Fri 7.5 – the bond of perfectness

Today’s Readings: Colossians 3.10-16; 2.1-4; 1 Peter 4.8; 1 John 4.21; John 13.35

As we go through these descriptions of the new man this week, reviewing back to Wednesday night, I want to take the opportunity to talk with you all about where he speaks of the ELECT of God. We addressed this a little bit on Wednesday night, but I feel as though there is more to be said. However, I also do not know how many of you reading this actually have any concern about the subject. It seems to be something that high-minded people get all frizzled up about, and WASTE much of their time arguing over while the work of God goes undone. So, maybe in the future we will discuss this concept further, but for now, just know that we have been ELECTED to be CONFORMED into the IMAGE of God’s Son (Romans 8.29-33).

Today, let’s talk about the concept of being BOUND together by love!

After using the purpose of their election to reason with these believers to PUT ON THE NEW MAN, Paul moves on to explain their unity. He does this through two steps.

1 – FORGIVE. Check out his words in Col 3.13. If there was ever a person who should be able to forgive another person, it should be the believer. Having been forgiven of so much, it would only seem natural that we would desire to show that same forgiveness to others as well. The problem tends to be, that in AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY we have this broken reasoning that tells us we have EARNED something, or DESERVE something. Let me just remind you of how our pastor explains this truth from scripture often…we all DESERVE to be FEDEX’D straight to HELL. That’s what we DESERVE. Anyone who has come to Christ and asked for forgiveness for salvation through faith and repentance should know this. But the longer we LIVE in this world, and the more we LISTEN to this world, the more we will LEAVE the things of Christ behind.

So, understanding how much we have been forgiven of, and therefore being more prone to forgive others…what are his next words???

2 – LOVE. Notice that in Col 3.14 he says that “charity”, or love, should be the priority among our priorities! It is the BOND OF PERFECTNESS!!! Wow, now that’s a big statement. Let me shed a little light on that for us …

There is this stuff that we all use around our houses, it will fix just about anything that is broken instantly. SUPERGLUE. Do you know what superglue is? (besides that stuff that makes you accidently glue your fingers together because it dries so stinking fast!) SuperGlue is a type of BONDING! It makes two things stick together.

Now, if CHARITY is our BOND of perfectness…what does God mean by that? Well, in explaining the body of Christ, God says that we are all BOUND together as one BODY in Him. His ultimate goal for us is to grow into the “measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” and the way He describes it is to be a “PERFECT MAN”(Eph 4.13). Hugh? Isn’t that interesting? So, God wants us to be like the SECOND ADAM, THE NEW MAN, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE PERFECT MAN, and here in Colossians 3.14, He explains that the BONDING that will hold it all together for us as His body (having many members but being still one body) is LOVE!!!! Wow.

How is that? Well maybe because of the truth of these verses…

1 Pet 4.8 – When we LOVE someone, that love will cover a MULTITUDE of sins!!! (that means we can get over the junk that crowds our minds and hearts when we gather together to worship and serve our LORD!!!)

John 13.35 – When we LOVE ONEANOTHER, it is as if we are taking on the personification of our Savior here on this earth. We show him through our lives when we do that. We are little-Christs (Christians) at that point.

I John 4.19-21 – When we LOVE our brothers, we are proving our love for God. That is the common denominator among believers, that is our point of unity!

May God help us to realize how much love we have received, and may that cause us to love others the way He would, and does! Amen.

Thur 7.4 – A level playing field

Today’s Readings: Colossians 3.10-16; Romans 9.24-26,30; I Corinthians 12.13; Gal 3.28

What is a social class? Political power? Celebrity influence? I could keep going, but the point is that no matter who the HUMAN is, they have no power over other human beings unless those other human beings allow them to have that power. A person in a celebrity because a bunch of other people said they are and are interested in their lives. A person has political power because the people choose him, or because the yield to his tyranny. A person has social status because of our embedded biases and other’s deciding to follow their example.

Very simply, the only One who can command power and authority is a way that demands us obey is the Lord God. All humans beings are sinful according to Romans 3.23! Let’s take a second to examine the thought of this verse:

“ALL” – how many people is that…exactly.

