITUAL THINGS. In other words, when a question arises about truth, we do not look to others, to ourselves, or to anyting else to figure out what is SIN and what is not, except for the WORD OF GOD. You have heard it said around here plenty of times, “compare scripture with scripture.” That’s the key. Do you want to know the will of God? Do you want to have it in all wisdom? Then you are going to need to exercise some SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING!

(for further study, you could look through the scripture and find things God describes as “spiritual”,  “wisdom”, “knowledge”, and “understanding” and then look to those things to find the ever so hard to spot – “Will of God”)