Dwell Among Us

“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”

Colossians 3:16

“...dwell among you richly...”

What five words precede these in the verse above?

They are: “...Let the message of Christ...”

It is the message of Christ that brings us together as one body.

The message that He came to earth through a virgin birth as the only begotten of the Father, He suffered, died and rose again.  

He was the perfect sacrifice for our sin and His blood washes them away bringing us back into fellowship with the Father.

We may never know unity around so many different doctrines debated in scripture but we can come together around the message of Christ.

Perhaps one of the most beloved and oft quoted verses in all of scripture concerns the message of Christ spoken by Jesus Himself –

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son...”

I can almost hear you and you whisper the rest of it in your mind.

You see it is through Jesus Christ that you and I are part of the same family.

Believing in the work He accomplished brings us together as one.

Lets’ let that message dwell among us richly today and everyday shall we?

What Did You Say?

“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”

Colossians 3:16

In the verse above did you notice how our conversations with one another really need to be spiritual?

What does that mean?

We look for ways, genuinely, not with flattery, to build one another up and to encourage one another.

Suppose somehow the only words you could speak to others suddenly became the words you spoke behind their back?

Ouch!

Do you think perhaps we would speak a lot fewer words or would we come to God and earnestly ask Him to help us change the heart attitude from which these words spring?

Suppose we all did that.

Can you imagine the transformation in our homes, our churches and in the culture?

God is transforming us as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the process of sanctification.

This includes how we speak to one another.  

Take some time today to consider your words – before you say them.

Ask God to help you be that one who speaks encouragement and life!

Rich Man Poor Man

“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”

Colossians 3:16

Gods’ message makes me rich.

Uh oh, now I’ve got your attention!

But hold on just a minute.

As I let His message dwell in me there is a richness that can be imparted to others when I teach and admonish them.

His words in me become life to others.  

That is a wealth worth sharing.

Those are riches beyond compare.

To impact others for Christ by what we say!

It does not happen because of who I know or where I ‘go to church’.

 It happens when we let His message richly dwell in us.

Are you a rich man today?

His Rich Message

“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”

Colossians 3:16

“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly...”

What ‘message’ fills your life?

The message we carry influences our actions, attitudes and virtually every part of our lives.

Do you carry a message someone else sowed in you?

Maybe it wasn’t such a good message?

Maybe it was a message that you wouldn’t amount to much or maybe the message you carry is from the latest visit to the doctor.

How different might your life be if the message you carried was the message of Christ?

And what if you carried enough so that the message overflowed from you to others?

We are all ‘carriers’ in a sense.

We all bring with us a message.

The author of Colossians, the Apostle Paul, wisely counsels us to let Christ’s message dwell in us richly.

Not carrying it in a stingy, miserly way – but richly!

That means I immerse myself in Him so that He might be richly poured out through my life.

How about you?

A Habit to be Thankful for

Today’s blog post is contributed by David Trotta:

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

An honest evaluation of my thought life recently revealed how little energy I expend on giving thanks for things in my life and how much time I spend complaining about the perceived difficulties in my life.

The Lord recently challenged me to reverse that trend.  So, I tried a little exercise.  I took sixty seconds and listed things in my life I am thankful for.

What I thought would be a difficult exercise turned out to be just the opposite.  When I started to list things I was thankful for, they were coming to my mind faster than my lips could speak them.  I discovered that there were things to be thankful for even in the midst of what I thought were hardships.

My point?  When we stop the complaining and reverse our thinking, we realize there are far more things in our life to be thankful than things to be disgruntled about.

I firmly believe if we make it a regular habit of recalling the blessings in our life in all circumstances, our lives will be transformed.

To each and everyone who finds their way to this page today...

By His Spirit

“these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit...”

I Corinthians 2:10a

“...by His Spirit...”

Not in a classroom taught by a teacher to his students.

Not in a boardroom taught by the captains of industry.

Not in a seminary instructed by the great theologians of the day.

Not even from a pulpit on Sunday morning.

In none of these places are we necessarily taught what God has prepared for those who love Him.

