Live as Heavenly Citizens

Our Love for God

Loving God by Trusting Christ

Renounce Everything for Christ

Philippians 3:17-4:1 The Message

17-19 Stick with me, friends. Keep track of those you see running this same course, headed for this same goal. There are many out there taking other paths, choosing other goals, and trying to get you to go along with them. I’ve warned you of them many times; sadly, I’m having to do it again. All they want is easy street. They hate Christ’s Cross. But easy street is a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites.
20-21 But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting for the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He’ll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him.
4 My dear, dear friends! I love you so much. I do want the very best for you. You make me feel such joy, fill me with such pride. Don’t waver. Stay on track, steady in God.

For Reflection

Just watch your tongue. Make sure that your actions are consistent with the way of Jesus Christ. Avoid getting hung up in the false promises of Christian pretenders. Test everything by the rule of love before you embrace it.  Selflessness in more difficult than selfishness but far more rewarding.

Pray

Pray so that you will make your path toward grace easier.  Pray and listed the whispered words of encouragement and counsel.

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Boast in Jesus Christ

Our Love for God

Loving God by Trusting Christ

Renounce Everything for Christ

Philippians 3:1-6 The Message

To Know Him Personally

3 And that’s about it, friends. Be glad in God!
I don’t mind repeating what I have written in earlier letters, and I hope you don’t mind hearing it again. Better safe than sorry—so here goes.
2-6 Steer clear of the barking dogs, those religious busybodies, all bark and no bite. All they’re interested in is appearances—knife-happy circumcisers, I call them. The real believers are the ones the Spirit of God leads to work away at this ministry, filling the air with Christ’s praise as we do it. We couldn’t carry this off by our own efforts, and we know it—even though we can list what many might think are impressive credentials. You know my pedigree: a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God’s law; a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting the church; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God’s law Book.

For Reflection

Though I sometimes get in trouble for it and many times I weaken, My two life rules have been, "Make it all fun and if it ain't fun, don't do it." and "Never work with unpleasant people. They suck the energy right out of you. Just give them a lick and a promise and get outta there!" (I am often surprised by how many people become more pleasant.) 

I should have added, "Steer clear of the barking dogs." They make life a misery. On the other hand, there may be a ring of truth in their mischief. While they are disruptive,  perhaps if one listens to what is underpinning their worrisome prattle, one may find a way to love them too.

Pray

Pray so that you will be more able to perceive others as God sees them.  Pray so that you can escape from life's distractions.

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Pauls Solid Credentials

Our Love for God

Loving God by Trusting Christ

Renounce Everything for Christ

2 Corinthians 11:21-33 The Message

Many a Long and Lonely Night

16-21 Let me come back to where I started—and don’t hold it against me if I continue to sound a little foolish. Or if you’d rather, just accept that I am a fool and let me rant on a little. I didn’t learn this kind of talk from Christ. Oh, no, it’s a bad habit I picked up from the three-ring preachers that are so popular these days. Since you sit there in the judgment seat observing all these shenanigans, you can afford to humor an occasional fool who happens along. You have such admirable tolerance for impostors who rob your freedom, rip you off, steal you blind, put you down—even slap your face! I shouldn’t admit it to you, but our stomachs aren’t strong enough to tolerate that kind of stuff.
21-23 Since you admire the egomaniacs of the pulpit so much (remember, this is your old friend, the fool, talking), let me try my hand at it. Do they brag of being Hebrews, Israelites, the pure race of Abraham? I’m their match. Are they servants of Christ? I can go them one better. (I can’t believe I’m saying these things. It’s crazy to talk this way! But I started, and I’m going to finish.)
23-27 I’ve worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death’s door time after time. I’ve been flogged five times with the Jews’ thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I’ve been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I’ve had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I’ve been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by the desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I’ve known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather.
28-29 And that’s not the half of it. When you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches or when someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones. When someone is duped into sin, an angry fire burns in my gut.
30-33 If I have to “brag” about myself, I’ll brag about the humiliations that make me like Jesus. The eternal and blessed God and Father of our Master Jesus knows I’m not lying. Remember the time I was in Damascus and the governor of King Aretas posted guards at the city gates to arrest me? I crawled through a window in the wall, was let down in a basket, and had to run for my life.