“have sinned” – what is sin? It is our failure to live perfectly according to God’s will for us. And according to scripture, we’ve all stumbled head-over-heels on this one.

“come short” – no matter how close we were, we are short. If you and I run and jump off a cliff in northern California and try to make it to Asia, we will both FALL SHORT of that goal. You may jump further than I, but neither of us has come near to Asia.

“glory of God” – you see that glory is the standard we cannot meet! No mere mortal will come to the standard of God’s holy, righteous, beautiful glory! Some may get a little further here and there, but nobody is even in sight of the goal!

HOWEVER, in you (the believer) is that NEW MAN! That NEW MAN is our way of being conformed back into the image of GOD that was lost when Adam sinned. That same spiritual part of us is where we are going to find the means to live up to God’s will. While nobody is perfect, and we all make mistakes, when we stand before God, all are equal!

When they stand before God there is no difference between the rich man, Lazarus, Peter, Paul, you or me! There is an old saying, “the ground is level at the foot of the cross” and I would have to simply say AMEN to that! Maybe you feel like a social reject, an outcast, unloved and unwanted? That is not so with our God. All can come, and all must come the same way. There is no favoritism with God (I Pet 1.17)

May you find your purpose, meaning, acceptance, righteousness, and life in Him today! Amen.

Wed 5.3 – A very old bag of tricks

Today’s Readings: Colossians 3.1-7; I John 2.16; Joshua 7.21; Gen 3.6

Alright, today I want to step back from where we’ve been focusing in Colossians 3 and look at a little bigger picture of the scripture as a whole. Let’s talk about some of the facts first as we prepare our hearts for the message tonight. I am going to make some simple points for us to consider then at the end of that list, I will challenge us to do something with what this list teaches us…

1 – The Devil is NOT omnipresent(always everywhere), omnipotent(all powerful), or omniscient(all knowing) – those are things that ONLY belong to GOD!

2 – however, the devil sure has been around for a long time! When a human, that only lives for 70-80 years looks at the devil, he may appear to be these things because of his age and the knowledge of humans he would have gained over that time. Who would know more about ants…a 3^rd grader who burns them with a magnifying glass in his driveway, or a 60 year old scientist who dedicated his life to the study of ants? The same is true of the Devil…he has had 6000 years to learn human weaknesses and frailties, and he knows how to use them to his advantage.

3 – In Colossians 3, we are NOT to SEEK or SET our AFFECTION on the things of where?…EARTH! And what were those things? We said they were things that are motivated by this WORLD, and things motivated by our BODIES. Another fair way of saying “things of earth” would be to say “things of the WORLD” wouldn’t you say? Ok, not carry that into the next question…

4 – In 1 John 2.16 how does God describe the WORLDLY things??? He says “ALL that is IN the WORLD is …” and then gives three categories the THINGS OF THE WORLD can be categorized into, which are –

• Lusts of the flesh
• Lusts of the eyes
• Pride of life

5 – We can go to Genesis 3.6 and see that SATAN obviously knew that when he tempted Eve with the THINGS OF THE EARTH/WORLD in the garden. Notice the progression of Eve’s sin:

• She “SAW that the tree was GOOD FOR FOOD” (lusts of the flesh)
• She decided “it was PLEASANT to the EYES” (lust of the eyes)
• She even thought it was “a tree to be DESIRED to make one WISE” (pride of life)

Eve fell BECAUSE SHE WAS SEEKING AND SETTING HER AFFECTION ON THE THINGS OF EARTH (WORLD) AND NOT ABOVE!!!!! WOW!

6 – Now, we go to Joshua 7.21 and see the same patter is what caused the fall of Achan:

• He “SAW among the SPOILS” of a worldly city that was the enemy of God things that even after he is busted he still considers “goodly” (lust of the eyes)
• He “coveted” those things (lust of the flesh) [Hey! Right here, remember what we talked about last Wednesday about Colossians 3.5 – "covetousness, which is idolatry"!!!]
• He “took” those things God had specifically claimed for Himself! [see Joshua 6.18] (pride of life)

Ending our time with God today, let’s re-read Colossians 3.1-7 and ask God to keep our hearts and minds SET on HIM and the THINGS ABOVE where HE is and where WE are IN Christ. May we not be caught up in the sin that Satan IS going to tempt us by, the same sin he’s always tempted man by, because he knows it WORKS! Even in Colossians 3.5 God warns about the outcome of the lust of the flesh – “fornication”; the lust of the eyes – “inordinate affection, evil concupiscence”; and the pride of life – “covetousness, which is idolatry” !!!

