I Thessalonians 1

I Thessalonians 1

The book of I Thessalonians was written to encourage the believers in Thessalonica to remain steadfast in their faith in spite of the pagan society which was all around them. The First Epistle of Thessalonians is a call for Christ-centered living. I Thessalonians is a call for a radical transformation in our lives, because we belong to the Lord.

Paul saw much evidence of Christ-like living in the hearts and lives of the believers in the Thessalonian church. Paul said in I Thessalonians 1:2-3, "We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." Paul knew that a working and fruit-bearing faith was true faith. Paul saw this in the Thessalonian believers, and he was thankful to God for them. Do others see Christ in our lives? Do others thank and praise the Lord because of the evidence of faith they see in our lives?

One characteristic that Paul mentioned in I Thessalonians 1:3 as a characteristic of true faith is "work produced by faith." True saving faith always results in holy living. We still continue to struggle with sin as believers in the Lord Jesus, but it must be our consuming passion to live lives which are pleasing to the Lord. Our relationship with our Lord must be primary in our life, and our relationship with the Lord must be shown in every area of our lives. We must have a passionate desire and love for the things of the Lord. We must have a passionate desire to bring about the fruit of obedience to our Lord in all areas of our lives.

Yet another characteristic of true faith mentioned in I Thessalonians 1:3 is "labor prompted by love." We must love God and others to the point of exhaustion. This kind of love in not necessarily a sentimental feelings type of love, but it is a love produced by the Holy Spirit. Love sometimes involves hard work and perseverance. I Corinthians 13 reminds us that sacrificial love does not always come naturally. Love is patient and kind. Love is not envious, proud, or self-seeking. Love is not rude or easily angered. It certainly does not keep a checklist of the wrongs committed against us by others. God's sacrificial love requires the Holy Spirit's help and involves perseverance and hard work.

A third characteristic of true faith mentioned in I Thessalonians 1:3 is "endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." True faith proves itself by patience and perseverance. God's children can be patient and persevere in their faith; because they have the certainty that they belong to their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for time and for eternity. Because of this blessed certainty they can endure and persevere even in difficult times in their lives. God's children can remain steadfast and patient in their faith even under pressure. This is because they rest their lives in the Lord Jesus Christ, and know they are secure in Him.

We were chosen by the Lord to live for His glory. The Lord has called us to changed lives, and He has called us to be imitators of the Lord Jesus Christ. (I Thessalonians 1:6) We must reflect the Lord and His character in both pleasant and difficult times in our lives.  I Thessalonians 1:7 tells us that Our lives must become "a model" to all our fellow believers and also to those who do not know the Lord. May we be such good examples of perseverance in love, joy, and peace that our faith will be evident to those all around us. May others see the power of the Holy Spirit and Christ-like character in our lives. May others know that our lives have been touched and changed by our Lord and by His presence in our lives!

Psalm 91

"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."  Psalm 91:1-2

"He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart."  Psalm 91:4

God's children dwell "in the shelter of the Most High."  The Lord is our shelter in the trials and storms of life.  As His children Psalm 91:1 reminds us that we "rest in the shadow of the Almighty."  The Lord is our shadow of protection from the oppression of the heat of life's difficult circumstances.  Psalm 91:2  tells us that the Lord is our "refuge" and our "fortress." He is the God that we can trust and run to for protection and shelter, because He is the "Most High" and the Almighty God who has power to help us.  The Lord also loves and cares for us.  He is our security and place of safety.

Psalm 91:3 also suggests that the Lord protects us from many unforeseen dangers and pitfalls.  He is often protecting us when we don't even see the dangers surrounding us.  Do we ever stop to contemplate how many "accidents" and other unforeseen things the Lord protects us from each and every other day?  Psalm 91:4 tells us that "He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart."

The Lord will protect us in His eternal love, faithfulness, and great power!  We need not fear anything whether it be day or night.  The Lord will always protect His own!  Nothing will happen to us that the Lord did not  plan from eternity.  Verses nine and ten of Psalm 91 reminds us that if we make the Lord our dwelling place and our place of refuge no ultimate harm will ever come to us!  Psalm 91:11 tells us that the Lord commands "His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways."  The Lord will even use His angels to help protect us against many dangers and frightening situations!  What an awesome and exciting thought!

Verses fourteen through sixteen of Psalm 91 promises us that because we love the Lord and acknowledge Him as Lord, He will come to our aid and rescue us in life's difficult moments.  The Lord is our protection and security in the many uncertainties and dangers of life.  When you and I call on the Lord for help in life's troubles, He will receive us with open arms.  He will then deliver us and rescue us and even honor us!  The Lord will do all this, because He loves His children!  He will also bless us with abundant life and give us His eternal salvation!  What grace!  What love!  Praise His name!  Why would we ever give way to self-pity or worry with such a loving and faithful God always protecting us?  Let us always rest our lives in the Lord! 

Lamentations 3:18-33

Lamentations 3:18-33

"His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22b-23

We have the certainty of the Lord's faithfulness and love even in the harshest of circumstances. In the Old Testament book of Lamentations the author is lamenting or mourning the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. He was also mourning the capture and exile of God's people of that day. All this came about because of the sinful choices made by God's people. We also experience adverse consequences for sinful or wrong choices in our lives. Even in these difficult circumstances brought on by our own actions and choices, however, the Lord remains loving and compassionate to us.

The author of Lamentations said in Lamentations 3:18, "My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord." The author of Lamentations went on to say in Lamentations 3:20b, "my soul is downcast within me." Have you ever felt like the author of Lamentations? Have you ever felt completely discouraged and without hope? Have you ever felt like everything was crashing down around you? When we begin to feel like the author of Lamentations felt, we are beginning to focus on ourselves instead of on the Lord. The truth of the matter is that there is always the certainty of the Lord's presence even in the worst of circumstances. It is not necessary for our circumstances to change to experience the Lord's joy and peace in our hearts and lives. We just need to take our focus off ourselves and our problems, and focus on the Lord.

This is exactly what the author of Lamentations began to do in Lamentations 3:21-23. He said, "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." When we are feeling discouraged by a difficult set of circumstances in our lives, we must "call to mind" the Lord's love for us and the Lord's awesome promises in His Holy Word. The Lord's river of mercy and love never runs dry. People, material possessions and our own resources will often fail us. The Lord, however, will never fail us! We can put our trust in the Lord because of His great love and His faithfulness to us. No matter what is going on in our lives, we can trust the Lord!

In fact, the Lord's love and faithfulness is "new every morning." We experience His love and faithfulness moment by moment and day by day. The Lord is loving and compassionate to His children and always walks beside them with His protecting love and faithfulness. How precious it is to awaken each morning knowing that the Lord will be walking beside us each day, as we face the daily stresses and challenges. "And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)

We can put our trust in the Lord in the most difficult of circumstances because of His love and faithfulness. We can also put our trust in the Lord, because He is our portion or inheritance. Lamentations 3:24 says, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him." We, as His children, have the promise of His protecting love in our lives. We also have an eternal inheritance and future in the Lord. Thus we can "wait" on the Lord. Waiting on the Lord means we are resting our entire trust in the Lord for time and eternity. We can trust completely in the Lord's "unfailing love." (Lamentations 3:32b) Praise His name!

Colossians 4

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." Colossians 4:2

Life can become very hectic and busy at times.  Sometimes our schedules can get so packed with activities that we feel as if our heads are spinning.  Spending time with the Lord in His Holy Word and in prayer, however, must be at the top of our list of things that we do each day.  Nothing spiritually worthwhile can be accomplished in our lives without the help of the Lord and without the power of prayer.  In Colossians 4:2 we are told to devote ourselves to prayer.  Not only should we set aside a special time each day for prayer and the reading our Bibles, but we need to have an attitude of prayer throughout the day.  We need to have a constant awareness of the Lord's presence with us each and every moment of the day.