For Reflection

I have walked in your shoes.  I have worked hard, and been incarcerated, flogged, stoned, and shipwrecked.  I have fended off robbers, and struggled with friends and foes.   I have taken great risk and been betrayed by those I trusted.  All of this I have suffered in my service to the Lord.

So, don't tell me I don't know what you have gone through. When you reach the end of your rope, I feel the desperation.  When one backslides, anger drives me toward justice, forgiveness, and grace.  All of this suffering is a good thing for it motivates me to be more like Christ.  Such pain will result in spiritual growth for you as well. If you stop whining and playing the victim, you will rise out of your troubles and grow into Grace.

Paul's words should resonate in our souls. Your life can become a journey into peace.

Pray

Pray so that you can transcend your human suffering and grow into the divine grace of God.

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Persistent Faith

Our Love for God

Loving God by Trusting Christ

Renounce Everything for Christ

Mark 7:24-30 The Message

24-26 From there Jesus set out for the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house there where he didn’t think he would be found, but he couldn’t escape notice. He was barely inside when a woman who had a disturbed daughter heard where he was. She came and knelt at his feet, begging for help. The woman was Greek, Syro-Phoenician by birth. She asked him to cure her daughter.
27 He said, “Stand in line and take your turn. The children get fed first. If there’s any left over, the dogs get it.”
28 She said, “Of course, Master. But don’t dogs under the table get scraps dropped by the children?”
29-30 Jesus was impressed. “You’re right! On your way! Your daughter is no longer disturbed. The demonic affliction is gone.” She went home and found her daughter relaxed on the bed, the torment gone for good.

For Reflection

This story also appears in Matthew 15:21-31 in much the same version.  We often focus on Christ's silence, refusal or reproach. God often does not answer our petition immediately. The refusal and the rebuke may have been Christ's way of testing the sincerity of the woman's faith.  Her persistence proved the validity of her faith.

But in Matthew, the story is also about the culturally embedded expectations of the Jews and is reflected in the responses of the disciples.  They came complaining to Jesus about the woman's apparent loud and persistent approach.  They wanted Jesus to grant her request and dismiss her.

The disciples only wanted to be rid of her. In some ways, their response to this woman's plea was harsher than Christ's silence. She, after all, was a gentile. Gentiles or Pagans were commonly called dogs by the Jews. Perhaps Christ's demeanor and choice of words were directed at teaching the disciples a lesson by reflecting their perception of who was worthy to receive the favor of Christ.

Pray

Pray so that you will be able to respond compassionately and sharing the gift of Grace with all people. 

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Envoys of Ministry in Christ's Mission

Our Love for God

Loving God by Trusting Christ

Devote All to Christ

Philippians 2:19-30 The Message

19-24 I plan (according to Jesus’ plan) to send Timothy to you very soon so he can bring back all the news of you he can gather. Oh, how that will do my heart good! I have no one quite like Timothy. He is loyal,and genuinely concerned for you. Most people around here are looking out for themselves, with little concern for the things of Jesus. But you know yourselves that Timothy’s the real thing. He’s been a devoted son to me as together we’ve delivered the Message. As soon as I see how things are going to fall out for me here, I plan to send him off. And then I’m hoping and praying to be right on his heels.
25-27 But for right now, I’m dispatching Epaphroditus, my good friend andcompanion in my work. You sent him to help me out; now I’m sending him to help you out. He has been wanting in the worst way to get back with you. Especially since recovering from the illness you heard about, he’s been wanting to get back and reassure you that he is just fine. He nearly died, as you know, but God had mercy on him. And not only on him—he had mercy on me, too. His death would have been one huge grief piled on top of all the others.
28-30 So you can see why I’m so delighted to send him on to you. When you see him again, hale and hearty, how you’ll rejoice and how relieved I’ll be. Give him a grand welcome, a joyful embrace! People like him deserve the best you can give. Remember the ministry to me that you started but weren’t able to complete? Well, in the process of finishing up that work, he put his life on the line and nearly died doing it.

For Reflection

As Christians grow into Grace, they continue the work that God began through Christ.  To study the word and discuss it in the companionship with other Christians is essential.  No less necessary is reading and examining divergent understandings of the meaning of God and Christ.

