8/19 - Colossians 4, part 2

This morning the word of God spoke to me from Colossians 4:2 about something I've been slacking on,

"Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving"(NKJV)
"Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving" (KJV)

I've been struggling recently trying not to fall asleep during my morning prayer. I'll fade in and out in a battle to just have a conversation with the Lord. He seems to be the only one I do this with, which is a pretty convicting thought. I added the KJV version of this verse because this was the order that I read them this morning and came to learn that that word "watch" in Greek means "stay awake; vigilant." The literal translation of the verse means "continue in prayer and stay awake while doing it!" We know from Matthew 26:41 that Jesus told his disciples to be careful of this very thing and their subsequent failure to do so. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is so weak. Can I get an "Amen" from the balcony?! I sincerely want to be vigilant in prayer but often fall short. I know there's some practical things I can do to get better though.

This verse even goes beyond it's literal translation to mean that we should be persistent & staying alert for specific things to pray rather than just the general "God please bless so-and-so" prayers. Being alert also means being aware of the needs of your friends, co-workers, country or whatever you may be praying for. So the full embodiment of my prayer life is no longer just the time I spend in actual prayer, it's how soon I go to bed & what I expose myself to. I say what I expose myself to meaning asking friends what they need prayer for, being aware of what's happening in our country and having meaningful conversations with people so our prayers turn from "God bless this country or God bless John" to "God guide our leaders what to do concerning healthcare and God be with John as he goes through surgery tomorrow." I also say what I expose myself to because, just to be honest with you guys, when I pray other thoughts pass through my mind no matter how hard I try not to let them. So I'm realizing this morning that prayer, for me, needs to become integrated with my life, not just part of it.

8/18 - Colossians 4

Quick post today. Colossians 4:5-6,

"Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one."

'Those who are outside' refers to non-believers, 'redeeming the time' means taking advantage of every opportunity. We ought to be walking in wisdom, taking every opportunity to witness to nonbelievers. Our walk & our talk ought to be lined up so both can testify to the God we claim to serve. This ties in well with yesterday's blog on chapter 3. During this process of becoming 'new men' we're growing in knowledge & wisdom, building characteristics such as mercy, humility & patience (3:12) while letting go of anger, malice & filthy language (3:8). Now our conversations can be 'seasoned with salt,' an appetizing diet of words for the spiritually starving non-believer.

Let's be in prayer for each other in this area. That we'd become fully committed to God, forsaking our old ways & giving God His due. For those who have accepted His salvation, He bought us at the cost of His son's life. By this testimony, we are all witnesses & called to be so in Matthew 28:19-20. The least we could do is show gratitude, learn more about a God who would do such a thing, and spread that message to others.

8/17 - Colossians 3, Part 3

We've talked about the things in our lives that need to be put to death. Each of us know what some of these things are but I'd encourage you to pray for God to continue to reveal everything He wants out of your life. We can sometimes, whether consciously or subconsciously, convince ourselves that certain things in our lives are ok, when God would really want them removed. Read Psalm 139:23 -24 and ask God to search your heart to determine where you fall short. If you don't read any more of this post, please do this.

After Paul deals with what we need to put to death in our lives, in verses 12-17 he discusses what needs to come to life within us: humility, mercy, patience, forgiveness. One of the most convicting things my old pastor Reggie would say is that we ought to forgive others with the same measure that Christ forgave us. I didn't know until later (and clearly I wasn't paying full attention) that this is explicitly stated in verse 13. Considering how we treat Christ, how our actions are so often a slap in the face of a Savior who was beaten beyond recognition on our behalf (Isaiah 52:14), I'd say the bar is raised pretty high on how forgiving we ought to be. "I'll forgive but I won't forget" doesn't carry much weight in light of God's standard for forgiveness.

In order for us to replace our old ways with the new virtues from this passage, Paul give us a hint: at the core of these things is love. Developing a love for others like Christ had. This sort of love can only be formed by fervent prayer and diligent practice. It takes practice to show love to those who don't show it to you. This sort of thing won't just come overnight. Of course another key in this is developing a heart that desires what God desires and the only way to know what He desires is by reading His word. Verse 16, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom..."

God, grant me an intense passion for Your word & the desire to love others like You do. Reveal to me what you want removed from my life & give me the courage to change. I want to be more like you & whatever pain comes along with is well worth it, just be pleasing to You.

