Better Christians

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. Colossians 4:2-6

Paul finished the letter with a flurry, fast and furious instructions written out like bullet points for life. He was almost done writing to the Colossians, but there were a few more things he wanted them to know.

Far more than an afterthought, these are building blocks for our lives, strategies for successful living. I find seven distinct things we need to see in these verses:

First, Paul shows us that we win our war through prayer. Does your life feel like a war right now? Your answer is prayer, because prayer is where you find God and get His heart written inside your heart.

Second, walk in wisdom. Wisdom sets us up for successful lives like nothing else because it teaches us the right thing to do in all circumstances. The world needs answers like never before. When we use wisdom toward unbelievers, it provokes them to demand an explanation for how incredible our lives are.

Third, a witness to the world. Our wisdom should be our witness, in that our wisdom just spills over into all things that we do. The world is watching, and we must be wise with our lives so that the world sees God’s transformational love when it sees us.

Fourth, redeem the time. Literally, this means to purchase time. When the moments of opportunity come, seize them! And in between these moments, work to produce more of them.

Five and six go together-Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt. The world needs answers, not arguments. It is good to be able to defend your faith, but you will not argue someone into the kingdom. A convinced mind is not the same as a convicted heart.

Seventh, we have a wonderful hope. When the world sees the power of Christ’s cross as it transforms our lives, they will ask us about our hope. When they see our confidence in the face of disaster, they will wonder how we can keep hope. And when they ask us about it, we need to have an answer.

These seven things will lead us to successful life and witness before the world. Do you have them in your life?

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You that You help me to follow Your Word! I cannot do these seven things by myself; I need Your help. Please transform my life so that the world will want the life I have!

Amen

Heaven’s Open House

And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:1-2

How full is your life? No, I don’t mean your schedule; I mean your life.

Is your life everything that life should be? Is it full of joy and peace? Are you overwhelmed by how much love you encounter every day? Is laughter a rarity or a regularity in your household?

I imagine you reading those questions and thinking, Yeah, that does sound nice. How do I get there? Well, that’s a good question, and the answer is Jesus, because the place where that fullness of life becomes a complete reality is Heaven.

Many scriptures testify to God’s desire for us to be overflowing with life, and while this is something that should begin now, it can only be fulfilled in eternity. Our verses today speak to this coming fulfillment, and the picture they give us is absolutely incredible.

Imagine this-there is a river of water of life in Heaven. I don’t know how this works, how the water is transformed to somehow be life itself, but here’s what God says about it:

It’s pure. It is not just clean; it is pure! Nothing taints this flow of life; nothing pollutes this river. And it comes directly from the throne of God. He is the source of this river. And, what I think is the best part, it never ends. There is never a drought that could cause this river to dry up. It keeps on flowing and flowing forever and ever and ever!

The river isn’t the only part of this picture, though, for on either side of the river grows the tree of life. Ever-growing and ever-fruitful, you will never be disappointed with this tree. First, it keeps getting bigger-more and more life. Second, there is always fruit on it, and even a variety of fruit that changes with the season.

It is hard to imagine a more life-filled picture than the one God has given us in these verses, but you might be wondering what good that does you now. Well, aside from the hope it should stir in you for eternity, it shows you God’s heart.

His desire is for you to have more life than you can hold. He wants you overflowing with life, bursting at the seams, ready to pop with life! He is not some miserable old miser trying to steal your joy. No! Our God is the God of abundant life!

Prayer Father God,

Thank You that You want to fill me with more life than I can hold! I want to have that kind of life. Please have Your way in me until I am living with all the life You desire for me.

Amen

How Do You Do Life?

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. Philippians 3:20-21

What has God conquered for you? Go ahead, run the list through your mind. Here are a few that I can think of:

Death. Hell. Sin. The devil.

You already had those on your list? Awesome, what else do you have? Come on now, there must be something you can think of.

It’s really too bad if you cannot think of something that God has conquered for you. I mean, I absolutely am glad if you can say with confidence that Jesus has conquered death and Hell for you-that’s where our lives with Him begin, but that is not where His involvement in our lives ends.