Challenging one's own Christian ideas, beliefs, values, and attitudes deepen and enrich your Christian faith. One should embrace differences not fear them. Unity in Christ does not mean uniformity.

Pray

Challenge your Chrisian beliefs and action in prayer. Pray so that you can grow closer to God's will.

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Serve and Work for God's Pleasure

Our Love for God

Loving God by Trusting Christ

Devote All to Christ

Philippians 2:12-18 The Message

Rejoicing Together

12-13 What I’m getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you’ve done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I’m separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.
14-16 Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night so I’ll have good cause to be proud of you on the day that Christ returns. You’ll be living proof that I didn’t go to all this work for nothing.
17-18 Even if I am executed here and now, I’ll rejoice in being an element in the offering of your faith that you make on Christ’s altar, a part of your rejoicing. But turnabout’s fair play—you must join me in my rejoicing. Whatever you do, don’t feel sorry for me.

For Reflection

As a child of God, you will endure the troubles of life because you are human.  You will experience times of sorrow, anger, resentment, frustration, loneliness, hatefulness, hopelessness, grief, happiness, and joy. God will share in your pleasure and pain. But as a child of God, you will also move through life with confidence in the promise of God that all things work for good.

You see the world differently. You perceive the beauty of your existence, the sustenance in the fellowship of good people. You will find satisfaction in working for justice.  With your actions, you will carry the light of the Holy Spirit and witness to the love of the living God.  You will find rest in the midst of chaos.
This transformation is your salvation.

Pray

Take time each day to pray about all things.so that you will rest in the loving hands of God.

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Learning Obedience through Suffering

Our Love for God

Loving God by Trusting Christ

Devote All to Christ

Hebrews 5:1-10 The Message

5 1-3 Every high priest selected to represent men and women before God and offer sacrifices for their sins should be able to deal gently with their failings, since he knows what it’s like from his own experience. But that also means that he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as the peoples’.
4-6 No one elects himself to this honored position. He’s called to it by God, as Aaron was. Neither did Christ presume to set himself up as high priest, but was set apart by the One who said to him, “You’re my Son; today I celebrate you!” In another place God declares, “You’re a priest forever in the royal order of Melchizedek.”
7-10 While he lived on earth, anticipating death, Jesus cried out in pain and wept in sorrow as he offered up priestly prayers to God. Because he honored God, God answered him. Though he was God’s Son, he learned trusting-obedience by what he suffered, just as we do. Then, having arrived at the full stature of his maturity and having been announced by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who believingly obey him.

For Reflection

None of us are perfect. From time to time, we all suffer the consequence of our human condition and frailties.  It is when we are frustrated the most that we turn to God. We expect God to solve our problems and complain when a divine intervention does not occur.

But all of us are complete in the eyes of God. We have been born with the capacity to endure and conquer life's curve balls. We can choose how we will respond. Shall we lose sight of the dancing ball, swing, and miss? Or do we glue our attention to the direction we want the ball to go when hit?

Pray

Pray so that you will be more able to handle the twists of human life.  Pray so that you can anticipate the promise of a loving God that all things will work for good.

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Learning Godly Ways in Humility

Our Love for God

Loving God by Trusting Christ

Devote All to Christ

Psalm 119:65-72 The Message

65-72 Be good to your servant, God;
    be as good as your Word.
Train me in good common sense;
    I’m thoroughly committed to living your way.
Before I learned to answer you, I wandered all over the place,
    but now I’m in step with your Word.
You are good, and the source of good;
    train me in your goodness.
The godless spread lies about me,
    but I focus my attention on what you are saying;
They’re bland as a bucket of lard,
    while I dance to the tune of your revelation.
My troubles turned out all for the best—
    they forced me to learn from your textbook.
Truth from your mouth means more to me
    than striking it rich in a gold mine.

For Reflection

I am struck by the line, "my troubles turned out for the best."  So often we perceive troubling times as a turnabout of an easy life, free of challenges. After enduring difficulties, the psalmist understands that the stress instigated a search for the will of God, and once found, he began his journey toward Grace and accepted the assistance of God.

Pray

Pray so that you will understand troubles as a time to accept God's overture to invite the Holy Spirit's assistance.

