2019-07-05
Good Morning Dear Ones,
As you may already know, one of the main ways we can communicate with God is prayer. So, it’s necessary for us to examine prayer, as it applies to our continuing effort to provide supporting Scripture to the book of Colossians and address the question: What does it mean to be revealed with Christ and share in His glory? [from COL 3: 3-4]. Some people are known to engage in sexual immorality, indecency, lust, evil passions, greed, anger, hate, insults, use of obscenities, and lying, for example. These evils must truly be eliminated from our earthly lives, for God to feel we are acceptable and worthy of gaining eternal life. The process isn’t easy for humans and sometimes provides God with some painful disappointments. That is why God prompted the apostle Paul to say, in COL 3: 9-10, “Do not lie to one another, for you have put off the old self with its habits and have put on the new self. This is the new being, which God its Creator, is constant renewing in His own image, in order to bring you to a full knowledge of Himself.” God wants us to be in loving unity with one another and with Him. He calls us to peace and being bound by the love we share with Him and each other. That love and peace should guide all the decisions we make and actions we take. One manifestation of the love which should bind us together is forgiveness. I see another as humility. Not all faiths emphasize these things, as Christianity and Messianic Judaism do.
Since it is so difficult at times to go against human nature and be humble and forgiving, we must genuinely appeal to our Lord for help in seeing how we can exhibit these traits. That can be done in prayer, if it is genuinely offered as such an appeal. This frees the Lord to show us opportunities or methods for breaking down our existing stubbornness and follow His advice. We are assured that God’s justice awaits wrongdoers who refuse to repent. That is because God judges all people with the same standards. No one gets special treatment; no one is treated with evil cruelty by our Deity.
We are admonished to pray with persistence and alertness, in COL 4: 2-3. We are to pray often with thanksgiving and joyful hearts, in 1 THESS 5: 16-18. PS 145: 18, “He [the Lord] is near to those who call to Him, who call to Him in sincerity. He supplies the needs of those who honor Him; He hears their cries and saves them.” JER 29: 11-13, “I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you not to bring disaster, plans to bring about the future for what you hope. Then, you will call to Me. You will come and pray to Me, and I will answer you. You will seek Me and find Me, because you will pray to Me with all your heart.” We can imagine Paul’s humility in praying that God will give Him the right words to say, words that will convince those who hear or read them to come closer to God [COL 4: 3-4], words that are clear. COL 4: 5-6 leaves all of us with an important message. “Be wise in the way you act toward those who are not believers, making good use of every opportunity you have. Your speech should always be pleasant, interesting, and accurate to Biblical truth. This message is of interest to anyone who has the courage to teach, be a missionary, or establish a relationship with a newcomer or even an outsider to our congregations. Even more important than the words we say is the example we set for others. While I have not been a missionary in a foreign country, I have been one where God has placed me; by far, I am not the only one who does this. Sometimes it is in corporate worship meetings, in the classroom, on the job, or anywhere where the Lord places us in our lives. I’m reminded of the example set by Daniel, who was a captive in ancient Babylonia. Even when the king (Nebuchadnezzar) ordered everyone to worship a golden statue of himself, Daniel quietly faced toward Jerusalem and prayed three times daily to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob [DN 6: 10]. This wasn’t lost on those who knew him well. I believe the faithful in Christ have an obligation to set such an example.
God’s word often brings up the issue of offering prayers and praises to Him. This practice, if genuine, really matters to Him. God has always wanted to be at the
Center of our lives. To me, that means that we take time to recognize what He does for us and Who He is. It doesn’t come natural to us to count our blessings, as it is much easier for us to complain about our pain and woes. Believe me when I write that God cares about us and is willing to take on our worries. He cares about us [1 PET 5: 7]. Being omniscient as He is, God knows everything that is going on in our lives. What He needs to know is whether we accept our need for Him and are willing to praise Him for His goodness. He also wants to know if we turn FIRST to Him for advice in dealing with our challenges. So, in the matter of our willingness to offer Him praise and thanks, we are examining the nitty gritty of our relationship with Him (and with other humans!). Is the Lord really FIRST in our lives, or are we putting other things or people before Him? That was the real lesson I had to learn all those many years ago when asked: Who is the most important person in your life? We all must think about what the real, honest answer is to that question in our lives!
PRAYER: O Lord, we know that You have called us to love and peace. But, oh how difficult it sometimes is for us to truly answer that call. Yes, Dearest Lord, we know you have 10 rules that You wish for us to follow; they are the Ten Commandments. Your will is that we don’t balloon them with human-crafted analysis to 613 or any other number. And yet, there is so much more for us to learn. We must come to know our subservient relationship to You, how You have made us Your friends by Christ, to tap Your amazing wisdom frequently, to know the power of prayer and to do so with joy, thankfulness, and persistence. We must learn from the remarkable friendships You forge for us, how to keep our eyes on what You are doing and Who You are, and to live with Your teaching as our guide. It is an entire lifestyle that You command us to have, the only one that leads to true and eternal happiness. Your love for us is palpable and unconditional. We offer You our loyalty, thanks, praise, and reverence. You are our God and our Hero! How blessed we truly are that Your three personalities, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all over our lives. This thanks and praise are offered to Your glory, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I’m commanded by the Holy Spirit to continue writing what He tells me about “appearing in glory with Christ” [COL 3: 3-4], while at the same time discussing supporting Scriptures to the book of Colossians. In doing this, we can closely examine our relationships vertically with the Lord and horizontally with other people. It helps to understand what is meant by the “old and new selves” as discussed in 2 COR 5: 17 and COL 3: 9b-10. I pray that all of us can make ourselves a “living sacrifice of service, pleasing and acceptable to God” [RO 12: 1]. He truly deserves our acknowledgement of praise and thanks to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2019. All Rights Reserved.
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