2019-03-29
Good Morning Dear Ones,
I’m commanded to continue writing about God’s remedies for the difficulties we gain from allowing human desires to direct our lives. The better alternative is to yield control of our lives to God, Who loves us unconditionally. In mentioning the following Bible citations, one finds support for the book of Colossians. Body of Christ: AC 4: 12, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” HE 3: 6, “But Christ is faithful as the Son in charge of God’s house. We are His house if we keep up our courage and our confidence in our hope for the future.” GA 6: 2, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.” EPH 2: 20-22, “You, too, are built upon the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, the Cornerstone being Christ Jesus Himself. He is the One Who holds the whole building together and makes it grow into a sacred temple dedicated to the Lord. In union with Him, you too are being built together with all the others into a place where God lives through His Spirit.” God’s mystery: PR 2: 6, “It is the Lord Who gives wisdom; from Him come knowledge and understanding.” 1 PET 2: 9, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him Who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” Deceptive philosophy: PS 119: 125, “I am Your servant; give me understanding, so that I may know Your teachings.” PR 3: 7, “Never let yourself think that you are wiser than you are; simply obey the Lord and refuse to do wrong.” EPH 4: 13-15, “And so we shall all come together to that oneness in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God; we shall become mature people, reaching to the very height of Christ’s full stature. Then we shall no longer be children, carried by the waves and blown about by every shifting wind of the teaching of deceitful people, who invent. Instead by speaking the truth in a spirit of love, we must grow up in every way to Christ, Who is the head [of the body].” Humility: PS 115: 1, “To You alone, O Lord, to You alone, and not to us, must glory be given because of Your constant love and faithfulness.” 1 PET 5: 3b, “…And all of you must put on the apron of humility to serve one another, for the Scripture [PR 3: 34] says, ‘God resists the proud but show favor to the humble.’” Human nature vs. the Holy Spirit: GA 5: 16-17, “For what the human nature wants is opposite what the Spirit wants…these are enemies, and this means that you cannot do what you want to do….” 1 COR 10: 13, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” Value in God’s word: JS 1: 8, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” PS 91: 1-2, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will Say of the Lord, ‘He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God, in Whom I trust.” 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.” Truth: HE 4: 12, “The word of God is alive and active, sharper than any doubled-edged sword. It cuts all the way through, to where soul and spirit meet, to where joints and marrow come together. It judges the thoughts and desires of the heart.”
We should spend some time meditating over these Scriptures given to me by the Holy Spirit and consider how they apply to our lives as individuals and as part of the body of Christ. Their ramifications are tremendous. This is not to say that all the rest of God’s word, His “love letter” to us, isn’t as useful and wise. We must remember that our Lord Jesus has sympathy for the plight of mankind in their need to deal with temptation. HE 4: 15-16, “Our High priest is not One Who cannot feel sympathy for our weaknesses. On the contrary, we have a High Priests Who was tempted in every way that we are but did not sin. Let us have confidence, then, and approach God’s throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it.” The Lord says things to us so much better than I can without Him!
PRAYER: O Lord, only You can inspire those who write about You with the qualities and talents to revisit the same Scriptures repeatedly, always learning something new each time. Your love for us is so great that You sacrificed Your only Son on the cross, so that we might come to faith, grow in Him, and form the body of Christ. Our relationships with You and with other humans are forever transformed, and we are comforted to discover that nothing and no one can destroy Your love for us. You deserve all the love, honor, praise, thanks, and glory that we can give. We acknowledge that all Christlike love comes from You and that You are the Source of all truth and wisdom. Your power to do good is so strong that You can take sinful human beings and transform their lives for better. We must put deep roots in You and the good You do. What a blessing that we can nail our sins to the cross and overcome with faith in You! I stand in awe that You can put so much wisdom into a book like Colossians with only four chapters. Our relationships, vertically with You and horizontally with other people, matter tremendously to You. Those of us who listen and believe hunger for Your wisdom, need discernment, and carry the hope of the resurrection. We appeal to You to give us these things, so that we might carry on serving You with distinction and hearts led by the Holy Spirit. In Your holy name, Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I am commanded by the Holy Spirit to write about what the New Testament says about keeping the flesh under control. It interests me that all the while that God was working with people, even as far back as OT times, He was faced with the awfully difficult task of civilizing us. There were people who didn’t listen, the Gospel hadn’t happened in those distantly past times, and even so, there were people who wanted peace. As human history laid out, people were separated into two groups-those who wanted God to lead them, and those who rejected Him. Christ referred to them in MT 25: 32 when He spoke of separating the sheep from the goats. That latter group, the people who were rejecting God, are the ones whose lives are ruled by human desires. This wisdom is not mentioned to encourage judgments of people made by others. MT 7: 1-2 reminds us not to judge others so that God won’t need to judge you. For He will judge you with the same standard that you applied to others. At length in my writing, I acknowledge that we do have to make minor judgments of others at times to avoid evil. And making wise judgments that are also fair is a part of human life. However, there are some areas of judgment we should absolutely yield to our Lord. One’s fate would be an example. Think of a man like Saul of Tarsus in his early adulthood when he was serving the Sanhedrin (Jewish ruling council). We would have been sorely tempted to judge him adversely, a jump to conclusions. And yet, God had a very different fate for him. Once his conversion on the road to Damascus happened, Saul became the apostle Paul and was one of the most effective people in the spread of Christianity over the then-known world. God has said He can change the direction of a river’s current or the mind of a king. We can believe that, as we have most probably seen that in our own experience. I certainly have. We are richly blessed when we realize God is always trustworthy and righteous. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2019. All Rights Reserved.
<-- Back to Archives