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The Suffering Servant

Our Love for God

Loving God by Trusting Christ

Devote All to Christ

Isaiah 52:13-53:9 The Message

It Was Our Pains He Carried

13-15 “Just watch my servant blossom!
    Exalted, tall, head and shoulders above the crowd!
But he didn’t begin that way.
    At first everyone was appalled.
He didn’t even look human—
    a ruined face, disfigured past recognition.
Nations all over the world will be in awe, taken aback,
    kings shocked into silence when they see him.
For what was unheard of they’ll see with their own eyes,
    what was unthinkable they’ll have right before them.”
53 Who believes what we’ve heard and seen?
    Who would have thought God’s saving power would look like this?
2-6 The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,
    a scrubby plant in a parched field.
There was nothing attractive about him,
    nothing to cause us to take a second look.
He was looked down on and passed over,
    a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
    We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
    our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
    that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
    that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
    Through his bruises, we get healed.
We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost.
    We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong,
    on him, on him.
7-9 He was beaten, he was tortured,
    but he didn’t say a word.
Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered
    and like a sheep being sheared,
    he took it all in silence.
Justice miscarried, and he was led off—
    and did anyone really know what was happening?
He died without a thought for his own welfare,
    beaten bloody for the sins of my people.
They buried him with the wicked,
    threw him in a grave with a rich man,
Even though he’d never hurt a soul
    or said one word that wasn’t true.

For Reflection

Suffering is the doorway into the light of God. The "suffering servant" story is about one who accepted suffering and was not consumed by it.  

By all accounts, this servant suffered at the hands of other human beings.  God was not the cause of his suffering.  On the contrary, God was the source of his deliverance.  The suffering servant is a story of the futility of the selfish endeavors of the Godless and the superiority of selfless.

Pray

Pray so that you will see the will of God in your suffering.  Pray so that you can be delivered from your troubles and live as this servant lived, a witness to The triumph of righteousness.

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Sharing God's Grace

Our Love for God

Loving God by Trusting Christ

Submit to God in Love

Philippians 1:3-11 The Message 

A Love That Will Grow

3-6 Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart. I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God’s Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present. There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.
7-8 It’s not at all fanciful for me to think this way about you. My prayers and hopes have deep roots in reality. You have, after all, stuck with me all the way from the time I was thrown in jail, put on trial, and came out of it in one piece. All along you have experienced with me the most generous help from God. He knows how much I love and miss you these days. Sometimes I think I feel as strongly about you as Christ does!
9-11 So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover’s life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.

For Reflection

I hope that my love is sincere and intelligent.  I wish to be known to have a faith that is rooted in reality. If that hope guides my life, I will have experienced a life worth living. 

Pray

Pray so that your life will be known for your love, sincerity, and hope.


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Believing in and Suffering for Christ

Our Love for God

Loving God by Trusting Christ

Submit to God in Love

Philippians 1:27-30 The Message

27-30 Meanwhile, live in such a way that you are a credit to the Message of Christ. Let nothing in your conduct hang on whether I come or not. Your conduct must be the same whether I show up to see things for myself or hear of it from a distance. Stand united, singular in vision, contending for people’s trust in the Message, the good news, not flinching or dodging in the slightest before the opposition. Your courage and unity will show them what they’re up against: defeat for them, victory for you—and both because of God. There’s far more to this life than trusting in Christ. There’s also suffering for him. And the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting. You’re involved in the same kind of struggle you saw me go through, on which you are now getting an updated report in this letter.

For Reflection

Live your life so that you are a credit to God and  Christ.  Live your life so that others will see the face of God in you. Live your life in the manner of Christ.

Pray

Pray so that you can grow into grace, equivalent in form to Christ. 

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Apostles Are Fools for Christ

Our Love for God

Loving God by Trusting Christ

Submit to God in Love

1 Corinthians 4:8-13 The Message

7-8 For who do you know that really knows you, knows your heart? And even if they did, is there anything they would discover in you that you could take credit for? Isn’t everything you have and everything you are sheer gifts from God? So what’s the point of all this comparing and competing? You already have all you need. You already have more access to God than you can handle. Without bringing either Apollos or me into it, you’re sitting on top of the world—at least God’s world—and we’re right there, sitting alongside you!
9-13 It seems to me that God has put us who bear his Message on stage in a theater in which no one wants to buy a ticket. We’re something everyone stands around and stares at, like an accident in the street. We’re the Messiah’s misfits. You might be sure of yourselves, but we live in the midst of frailties and uncertainties. You might be well-thought-of by others, but we’re mostly kicked around. Much of the time we don’t have enough to eat, we wear patched and threadbare clothes, we get doors slammed in our faces, and we pick up odd jobs anywhere we can to eke out a living. When they call us names, we say, “God bless you.” When they spread rumors about us, we put in a good word for them. We’re treated like garbage, potato peelings from the culture’s kitchen. And it’s not getting any better.