Rather, He reveals it “...by His Spirit...”

It’s not that He can’t or won’t reveal it in any or all of those places but it will never come from a ‘canned syllabus’, lesson plan or a CEO’s best presentation.

It is instead, a revelation given.

By His Spirit to our spirit!

A revelation given as we walk with Him side-by-side and moment by moment.

All of these other ‘classrooms’ have their place but we only deceive ourselves if we think for a moment that we can understand all God is and all that He has for us with our natural minds.

They are spiritually discerned, spiritually received.

That in itself limits the audience to those whose spirits have been made alive by the Spirit of Christ.

Are you His?

Christ Demonstrated

“And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.”

I Corinthians 2:1-5

The Apostle Paul was certainly not an unlearned man in

scripture before his Damascus road experience.

As a matter of fact, just the opposite was true.

He was one of the most learned members of Israel’s religious rulers for his day having sat at the feet of the highly revered teacher and leader, Gamaliel.

It may have been a constant internal battle for him not to lose his listeners with theological and doctrinal twists and turns when he preached the Gospel.

He could have easily left them in the dust with their heads spinning as it were.

But he didn’t.

He was very intentional in presenting the Gospel with simplicity.

No one contributed more to the writings of the New Testament than the Apostle Paul.

He surely had it in him to speak and teach in dry pedantic ways.

But always and foremost, as he outlined in I Corinthians 2:1-5 he delivered the message with power and not simply with eloquent words.

He demonstrated to others who God was and did not simply paint the picture with words.

We too must be sure to demonstrate Christ to our family, our friends, our co-workers and to the rest of the world.

Perhaps you are blessed with the ability to write or speak well to others.

That is good.

But don’t let your words be the only way God is displayed in your life.

Let Him live through you by your actions and your convictions too!

Not Many Wise or Influential

“Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.”

I Corinthians 1:26-29

God often uses those whom man refuses.

We are so accustomed to judging by outward appearance and by perceiving who can and cannot be of value in life and to the Kingdom of God.

The Apostle Paul hits these notions squarely in I Corinthians 1:26-29.

We are no less guilty of this in the church too.

As a matter of fact Pauls’ warnings and admonitions were directed to the church in Corinth and, by extension, to each of us as family as one body, which each have unique purposes and functions.

Each individual is essential to the proper functioning of the body.

I am not a doctor and cannot tell you of the value and purpose of all the various parts and organs of my body but I know that the Creator of the universe has made no mistakes in me or in creating any parts of His Sons’ bride the church.

Whoever you are, know that you are created by a loving God and you have value and purpose to Him and to others.

Though others may ‘refuse’ you – God does not!

Pregnant With Life

Today’s blog post is contributed by David Trotta:

My daughter and son in-law recently held what is commonly referred to as a “gender reveal” party.  It’s a relatively new practice of gathering friends and family together to witness some fun activity that reveals what the sex of the baby is (which has been kept a secret up until that time).

There are various activities you can do to reveal the sex of the baby.  My son in-law chose to hit a golf ball.  The ball is filled with either pink or blue powder and is provided by a designated person who has been informed of the baby’s sex.  Once the ball is struck, it explodes creating a cloud of pink or blue dust, thus revealing if the baby is a boy or girl.  It so much fun to celebrate life!

It’s also quite a life changing event for my daughter.  She has a life growing inside of her.  As a responsible, pregnant mom, she now needs to make decisions with her child in mind.

 For example, she may have to eat differently or avoid certain activities.  Every decision she makes now will have to take into consideration that life inside her.

As Christ followers, we too have a life inside us.  That life inside of us is the person of the Holy Spirit.  1 Corinthians 6:19 reads “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.”

Like my daughter, we too are pregnant with life and every decision we make should take into consideration the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.

For example, we should walk in confidence and expectation knowing that we host the very presence of God who is able to perform supernatural works through us.  We should walk in a quietness of soul so that we will be sensitive to His promptings.  We should avoid things and situations that grieve Him.