We must never become weary of spending time in prayer in God's Word; but we must be passionate, steadfast, and watchful in our prayer lives.  We must never discontinue our prayer times with the Lord.  We must pray earnestly that we will grow in our personal relationship with the Lord.  We must pray earnestly that we will grow in our ability to reflect Jesus in our lives and that we will grow in practical holiness.

Colossians 4:5 tells us that we must also pray that we will "be wise" in the manner in which we act towards those who are not believers in the Lord Jesus.  We must "make the most of every opportunity" to let our lives shine for the Lord.  The only way we can do that is through the power of prayer.  Nothing worth while can be accomplished in Jesus' name without prayer.  In addition to this we may and must come to the Lord with all of our needs. The Lord welcomes us with His open arms and is willing to meet our every need.  Finally, we must also express our praise and thanks to the Lord through our prayers.

We must not only pray for ourselves, but we must also pray for others.  Little is known of Epaphras spoken of in Colossians 4:12.  He apparently was a servant of the Lord who had completely yielded his life to the Lord.  Epaphras also seemed to have been a man of prayer.  He was "always wrestling in prayer" for the Colossian Christians.  God had laid the Colossian Christians on his heart, and Epaphras considered it his joy and service to pray for them.  Epaphras prayed that they would "stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured."

We too can have a prayer ministry for others.  We like Epaphras can pray that those individuals on our prayer list will grow in spiritual maturity and that they will "stand firm in all the will of God."  We can pray for others when they are going through difficult times that they will be "fully assured" of God's precious promises to always be with them.

We need to pray about everything.  Are we or someone we know in need of healing?  We need to pray!  Are we or someone we know going through a time of physical or emotional pain?  We need to pray!  Are we or someone we know weighed down with past failure?  We need to pray!  Have we or someone we know sinned?  We need to pray! Is there some problem in our lives or in someone else's life that seems beyond human ability to remedy?  Take it to the Lord in prayer!  I Peter 3:12 says, "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are attentive to their prayer."

Colossians 3

We as believers  in the Lord Jesus Christ have died to sin through Christ's death on the cross.  We have been transferred from Satan's kingdom to Christ's kingdom.  Our old sinful nature still tempts us to sin, however, and we need to do all we can to rid our lives of sin.  We can begin to do this by setting our "hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God."  Colossians 3:1-2 goes on to tells us that we need to set our hearts and "minds on things above, not on earthly things."  We must remember that our citizenship is in heaven and not on earth.  Our lives on this earth are very brief and transitory in comparison to eternity.

Because we are united to the Lord, the living Christ, we are raised to a new life in Him.  Our new lives in Christ must be lived out in practical righteousness in our daily walk in this world.  We need to reflect Jesus  in our lives and in our actions and speech.  Our affections must be centered on the Lord and not on earthly things or earthly relationships.  We must never forget that our purpose for being on this earth is to bring glory and praise to our Lord.  For we died to sin through His death, and now our new lives in Christ are "hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:3b)

When Christ returns someday we will be with the Lord Jesus Christ forever!  Because of this blessed certainty of being with the Lord forever and because we are "hidden with Christ in God," we can and must seek to rid our lives of whatever is sinful.  Colossians 3:5 tells us that we must "put to death" anything in our lives that belongs to our "earthly nature."  We must "put to death" anything that belongs to our unregenerate state before we knew Jesus as our Savior and Lord. Colossians 3:9-10 further reminds us that we must take off the "old self" of sin, evil desires, and self-absorption; and we must "put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator."

As God's precious and chosen people Colossians 2:12 tells us we must clothe ourselves with "compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience."  We must seek to be godly and holy in all areas of our lives.  We must seek to be patient with other people's faults and sins, and we must be forgiving.  The Lord forgives us of all our many sins. Therefore we need to be willing to forgive others for the sins that they commit against us.  The magnitude of our sins forgiven by the Lord far outweighs any wrong things others may commit against us.  Finally, Colossians 3:14 tells us "over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."

We also need to allow Christ's peace to rule in our hearts and lives.  We were called to Christ's peace in our lives.  We can have peace with God, peace with each other, and peace in our souls.  We are able to experience peace no matter what is going on in our world around us, because His peace is not dependent on circumstances!  When the Lord rules in our lives and hearts we can have a peace that the world can not understand!  Peace and security is found only in Christ Jesus.  It is His gift to us, His children.

We further must have a thankful heart and a heart that is full of praise for the Lord.  Because of all He has done for us we must live our lives in gratitude to Him.  Colossians 3:17 tells us "whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name if the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."  Whatever we do must be done for the glory of God.  Our love for the Lord must show in our relationships in our family, in our work, and in all areas of our lives.  Our love for the Lord must show in our thoughts, attitudes, and in our actions.

Colossians 3:24b says to us, "It is the Lord Christ you are serving."  We must be putting off our old sin natures and clothing ourselves in our new lives in Christ.  It must become our passion and joy to bring glory and praise to the Lord in all areas of our lives!

Colossians 2

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."
Colossians 2:6-7

It was Paul's heartfelt desire that all the Colossian believers and all believers in Christ Jesus everywhere would reflect Jesus in their lives.  Paul's desire was that they would practice their faith in their attitudes and actions.

According to Colossians 2:2 Paul's first desire was that Christians would "be encouraged in heart."  God does not want us to become discouraged in our walk and life lived for Him.  Life tends to have many obstacles and difficulties at times, but we belong to the Lord for time and for eternity.  Therefore, we need not become discouraged!  If we are daily spending time in God's Word and resting in His promises, we can "be encouraged in heart" no matter what our circumstances.  The secret to a joyful life according to Colossians 2:3 is resting in Christ Jesus "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."  We must get our wisdom from the Lord through His Word.  The world's "wisdom" may often sound logical and good, but it will fail us every time.  The Lord's wisdom may be laughed at by the world, but His wisdom will never fail us!

It was also Paul's desire and is God's desire for us that we do not just receive the Lord Jesus as our Savior.  We must also grow in our faith.  We need to practice as well as possess our faith. In order to do this we need to grow in our personal love relationship with the Lord.  Colossians 2:6b-7 tells us that we need to "continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith."

We need to "live in Him."  We need to have an intimate, living, and spiritual relationship with the Lord.  Through this intimate spiritual union with Christ we need to be growing in our faith every day.  We also need to be "rooted" in Him.  Just like a plant can not grow well without deep roots, we too can not grow spiritually without being deeply rooted and foundationed in the Lord.  Just as a plant reaches down through its roots to the source of its needed supply of nutrients, so we need to find our source of strength in the Lord alone.  We need to be deeply "rooted" in the Lord.  One way we do this is by feeding on the Word of God.

We also need to be "built up" in Christ.  We need to be "built up" into Christ-likeness.  We must  increasingly be reflecting Christ-like attitudes and actions in our lives.  To be able to do this we must be "strengthened in the faith."  Jesus Christ must be our source of strength in all things.  We must not depend on human resources for our strength.  We must depend on the Lord alone.  Finally, Colossians 2:7b tells us that we need to be "overflowing with thankfulness" in our lives.

Jesus Christ is God Himself.  Colossians 2:9-10 says, "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ."  In Christ you and I have been given everything we need for time and for eternity!  Our sins have been forgiven, and according to Colossians 2:12b we have been "raised with Him" through our faith "in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead."  We are alive in Christ and have a totally new life in Him!  Now we must seek to be truly living in Christ, rooted and foundationed in Him, and built up and strengthened in Him.  Our hearts must be overflowing with thankfulness to Him, and this thankfulness must show in our lives.  We must in thankfulness seek to live our lives for His glory! 