For Reflection

For the most part, Corinth was a prosperous city. The new Christians probably reflected that affluence.  They had grown in the spirit of Grace, but not in humility.  These passages show the corrupting influence of pride. Corinthians take on the robe of privilege, not the mantle of sacrificial service.  Fellow Christians suffer while the privileged boast of their Christianity.

Such practice today is the contemporary manifestation of feudal violence, where the privileged class exploits the peasants to maintain their economic and social superiority.  This results in the inequitable distribution of a community's spiritual and economic wealth.  This inequity exacerbates the effects of the economic and social distance between those whose lives seem to be inoculated against the vagaries of life's pressures and those whose lives are dominated by them.

Economic and spiritual affluence is not a bad thing. But when one's self-perceived status blinds one from the suffering of others and causes one not share one's blessings, one violates the commandment to love.  Thus, prideful Christians belie their Christian attitudes, beliefs, and values by ignoring their responsibility to provide mechanisms for social and economic justice.  They cease to fulfill their Christian covenants.

Pray

Pray so that you grow in both Grace and humility.  Pray that you will always be mindful of God's will that all people receive the blessings that follow a commitment to The Way of Jesus Christ.  Pray that you will take up the cross of responsibility for your neighbor's wellbeing.

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The Spirit Rested on the Elders

Our Love for God

Loving God by Trusting Christ

Submit to God in Love

Numbers 11:24-34 The Message

24-25 So Moses went out and told the people what God had said. He called together seventy of the leaders and had them stand around the Tent. God came down in a cloud and spoke to Moses and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy leaders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they didn’t continue; it was a onetime event.
26 Meanwhile, two men, Eldad and Medad, had stayed in the camp. They were listed as leaders, but they didn’t leave camp to go to the Tent. Still, the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp.
27 A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!”
28 Joshua, son of Nun, who had been Moses’ right-hand man since his youth, said, “Moses, master! Stop them!”
29 But Moses said, “Are you jealous for me? Would that all God’s people were prophets. Would that God would put his Spirit on all of them.”
30-34 Then Moses and the leaders of Israel went back to the camp.

For Reflection

The contrast between the seventy who received the Spirit from God through Moses and the two elders who stayed in the camp shows us the will of God.  All but Eldad and Medad felt qualified to attend to Moses. Perhaps the two who remained in the camp felt unworthy of such a high calling.  If so, their humility attracted God's attention, and God gifted to them the power of the holy spirit to pray, prophesy, and teach according to the Spirit visited upon them.

Perhaps the others, like Joshua, were concerned that Moses' influence would be diminished by those who were not as qualified as the seventy thought they were.  The seventy were blessed with instruction from Moses and God and prophesied only once.

But it was those who saw themselves as unworthy to answer God's call who continued the work of God.  I suppose that if one thinks that he or she is more worthy than another in the sight of God, it is proof that they are unworthy.

Pray

Pray so that you will humble yourself at the feet of  Christ  Pray so that you will respond to the will of God through the Holy Spirit.

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God Sent Me to Preserve You

Our Love for God

Loving God by Trusting Christ

Submit to God in Christ

Genesis 45:1-8 The Message

45 1-2 Joseph couldn’t hold himself in any longer, keeping up a front before all his attendants. He cried out, “Leave! Clear out—everyone leave!” So there was no one with Joseph when he identified himself to his brothers. But his sobbing was so violent that the Egyptians couldn’t help but hear him. The news was soon reported to Pharaoh’s palace.
3 Joseph spoke to his brothers: “I am Joseph. Is my father really still alive?” But his brothers couldn’t say a word. They were speechless—they couldn’t believe what they were hearing and seeing.
4-8 “Come closer to me,” Joseph said to his brothers. They came closer. “I am Joseph, your brother whom you sold into Egypt. But don’t feel bad, don’t blame yourselves for selling me. God was behind it. God sent me here ahead of you to save lives. There has been a famine in the land now for two years; the famine will continue for five more years—neither plowing nor harvesting. God sent me on ahead to pave the way and make sure there was a remnant in the land, to save your lives in an amazing act of deliverance. So you see, it wasn’t you who sent me here but God. He set me in place as a father to Pharaoh, put me in charge of his personal affairs, and made me ruler of all Egypt.