8/16 - Colossians 3, Part 2

"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all." (Colossians 3:5-11)

Being a new man in Christ necessarily requires that you remove the old junk out of your life. Confessing Christianity means committing to a total transformation from who you were to who God wants you to be. How can a total transformation be complete if we hang on to our old stuff? Was Abram anything like Abraham? Was Saul anything like Paul? Was Steve Urkel anything like Stephan Urkelle? If I want to fix my golf swing (Lord knows I need to), there's some old habits that I need to completely forsake if my new swing will be successful. Just like any of the things we try to change in our lives - attitudes, addictions, skills, etc - holding on to our old ways only hinders our progress. I don't mean to imply that I'm offering a "just do better" or "just stop what you're doing" solution. If it were that easy, it wouldn't be worth blogging about. I'm trying to establish a foundation by which transformation can be deemed a worthy conquest and reasons why the old ways we hold on to should be destroyed. Jesus gave a great example in a parable where he said

"No one uses a new piece of cloth to patch old clothes. The patch would shrink and tear a bigger hole. No one pours new wine into old wineskins. The wine would swell and burst the old skins. Then the wine would be lost, and the skins would be ruined. New wine must be put into new wineskins. Both the skins and the wine will then be safe" (Matt 9:16-17, CEV).

If you're going to a party with a 3-piece Armani suit, don't blow it by wearing your 6-year-old busted Reebok's. Your old stuff is not allowing the new stuff to shine.

That was a silly analogy but I think it also helps explain why we hold on to our old stuff. We get comfortable in it. Those old busted Reebok's have conformed themselves perfectly to our feet & we don't want to let them go. In life we think that just because we've been doing a thing so long and we've become so accustomed to it that it can come along for the ride in our Christian walk. Paul says put to death your old members which are on earth. The list he mentions - fornication, uncleanness, evil desire, etc - we know what of those things we hold on to. I think that phrase "put to death" implies action. It's a little more than praying for it & hoping God takes it away. Now that's a great start, but without action it could be a futile attempt. This process, which I think we should be engaged in everyday (1 Corinthians 15:31), is not an easy one and requires prayer, confession, accountability, Bible study & some carefully placed restrictions in your life. If you're a shopaholic, maybe consider placing your expendable income in an account you can't easily access. Pornography addict, consider an accountability partner & blocking yourself from certain websites. These type of actions, of course along with prayer, constitute putting our old ways to death.

The process is painful & tedious, just like the Israelites who had to put their best lambs to death (Leviticus 1:1-9), but it's necessary for our sanctification.

8/15 - Colossians 3

Good morning everyone. I added a "verse of the day" feed from biblegateway.com (the site I use to link all my scriptures) and it's on the right side of the page under the subscribe link. Earlier this week I snuck a Twitter link on the blog, found on the bottom right. Yep, I joined Twitter (www.twitter.com/rpscott02). My wife thinks I'm going to become a junkie, and I'm not even here to say I won't...but I'll try not to. I didn't understand what all the fuss was about but after experiencing it a few days I think I'm starting to get it. I'm also able tweet the blog posts each day which I thought was pretty cool. So follow me @rpscott02 tweeps! Nevermind what that means, on to more important matters...

Colossians 3

The chapter begins, "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (v. 1-3). In my distracted life, it is easy to forget what has been revealed to me with regard to why I'm here. I can focus all my energy on the temporary things of this life: my job, paying bills, running errands, Bengals training camp, etc. Not that these things should be ignored, but if all my energy is focused on these things, how can I be fully focused on Christ? Now I don't think I should just be walking around oblivious to the world, chanting "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus" with total disregard for others or my earthly responsibilities. I think a focus on God would look more like continual prayer throughout the day, taking time to get to know my co-workers so I can minister to them, considering where God would have me donate money when I look at my finances, viewing everyone I encounter as either heaven or hell bound and letting my conversation flow from that.

OK, back to the verse. The KJV version of verse 1 reads "If ye then be risen in Christ..." That word "risen" in Hebrew is "mischar" which means "morning; rising in the sense of day breaking." The moment we decide to follow Christ, the Bible says we are new creatures. The sun has set on our old ways and the dawn of a new era begins. Just as each day is separate from the day before, we are completely new concerning our old selves. With this "new self" then, should have a new perspective, a new thinking that is separate from our old way. As Paul put it, we should set our minds on things above. Here's a few parallel passages that speak to our being made new in Christ - Ezekiel 11:19, Romans 6:4, 2 Cor 5:17, Galatians 6:15, Ephesians 2:15, 4:24.