You have a calling on your life, a path created by God specifically for you that He has called you to walk. Maybe you know something about this calling and you are asking God to show you the direction in life that He wants you to go. All of this is wonderful, but there is one more thing that you should know:

You will face obstacles as you work to live out your calling.

Perhaps you are facing some right now. What difficulties are staring you in the face today? Do they seem to block your road to the things you know God has called you to do? One last question, can you overcome these obstacles on your own?

The answer to that last question is almost certainly, No. However, many of us think we either can or have to handle life by ourselves. Let me break it to you-you could not get to Heaven by yourself, and you cannot fulfill Heaven’s plan for your life by yourself either!

Jesus is not only our champion who has opened the way for us to get to Heaven, but He is our champion who helps us conquer the obstacles that obstruct our callings.

How do you find His help against these difficulties? You find it the same way you found salvation-by faith. Believe in Him for the help you need. Let Him come and be your hero.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You for saving me, and thank You for not leaving me alone to walk through life by myself! Please help me conquer this difficulty that I am facing. Help me to fulfill all You have called me to be!

Amen

Knowing God’s Plan

For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, Plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.’ Jeremiah 29:11-13

Do you know why you were born?

That’s kind of a big question, isn’t it? Yet it is a question that all of us must answer if we want to hear, Well done, good and faithful servant, when we get to Heaven.

I think it is more than that, too. We know that our lives will be the happiest, most fulfilling, most joy-filled that they can be when we are doing what we were made to do. God put a purpose inside of us and nothing else will satisfy us the same as doing what we were created to do in a loving relationship with our Creator.

Two things stand in our way. First, doubt stands in our way. We have to doubt our doubts and believe our beliefs. Don’t let anything convince you against the Word of God. Second, ignorance stands in our way. If we do not know God’s plan for our lives, then we cannot walk in it.

How do you overcome these obstacles? The obvious solution for the first one is spending time in the Word of God, searching out God’s promises. The answer to the second problem, however, is slightly different.

We have to seek God. And not just some half-hearted, when-you-feel-like-it, when-it’sconvenient, when-it-doesn’t-cost-you-anything-to-do-it kind of seeking Him. No. You have to seek Him with your whole heart!

Note that God says we are to do this kind of seeking through prayer. Have you prayed like this? Or are all your prayers no more than food-blessing, bedtime-type prayers? Look at God’s promise when we seek Him this way: We will find Him! Have you ever prayed until you found God?

This all means that God has to come first. What He thinks about your life has to be more important to you than anything else. You must have the mindset that says you will live, not by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Then you will discover His wonderful plans for your life; you will begin to live out the reason you were born.

Prayer Father God,

Thank You for Your wonderful plans for me. I choose to seek You with all my heart! Help me to find You, and to find the reason You created me.

Amen

Avoiding the Toll Road of Divorce

For the LORD God of Israel says that He hates divorce, for it covers one’s garment with violence,’ says the LORD of hosts. Malachi 2:16

Do you realize how seriously the Lord takes marriage and divorce?

People come into my office all the time with the most creative excuses you can imagine. It’s as though they think they get to be the exception to the rule. Let me be clear-

there are no exceptions. God makes His opinion of divorce very clear in His Word. He hates it. Hates! How is that for strong language?

God is so serious about marriage and divorce that He will not even listen to us while we go through the motions of godliness if we do not keep faith with our spouse (see Malachi 2:13-14). Why? Because He was a witness to our vows. He was there when we stood at the altar together, or the courtroom, and pledged, Till death do us part. He has seen whether or not we have been faithful.

He says to us, You made a covenant, and that covenant still stands. You cannot violate it and expect that I will be okay with that.

God is so serious about this because He desires godly offspring (Malachi 2:15). Divorce cuts off godly offspring because it creates orphans.

I still hang out with my kids, Bob; they aren’t orphans, you tell me. Yeah, you still hang out with them, at least when it’s your turn to have custody of them. But what your kids really need is two fulltime parents, not two part-time parents who divide their children between them like spoils of war.

We have a higher calling, saints. We need to take our marriages seriously, no exceptions.

Prayer Lord God, I repent for how I have let excuses creep into my heart. I choose now to take my marriage seriously. Please heal our hearts from all the hurts we’ve given each other and help me to make my marriage into everything you want it to be.

Amen