For Reflection

We often speak of Joseph's act of forgiveness as the ultimate pattern for reconciliation.  We talk of his humility and his acceptance of his brothers.

But, today, I am struck by the meaning of Joseph's suffering. In his trials, By living through the hardship of betrayal by his siblings, and losing his family, Joseph has come to the knowledge of God's will.  His suffering has brought about the deliverance of his people. Without the wicked manipulations of his brothers, he would not have risen to power and not been a position to help.  He dismisses those who represent the violence of domination and calls his brothers unto him. Such calling is a profound grace, an act of salvation, not by human mercy, but by the action of a loving, compassionate God.

Pray

Pray so that you will see into the suffering trials of everyday living, to find the will of God that drives us toward Grace.

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Boasting: an Insult to Christ

Our Love for God

Loving God, Trusting Christ

Submit to God in Love

James 4:13-17 The Message

Nothing but a Wisp of Fog

13-15 And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, “Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.” You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You’re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. Instead, make it a habit to say, “If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.”
16-17 As it is, you are full of your grandiose selves. All such vaunting self-importance is evil. In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, is evil.

For Reflection

"Now that I am a Christian, I have a better chance for success."  "Look out world, God's on my side!"  " I am better than all of you in your petty attempts at attainment."  "Move over heathens!"

Statements like those above are an indication of belief in magic, not God.  These are the words of one destined to say, "Look what I've done."  "Alone, I fought the odds."  It is the epitome of idolatry to think that you, alone, have done anything.  It is never true.

Bragging is nothing but a wisp of fog, an indication of one's ignorance and "inshallah," if God wills, is an admission of trust in God, not an excuse for failure to see the will of God.

Pray

Pray so that you will be aware of those who have supported you and guided you.  Pray so that you will always remember that God has prepared the path for you. 


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Walk In the Newness of Life

Our Love for God

Loving God, Trusting Christ

Submit to God in Love

Romans 6:1-14 The Message

When Death Becomes Life

6 1-3 So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not! If we’ve left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? Or didn’t you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace—a new life in a new land!
3-5 That’s what baptism into the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we’re going in our new grace-sovereign country.
6-11 Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer at sin’s every beck and call! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead, it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did.
12-14 That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!—into God’s way of doing things. Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God.

For Reflection

Yes, you have to die to your old life. Some write their obituary, listing all the dissatisfactions the old life caused.  Good riddance! The slate is clear. As a newborn enters the world, re-enter seeing all the promise of life anew. Free to act in the manner of Christ.  Free to love in the way of Christ. Free to claim your independence from the demands of ordinary secular existence.  Free to be courageous.  Free to reject sin.

Pray

Pray so that your transformation in Christ will be lasting.  Pray so that you will allow the Holy Spirit to influence your life.  Pray so that you are comfortable with saying no to your old life. Pray so that you find courage. Pray in the fellowship of believers and find rest in God's will.

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Solve Conflicts One on One

Our Love for God

Loving God, Trusting Christ

Submit to God in Love

Matthew 5:21-26 The Message

Murder

21-22 “You’re familiar with the command to the ancients, ‘Do not murder.’ I’m telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother ‘idiot!’ And you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell ‘stupid!’ at a sister, and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill.
23-24 “This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God.
25-26 “Or say you’re out on the street and an old enemy accosts you. Don’t lose a minute. Make the first move; make things right with him. After all, if you leave the first move to him, knowing his track record, you’re likely to end up in court, maybe even jail. If that happens, you won’t get out without a stiff fine.