Colossians 1:15-29

"so that in everything He might have the supremacy" Colossians 1:18b

Jesus Christ is supreme in all things.  Jesus is supreme in His revelation of God to us.  Jesus Christ is God Himself.  Colossians 1:15 says,"He is the image of the invisible God."  God is invisible; but Christ, the eternal Son of God, also became man.  Jesus Christ, as God and man reveals God to us.

Jesus Christ, who is God Himself, is also supreme in all creation.  Colossians 1:16-17 says, " For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him, and for Him.  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."  Everything was created by Jesus Christ and was made for His glory.  The Lord Jesus Christ also continues to sustain all of His creation by His mighty power and control!

Jesus Christ is also supreme in the church.  He is the head of the church.  He is also the beginning and foundation of the church.  By His death and resurrection Colossians 1:18b says He is "the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy."  It was Jesus Christ who saved us from eternal death in hell by His atoning sacrifice on the cross.  He made us to be at peace with God and no longer separated from God by our sins.  Colossians 1:20b says that Jesus Christ did this "through His blood, shed on the cross." Once we were enemies of God.  But now, according to Colossians 1:22b, because of Christ's death we are "holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation."  We now have a righteous and holy standing before God because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross!  When God looks at us He sees Christ's righteousness and not our sins!

Our righteousness standing in Christ, however, must also be increasingly shown in practical holiness in our lives.  We need to increasingly grow in our faith and in our love and obedience to the Lord.  We must increasingly grow in our desire to reflect Jesus in our lives.  We must increasingly grow in our desire to rid our lives of sinful attitudes and actions.  Colossians 1:23 reminds us that we must also persevere in our faith and continue in our faith "firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel."

Christ must become supreme in every area of our lives.  Our lives must be built on the Lord Jesus Christ.  Nothing in our lives should come before the Lord.  In order for this to happen we must spend time each day in prayer and Bible reading.  We also must be submissive to the Lord's working in our lives even in difficult times.

There is no greater joy than having Christ in the center of our lives and living our lives totally devoted to Him.  Nothing on this earth can compare to the joy of belonging to the Lord!  Colossians 1:27 tells us that to us, His children, He has chosen to reveal His "glorious riches" which is Christ living in us, "the hope of glory."  Our salvation in Christ, His presence and protections in our lives, and an eternal future with the Lord are all ours in Christ!  In thankfulness let us truly make Him Lord over over area of our lives!  Jesus Christ already has supremacy and glory in all things.  May our lives reflect His glory! 

Colossians 1:9-14

Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.  We are filthy in our sins and can do nothing to bridge the gap between God and ourselves.  We can do nothing to even contribute to our salvation.  We stand in holiness before God only because of Jesus' atoning blood on the cross.  As a redeemed child of God, however, we now need to also grow in practical holiness in our lives.  In our Scripture passage today, Paul prayed for the Colossian Christians.  Paul prayed for practical holiness in their lives.  Paul's prayer in Colossians 1:9-14 is a beautiful example of the type of prayer we should pray for ourselves and for others.

Paul prayed that the Colossian believers would be filled with the knowledge of God's will and purpose.  Paul's prayer was that their understanding of God's will and purpose for them according to Colossians 1:9b would come through God's "spiritual wisdom and understanding."  Godly knowledge must not just be a possession of facts.  Rather, Godly knowledge involves a practical change in our lives.  Godly knowledge results in a change in our attitudes.  Godly knowledge, understanding, and wisdom in our lives involves our giving up our selfish "me" centered attitudes and being clothed with Christ-like attitudes.

Godly knowledge also involves Christ-like actions in our lives.  Paul continued to pray for the Colossian believers in Colossians 1:10-11. Paul prayed that they would "live a life worthy of the Lord" and that would "please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might."

This must be our prayer and passion also!  Our lives must be lived not for ourselves, but for the glory of God.  This is the purpose for which we were created.  Our lives must show spiritual fruit and evidence that we belong to the Lord.  The only way this can happen is if we are "growing in the knowledge of God."  We can only live for the Lord if we are immersing ourselves in His Holy Word, and we are seeking the Lord and His will with all our hearts.  Our lives can only be lived for the Lord through His power residing in us.  As believers we have in our possession the Lord's resurrection power in us!  This resurrection power gives us the potential and power to live for the Lord!  As believers, however, we must make the conscious and willing choice to walk in Christ-like attitudes and actions.

Paul also prayed that the Colossian believers would be strengthened with God's power and might, so that they according to Colossians 1:11b would "have great endurance and patience."  God's power in us is sufficient for us to prevail in patience even during those very difficult times in our lives.  We have God's power in us to not only endure these difficult times with gritted teeth, but we can even go through these times with a joyful and thankful heart.  We can in all things have hearts filled with praise, because we belong to the Lord for time and eternity!

Colossians 1:12b-14 reminds us that as children of God we "share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.  For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."  Jesus Christ has rescued us from the "dominion of darkness" and sin. Christ has delivered us from Satan's kingdom to His kingdom of righteousness.  He has done this for a purpose, however, and that purpose is so we can live as trophies of His grace and for His glory.  God has given us His resurrection power to live for Him.  It must be our choice and responsibility, however, to resist sin and the devil and to pursue His holiness and His will in our lives.  May it be our consuming passion to live for the Lord!  May it be our consuming passion to grow in practical holiness in our lives!

Colossians 1:1-7

"We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints-the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven."  Colossians 1:3-5

In Paul's letter to the Colossians Paul refers to the Colossian believers in Colossians 1:2 as "holy and faithful."  Because of Christ's sacrificial death on the cross they were holy in their standing in Christ.  These believers were now wearing the righteous robes of Christ's righteousness.  They were not holy  and righteous in themselves, because every human being is filthy in their own sins.  They, however, were now clothed in Christ's righteousness.  When God, the Father, looked down on them; He no longer saw their sins.  Instead He saw Christ's righteousness and holiness.  This is true of believers today also.  We are righteous and holy in Christ's atoning blood alone.  A new life in Christ, however, brings about growth in practical righteousness and holiness.  A new life in Christ brings about a growth in Christ-likeness in our day to day lives.

In Colossians chapter one Paul lists several characteristics in the lives of the people in the church in Colosse for which he was thankful to God.  Paul was thankful to God for these characteristics, because all evidence of spiritual growth and spiritual fruit in a believer's life comes from God.  These were characteristics in the believers' lives which showed a growth in practical holiness and a growth in Christ-likeness in their lives.  These are characteristics of growth in holiness that should be increasingly evident in our lives as believers today also.

Faith and love are the first two characteristics Paul mentions.  Faith is trusting and leaning our entire personalities on the Lord in absolute and complete trust.  It is trusting the Lord for everything we need for time and eternity.  Faith is trusting in God's wisdom, power, goodness, and faithfulness.  Love encompasses love for God and for others, especially our fellow believers.  This kind of love extends even to those people who are sometimes not loving to us.  It extends to those who are unlovely or difficult.  It is easy to love those who are pleasant and loving to us. It is much more difficult to love those who are sometimes insensitive and unloving to us.  The Lord loved us, however, in our sinful and unlovable state.  We need to show that same love to others.

Hope is another characteristic of a spiritually growing Christian.  The word "hope" in the Bible does not refer to something for which one might wish but is uncertain.  The word "hope" in the Bible refers to the absolute certainty of the promises of God which have not yet fully been attained.  It is an anticipation of the glories of our rewards in heaven.  It is also a willingness to cling in faith to the Lord in times of trial.  It is a willingness to cling in joyful anticipation to His precious promises of victory in our lives as children of God.  It is a willingness to wait for the Lord's perfect timing for all the events of our lives. 