Although we have this "new self," there's still a lot we need to do to realize the full potential of this new creation. I'm not talking about doing things to earn salvation, but taking active steps toward sanctification - the process of separating one's self and striving for holiness. Though we are made new, there are still some consequences and bad habits we have to deal with from our "old self." I think this is why Paul took the time to give some very straight to the point advice on striving for holiness: "put to death your members which are on earth: fornification, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness which is idolatry". We can't take on this new self while still catering to our old desires. More on this tomorrow. Grace & peace to you.

8/11 - Colossians 2, part 3

As I mentioned in the last blog, I wanted to take a look at some of the "principles of this world." Bear with me for a moment....This quote is from a New Zealand blog that opposes Focus on the Family & it's conservative values. The quote is in response to FoF's distribution of DVDs that teach creationism:

"The Education Ministry is taking a sensible view of the creationist nonsense. It says the unsanctioned material does not breach the Education Act and there are no plans to ban its distribution. But it stresses the theory of evolution underpins the science curriculum and schools have a responsibility to teach theories that are subject to accepted scientific scrutiny."

For those of us who believe in creation, the world views it as nonsense and insufficient when held up to our own standards of truth. Now, I think science has a lot to offer in proof of creation and wouldn't just toss it aside, but science can only get us so far. Evolutionist & creationists alike would have to agree that whatever conclusion you come to has to involve some level of faith (check out answeringenesis.org when you get a chance)...

I've been told many times (yesterday as a matter of fact) that as it relates to our finances priority should be God - Me - Family - Others. Basically tithe, take care of yourself, help others if you can. I think this is a widely accepted belief (if atheist just remove God but keep remaining order) and there's some truth to it, but I think there's even something missing here...

Our system of ethics or morality attempts to rank our iniquities. Our legal system determines the severity of crimes, attaches a "fitting" punishment to it and calls it justice. First off, I think this is totally necessary. But I also think this sort of philosophy trickles down to our individual thinking where we justify categorizing our own wrongs as "big" or "little" sins. Eating a piece of my wife's cheesecake in the fridge when she said not to - little sin (maybe even a little funny). Smacking her around - big sin. I've chosen extremes here, but I think you get the point...

I could go on and on about some of the principles of this world but what I find in these examples, I think I'd find in all of them - they're contrary to what the word of God says. This is why Paul warns us "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ" (Col 2:8, NIV).

The things I've mentioned may seem trivial to you and maybe you even disagree and that's fine. But just know that the Bible teaches differently. I think we all know that biblical teaching is opposed to evolution (see Genesis 1 - 2 for a start). As it relates to our finances (I'm bracing myself for backlash here) I think the Bible teaches a little differently than to take care of yourself before you do others.Matthew 6:25, 31-32 [read 19-34 for whole context] - "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?...So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them." Also see Philippians 2:3-4, 1 Timothy 6:6-10, Job 1:21, Matthew 5:40-42, Matthew 19:21, Luke 6:38. The Bible talks a lot more about giving than it does saving or building your nest egg. It may sound like it but I'm not advocating fiscal irresponsibility nor am I saying its wrong to save & plan for the future. I do that. But when the Bible gets to taking about treating others better than yourself, our temporary stay here on earth and how God is such a great provider, does it make sense to then leave yourself at the top (or even one below God) on the priority list?

The point of all this comes back to dedicating ourselves to understanding the "treasures of wisdom and knowledge" from God's word so that we aren't deceived by persuasive words & the principles of this world. Paul thought it was important to touch on because, I think, it's easier to lend yourself to worldly thinking because much of it sounds good, and maybe even biblical, but if you don't know God's word & aren't spending time in it, it's easy to be confused.

8/7 - Colossians 2, Part 2

OK, yall please pray for me b/c sleep is really killing me this week. Been getting to bed later and that's starting to affect my study time. I actually started my prayer off this morning with "Lord, thank you for this food." No, I wasn't eating. Just my sleep deprived mind trying to yet again go thru the motions of praying. I'm sure God got a laugh out of that one. Or maybe it was a stern look of a Father who's disappointed in his son not taking time with Him seriously. Either way, I need to get it together!

There's a great passage here in verses 4-10 that speak to mind renewal and following Christ as opposed to the ways of the world. I'd really like to spend some time on this topic as I feel I really need to learn more about it & get closer to that "full assurance of understanding" back from verse 2. Verse 8 of this passage reads:

"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ."