For my daughter, it’s no longer just about her.  Its’ about that life insider her.

And as Christians, it’s no difference for us.

Live with an awareness of Who dwells within you.

Just another Thursday

“I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.”

Psalm 69:30

Next Thursday we celebrate Thanksgiving Day here in the U.S.

It is good that we as a nation still set aside a day to acknowledge the blessings of God on our land.

But in one respect it should not be any different than any other day for us who are followers of Jesus Christ.

Each day His blessing rain down on us.

It is easy to take them for granted.

That is why I don’t want to post this reminder on Thanksgiving Day.

Don’t allow one day out of 365 to be the only one you give Him thanks.

His mercies are new every morning.

His grace, through Jesus Christ, comes to us in abundance, not once, but every single day.

Lets’ be mindful of that as we approach the one day we call Thanksgiving.

Express your thanks daily in the same way He daily expresses His love to you.

Icing on the Cake!

““Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: ...”

Isaiah 58:6a

Chapter 58 of Isaiah is a description of Gods’ chosen fast for His people.

So often we think of fasting in a very self-centered way.

How does fasting benefit me?

However, verses six through nine of this chapter clearly direct us to consider others and service to them as part of Gods’ chosen fast.

As we do this we will often discover that the issues and concerns in our own lives seem to shrink in comparison and that we also find God acting on our behalf.

We fast for direction, we fast for healing, we fast for all kinds of self-interests.

But God commands us to fast for loosing the chains of injustice, untying the cords of a yoke and seeing the oppressed set free.

As we set our hearts to that when we fast Gods’ word declares in verses 8 and 9:

“Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

    and your healing will quickly appear;

then your righteousness will go before you,

    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.”

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;

    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.”

Your light will break forth (revelation and understanding), your healing will quickly appear and so many other wonderful promises discovered in just these two verses.

Simply putting others first – that is part of Gods’ chosen fast and the

 blessings of the rewards are just icing on the cake!

Altar

“Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight.

I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.”

Psalm 43:4

This is how the dictionary defines the word altar:

“a usually raised structure or place on which sacrifices are offered or incense is burned in worship —often used figuratively to describe a thing given great or undue precedence or value especially at the cost of something else”

An altar is a place of sacrifice, a place of surrender, a place of homage.

What or whom do you place on the altar?

Do you place those things in your life on the altar that have held more value to you than God?

Or

Do you continue to hold on to them?

It is almost as if we say – “I’ll place God on the altar in order to hold on to...”

You know what it is.

You alone know those things – or perhaps people – that are held closer than God.

It’s time to let go of them.

It’s time to place them on the altar and release them to God.

Having seen your desire, He may return them just as Isaac was returned to Abraham, or He may take them from you.

Are you prepared to place them on the altar?

Are you prepared to place them in the hands of God?

Greater Works

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these,

because I am going to the Father.”

John 14:12

Have you ever been told that you are going to do great things for God and then allowed your imagination to run wild with what those ‘great things’ are?

So often our natural minds run to raising the dead.

Full disclosure - mine often did (o.k. sometimes still does).

Now, I do not mean to minimize at all what God can do through you and even what He perhaps wants to do through you.

But let me suggest to you that there is no ‘greater’ work we can work than that of surrendered obedience to the will of the Lord.

Maybe the greater work for you personally today is simply to sit as His feet.

Maybe it is to be a listening ear to someone who is struggling greatly in their walk.

Again, God may call you to raise the dead – yes He is still doing that today!

But some of those heroes of the faith listed in the 11^th Chapter of Hebrews never raised a single person form the dead.

I don’t recall Abraham or David or Joseph doing that particular act and yet they are remembered in scripture for other things they did in surrendered obedience to the Lord.

I just want you to understand that the enemy sometimes tries to guilt us through the imagined greater works we do not accomplish on any given day.

Let God be God in your life.

Ask Him what the greater work is He has for you today.

It may stretch your faith and grow you just to offer to pray for someone.

Could it be that simple?

Could that be a greater work in your life?

Without taking anything away from where God may have you in five years, I would answer Yes!

