2018-11-16
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, I was commanded by the Holy Spirit to begin writing about our “certificate of debt.” This continues support Scriptures for the book of Colossians. I carry on with this important subject about what we owe to God as our part for what He has been doing for us and our being in the Covenant of Grace. Our loving God asks remarkably little when compared to what He continues to do for us. Certainly, when we take an open, honest appraisal of what our Lord gives us, our obedience to His teaching and our genuine willingness to reveal, confess, and ask for forgiveness of our sins are precious little in return for His blessings. We must not forget that He assures us that we have access to Him and His wisdom whenever we seek it, and that we will eventually gain eternal life with Him in heaven.
The apostle, Paul, knew that human-crafted philosophies like Gnosticism were spiritually dangerous and packed with lies. The secrets and exclusivity of this body of belief should be warning enough for humans to stay away from it. But, we are weak and don’t have the wisdom of God. Thus, we are like dry leaves blown about by the wind in Fall. God knows this and provides access to Himself and His wisdom to prevent us from falling into this slimy pit of foolishness. PS 40: 1-3, “I waited patiently for the Lord’s help; then He listened to me and heard my cry. He pulled me out of a dangerous pit, out of the deadly quicksand. He set me safely on a Rock and made me secure. He taught me to sing a new song, a song of praise to our God. Many who see this will take warning and will put their trust in the Lord.” Those who wonder how to access the treasures of God’s knowledge and wisdom have yet to know that our Lord Jesus is the key that opens the way to them. God’s mystery revealed is Christ, Who through the Holy Spirit, inhabits the souls of those who believe in Him.
JN 15: 13-16 [Christ speaking], “The greatest love you can have for your friends is to give your life for them. And you are My friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because servants do not know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from My Father. You did not choose Me; I chose you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit, the kind of fruit that endures. And so, the Father will give you whatever you ask of Him in My name.” This passage shows how very different the truth is from lies, like Gnosticism. Our Lord doesn’t want us to be fooled by what we are hearing, but instead, to make choices that will eventually land us in heaven with Him- to share sweet and eternal fellowship with the Father [RO 5: 9-11; COL 1: 22]. Our hearts should be filled with praise for and thanks to Him. They can also be at peace with Him, and we can trust Him to tell us only the truth.
There is a fine line between being smug and self-satisfied and being genuinely humble and righteous. All too many believers have been off-putting when those opportunities to witness to their faith come about. They come across as self-satisfied rather than be responsible in conveying the Gospel. In my own long years of ministry, I have found “relational witnessing” and setting a humble example are the most efficient ways of sharing the Gospel. Relational witnessing involves getting to know a person over time and meeting him where his faith walk is. The latter means doing a lot of listening, so that you learn what possible objections to accepting Christ that person has. Then, we can show how Christ meets the potential believer’s needs. To have such a conversation, it’s essential that we have a commanding familiarity with the Scriptures. Our example set can reflect that without our ever saying a word, as well. Paul reminds us, in COL 2: 7, “Be deeply rooted in Christ, live your life by Him. Build your faith as taught to be strong and be filled with thanksgiving. Draw spiritual nourishment from Christ.” Remember Christ’s parable of the sower [MT 13: 5, 20-21]. There are valuable lessons to be learned from His parable of the two builders, in LK 6: 46-49. We must choose to build our houses on firm Rock and not on sand. (I’ve capitalized the “R” in Rock twice today. That’s no accident, and I refer in both metaphors to our Lord Jesus, Himself). Praise be to Him!
PRAYER: O Lord, we have so very much to learn from You! We can consider Your knowledge and wisdom and our access to it through Christ, a gift. We surely don’t deserve this gift, but You give it to us freely by Your grace. Each day that we study the Scriptures, our faith deepens. Our prayer is that our discernment also deepens. Pleas for wisdom and discernment are found in IS 51: 6 and PS 119: 125, “Sincerity and truth are what You require; fill my mind with wisdom…I am Your servant; give me understanding, so that I may know Your teachings.” You have told us, in 2 TIM 3: 16-17 the real value of Your word. “All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, corrected faults, and giving instruction for right living, so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed.”
A life lived with You at its very center is a life lived well. I pray on behalf of every reader of these devotions that You are using my writing to convince us of our need for Your leadership in our lives. A spirit of peace, deep faith, and genuine obedience to You is what we desire. Thank and praise to You for making this life possible. Yes, we will always have challenges, losses, and troubles of all sorts, but these are the times You lead us to our greatest growth in spiritual maturity. Access to our Lord Jesus at any time reflects Your great commitment to us, love and concern for our welfare. We offer this praise, love, faithfulness, and thanks to You, by means of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: Next week, as supporting Scriptures to Colossians continue, we will examine the joy of having faith and the fullness of a life in Christ. Our certificate of debt is ever more compelling as we begin to assess the great blessings we have for our faithfulness in Christ. The very last thing I want to convey is that I’m a “goody-goody” who never sins or engages in stupidity. I have foibles, just like everyone else. There are times when I’ve neglected to take my challenges or mistakes to God first. I’ve let words slip that rob my dignity and don’t improve what prompted my lapse in letting God take the lead in my life. “All of us are sinners and fall short of the glory of God,” RO 3: 23 tells us. It is expressly for this reason that we need a close and dynamic, on-going relationship with our Lord. After being quite miserable in the early part of my life, God has seen fit to enable me to come to the end of myself and has answered my fervent prayer to end this misery. What had been chaos, became direction. What had been poor choices of friends, became being surrounded by godly people who helped me. What had been irresponsibility, became maturity and willingness to do what pleases God. If such things can happen to me, they can happen to anyone. I wouldn’t ever trade the life I have now in Christ for the life I had in my youth. Our God is forgiving, kind, gentle, wise, and patient. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2018. All Rights Reserved.
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