I love you guys! Today, maybe more than ever I am praying for you to STAY AWAY from the SINS Satan uses to snare so many people. I see SIN everywhere I look today, from our media, to our music, to our attitudes, to our character, to our faithlessness, to our apathy and laziness, and I want it to change! I want a generation of CHANGERS. Today, as we prepare to come to the FRIDGE for service tonight, let’s focus our minds NOT on GOING TO CHURCH, but rather on BEING THE CHURCH! Maybe if we thought more like that we wouldn’t struggle as much elsewhere…

Tue 5.2 – DOGPILE!

Today’s Readings: Colossians 2.20, 3.3-4,7; Romans 6.2, 7, 11; Galatians 2.20, 5.24; I Peter 2.24

It’s the bottom of the 9^th, your team is up by 3, there are 2 outs and the count is 0-2. Last pitch. Swing and a miss. YOU WIN! Then you hear those dreaded words “DOG-PILE!” and before you know it, you’re buried underneath a mound of sweaty, stinky, ball players.

Well, there is some spiritual truth to this idea that I want you to see. Sunday morning, during the 8.15 service, I was talking to the congregation about many of the same principals that we have been talking about here on the devotions. I received an encouraging e-mail the next morning from one of our members. Through our exchange, a very important truth was brought to life and I want to make sure we do not go on without making it clear for you all.

In the list of verses above, you will find some critical teachings about the death of our flesh. Now, obviously it is not literally dead because you and I are still breathing. However, because of the working and power of Christ, it’s ways and methods are. Don’t forget the truth of Romans 8 when we learned about the DEATH SENTENCE that is already passed on our BODY. What tends to happen in our lives is that after salvation we receive (via the new man) the right DESIRES and WAYS that can rule our lives. Then as time goes on, we allow little bits of that old BODY to creep in, and before you know it we still have that NEW man inside to give us the VICTORY in CHRIST, but he is buried under a DOGPILE of sinful lusts, pride, and so many more.

Students, I cannot express strongly enough to you what YOU ALREADY HAVE IN JESUS CHRIST if you are a born again believer. HE is the one who GIVES US THE VICTORY (I Corinthains 15.57). Do NOT miss that! Our victory over this fleshy state is going to be THROUGH CHRIST JESUS and no other means. The only way for us to mortify, the only way for us to LIVE life as DEAD people, is to allow CHRIST to be our VICTORY over sin and flesh.

Never lose sight of Galatians 5.17 – There will ALWAYS be a battle between the FLESH and the SPIRIT. They are fierce enemies at the very best, and if we think for one second that they can co-exist, we are sadly mistaken. Do not allow yourself to enter this war with your MIND. Do not yield to the CARNAL or FLESHY mentality that the world floods you with. Remember I Corinthians 2.16, we HAVE, currently, the MIND of CHRIST.

My prayer for you today is that you would realize your identity in Him. I pray the MIND of Christ would have freedom in your life to rule and to reign over you. I pray the DOGPILE of the worldly, earthly, fleshy things would cover the Spiritual things. Rather, I pray that TODAY as you spend time with God in prayer and opening the doors of your heart to the VOICE of God through His Word, that you would say with Paul, “we are more than conquerors through him that loved us!”

Mon 5.1 – To kill a mocking flesh

Today’s Readings: Colossians 3.1-7; Romans 6

Hey everyone! Man, I had a blast at the camping trip this weekend. Okay, so I was only 2 for 10 with the skeet shooting, but I still had a blast! We had a few close calls with the weather but God was protecting us, and we thankfully praise Him for that! I want to note that there was no devotion from Saturday because we didn’t have any internet access at the property where we were camping. As a matter of fact, we didn’t have access to anything but woods and dirt there J . So, since I couldn’t access the internet to post Saturday’s devotion, there wasn’t one. I appreciate your faithfulness for checking in to see it, it really encourages me to know that you guys are getting so faithful with these devotions. We are averaging like 35 people doing them a day. That’s almost half of our youth group, which means we are getting more and more people on board.

