2016-06-17
Good Morning Dear Ones,
I’m going to repeat what I said in the opening of last week’s devotion, just so we can place ourselves where we are in the sequence of studying the warnings in Colossians:
“For the last few weeks, we’ve been looking at the warnings contained in the book of Colossians. They’ve dealt with spiritual warfare, the need to demonstrate the fruits of the Spirit, a reminder of what God has already done for us, knowing the mystery of God, the danger of human regulations, the need to eschew false humility, how angel worship disqualifies a person for eternal life, the need to be holy, prayerful, and watchful, and the need to stand firm in God’s will. With attention to all these things, people can live in harmony with each other.” Last week, we didn’t have enough space for a short discussion of standing firm in one’s faith.
COL 4: 12, “Epaphras who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus sends greeting. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.” At first inspection of this verse, it’s about Paul’s respect for the faith Epaphras demonstrates and his trust in the latter to convey this important letter to the three cities, Colossae, Hierapolis, and Laodicea. But there is much more, more that applies to every believer in Jesus Christ. The questions come up, How much do you (individually) trust Jesus? Wrestle in prayer for others? How far when decisions must be made does that trust take you? None of us knows the exact answer in every situation to these questions, but they must be considered anyway. I’ve often told the story of Rachel, a young high school student at Columbine who was asked, “Do you believe in Jesus Christ?” with a loaded rifle pointed at her. Her trust in God was being tested in a way I hope none of you must face. She replied, “yes!” And, she immediately went home to be with the Lord. In a less trying but still difficult time during an interview for a calling to serve a large church, a pastoral candidate was asked, “Describe your spiritual formation.” Each of us needs to think about where that is going in his own life. This young man said that talking about Jesus, sharing the Gospel, is one of my favorite things to do, but I’ll talk with people who come to me about whatever they want. During the training I took for witnessing to my own faith for In Search of Shalom, I was told, “Be sure you give the Gospel message first, then chat.” I developed a question that does this concisely, “Do you know that God love you so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to the cross, so that all who believe in Him can have everlasting life?” There have been numerous times when I have asked that question of people chatting in with us who have the ulterior motive of taking up our time with no intention of having a serious spiritual conversation. But my supervisor makes the salient point that if they hear nothing else, that is the one thing they will hear before it’s necessary to abort the chat. I’ve given this matter considerable and prayerful thought. RO 10: 15, 17, “And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written [PS 52: 7], ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring Good News!’...Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” I have also known the joy of hearing a seeker say, “I’ve accepted Jesus as my Savior, as a result of the chats we’ve had.”
My own spiritual formation must have begun with hearing about Jesus when I was sneaking into my friend and classmate’s Catholic catechism class after secular elementary school. That message got set in the back of my mind, even after my father found out I was doing this and forbade me to continue. It wouldn’t leave me. Much later when I was 25, I made the decision, after doing a fair amount of research on belief in Christ, to become a believer. This was with considerable opposition from my traditionally conservative Jewish family. Still and all, I thought this was me alone making the decision. What I came to know much later is that I was being called not only to believe, but also to spend my life serving Jesus Christ. I never became a Catholic, but I did spend 12 years in the Mormon church, then left it for 20 years in the Presbyterian church, and finally the last 25 years being in the Lutheran church. The whole time I was falling deeply in love with the word of God and the life it entails. I’m ashamed that it took me until I was in my 50’s before I realized the Holy Spirit is with me 24/7. Like any often unruly child, I have been disciplined by the Lord. This discipline never was unfair or inconsistent. He was making His will for me known. I needed to humble myself before Him, to learn to be patient, to lack foolish pride, and to make myself available to obey His will when called. My faith has been tested with severe illnesses, disappointments, a difficult relationship with a close relative, and in other ways. Thankfully, my life was saved by a very competent surgeon, and despite being left partially disabled I needed to keep obeying Him. God made it clear He had more for me to do. Each of us must evaluate the health of his covenant relationship with God. While we don’t know the full extent of how far our faith will go, we do know that God wants us to be firm and honest in it.
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before Your mighty throne to acknowledge what You mean to us and our need for You. Purely and simply, we love You, and sometimes it is tough to accept Your calling and/or to do Your will. However, everything You teach us is for our best eternal interests. 2 TIM 3: 16-17, “All Scripture is God-breathed and useful in teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Why should doing good works be important? It is because You have saved us by Your grace by Your Son’s Atonement, for You had already prepared good works for us to do. It is the fulfillment of Your will that keeps us living righteously and having the hope of the resurrection. RO 8: 29 has told us that “Christ is the Firstborn among many brothers.” Your love for us is demonstrated by the way You set up the open, two-way channel of prayer. You hear all our prayers and answer them [PS 116: 1]. We must approach You with humility and learn to listen for what You say and the answers You give us. You have said, in PS 145: 18-19, “The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.” You have asked us to be firm in our faith, and we believe that study of Your word, praying often, and making You a Resident of our homes and our lives are what builds this firmness. Faith-strengthening activities and relationships in our lives are what we desire. We ask You to grant us strong faith, a good working knowledge of Your teaching, and a dynamic, intimate prayer life. These are the things that will bring us closer to You, as we work to expunge the sins still remaining in our lives. You are there for us, and we need to be here for You. We utter this prayer in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: Amidst the historical setting of conflict between pure Christianity as the early church practiced it and heresies, like the Colossian one that grew into Gnosticism, we must understand the sheer power to do good that God has. Before we go into the details of Gnosticism, we need to understand just “Who Jesus Christ is”. That is the title of the new segment of these “Knowing God” messages that I’ve been led to begin writing next week. Of course, most of us are familiar with JN 3: 16 and RO 3: 24-25, which I feel obligated to mention in most every devotion I write. But there is more, more that brings us to an even closer relationship with our Covenant Partner, Jesus Christ. It helps us to understand His remarkable attributes and deeds that qualify Him to be our personal Lord and Savior—the One Who deserves our forever worship, service, thanks, and praise. In the meanwhile, the apostle Paul was directed to write his epistle to the Colossians in such a way as to convey essential and profoundly important reconnaissance--information that allows us to be effective in spiritual warfare and to make godly choices in our lives. God’s word is His love letter to those who love Him. It is filled with wisdom and hope for those who are believers and potential believers. It gives us what the French call a “raison d’etre”—a reason for being. I personally have seen where PS 40: 1-2 has come true. “I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a Rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” We all want security, and my experience has taught me that there is no more secure place in this life or the next than standing on our Rock, the Lord Jesus Christ! Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2015. All Rights Reserved.
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