Fruitfulness and faithfulness are two other characteristics of a true child of God.  Children of God will show the fruit of the Holy Spirit in their lives.  They will show that they are children of God by their lives and words.  They will be spiritually fruitful in their attitudes and actions in their lives.  They will also be faithful in their service to the Lord to the very end.

We need to examine our lives to see if we are growing in holiness and Christ-likeness in our lives.  We need to be growing in faith, hope, fruitfulness, and faithfulness.  We need to be growing to become more like Jesus every day!

Psalm 84

"My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God."  Psalm 84:2b

Psalm 84 is an expression of deep longing for the house and presence of the Lord.  The psalmist said , in Psalm 84:2, "My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God."  Do you and I long for time alone with the Lord in our daily devotions?  Do you and I long for the presence of the Lord in our daily activities?

Even the restless sparrow found rest and a home for themselves at the Old Testament alter of God.  So we also can find rest and peace for our souls in the presence of the Lord.  He alone can fill the longing and emptiness of our hearts with His joy.  The Lord alone provides for our salvation; and He alone meets our every emotional, physical, and spiritual need.  The psalmist said to God in prayer in Psalm 84:4, "Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they are ever praising You."  Yes, blessed and joyful are we who are secure in the presence of the Lord!  Blessed and joyful are we who are drinking in the blessings of His grace!

The psalmist went on in His prayer.  He said in Psalm 84:5-7, "Blessed are those whose strength is in You, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.  As they pass through the valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.  They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion."  Blessed and joyful are we who find our strength in the Lord.  When we pass through the valley of weeping, trial, and difficulties in our lives, the Lord gives us His strength.  The Lord is our sustainer.  Not only does the Lord sustain us during difficult times, but He makes even the difficult times "a place of springs" in our journey through life.

Even the trials of life are transformed into blessings under the Lord's direction, as we submit to Him!  Hence, even the valleys of life can be turned into valleys of praise to the Lord!  A child of God goes from "strength to strength" and from victory to victory until he or she "appears before God in Zion."  Paul tells us in Romans 8:37, "in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."

We must be busy serving the Lord in our small corners of the world.  It is not important that we are significant or popular in the eyes of the world.  What is important is that we are experiencing fellowship with the Lord and are serving Him.  Psalm 84:11 says, "For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless."  The Lord is our sun directing us on the paths of life.  He shatters the darkness all around us.  The Lord is also our shield.  No one or nothing else can provide us better protection than the Lord.  He gives us all we need, and He gives us only what is for our ultimate good.  Blessed and joyful are they whose trust is in the Lord!

Psalm 71

"For You have been my hope, O Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth." Psalm 71:5

"But for me, I will always have hope; I will praise You more and more."  Psalm 71:14

Do you ever feel overwhelmed with a new and major crisis in your life today?  Do you feel overwhelmed with just the accumulation of small daily problems and responsibilities you face today?  The Lord wants us to come to Him in prayer with all our needs.  The Lord is our only true resource for all our needs.

In Psalm 71 David, the psalmist, prayed for help in his old age.  His enemies were threatening him, and his strength was declining.  David prayed in Psalm 71:3, "Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress."  In spite of David's appeal for help from God in this Psalm, David was also expressing his trust and confidence in the Lord.  God had been David's refuge and help in the past, and David knew God would be his refuge in the present crisis.  In Psalm 71:5-6 David continued to express his confidence and trust in prayer.  David said, "For You have been my hope, O Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth.  From birth I have relied on You; You brought me forth from my mother's womb.  I will ever praise You."

The longer we serve the Lord the more clearly we see the Lord's continual faithfulness to us in past problems.  Then we also begin to grow in our trust in Him to sustain us in the midst of our present problems and needs!  We need to contemplate the Lord's faithfulness in the past; so that we can proceed in faith, trust, and peace in facing today's challenges and problems.  Our constant prayer must be that no matter what circumstances the Lord allows in our lives we will continue to say to Him, "I will ever praise You."  May our lives be filled with praise for the Lord every moment both in pleasant times and in difficult times.  This is possible, if we are truly trusting that the Lord is leading and guiding our lives in faithfulness.

In Psalm 71:9 David went on to pray to the Lord.  David prayed, "Do not cast me away when I am old; do nor forsake me when my strength is gone."  David was facing a new major crisis in his life.  In this new crisis in his life David needed a sense of the Lord's presence even as he was growing older.  David then went on to say in prayer in Psalm 71:14, "But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise You more and more."  David knew with an absolute certainty that God had been with him in the past.  David also knew that the Lord would be with him in the present crisis in his life!  Notice that David was also praising God in the middle of his crisis!  We must do the same.

We can praise the Lord in all circumstances, however, only if we are trusting in God's complete faithfulness and guidance.  David said in Psalm 71:19-20, "Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God, You have done great things.  Who, O God, is like You?  Though You have made me see troubles, many and bitter.  You will restore my life again."  Then in Psalm 71:23 David prayed, "My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to You-I, whom You have redeemed."

Because of the Lord's past faithfulness to us, we can trust Him for today's challenges and problems.  We can also trust Him for the future challenges and problems we will face.  We can do this with a joyful heart and with a heart full of praise, because our God is a faithful God!

Jeremiah 29:11-14

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you,' declares the Lord."  Jeremiah 29:11-14

The words of Jeremiah 29-11-14 were originally penned to God's Old Testament people who had been taken into exile, but they are still relevant to God's people today.  God's plan for us is to prosper us and not to harm us.  He always works for our spiritual good, and no ultimate spiritual harm will ever come to a child of God!

Our definition of success and prosperity may not always match the Lord's definition, but His way and will for us is always best.  True success and prosperity is found in seeking to please and honor the Lord with the resources, opportunities, and blessings that He has given us.  True success is found in trusting the Lord's leading and direction in our lives.

God may allow difficult circumstances in our lives as well as times of relative calm, but we can be certain that His plans for us are always for our best and are not meant to harm us.  His plans according to Jeremiah 29:11b are to give us "hope and a future."  When everything around us seems to be falling apart, the Lord already has it all figured out!  The Lord already has a plan in mind for our lives from all eternity!  Every step and event in our lives has been planned by the Lord and is known by the Lord.  Why should we fear anything?  The Lord allows these difficult times to help get our eyes off ourselves and more focused on Him.  His plans in even difficult times are meant to give us "hope and a future."

In order to have the assurance of the Lord's presence in our lives, however, we must always call upon Him in prayer.  We must seek a relationship with the Lord with all of our hearts.  It must be our passion to serve and please Him.  The Lord must be most important in our lives.  Our lives in what we consider good times and in times which we consider difficult times must be centered on our growing love relationship with the Lord.  We must also find our strength in the Lord alone.

This is the path and secret to joy and success in the Lord.  Life will continue to contain uncertainties and times of difficulty.  The Lord, however, is our certain future; if we seek Him with all our hearts.  People and things will fail.  The Lord will never fail.  He will bring us from victory to victory!  Praise His name!

Jeremiah 18:1-6

"Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand."  Jeremiah 18:6

God often teaches us spiritual truths in the Bible through the use of parables or living pictures.  In our Scripture passage today God gave the prophet, Jeremiah, a living picture.  God did this to help Jeremiah understand an important spiritual truth.  God told Jeremiah in Jeremiah 18:2, "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message."

In Jeremiah's day one could not go down to the local retail store to buy a bowl, vase, or pot.  One had to go to the potter's house.  The potter would start with a lump of clay.  The potter would then put the lump of clay on a potter's wheel; and with the touch of his hands he would form the clay into a beautiful vase, bowl, or pot of some kind.