Today, I want to simply answer a question. We’ve been talking about mortifying the flesh, which is something we all know that we should do. However, it can also seem to be a pretty complicated thing to explain. Therefore, today I just want us to look at some scriptures that explain the process of making that REALITY in our lives. If you would, start today by reading Colossians 3.1-7 to remind yourself of God’s commission for the one who is RISEN with Christ. We are to live our life here like the life we have with Him in heaven. We are to SEEK and SET OUR AFFECTION on things above where God is, not things of earth where we are. We saw the things of earth are mainly things of our BODIES and that’s why God mentions in Colossians 3.3-4 that one day our bodies will be redeemed, but in the mean time we need MORTIFY our MEMBERS which are UPON THE EARTH.

Now, right there is where we pick up for today. If we are to mortify our members on this earth, how do we do that? That’s a fair question, and a good one at that. Well, I think one of the best portions of scripture for us to examine is a simple one found in Romans 6. Paul is talking about this very idea of MORTIFYING or making DEAD our flesh on this earth that we may LIVE UNTO GOD and not unto ourselves. Paul gives a little formula for this process, he says we have to (1) Know, (2) Reckon, and (3) Yield to the truth that we are dead.

1.     Know it. Paul takes Romans 6.1-5 to remind us that we ARE DEAD with Christ. Then in verse 6 he says, “KNOWING THIS…” What is it that he says we are to KNOW? He says we are to KNOW that our OLD MAN (that is our old nature) is CRUCIFIED with him…and therefore because our OLD NATURE (that part of us that yielded itself to the body that we currently live in) is now dead, we no longer have to SERVE SIN. It is interesting to note how Paul describes our bodies in this verse. What does he call them? Bodies of …SIN. Wow, what a strong name.

Okay, so first things first – in order to mortify the flesh we have to KNOW that we no longer are bound to serve it because our OLD MAN is CRICIFIED with Christ, freeing us to live unto HIM and not this BODU OF SIN.

2.       Reckon it. In Romans 6.11, Paul says we are to RECKON ourselves to be DEAD UNTO SIN, but ALIVE UNTO GOD because of the truth we now KNOW from verse 6.This is a word you probably don’t understand unless you are related to country people. “I reckon so” was a common response to questions when I was growing up. What it meant was “My calculations would lead me to say yes.” And really, that’s not such a bad understanding of this word. It is actually a word that, in the days when the Bible was written, would have been used as an accounting term. Today I might say I have RECKONED, or balanced, my checkbook. It means to survey what you know about the situation, and calculate the truth. If I had $100 Monday, and I spent $20 on Wednesday, and deposited $10 on Friday, then Saturday I would RECKON that I have $90 available to me in my account.

So, in dealing with our flesh, we are to begin to account, or RECKON, the truth of our freedom from the bondage of sin in our bodies and realize the life we can now life unto Christ. Once we know something is truth, then we can begin to adjust our RECORDS to match what we know is truth. (when people’s personal RECORDS do not match the truth of the ACCOUNT they are recording, that is when people get into trouble and bounce checks. People get into trouble much the same way spiritually.)

3.     Yield to it. In verse 13, Paul says that once you KNOW it, and once you’ve moved your life to RECKON it, then you simply YIELD to what you already know is true. If you are DEAD with Christ to sin, and you have ACCOUNTED that truth to mean you no longer have to SERVE sin, then when the hunger for sin presents itself, you no longer have to YIELD YOUR MEMBERS to unrighteous acts, but you can YIELD THOSE MEMBERS as instruments of Christ. Those are the SAME MEMBERS that Paul talks about MORTIFYING in Col 3.5. When you kill them to the flesh, you can utilize them to the Spirit, as one ALIVE UNTO GOD.

So that’s the very simply progression God gives to help us with mortifying the flesh… (1) KNOW the truth of your freedom from sin and your DEATH with Christ. (2) RECKON the truth in your personal life, do not let this simply be something you know “is”, but make it something that “is true about YOU.” (3) YIELD to that truth in your life. When we realize we are dead unto sin, and alive unto God, then we can YIELD to the right master…the only Master! Amen.