I got to thinking about some of the traditions of men & the principles of this world and how deeply they are ingrained in our culture. Evolution, individualism, entitlement, relative truth, postmodernism, and a host of other wikipedia-search-worthy ideologies are married to our culture and often run contrary to the word of God. I'd like to go a little further with this in the next blog or 2 but from this morning's chapter, I can see that if we focused our academic & psychological efforts on our search for God & His truth (this goes back to verses 2-3) we wouldn't be so prone to the errors of modern philosophy. Again, I'll try to further with this but for now my prayer is that we can learn to truly be satisfied in the fullness of God & not seek, like the Gnostics, deeper knowledge beyond Him as if He's not sufficient to meet our needs.

1 Timothy 6:6, "Godliness with contentment is great gain" and Philippians 4:19, "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

We'll dig deeper later. As always, your comments are always welcome

8/5 - Colossians 2, Part 1

Good morning everyone. Quick confession - got up a little late this morning so this post may be a bit short. Sleep 1, Ryan 0.

I was able to study Colossians 2 and again, this morning I have been convinced that God's word is alive & moving. I've read this before but this morning it was as if I read it for the first time. It's a refreshing feeling to know that God is always speaking, that He is His word (John 1:1) and each moment you spend in it is time spent with Him. It doesn't always happen for me like this but this morning was like the "Ahhhh" feeling after sipping a Coke on a hot day. So I thank God for it and I'll enjoy it for a little while.

Paul's desire for the Colossian church was that

"that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (v. 2-3).

The part that jumped out to me was the "riches of the full assurance of understanding."Having the full assurance or complete confidence in anything is a great feeling. It gives us the ability to move or act decisively and in full expectation of a positive outcome. Isn't that what we want in our lives as Christians? I can remember taking Calculus 1 in college and I had a full assurance of anything related to limits, derivatives, integrals, trigonometry, etc (this is going to sound like bragging, but I'm going somewhere with this). There wasn't much you could do to convince me that my knowledge of the subject matter wasn't genuine. You couldn't sneak any false calculus doctrine past me because I was built up in knowledge and had come to understand they mystery of Calculus. I was steadfast, immovable. My confidence had reached the point where I was willing & able to boldly teach others that they, too, might receive the benefits (passing Calc 1) of the hidden treasures found in Calculus.

Imagine where you (myself included here) could be if you applied yourself to diligent study of the Word, longing for it's understanding & growing in wisdom. Wouldn't you be more sensitive to false doctrine? Wouldn't you be more confident witnessing to others? Wouldn't others seek you out for guidance? Who could shake your confidence in God's word? I know that's a place I want to be. It all goes back to Bible study doesn't it? Man, Pastor Reggie (my pastor in Tallahassee) was so right. I used to think he went a little overboard b/c everything he talked about came back to "you need to study the Bible more." We could be talking about football and somehow it would come back to that. I'm starting to realize more & more how right he was.

Trust God + Reading His Word - Pride = Confidence = Assurance = Understanding * X (where X is the number of repititions of studying Bible).

It's all mathematics.

8/3 - Colossians 1

Worthy of Worship

OK I'm back to my normal format for now, picking up at Colossians. Last week I deviated a bit but wherever the Holy Spirit takes me, I'll go. In this chapter Paul admonishes the church in Colosse to continue in the faith they had received through the preaching of Epaphras, another faithful minister of the gospel. He encourages them to walk worthy of the Lord, do good works, increase in the knowledge of God and to exhibit patience with joy. Then he suggests they ought to be "giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to 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." (v. 12-14).

Paul's audience here is one of primarily a Gentile background, as the city of Colosse was a Roman province of Asia and predominantly Gentile. When Paul talks about sharing the inheritance & being rescued from darkness, I'm reminded of a passage we've been studying in Bible study:

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned" (Isaiah 9:2).

God spoke hundreds of years ago that this people who, in God's view, were obscure, unimportant & unchosen, would one day be shown a great Light. Understanding the Colossians verse (12-14) in this context, knowing that this Gentile nation who historically had been without hope and without God, and knowing that even my heritage is Gentile, it becomes obvious that this God is worthy of my worship. This is an awe inspiring thing: "the mystery which had been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to his saints. To them God willed to make known the what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (v. 26-27).

I encourage you to offer God praise today because the Word makes it evident that He is worthy. Before Christ the destiny of the Gentiles was total separation from God (Ephesians 2:11-12). But here is hope, and a point of reflection:

"For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight" (v. 19-22)

Where would we be without Christ today?