Sometimes the potter made something that did not please him, or the vessel "was marred in his hands" (Jeremiah 18:4).  This may have happened because some impurities had not been removed, or perhaps a piece of unwanted material in the clay would not yield to the work that was being done on the potter's wheel.  If this happened, the potter would smash the pot and remake it over and over until it was a vessel pleasing to him.

The Lord God is the Potter in our lives, and we are the clay in His hands.  He is in sovereign control of our lives, and He controls all the events of our lives.  When spiritual impurities come into our lives the Lord God recreates and molds our lives to be more in tune with His will.  All the events of our lives are used to make us more like Jesus.

God especially uses problems, difficulties, and trials in our lives to mold us into the kind of people who truly reflect the Lord Jesus.  The Lord wants to bring us ever closer to the center of His will.  Difficulties teach us to not rely on our own self-effort and devices.  Difficult times in our lives teach us to rely and trust only on the Lord.  Difficulties in our lives also help to remove the impurities of sin from our lives, and they help us to grow in our love relationship with the Lord.  All the events of our lives, including difficult times, are meant to shape us into beautiful vessels for the Lord.

Our prayer to God should be that He will make us into beautiful vessels of purpose for Him.  When we fail and allow spiritual impurities into our lives we need to pray that the Lord will take us back to His Potter's wheel.  We need to pray that the Lord will then reshape us and form us into something more beautiful for Him.  From the beautiful fragments of our lives the Lord can make us beautiful vessels for Him!

We must not fight against or question the Lord's molding of our lives.  We need to pray that each touch of His hand in our lives will help us to become whom He wants us to become.  The Lord knows just the right amount of pressure to put on our lives.  We must remain thankful for how He is working and leading in our lives!  We must persevere in our willingness to submit to the Lord's will.  We must be submissive to the Lord even in trials and difficult times in our lives.  The Lord has promised to be with us all the way.

We must also ask the Lord for the filling of the Holy Spirit's power and the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  We must yearn for the Lord to control our lives completely every hour and every day!  There is a song that expresses this well.  The words to this song need to be our prayer each day.  "Lord, You're the Potter.  I am the clay.  Mold me and make me in Your own way.  Take me and break me, Savior, I pray, into a vessel of honor today."                                                                             

Jeremiah 17:5-17

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.  He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.  It does not fear when heat comes; it's leaves are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."  Jeremiah 17:7-8

There is much anxiety and emptiness in the hearts and minds of most people in this world.  For the Christian there should always be a sense of peace and resting in the Lord.  For even Christians, however, worry sometimes creeps into our lives.  Worry is sin.  Worry occurs in our lives, because we are trusting in something or someone other than God.  Worry means we are making someone or something else in our lives more important than the Lord.

Sinful worry involves having our roots or foundations in life in something other than the Lord.  Sinful worry involves putting our trust and hope in things other than the Lord.  Jeremiah 17:5 says, "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord."  If we put anything before the Lord we will be like a dried up "bush in the wastelands" according to Jeremiah 17:6.  Such lives are meaningless.

What makes you and I anxious?  What makes us worry?  What are our hearts set on?  What we worry about may be a clue as to what is becoming more important to us than the Lord in our lives.  Many things can be "good" things in themselves, but even "good" things must not be more important to us than the Lord.  Is our jobs or careers more important to us than the Lord?  What about our families?  What about our reputations or what people think of us?

Even when we think we are doing the Lord's work we must be very careful that people's perceptions of us does not become more important to us than the Lord.  We need to be emptied of ourselves and filled with the Lord.  If we are chasing after anything other than the Lord's will, we will not even notice the blessings and prosperity that do come to us.  We will still be discontent.  Jeremiah 17:6 says it will be as if we are living "in the parched places of the desert."

What a contrast there will be in our lives, if we are truly resting and trusting in the Lord!  Jeremiah 17:7-8 says "But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.  He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream."  Blessed and joyful are we, if we trust in the Lord and find our total fulfillment in Him!  Blessed are we, if we trust Him and have our confidence in Him alone.  He will fill us with His living spiritual waters.  He will give us all we need for time and eternity.  In our natural state we are born in sin, and we are like a tree which is a "bush in the wastelands."  But the Lord Jesus through His wonderful salvation and work in our lives transplants us by living waters of His Holy Spirit!  We become rooted in Him!

Such a tree or life in Christ according to Jeremiah 17:8b "does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."  Such a life in Christ does not fear and wilt in times of difficulty and challenge.  Such a life continues to trust and rest in the Lord even in the difficult times in life and continues to bear spiritual fruit.  Such a life finds his or her joy and confidence in the Lord alone and puts the Lord first in his or her life.  May we be deeply rooted in the Lord.  He alone is our "spring of living water." (Jeremiah 17:13b)  He alone is our "refuge in the day of disaster." (Jeremiah 17:17b).  He alone must be the Lord of our lives!

Psalm 62

"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken."  Psalm 62:5-6

In this Psalm King David found Himself threatened by people who wished to dethrone him and do him harm.  In this dangerous situation David turned to the Lord.  David said in Psalm 62:1, "My soul find rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him."  David found his rest, confidence, help, and peace in the Lord alone.

We too can find our confidence and help in the Lord alone.  If we put our confidence in anything or anyone but the Lord, we will often be disappointed.  We, however, can go to the Lord at any time and anyplace; and He will be our help and strength.  Hence, the Lord is also our source of peace and repose in this world of turmoil.  In Psalm 62:2 David says, "He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken."  Like David the Lord is our rock or foundation.  We can trust the Lord at all times.  He is our sure foundation even when it seems as  if our world is crumbling and falling down around us.  The Lord is our salvation.  He is our Savior from sins.  He also saves us from many unseen perils and pitfalls each and every day.  The Lord is our fortress or protection.  Hence, not matter what is going on in our lives; we need "never be shaken."

In spite of all his troubles David had learned the secret of waiting and resting in the Lord.  So often when we face a crisis in our lives we try to work out the adverse situation or circumstances by our own devices.  Sometimes we will also run to other people for help.  Often we go to the Lord only as a last resort.  We need to follow David's example and go to the Lord first.  We must find rest in the Lord alone.  David said in Psalm 62:5-6, "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken."

Notice in these verses David was once again repeating and acknowledging what he has already said in verses one and two of Psalm 62.  Rest and peace for David's soul could be found in the Lord God alone.  The Lord was His only hope for time and eternity.  The Lord alone was David's rock, salvation, and fortress.  We too must find our rest, peace, protection, and help in the Lord alone.  Then we can say with David, "I will not be shaken."  No matter what the situation we can trust the Lord and rest in Him in quiet submission.  Our well-being for time and for eternity depends on the Lord God alone.  He is our sure foundation and refuge.

We have the absolute assurance of the Lord's protecting presence in our lives at all times.  Hence, David said in Psalm 62:8, "Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge."  The Lord will never fail us.  Hence, we must go to Him alone with our every need; and we must "pour out" our heart's needs and desires to Him.  The Lord understands our needs and sympathizes with us better than anyone else is able to do.  Psalm 62:9 reminds us that human beings are "but a breath."  Resorting to our own devices, especially sinful ones, to get us through a crisis will prove to be of no avail.  But our God is our refuge and help.  We serve a faithful God.  We also serve a loving and powerful God!  If we trust in the Lord, He will direct our paths!

Philippians 4

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 4:6-7

We often think of Philippians chapter four as a chapter on joy.  In this chapter we also learn how we can have peace, a sense of security in Christ, and how we can "stand firm in the Lord" (Philippians 4:1b).  We are commanded in Philippians 4:4 to "Rejoice in the Lord always."  This verse is not only telling us we are able to have joy in Christ, but that we must rejoice in the Lord.  We are not to rejoice only on the days when everything is going smoothly, but we must also rejoice on the days which are difficult and full of trouble and challenges. True joy in the Lord does not depend on our circumstances but comes from the Lord.  Paul wrote the book of Philippians in prison.  He rejoiced in the Lord in spite of his trials and unpleasant circumstances.  He had joy because of His relationship with the Lord.  That must be our source of joy also.

Joy is first found in right praying.  Joy and peace are not found in counterproductive worry.  Worry accomplishes nothing except for depressing our spirit and in some cases causing physical ailments in our bodies.  When we begin to worry we need to immediately cast our worries and anxieties on the Lord in prayer.  We need to commit all our concerns to the Lord, and then leave them with the Lord.

It is so easy to pray to the Lord, and then walk away from prayer still worrying.  God commands us not to do that, but instead we are to leave all our worries in His hands.  Worry and trust do not go together.  When we bring our worries to the Lord we must also approach Him with a thankful heart.  We must not forget to thank Him for all His past and present blessings.  If we do that Philippians 4:7 says that "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Joy and peace come from right praying, and they also come from right thinking.  In verse eight of chapter four of Philippians we are told to think of things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy.  Joy and peace further comes from right practice.  Philippians 4:9 says, "Whatever you have learned or received---put it into practice.  And the God or peace will be with you."  Obedience to God's Word always produces joy and peace.

Joy and peace come from right praying, right thinking, right acting, and finally from contentment in all circumstances.  We need to be content whatever our circumstances, and we need to be content wherever God has placed us in this life.  Paul was in in prison when he wrote the book of Philippians.  In spite of this fact, Paul wrote in Philippians 4:11b, "I have learned to be content  whatever the circumstances."  Can we say the same?

Surrendering to God's will and resting in Him is the only way to true joy and and peace.  We might think that this is easier said than done.  The truth is we can do nothing in ourselves.  Paul says in Philippians 4:13, however, "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."  The Lord gives us the strength to rest all our worries in Him.  He gives us the strength to face all of life's problems.  Finally, the Lord promises to be with us and meet our needs.  Philippians 4:19 says, "And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."  He has promised to meet all and not just some of our needs.  He has promised to meet all our needs out of His glorious and limitless riches.  What joy!  What peace!

Philippians 3

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him."  Philippians 3:7-9

Businesses have to consider their profits and losses, if they are going to be able to stay in business.  Even families and individuals have to mange their finances.  Consideration of profits and losses is even more crucial in our spiritual lives, however.  We need to ask ourselves what or whom is most important to us in our lives and what is worth little or nothing.

In verses four through six of Philippians chapter three the apostle Paul listed all the things that were important to him in the past.  These were things that were important to Paul before he knew the Lord Jesus as His Savior, Lord, and friend.  What Paul had considered important in the past, however, Paul now considered worthless.  Paul concluded that there is no joy outside of knowing and serving the Lord.  Paul said in Philippians 3:7-9, "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him."  Paul went on to say in Philippians 3:10, "I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection."

So often we foolishly place value on the things of this world.  We each need to ask ourselves, "What is more important to me?  Is it money?  Is it possessions?  Is it pleasure?  Is it my career?"  There is nothing that this world has to offer that can begin to compare to the joy of knowing the Lord.  In comparison to knowing the Lord Jesus everything else in our lives is pure "rubbish."  Philippians 3:9 reminds us that  absolutely nothing can compare to the joy of gaining our Lord Jesus Christ and being "found in Him"  Absolutely nothing is more important than knowing "Christ and the power of His resurrection." (Philippians 3:10)  Our supreme goal in life must be to grow in our love relationship with the Lord.  Our supreme gaol in life must be to grow in our understanding of the wonders of His person.

There is no true joy outside of the Lord.  In Philippians 3:1 Paul says, "Rejoice in the Lord!"  Paul did not say to rejoice in people and possessions, but he said, "Rejoice in the Lord!"  The Lord is all that really matters for time and for eternity.  The Lord Jesus is the only source of salvation.  Depending on our own resources and works will never earn us salvation.  Our salvation is completely of grace and a gift of God.  The Lord and a relationship with Him is also the only thing that gives purpose and joy in life.  Knowing the Lord and living for Him is the only thing that is really important.

We must passionately desire to know and serve our Lord better every day.  We must put everything out of our lives that would detract us from that goal.  Paul said in Philippians 3:12, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ took hold of me."  Our past with all its successes and failures and even joys and sorrows must be our main focus. Rather, we must focus on our growing relationship with the Lord.  We must focus on growing in holiness and on growing in our service to the Lord.  Paul said in Philippians 3:13b-14, "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."   May nothing detract us from our relationship with the Lord and from living for Him.  May Christ and His glory be our consuming passion and goal!

Philippians 2:9-18

Jesus Christ is worthy of all our praise and honor.  The Lord Jesus is worthy of our praise and honor, because He is God.  Jesus Christ is worthy or our praise and honor, because He humbled Himself and left His home in glory to come to this world of sin.  The Lord then lived a perfect life for us that we could not live, and He died to pay for the punishment of our sins.  As a result Philippians 2:9-11 tells us that God, the Father, "exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Someday every knee will bow before the Lord.  Someday every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of Lords and is worthy of praise and honor.  Even those who reject Christ now will someday acknowledge Him as Lord.  When the Lord returns to this earth every knee will bow to Him, but then it will be too late for those who have previously rejected our Lord.  Therefore, it is God's will and design that we passionately pursue our love relationship with the Lord now.  It is God's will and design that we seek to bring praise and glory to the Lord Jesus now with our lives.  It is God's will and design that the purpose of our lives be centered in the Lord Jesus and that we seek to serve and worship Him in all we do and say.

The Lord Jesus has given us an incomparable and awesome example of obedience and loving servanthood through His life.  In fact, He laid down His very life for us!  We now belong to the Lord.  Therefore, we need to live our lives in continual praise to the Lord Jesus for His salvation.  We need to live our lives for His glory.  Philippians 2:12b-13 says, "work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose."

This passage is not talking about some kind of works salvation or righteousness.  We are sinful and can do nothing to earn or add to our salvation.  Our salvation is all of grace and a gift of God.  Because the Lord Jesus has purchased our salvation by His blood and the Holy Spirit now lives in our hearts, however, we need to show that we are children of God by our lives.  We need to "work out" in our lives what the Holy Spirit has worked into our hearts.  As redeemed children of God we need to live for God's glory.  This must become our passion and purpose for living.

As we cannot earn or contribute to our salvation by any merit on our part, so we even now can not live for the Lord without the Holy Spirit's help.  We must choose to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in our hearts, however.  We must choose to avail ourselves of His strength and must seek to live holy lives.  We must choose with the Holy Spirit's help to express glory to our Lord through our lives and to grow in spiritual maturity.  This takes effort and maturity on our parts, but we must seek our Lord's glory out of our thankful response to His grace.

We must do all we can to live our lives in gratitude for what the Lord has done for us in making us His children.  We must always seek to live for the Lord's glory and must seek to live in the center of His will.  We must not ever be discontented with God's will for our lives or compare it with the life circumstances of others.  Instead Philippians 2:15 says our lives  must be "blameless and pure" before the Lord.  We must truly live as "children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation."  In fact we must "shine like stars in the universe."

Our lives must demonstrate unmixed and wholehearted devotion for the glory and praise of God and for doing God's will.  Our lives as children of God must be in sharp contrast to the people of the world around us.  We must be like bright stars shinning in the darkness of this world for God's glory!  May Christ's glory and praise be our passion and purpose for living!

Philippians 2:1-8

Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interest of others.  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.  Philippians 2:4-5

Humility and thinking of others before oneself are rare commodities in today's world.  Most of the world's philosophy and life style is geared toward self-fulfillment and self-advancement.  The Lord, however, asks us to live lives of humility, love, and selflessness.  Philippians 2:1-4 says, "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interest of others."

The Lord has showered us, His children, with His spiritual blessings.  The Lord gave us His salvation from sin's power and penalty through His precious blood on the cross.  He also daily gives us His encouragement, comfort, love, and fellowship.  The Lord daily lavishes on us His compassion and tenderness.  In light of God's blessings to us we need to show the same love to others.  We need to especially show that love to our fellow believers.

We must show Christ-like love to others.  We must seek to be united and "one in spirit and purpose" with our fellow believers in Christ (Philippians 2:2b).  This does not mean we will have perfect uniformity of thought at all times, but there should be a common working together among believers for the glory of God.  There should also be a loving and humble servant attitude towards fellow Christians.  We must not act out in selfish motives or to stroke our own egos, but with a humble spirit we must consider other's needs and feelings before ourselves.

This does not mean that everyone else is superior to us or more gifted than us.  It simply means that we must follow Christ's example and give others preferential treatment.  It means that we consider other's needs equally to our own needs.  Romans 12:15-16 says, "Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.  Live in harmony with one another."  We need to experience joy and not jealousy in our fellow believers' accomplishments, honors received, and joyful experiences.  We also need to mourn and sympathize with those who are going through difficult times.

We must show the same Christ-like love to others that Christ showed to us.  Philippians 2:5 tells us, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus."  We are to demonstrate Christ's attitude of self-sacrificing love and humility in our lives.  Christ Jesus, who is God Himself, left His perfect place of glory with God, the Father, in heaven.   Philippians 2:7b  says the He came to this world of sin and took "the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness."

What is even more amazing Philippians 2:8b reminds us that "He humbled Himself and became obedient to death-even death on the cross!"  Jesus left the glories of heaven and came to this earth to live a perfect life for us that we could not live.  Jesus then suffered the horrors of hell itself on the cross for us.  What love!  What humility!  What sacrifice! Should we not show that same humility, selfless love, and servant attitude to others?

Philippians 1

Our Lord loves us and places great value on our lives.  He loved us enough to give His very life as a sacrifice to pay for our sins.  The Lord does not want to just stop there, however.  The Lord wants to perfect us, so we can better live holy lives for Him.  The Lord wants to perfect us, so we can better reflect the Lord's character in our lives.  Philippians 1:6 tells us that we can be confident "that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

God's work in His children 's lives can not be stopped.  The Lord will continue to work in our lives to make us into increasingly more beautiful reflections of His beauty and grace.  The Lord does this through His Holy Word and through the conviction of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Especially in difficult times we often lean more heavily on the Lord.  Consequently, we grow in our love relationship with the Lord and in our ability to better reflect Jesus in our lives.  The Lord Jesus will continue the work of perfecting us in our lives throughout our entire lives or until the day when Jesus returns to this earth.

While we live our lives on earth our constant prayer for ourselves and for our fellow believers must be that our "love may bound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight (Philippians 1:9b."  Real love for God and others requires growth and maturity.  It requires a growing knowledge of and insight into God's Word.  This knowledge and insight must not just be a possession of facts, however, but must be diligently applied to our lives in Godly living.  This growing knowledge and insight into God's Holy Word must result in our love for God and for others.

It must also result in our lives becoming more holy before our Lord. According to Philippians 1:10-11 our prayer for ourselves and others must be that we will grow in the Lord's knowledge and insight, so that we "may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-to the glory and praise of God."   May it be our constant prayer that we and our fellow believers will become more and more like Jesus in our character, thoughts, and actions.  May we be growing in holiness our entire lives or until Jesus returns some day.  May our consuming and growing passion be that God's name will be glorified in everything we do and think.  In this way, God's will for our lives will be truly perfected in us by His Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ and living for His glory must be our consuming passion.  We must grow in our passion and desire to reflect the Lord Jesus in our lives.  Running after the things of this world such as money and pleasure is a mere "chasing after the wind" according to Ecclesiastes 4:4b. The Lord must come first in our lives.  He must be more important to us than even our careers and families.  If we do not place the Lord first in our lives and make Him the reason for our lives, we miss the whole purpose for living.

Paul said in Philippians 1:21, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."  Paul was in prison for his faith when he wrote the book of Philippians.  Paul's current circumstances did no matter to Paul, however.  All that mattered to Paul was that he was living for the Lord and for His glory.  Paul knew that living for the Lord was the secret to joy even in the difficult times in His life.  This is because Paul found his meaning and purpose for living in the Lord.  May it also be our consuming passion to grow in our desire to bring glory to the Lord and better reflect Jesus in our lives!

Psalm 55

"But I call to God, and the Lord saves me.  Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice."  Psalm 55:16-17

There is no greater emotional pain than the rejection of someone who at what time was a good friend.  David was going through exactly such a turmoil in his life.  David was being threatened by a powerful conspiracy against himself.  This conspiracy against David was being led by a former friend.  David said in Psalm 55:12-14, "If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were raising himself against me. I could hide from him.  But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked with the throng at the house of God."

David was deeply troubled in his spirit that his former friend would seek to hurt him.  David said to to God in prayer in Psalm 55:2b, "My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught."  David went on to say in Psalm 55:4, "My heart is in anguish within me."  David was so overcome with grief at this situation in his life that he longed to escape the situation in any way possible.  David said in Psalm 55:6-8, "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!  I would fly away and be at rest-I would flee far away and stay in the desert; I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm."

You and I may have experienced similar feelings at some point in our lives.  When we are in the midst of a relational hurt or some other trial in our lives we may also wish that we could possess wings like a dove.  We may wish that we could "fly away and be at rest."  Rest and peace of heart can only be found in the Lord, however.  Rest and peace cannot be found by running away from our bad situations.  We might be able to leave some situations, but we can not get away from ourselves and our troubled thoughts and emotions.  That kind of peace is found only in the Lord.  Instead of seeking to "fly away" from our circumstances we need to fly to the Lord for His protection, peace, and rest.  We need to rest our problems in the Lord's hands, and then we can soar in the current of His perfect will.

This kind of peace can only be found through prayer and dependence on the Lord.  David said in Psalm 55:16-17, "But I call to God, and the Lord saves me.  Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice."  David had made prayer a regular part of his life.  David did not just wait until a crisis arose in his life to pray.  Hence, David knew the strength and peace that instant access to God's holy presence could provide.

We too can experience this kind of peace in times of trial.  We may be suffering from a painful relationship like David was experiencing.  We also may be struggling with another kind of trial in our life.  No matter what the crisis or trial in our lives God's Word says in Psalm 55:22, "Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the the righteousness fall."

God does not promise to necessarily eliminate all of life's burdens, emotional hurts, or problems; but He will go through these problems with us.  We need to take our burdens to the Lord and leave them there.  We must trust that the Lord is in control of all life's situations.  If we leave our burdens with the Lord, He will strengthen us and sustain us in the midst of the difficult situations in our lives.  He will be our comfort and peace.  All the experiences in our lives, even the difficult experiences can be used by the Lord to draw us closer to Him.  This can only happen, however, if we are resting and trusting in Him; and if we are submissive to His will for our lives.

Ephesians 6:10-20

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."  Ephesians 6:10-11

We live in a society which emphasizes self-worth and self-effort.  Our passage today, however, says that we need to live not in self-reliance but in God-reliance.  We need to live our lives not in our own perceived strength but in the Lord's strength.  Ephesians 6:10 tells us that we need to "be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power."  Our self-effort is inadequate and will fail, but the Lord's strength will never fail us!

In Ephesians 6:11 we are told to "put on the full armor of God."  Roman soldiers in Biblical times put on a full armor before they went out to battle.  They wore a belt to hold up their long flowing robes, so their robes would not get in their way in fighting their battles.  They also wore breastplates and helmets.  Soldiers had their feet protected with supportive and proper footwear.  They further held shields and carried swords.  We as children of God are to be soldiers in God's army.  Ephesians 6:11b instructs us that we are to put on God's armor of protection, so we can take our "stand against the devil's schemes."

The Christian life is a warfare.  God promises us His unlimited resources of power in the battle, however!  The Lord desires for you and me to be strong and empowered by Him!  Only in the Lord is there strength to meet the demands of the Christian life!  You and I do not have sufficient strength in ourselves.  We need to be strong in the Lord alone.

Ephesians 6:12 tells us that we are not just fighting against human strength but against the devil himself and his schemes!  We are inadequate to do that in our own puny strength.  We need the Lord's strength and power!  We need His armor of protection, and then we need to stand against the devil and his schemes.  We need to be prayerfully dependent on the Lord alone.  We must listen to the Lord's battle plan and go forth in His strength.  We must put on His full armor so that we can stand our ground against the devil.  If we truly do this; we will live in freedom and joy instead of apprehension, guilt, and doubt.  This is because we are living our lives in the Lord's strength.

Ephesians 6:14 tells us that the first piece of armor we must put on is the Lord's "belt of truth," so we are prepared for action.  We must at all times be prepared for what the Lord wants us to do and for where He wants us to be.  Ephesians 6:14 goes on to say that we also need the Lord's "breastplate of righteousness in place."  As His children we have Christ's righteousness given to us because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross.  We must also seek to show practical righteousness in our day to day lives.  Then we we must have our feet ready for anything necessary for the cause of the Lord and for fighting the devil.  We can do this because of our confidence in the Lord's love for us.  The Lord grants you and me His peace.

Ephesians 6:16 instructs us that the Lord further desires that His children take "the shield of faith" with which we can "extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one."  We need practical day to day trust and faith in the Lord.  We need to fight against Satan's "flaming arrows," the temptations in our lives.  Next, we need to take "the helmet" of His salvation (Ephesians 6:17).  Satan wants to attack our minds and thoughts, so we become discouraged and want to give up.  Therefore, we need the Lord's "helmet" for the assurance of our salvation!  We need a mind truly controlled by the Lord.

Finally, Ephesians 6:17b reminds us that we must not neglect "the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God."  This is so important, because we are fighting a spiritual battle.  This spiritual battle must be fought in the Lord's strength and not in our own strength.  We must depend on prayer and on the Lord's promises and commands in His Holy Word.  In our own strength we will fail.  In God's strength we are victorious!

Ephesians 4-5

"As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worth of the calling you have received."  Ephesians 4:1

"Be imitators of God, therefore, as deeply loved children."  Ephesians 5:1

In the Lord Jesus we have full forgiveness of our sins through His precious blood!  Our forgiveness and salvation had been fully attained for us on the cross.  There is nothing we can and need do to earn our salvation.  It is all of grace!  Praise His name!  If we are His children, however, we will show evidence of it in our lives.  This is because Christ sends His Holy Spirit into our lives to give us the power and desire to live for the Lord.

God chose us from all eternity to be His child!  As His children we were chosen for a purpose, however.  That purpose according to Ephesians 1:12b was that we "might be for the praise of His glory."  We were put on this earth to bring glory and praise to the Lord.  Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."  Christ redeemed us and washed away our sins.  The Lord then recreated us and is shaping us to become more like Him.  This is so we can serve Him and bring glory and honor to Him in our lives.  This is the purpose and goal for our lives.

The Lord's love for us is infinite and unmeasurable.  He seeks to live and work in our lives.  The Lord wants us to grow in our passion for serving Him and in bringing glory to His name.  Ephesians 4:1b tells us that the Lord desires that we "live a life worthy of the calling" which we have received as His children.  Our lives must be filled with humility, patience, gentleness, and love.  Our characters must be maturing to be more like the character of Christ.  Ephesians 4:13b says we must "become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."  We need to live as children of the light.  Ephesians chapter four verses twenty-two through twenty-four tells us we must put off our old selves of sin and self-absorption,  "be made new in the attitude" of our minds, "and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

With the Holy Spirit's help we need to eradicate anything in our lives that is not pleasing to the Lord.  Instead we need "to put on the new self."  We need to act like children of the Lord instead of children of the world and of the devil.  Ephesians 5:1 says we need to "be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children."  Our lives and speech should be filled with thanksgiving for His grace to us.  Ephesians 5:8-9 reminds us that we need to show we are the Lord's children by our kindness, compassion, love, and forgiveness for each other.  We must also show we are the Lord's children by our righteous living and by our personal integrity.  Our lives need to show that we are children of God!

Our salvation is all of grace.  We can not add or contribute to our salvation.  We were not saved, however, to go on with our empty, selfish lives of sin, as if nothing was changed in our lives.  We are to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in His work to conform us to become more like Jesus.  We are to seek the Holy Spirit's power to always live our lives for the Lord's glory.  This is the purpose for which we were placed on this earth.  It must become our passion and joy to serve the Lord with all our hearts!

Ephesians 3

"I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ."  Ephesians 3:17b-18

We as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are part of the family of God!  We are His children! Ephesians 3:7 tells us that we are servants and children of God because of "the gift of God's grace" and "through the working of His power."  Ephesians 3:8b goes on to say that we are recipients in Christ of "the unsearchable riches of Christ."  The riches of His grace and His blessings to us are so bountiful that they are far beyond our total comprehension in their magnitude!  Isn't that an awesome thought?

Another blessing we have in Christ is our ability to approach God with confidence in prayer.  Ephesians 3:12 says, "In Him and through faith in Him we approach God with freedom and confidence."  For this reason we need to pray the prayer of Ephesians 3:16-21.  It is a prayer that the apostle Paul prayed for the Ephesian church and for all believers.  It is a prayer that we need to pray for our fellow believers and for all believers.  Paul prayed, "I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." (Ephesians 3;16-17)

Paul's prayer and our prayer should be that Christ will live in our hearts as believers in a powerful way.  It should be our consuming passion and prayer that Christ will be at home in our lives and hearts.  It should be our consuming passion that we will grow in our faith and that the power of the fruit of the Holy Spirit will be ever more evident in our lives.  It should be our prayer that sin will be eradicated from our lives and that Christ's character in us will be ever more evident.

Paul's prayer for believers continued.  Paul said, "I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:17b-19)

Paul's prayer was that we would begin to comprehend the magnitude of the love of Christ for us, His children.  We will never fully comprehend the greatness of His love, because it "surpasses knowledge" in it awesome greatness.  In the measure we begin to grasp Christ's love for us, however, the greater will be our love for Him and the greater will be our desire to serve Him.

The way we can begin to understand Christ's love for us is by being "rooted" or foundationed in His love.  He increasingly needs to become Lord of every area of our lives.  We increasingly need to become "rooted" in Him by spending daily time in His Holy Word and in prayer with Him.  The more time we spend developing our relationship with the Lord and the more time we spend serving Him, the better we will be able to grasp the greatness of His love.

Ephesians 3:19 reminds us that our passion and desire for our lives must be to "be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."  Our passion must be that we be emptied of self and filled with Christ's character.  Our passion and prayer must be that Christ will dominate our lives more and more and that our eyes will be open to Christ's blessings and love in our lives.  There is no room for becoming complacent in the Christian life.  We need to grow in our love and passion for the Lord.  We need to grow in our understanding of His love and power in our lives.  May this be our prayer and desire.  Praise to Him "who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us." (Ephesians 3:20)