For Reflection

Who is responsible for making the first move toward reconciliation? "Not me!" you say, "He started it. I was the one who was wronged!'
The problem with that response is that expecting the other person to make the first move may be unrealistic. That person may not even know that he or she has offended you.  And, if the other person understands that you have been hurt, he or she may have intended to be offensive.

In any case, you are the one who is aware of the injustice.  It is up to you to make the first overture toward reconciliation. Furthermore, you are to forgive the offense and the offender. Wipe the slate clean.  Harbor no grudge. If your first attempt to reconcile is rejected, it does not relieve you from your responsibility to continue to find a path toward resolution.

Pray

Pray for reconciliation so that you will not suffer the result of becoming "Grudgley."


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Members Depend upon Each Other

Our Love for God

Loving God, Trusting Christ

Submit to God in Love

1 Corinthians 12:19-26 The Message

19-24 But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn’t be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, “Get lost; I don’t need you”? Or, Head telling Foot, “You’re fired; your job has been phased out”? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the “lower” the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it’s a part of your own body you are concerned with; it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn’t you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?
25-26 The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.

For Reflection

Being a part of a supportive body of people is more than a membership card. One learns, participates, gives, and receives in the fellowship of Christ. It is a family in the best sense of that word. In short it is the physical manifestation of the spiritual being we know as God. Messy and not perfect, mind you, but the way we grow into ideal grace.

Pray

Pray so that you understand and follow the God Who lives in the midst of us.

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One Teacher, Many Students

Our Love for God

Loving God, Trusting Christ

Submit to God in Love

Matthew 23:1-12 The Message

Religious Fashion Shows

23 1-3 Now Jesus turned to address his disciples, along with the crowd that had gathered with them. “The religion scholars and Pharisees are competent teachers in God’s Law. You won’t go wrong in following their teachings on Moses. But be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they don’t live it. They don’t take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior. It’s all spit-and-polish veneer.
4-7 “Instead of giving you God’s Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn’t think of lifting a finger to help. Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions, preening in the radiance of public flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting called ‘Doctor’ and ‘Reverend.’
8-10 “Don’t let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal like that. You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates. Don’t set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do. No one else should carry the title of ‘Father’; you have only one Father, and he’s in heaven. And don’t let people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is only one Life-Leader for you and them—Christ.
11-12 “Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you’ll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you’re content merely to be yourself, your life will count for plenty.

For Reflection

Is there a difference between what you say and what you do?  "Do as I say, not as I do," is a common retort given to a child when the child finds an inconsistency in word and deed.

The ultimate rule is the rule of love. The ultimate test of whom one should follow is their consistency with the practice of love.  " If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1)

Pray

Pray so that you will love as Jesus loved.

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Do What is Right

Our Love for God

Loving God, Trusting Christ

Hold Fast to God's Love

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 Amplified Bible 

6 Now we command you, believers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by His authority, that you withdraw and keep away from every brother or sister who leads an undisciplined life and does not live in accordance with the tradition and teaching that [a]you have received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined or inappropriate manner when we were with you [we were never idle or lazy, nor did we avoid our duties], 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we worked night and day [to pay our own way] so that we would not be a financial burden on any of you [for our support]; 9 not because we do not have a right to such support, but [we provided our own financial support] to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example. 10 For even while we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is [b]not to eat, either. 11 Indeed, we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined and inappropriate life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies [meddling in other people’s business]. 12 Now such people we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work quietly and earn their own food and other necessities [supporting themselves instead of depending on the hospitality of others]. 13 And as for [the rest of] you, [c]believers, do not grow tired or lose heart in doing good [but continue doing what is right without weakening].

For Reflection
How does one deal with variations in the faith discipline?  All of us in the network of believers are at different levels of maturity. It is the responsibility of the group to raise up each other to higher qualities of faith. But, some move forward more slowly, and some show little commitment to their faith. If one does not work at one's spiritual life one does not grow incrementally into the grace one was promised.  Those who lag in spiritual growth should be encouraged.  We are counseled to support each other and let God judge our righteousness. 

Pray

Pray so that you will see the network of believers as God might see them, each growing into grace as they are willing and able to do so.