Allow God to order your steps and determine todays’ greater work, won’t you?

Dressed in Readiness

Today’s blog post is contributed by David Trotta:

My job requires me to be on-call often, meaning I can get called anytime while I’m out of the office, including nights and weekends.

When I’m on-call, I have to be in ready mode at all times.  If I get a call, I have to spring into action quickly, so I always keep my phone close by.  I take the phone with me wherever I go and I am constantly checking the screen to see if I missed any calls or text messages.

Jesus also encourages us to be ready at all times to respond when He calls.  Luke 12:35-36 says “Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit. Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks.”

Two things we need to do.

First, be in a “ready” mindset so we can quickly respond when Jesus nudges us.  We need to always be aware and listening for His voice.  His knock may be soft, so we have to quiet the noise around us so we can hear.  If the TV in our living room is very loud, we will mostly not hear the knock at the door.  If the noise of this world is allowed to have the biggest voice in our lives, we will most likely not hear Jesus when He is knocking on the door of our heart.

Second, we need to keep our lamps lit.  We need to be on the “lookout” for Jesus in our lives so we don’t miss Him.  Look for His fingerprints in our life.  It could be Him moving in the circumstances of your co-worker’s life or the life of the person in front of you at the grocery store.

Jesus encourages us to be dressed in readiness.  If I’m expecting someone at my door to pick me up, I will make sure I am dressed and ready to go.  It would be very rude if the person I’m expecting comes to the door and I am still in my PJs in bed.

Be on the lookout and dressed at all times so you can jump into action when your master calls.

I Know Who I Am

“Above all else, guard your heart,

    for everything you do flows from it.”

Proverbs 4:23

I know who I am

I am a child of God

I am a chosen generation

I am walking in favor

I am advancing His Kingdom

I am working miracles

I am who He says I am

I am what He says I am

I am living in His power

All I require for life He has given me

I know whose I am

I am a child of God!

Don’t Let Your Guard Down

“Above all else, guard your heart,

    for everything you do flows from it.”

Proverbs 4:23

Suppose I decided I would watch the movie “Gone with the Wind” every single day of my life.

How long do you think it would be before I carried lines from the story into my daily conversations with others?

That habit of watching the movie over and over and over again would begin to reprogram my mind in such a way that its’ influence would creep into every part of my life.

How I talk, how I dress, my attitude toward myself and others, even how I spend my resources and spare time.

Maybe you’ve experienced something similar with a Star Trek or Star Wars fan.

The same holds true for my spiritual life.

I must feed my spirit and my soul.

What I feed on determines how I grow.

If I want to grow in my walk with God then I must feed my soul and my spirit on those things that bring that growth.

Nope, not Star Wars, Star Trek or Gone with the Wind!

None of those will do it.

Gods’ word and obedience to His will, along with cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives is the recipe for growth.

We each get 24 hours in a day.

What we do with them determines the direction of our growth.

 Many things may be o.k. but may not build us up.

It takes more than just ‘avoiding’ evil.

It requires no less than hundreds of deliberate choices every day that feed that hunger for God more than a hunger for the things of this world.

So set aside the distractions, whatever they are for you personally,

and pursue God!

A Vessel Filled Up

“Above all else, guard your heart,

    for everything you do flows from it.”

Proverbs 4:23

“Here’s my cup Lord

I lift it up Lord

Come and fill this longing of my soul

Bread of heaven feed me ‘till I want no more

Here’s my cup. I lift it up, please make me whole.”

Do you bring your life to God each day for Him to fill you up?

In a very real sense we are all empty vessels that are filled with something.

What is that something in your life?

Is it the love of God?

Is it a career, ambition, power, lust or a thousand other somethings?

Do you guard your heart from influences that destroy or do you open it to everyone and everything that crosses your path?

There are so many influences vying for your attention and your affection.

Choose wisely and you will grow, choose foolishly and it is like taking poison into your life.

So you have your cup today – who will fill it up?

Less Than Perfect Heroes

“Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—

and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.”

