Archive for the ‘Colossians’ Category

Day 298: Isaiah 54:1-57:21; Colossians 4:1-1 Thessalonians 1:5 — Seek the Lord while He may be found

Monday, October 25th, 2010

The best days and the worst days of my childhood were with my father. When I had done something wrong it seemed that the world could not be deep enough to hide me. He was not abusive, but I feared to lose favor with him and his find his wrath. When his anger past and my chastening was past the sun would shine again and all was well. He was generous and kind to us. It was good just being with him, knowing we were safe, and that he cared for us. Looking at my children now, I get a glimpse of my dad’s love for us, his disappointment and fear when we went down the wrong path, and his own total commitment to our needs and well being.

Isaiah says to Israel, you have sinned and destroyed so much that God gave you. But now, let’s reconcile. “Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.” Isaiah 55:6. God’s love never stops, but He cannot tolerate evil, especially in His covenant people. So for Israel, He stands as the Holy One, calling for reconciliation even though they left and committed horrendous atrocities. What God had in store for Israel for good could only be described in the beautiful language of emptiness and hopelessness that would be replaced with joy and unity, rebuilding, and refreshing. Here God invites them to share in His world which for them was unimaginable. His blessing and restoration come in such gracious and wonderful promises, the woman who could not have children would find fulfillment, the eunuch would receive a name and heritage greater than sons. How could this be? How could God give to them blessing and good of which they could not even conceive? Because He is God, Isaiah 55:8-10. His offer and promises come to fruition only to those who come to Him.

In this day, in the midst of the rush, the hurry, the fears, and defeats you may face, open yourself up for the grace, the good, the unimaginable blessing He holds only for those who seek Him in the midst of a world gone mad around you. Leave the madness, reconcile your heart and mind to His will and live in this day in His ways.

Prayer: Holy, Righteous Farther: we seek Your face in this day; may we live so as to find You with joy and blessing. In Jesus name we seek You. Amen.

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Day 297: Colossians 3:1-25 — Nothing More to Add…

Sunday, October 24th, 2010

My task as I write these blogs is to expound on the reading for that day and possibly add some relevance to our lives. Occasionally I’ll open my text and see a passage that is really tough to write about because maybe the verses I have are a listing of people or maybe is a passage that is self explanatory. Either way, I struggle with what to write.

However, this week I was blessed with a passage that makes it very easy for me. Open your Bibles with me to Colossians Chapter 3. Today’s reading is Colossians 3:1-25 . Honestly, it needs no commentary from me. Everything in this passage is still relevant today. Everything.

Matt Lee said it best this morning – read these words and ask yourself some serious questions about where you are in life. Are we following the words that are written here?

May God bless you and keep you this week!

Matt

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Day 296: Colossians 2:13-15 — “having canceled the written code”

Saturday, October 23rd, 2010

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Colossians 2:13-15 — NIV

“having canceled the written code, with its regulations”

Any reasonable person might read this and think, “How many ‘written codes’ did God give?” Certainly the Old Law comes to mind. Any others? In fact, this is a popular interpretation of this passage — based on the NIV translation — but I’d like to suggest a different interpretation.

Here are the same 3 verses, from the New American Standard Version:

When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. Colossians 2:13-15 — NASV

“having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees”

Suddenly that doesn’t sound so much like the Old Law. I’d like to suggest it wasn’t the Old Law that “stood opposed to us”. In fact, the Law was perfect (Psalm 19:7). If it was the Law that was imperfect and that “stood opposed to us”, surely Jesus would have come to destroy the Law, but he didn’t (Matthew 5:17).

So what was “nailed to the cross” with Jesus (v. 14)? I believe context leads us to the interpretation that it was the fact that the Old Law could not save — that no one could keep it perfectly except the One Who was perfect already. You know the song — “He paid a debt He did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay.” That was “the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us” — not the Law itself, but our slavery to the debt of having to keep the Law perfectly in order to achieve righteousness. This segues perfectly into that last word Jesus spoke from the cross — tetelestai (commonly translated into 3 English words, “it is finished” ). This word literally means “the debt has been paid”.

So what did Jesus nail to the cross?

He nailed to the cross our certificate of debt. This was the certificate that said under the Old Law, we must keep the Law perfectly in order to be justified, but under the law of grace, we can be counted as righteous — we can be justified — by Jesus having paid the debt on our behalf.

Hallelujah!

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Day 295: Colossians 1:3-14 — A Beautiful Prayer

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

Paul’s prayer in Colossians 1:3-14 is so beautiful to me. Not because of flowery language, but because of the thoughts that Paul is so thankful for these people and is constantly asking God to bless them and fill them with knowledge and help them to grow and endure.

What a joy to know that someone is praying for you in such a way. I’m reminded of my mother who I know prays for me and my siblings every day since I was very young. She prayed for our mates and our children before we even met them.

Do you have anyone who prays for you like this? Even better, who do you pray for like this? I know that there are times where I have prayed for someone in this way but they are too few and too far away. Why is that? I don’t know but it’s something I must work on.

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Day 93: Deuteronomy 30:11-20 — A matter of life and death and checklists

Saturday, April 3rd, 2010

“Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach…No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.” Deut 30:11, 14

Among Moses’ final words were these, from Deuteronomy 31. So far, so good. Let’s recap: these commands are not difficult, nor are they more than you can handle; God’s words are in your heart, ready for you to obey.

Sounds pretty simple.

He gives them a choice: “I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.” Seems like an easy choice.

“I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.” Deut 30:15-16

That’s it, Moses? All we have to do is obey, and we get all that? We’ll do that, but what happens if we don’t?

“If you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed.” Deut 30:17-18

Really? Let’s see if I got this straight — Obey and live; disobey and be destroyed. Right? No argument that the Israelites should have obeyed God, and no argument that they didn’t. So we’re not going to throw stones here; we’re just acknowledging the facts.

checklistSo what are we to do as Christians?

  • Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
  • Put to death anything that belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
  • As God’s chosen people, clothe yourselves with: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
  • Put on love, which binds these things together in perfect unity.
  • Whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

That’s just a start; read Colossians 3 for the rest. We tend to be comfortable with checklists. Check this one off; mark through that one. Easy. We always know where we stand. Make no mistake about it though — God, through Moses, gave the Israelites no checklist, as much as the Pharisees many years later took great pride in letting people know they could follow one. Paul gave us no checklist in his letter to the Colossians either.

You want a Christian checklist — a real matter of life and death? Here’s the only checklist you need: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself. That’s it. Luke 27 is the only checklist a Christian needs. Jesus Himself promised life by following this checklist.

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