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Stand Firm in the Faith

Our Love for God

Loving God, Trusting Christ

Hold Fast to God's Love
2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 The Message

13-14 Meanwhile, we’ve got our hands full continually thanking God for you, our good friends—so loved by God! God picked you out as his from the very start. Think of it: included in God’s original plan of salvation by the bond of faith in the living truth. This is the life of the Spirit he invited you to through the Message we delivered, in which you get in on the glory of our Master, Jesus Christ.
15-17 So, friends, take a firm stand, feet on the ground and head high. Keep a tight grip on what you were taught, whether in personal conversation or by our letter. May Jesus himself and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, enliven your speech.

For Reflection

There are times when we seem to be over-run by those who would sow the seeds of disruption, chaos, turbulence, and turmoil in the name of God. In times like these, when love is displaced by hate, it becomes increasingly difficult to discern the truth from falsity.

In his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul warns of becoming seduced by the rhetoric of hate, animosity, and fear. He counsels us to stand on the truth of Christ, that in the gift of love we are freed to love and trust in the promise of God.

Displace your alarm with courage and the confidence shown in the life of Christ.

Pray

Pray so that you can develop a more trusting relationship with the Living God.  Pray so that you will have the courage to see beyond the fabricated chaos into the will of God.
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Support Coworkers

Our Love for God

Loving God, Trusting Christ

Hold Fast to God's Love

3 John 2-8 The Message

1-4 The Pastor, to my good friend Gaius: How truly I love you! We’re the best of friends, and I pray for good fortune in everything you do, and for your good health—that your everyday affairs prosper, as well as your soul! I was most happy when some friends arrived and brought the news that you persist in following the way of Truth. Nothing could make me happier than getting reports that my children continue diligently in the way of Truth!

Model the Good

5-8 Dear friend, when you extend hospitality to Christian brothers and sisters, even when they are strangers, you make the faith visible. They’ve made a full report back to the church here, a message about your love. It’s good work you’re doing, helping these travelers on their way, hospitality worthy of God himself! They set out under the banner of the Name, and get no help from unbelievers. So they deserve any support we can give them. In providing meals and a bed, we become their companions in spreading the Truth

For Reflection

Have you ever thought that the kindest response to a coworker's suggestion is, "You have nice shoelaces."

Sometimes our first responses to these situations are negative. "That will never work!" or "That's not the way we do things around here!" "What zip code do you come from?"

Next time try asking questions like, "How would that work?" "How would that make an impact on ......?" How do you see that accommodating (this issue)? "How else could we resolve (this problem)?"  Such questions may get you to an acceptable solution faster by avoiding polarizing and paralyzing stands. God gave us the capacity to love and be creative. Perhaps we could learn to use these gifts more often in our conversations.

Pray
Pray so that you are more in tune with your first reactions and creative ways to love and collaborate.

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Live by the Truth

Our Love for God

Loving God, Trusting Christ

Hold Fast to God's Love

1 John 2:20-27 The Message

20-21 But you belong. The Holy One anointed you, and you all know it. I haven’t been writing this to tell you something you don’t know, but to confirm the truth you do know, and to remind you that the truth doesn’t breed lies.
22-23 So who is lying here? It’s the person who denies that Jesus is the Divine Christ, that’s who. This is what makes an antichrist: denying the Father, denying the Son. No one who denies the Son has any part with the Father, but affirming the Son is an embrace of the Father as well.
24-25 Stay with what you heard from the beginning, the original message. Let it sink into your life. If what you heard from the beginning lives deeply in you, you will live deeply in both Son and Father. This is exactly what Christ promised: eternal life, real life!
26-27 I’ve written to warn you about those who are trying to deceive you. But they’re no match for what is embedded deeply within you—Christ’s anointing, no less! You don’t need any of their so-called teaching. Christ’s anointing teaches you the truth on everything you need to know about yourself and him, uncontaminated by a single lie. Live deeply in what you were taught.

For Reflection

Albert Barns (Barns Notes on the Bible) suggests that John implies that "the minds of Christians are so enlightened that they have a new perception of the truth. They see it in a light in which they did not before. They see it as truth. They see its beauty, its force, its adapted less to their condition and wants." It represents a profound change in how one perceives and interacts with one's life circumstances.

How does your faith alter your perceptions of your life circumstances? How have your responses to life been altered by your faith?

Pray

Pray so that you will be able to understand the transforming impact of your faith in God and your willingness to follow Christ.


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