2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
We have been looking at the Lord’s perspective on what it means to be a “new creation in Christ.” How blessed we are that He gives us such clear direction on how do live this way of life which He has chosen for us! Colossians 3 is a chapter rich in its information for us. So, the Lord leads me to continue discussing what I began in the last message.COL 3: 12-14, “You are the people of God; He loved you and chose you for His own. So then, you must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Be tolerant with one another and forgive one another whenever anyone of you has a complaint against someone else. You must forgive one another just as the Lord has forgiven you. And, to these qualities add love, which binds all things together in perfect unity.” The positive attributes listed here don’t come naturally to sinners. It’s a shame, because the world could be a far better place if they did. So, this must be learned behavior and attitudes. God did give us the ability to learn those things through faithful obedience to Him, however. Let’s look at those first five attributes from the point of view of experience so as to see how they can impact the quality of a person’s life.Since it is most appropriate for me to speak of my own experience rather than someone else’s, let me do that. I grew up in a family that was highly intelligent and competitive. That has its good points and its not such good ones. Issues of the day were brought to my attention, and I was challenged to learn to think through them. Being able to evaluate and analyze an issue can be very helpful in decision-making as you get older. This kind of upbringing also stimulated me to develop many interests. However, humility, gentleness, compassion, patience and kindness often took a back seat to the rest. Therein, was the negative side of my childhood. I learned to survive, but not to experience the pleasure in seeing how these attributes can make the lives of others around you better. Children do not come to us complete with self-esteem either. Mine was in terrible shape as I entered adulthood. What was missing in my life was Jesus Christ! I will testify He is the greatest Source of self-esteem and example of unselfishness imaginable. Without Him, my personality and my life was not complete. I had a teacher in primary school who lived by the principles Christ teaches. Because I was so young when I was in her class, I had no idea of why I loved her as much as I did. She was so different than any of the other role models in my young life then. Her patience with me and my fellow classmates as we struggled to learn our lessons was incredible. Yet, she never lost her position of authority. I didn’t want to misbehave in her class, because of the feelings she evoked in me and my desire to more like her. As I moved on to many other classes in my life, I took the example of her with me and still try to live up to it today. She never knew the impact she had on my life, because I never had the chance as an adult to tell her about it. That’s the way it often is with “angels” like this teacher. I moved far away, and she passed away many years ago. She had planted a seed for someone else in my life to nurture that eventually led to my knowledge that Jesus Christ is truly my personal Messiah.We all know that God wants us to worship Him, but in COL 3: 15-17, He shows us some of the ways we are to do this. “The peace that Christ gives is to guide you in the decisions you make; for it is to this peace that God has called you together in one body. And be thankful. Christ’s message in all its richness must live in your hearts. Teach and instruct one anther with all wisdom. Sing Psalms, hymns, and sacred songs; sing to God with thanksgiving in your hearts. Everything you do or say, then, should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks through Him to God the Father.” For someone who has belonged to as many congregations and lived in as many places as Peter and I have, I never let a day go by that I don’t thank God that He has brought us to the one where we now are. When the Lord led me to write that long series of messages on our congregations, He was forcing me to examine how our own compares to the ideal set for us by Christ. Believe me, while not perfect, it measures up extraordinarily well. The credit for that belongs to Jesus Christ and to the Father who called its members to stay in His Word in thought and action. It was He who brought Pastor Paul and Rhoda Pfotenhauer to establish this congregation 33 years ago, and it is He Who has brought the souls that followed them, sharing in their love of the Lord and willingness to obey Him. Pastor Paul and Rhoda are leaving us in a few months to retire and serve the Lord in other ways. We will miss them, but the example of their fine service will remain forever in our hearts. Our congregation is a joyous place to be, a place which enriches our lives and causes us to interface with many examples of what it means to live “in Christ.” The Lord has blessed me personally with the teacher mentioned above and the Pfotenhauer’s, who by their example show me the way to a life with Christ rather than an existence without Him leading to spiritual death.PRAYER: O Lord, a life “in Christ,” the one You choose for us as “new creations in Him,” is a life lived with love. You direct us in the way we should interact with each other, so that we may have a foretaste of heaven here on earth. While that doesn’t keep us from having illnesses or other troubles in our lives, it certainly equips us to deal with them and grow spiritually by experiencing You through our obedience to You. From time to time, You send “angels” to us-certain people who by their example impact our lives bringing us closer to You. Sometimes, these “angels” don’t even know they are being used by You in this wonderful way. You do all of this to show us how much You love us. How blessed we are! We honor, praise, adore, and worship You. We offer our lives to Your glory. In Christ’s name, amen.Each one of us is given the power to be this kind of “angel” in someone’s life. You certainly are in mine. By obeying God’s calling no matter how small we think it may be, others are brought closer to Him and to each other. When we follow the guidelines God has given us like the ones mentioned in this message, we not only improve the quality of our own lives, but we do so for the others around us too. That is the way our loving Abba wants it to be. He sends you His love in a million different ways every day, so that you will never have to feel alone and abandoned. Peter and I send you our love too.Grace, Love, and Peace Be With You,Lynn <-- Back to Archives