Category: Thoughts and Meditations

“Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel.” – Colossians 1:4-5

Paul praises and prays for the Christians in Colossae because of their faith and love for fellow believers. What is the reason for their overflowing love for others? Their confident expectation (that’s what hope means in the Bible) of what waits for them in heaven. They know that as blood-bought children of God, there is a glorious eternal inheritance waiting for them in the presence of God the Father and God the Son.

If Jesus is your Lord, then you have that same inheritance waiting for you! Uncountable years to enjoy the presence of God. Unending centuries without temptation or sin, sorrow or grief, illness or death. That is the guaranteed inheritance of every Christ-follower because Jesus purchased it for us with His blood. Your sins are forgiven. Your rebellion and separation from God has been reconciled. You have been adopted as a child of God. Therefore, His eternal estate is waiting for you.

Let this hope work in your heart the way it worked in the hearts of Colossians. Let your confident knowledge of the love and inheritance of God that awaits you motivate you to love your brothers and sisters in Christ. All of them, even the ones who can be difficult to love. Love them extravagantly. Love them generously. Love them patiently. Love them sacrificially. Love them humbly. Love them graciously, particularly if they don’t deserve it. Become famous for your love for other believers in ways large and small. #FollowJesus

“For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’” – Jeremiah 7:22-23

God’s pattern hasn’t changed in over 3000 years! His top priority for His people still isn’t about rituals or the appearance of religiosity. His top priority remains that His people listen and obey the commands of Scripture. If you’re a follower of Jesus, then you’re a beloved child of God and His main concern isn’t about how Christian you might appear to others. His concern is how Christ-like you actually are. In your actions. In your words. In your attitudes. In your thoughts.

Jesus made clear that saving faith in Him will always result in obedience to His commands. It doesn’t matter how nice you dress on Sundays, what magnets you have on your car, or what Christian-themed jewelry or tattoos you have. What matters is whether you’re actually following Jesus, seeking to get ever closer to Him, obeying Him, and being transformed by the Holy Spirit to actually be more and more like Him.

Are you loving God and neighbors more and more? Are the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) increasingly visible in your life to EVERYONE who knows you? Are you making disciples? That’s what demonstrates that you are walking in the Lord! That’s what delights God as you delight in Him.

Don’t focus on appearances, decorations, or rituals. Focus on genuine worship, on drawing near to God daily through Scripture reading, meditation, and prayer, on regularly enjoying the fellowship of other believers, on serving God in the power of the Holy Spirit, and on joyfully sharing your hope in Christ with other people. #FollowJesus

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” – Philippians 3:20-21

No matter what your birth certificate or passport says, if Jesus is your Savior, your primary citizenship is in Heaven! Love, bless, and pray for the country in which you live but Heaven is where you’ll live forever after you pass away or Jesus returns and brings Heaven to earth. Don’t get so attached to your earthly home that you forget your true home. You now live on earth as an ambassador of Heaven, responsible for representing your King (Jesus) to the people around you.

Take careful note of the promise these verses make about what will happen to you when Jesus returns. Your body will be transformed! He will instantly transform your “lowly body” to be like His! Think about His resurrected body – raised to life, healed (though scarred by the cross), appearing in different places at will, eating and drinking – that’s the kind of body you will have once Jesus returns. A physical body that’s renewed in glorious power. A body that isn’t affected by age, illness, injury, or disability.

Whether you’re alive when Jesus returns or already passed away, this glorification of your body will happen. If dead, your soul will be reunited with your resurrected, glorified body. If living, the glorification will take place in a heartbeat. This will be your permanent situation – a sanctified, pure, holy soul living in a glorified, resurrected body. This is God’s ultimate will and design for you – a soul that’s holy like Jesus living in a body that’s glorified like Jesus. It’s extraordinary to contemplate, so take time to contemplate it! No more aches and pains, no more weaknesses or infirmities. Just creation as God intended it to be before mankind’s fall into sin. That’s your future in Christ! #FollowJesus

“Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.” – Philippians 2:17

The truth is that all our lives are being poured out daily. The sands of time fall in the hourglass of our lives at a steady rate… 24 hours each day… 1440 minutes… 86400 seconds…

The question is whether your life is being poured out as an offering devoted to the Lord or just being poured out. We’re all affected by the passage of time, but can we all say, like Paul, that we’re happy to pour out our lives for the glory of Jesus Christ? Are there other Christians that you are delighted you have devoted your time, talent, energy, education, and emotional capacity to nurture and grow in Christ?

If not, consider how to live your life with a greater alignment to Christ’s purpose for your life. He has significant good works prepared for you. Disciple making works. God glorifying works. You will find tremendous joy in pursuing those works in the zeal and power of the Lord. In pouring out your life as a sacrifice to your Savior and for the blessing of others. What could it look like to devote every aspect of your life to serving and honoring Christ the Lord? How could you reshape your habits, schedules, finances, and emotions to be fully devoted to Jesus and His people? #FollowJesus

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” – Ephesians 6:12

If you are a faithful and growing Christian intent on following Jesus then you will experience some of these same supernatural wrestlings! In our evidence-driven, rationalistic Western culture, we radically underestimate the realities of spiritual warfare! Some (or perhaps most) of the struggles you experience within yourself and in the world around you have a spiritual dimension.

Simply put, the devil doesn’t want you following Jesus. He doesn’t want you growing in Christ. He doesn’t want you making an impact on the world to advance God’s Kingdom. He doesn’t want you demonstrating the love of Jesus to others. He doesn’t want you sharing Christ with those who need to hear. And the devil will fight back! He will place obstacles in your way, stoke conflicts with others, try to deliver demoralizing defeats, whisper lies into your ears and into the ears of people who talk about you. He will use any dirty trick to keep you from living out the purpose for which God made you! Don’t let the devil stop you!

As you do the Lord’s work in your daily life, realize that you really aren’t battling people. Much of the time you’re battling the devil working in and through people. Don’t despair! Don’t get discouraged! