A Daily Devotional – Colossians – Personal Meditation (10)

A Daily Devotional – Colossians – Personal Meditation

Comment: As I was contemplating on Thursday to back away from doing a daily devotional, two more people (longtime friends) will to be added to the email list. This seems to happen whenever the thought of stopping occurs in my mind, and I take this to mean that the LORD is prompting me to continue. Devotional moments to draw close to the LORD are personal for each of us, so it is my prayer and hope that whatever I have to say or write about will spur you on for further study and personal meditation. We are God’s children; the apostle John shares with us a manner of love that the Father has placed on us through His Son, we ought to seek to understand daily His Love, Love that cannot be understood by the world around us. 1 John 2:28 through 1 John 3:2, but notice 1 John 3:3 – EVERYONE who has this hope in HIM, purifies himself, just as HE is pure.

Devotional: Colossians 4:2-6 – Daily we ought to pray, do we? Or do we allow the circumstances of life to overcome our time of prayer. I am easily distracted of vigilance; if I bow my head to pray I am bombarded with details and circumstances that seek to destroy my time of meditation. Prayer ought not be hard work, but for some of us it is. Might it be because we do not have a heart of ‘thanksgiving’? Could our prayer time be selfishly selective? That is only praying for our concerns, rather than those that involve the whole counsel of God and of the congregation!

Do we in our prayer moments have anything to do with keeping the door shut to the people outside the ‘camp’ who may be seeking to hear the mystery of Christ. The Word of the gospel of Christ is hidden from the world, it is our prayer for those friends and relatives that will open the door and reveal this truth. Yes, we ought to be witnesses of the gospel, but if our communication with the LORD is faulty, what makes us think that our communication with the unsaved will be any better! The apostle Paul was physically chained, yet and because of prayer to God, he was free to speak the word of truth. Why? Because the church willingly prayed for him.

We are to walk in wisdom, moment by moment. Purchasing time to walk this way does not come with placing a monetary amount in the offering box on Sunday. We are to “redeem” the time through prayer and our Father will grant us, via the Holy Spirit, words of His Wisdom to those outside. ALWAYS allow your speech to be with grace and seasoned with “SALT”. What does this mean? Fully bath (baptize or immerse) your conversation of the grace of God with prayer and the Holy Spirit will help you (see John 14:12-18.).

A Daily Devotional – Colossians – Personal Meditation (9)

A Daily Devotional – Colossians – Personal Meditation

Comment: It is time for me to consider more seriously the thought of backing away from the morning devotional, that is if I continue to make word errors such as the one yesterday. Yet if I do, the thought of falling away from my personal meditation with God our Savior looms in the recesses of my mind as well. The moments I spend searching the scripture in the mornings are more precious to me than you might imagine. In this life; there are ONLY two choices! One: to live for the glory of God, or Two: to live for the glory of man. I must repeat this there are only two choices, to worship God in TRUTH, or find some false god of idolatry. There is nothing in-between and no grey area to hang out in. Joshua the Commander of Israel’s Army and Leader of the nation after the death of Moses speaks this way on the subject of loyalty to the God of heaven and earth. Joshua 24:15, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” allow yourself time here, to be even further blest and read the last two chapters of the Book of Joshua. 

Devotional: Colossians 3:18-4:1 – Recapping; as the apostle Paul exhorts the Colossians and the Laodiceans concerning the sins that develop within church leadership, being philosophical views and legalistic works. His focus turns to the personal sins of the people. Sins of carnality by the children of God in chapter 3:5-9 within the churches members. As members of one body (Ephesians 2:21) we are to grow in love for one another as noted also by Paul in (Ephesians 4:16).

As we move on the apostle addresses “home life”, this is where we tend to mess things up! You know as well as I do that around the church we are ‘more saintly’ then when we are ‘at home’! If you fail to believe this, ask your children or your spouse! Wives can give an accurate account of their husbands and likewise the husband will provide and accurate account of their wives, and the children are eye witnesses to this truth.

If wives are not submitting to their husbands, we tend to think that it is their personal fault. Thus, they are not submitting to the LORD as well. Likewise, we tend to fault the husband for not loving their wives as they ought. Thus, we say that they do not love the LORD as they ought. Also as the downward trend of spiritual understanding declines we find the children in the family who are provoked to anger and discouragement by what they observe.

This trickling down of obedience to the Will of God for each of us does not stop with the family. It finds root in our character revealing this to the community and work place. Why? Because we are not alert to the schemes of the devil. Our prayer (communication) with God is not one of diligence with thanksgiving. How might we correct our prayer, one may ask? Matthew 6:9-13 – In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your Name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

A Daily Devotional – Colossians – Personal Meditation (8)

A Daily Devotional – Colossians – Personal Meditation (Revised)

Comment: Have you ever thought “I have a lot to say, but I do not have the words to speak!” For me it is like having ‘one word’ that bounces from side wall to side wall in my brain while I seek to add other words to it. This happens mostly when I am writing, but occasionally while in conversation with others. I do not think it is a physical condition or anything like that, but it is more like waiting for the subject to develop enough to express verbal or written thought. As I have been going through Ephesians and Colossians a thought is developing that may reach of point of writing about today, so with all that said, let me get started. We may not finish Colossians 3 today as I had hoped, but that is okay with me. The subject I am going to write about is IMPORTANT, the epistles of all the New Testament writers are filled with * this subject.  *The word AVOIDING is extracted as it was a typographical error.

Devotional: I would be remiss if I did not include the Old Testament; From Genesis through the gospels and up to Acts 1:12, when the first New Testament church/prayer meeting began. This prayer meeting began in order to choose another man to take the place of Judas who SINNED. Sin is a major player in the hearts of men, women and children. Truth be understood and reckoned with, there is not an hour that goes by in the life of every person alive where SIN is not present and active. Yet, people deny the presence of SIN, as do many churches.

Here is the rub! Sin is the cause of the prophesy of Psalm 22, written by King David to express the suffering, praise and posterity of the Messiah who would come in the future (about 700 years future) to take away the SIN of the world. The LAMB of God did not give up His Life for His selfish will, for is was written in the Book (The Old Testament Scrolls), see Hebrews 10:5-10. Christ/Messiah came to fulfill God’s Will, see also Psalm 40:6-8.

Sin was the problem in the Garden of Eden, and the flood that destroyed the world. Sin was the problem in the wilderness journey of God’s chosen people. Idolatry and Immorality ruined Sampson, Solomon, David, the Northern and Southern kingdoms of Israel, and all nations in the world. Sin, personal and corporate permeates our world today. Yet, today people and nations claim that they have NO SIN. Does this not call God a liar? See the first chapter of 1 John, all ten verses reveal this.

If you care to look about you today in your journeys, you will see many people SINNING, they think little of it, but whoa; wait a moment, could you be in the thick of it yourself. Say what? Yes, you could aide or abet with their sins either by agreement or practice, you will sin even if you look away, I know at times I do. Life is not some sort of precatory as we wait for relief of living in a sin cursed world. Romans 6:13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.