Romans 4:19

Abraham, like each of us, had choices to make.

More often than not we tend to place Bible characters in the rarified air of perfection.

We seem to reason that their mere mention in the pages of scripture qualifies them to be on a plane so much higher than you or me.

While I am not here to denigrate those whose stories are told in those pages lets realize that some of their choices were less than stellar.

We all know those stories (scripture is not shy in telling them) and yet we still choose to think each of them was ‘different’.

Alright then, let’s go with that belief for a moment and ask ourselves what made them different?

Abraham who passed his wife off as his sister is said to be the

Father of our Faith.

David had a man murdered after sleeping with that mans’ wife and yet God spoke of Him as a man after His own heart.

These are but two examples of the frailties of our bible heroes.

How can these things be?

How do we reconcile some of their behavior with how we now often remember them?

You see God uses less than perfect vessels.

We all make mistakes.

Every one of us!

But let’s not live there.

Let’s repent, let’s stand back up and let’s get on with what God has for us to do.

Maybe you and I would not choose to do it the way God has chosen to but He is God and we are not. (thank heaven for that, right?)

Are you ready to repent and get on with what God has for you?

He is more than ready to forgive you and use you in mighty ways!

God’s Time Management

Today’s blog post is contributed by David Trotta:

It’s our human nature to plan ahead.  We schedule dinner plans with our friends for next week.  We put birthday parties on the calendar for next month.  We schedule family vacations a year in advance.

God likes us to plan ahead too, but his timeframe is much smaller.  He wants us to focus on looking ahead 24 hours, not 24 days.  Here are some examples from scripture….

He encourages us to live one day at a time (Matthew 6:34)

He gives us a daily supply of His mercies (Lamentations 3:22-23)

He asks us to pray daily for the sustenance we need to survive (Matthew 6:11)

He instructs us to pick up our cross daily and follow Him (Luke 9:23)

God knows that if we live for tomorrow, we will miss the important things of today.

He knows that each day will have its share of challenges and 24 hours is the perfect size chunk of time for us to focus our energy on.  And by focusing on today, it allows us to trust God with our tomorrows. 

We hear so much about effective “time management” these days.  If we want to manage our time effectively, shouldn’t we heed the advice of the One who created time?

Reality?

“Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—

and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.”

Romans 4:19

“...his body was as good as dead...”

Who would have thought that from that ‘dead body’ would

come a promise like this...

“...Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Romans 4:18

How do you reconcile the two?

How do you go from the reality to the promise?

You start by being realistic about your feelings but guarding your faith.

Abraham had to have faith that with God all things are possible.

He had to guard the faith that required him to believe that an old man and an old woman – who were both well beyond the child bearing years – could still commit that promise to God and see it come to pass.

Being honest about their condition without faith in God would be a hopeless state indeed.

Just as it can be for you and me!

God has a wonderful way of changing our present ‘reality’ for His purposes and His promises to be fulfilled in your life.

What are you seeing today?

Only your present ‘reality’ or are you seeing God active in that ‘reality’ to complete a work in you and fulfill His promises to you.

Faith declares that God is able to do what He said He would do despite your current reality!

Trials, Tests and Difficulties Oh My!

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Romans 8:28

Trials, tests and difficulties!

Why do we go through them?

Can we just skip them?

Well sure...

Not!

Imagine your strength, your perseverance, your wisdom apart from any trials or struggles in your life.

After all, that is what they are designed to do.

They are designed to perfect, direct, inspect, protect and correct.

Because of trials, tests and difficulties we can be changed and propelled forward into God’s purposes.

That is His desire for you as you go through them.

Of course, they can also not do what they are intended to accomplish.

The question is: Are you a willing participant?

Do you allow the work intended to be done?

It’s far easier to bow out.

Many do, perhaps most.

But you are not called to be like the many or the most.

You are called by God for a purpose and those trials, tests and difficulties are helping you to be best equipped for that calling.

Easy words to put on paper but tough when the trials come!

Believe me I know.

But more importantly, He knows and is with you through the trials.

Even in the silent times, He remains by your side.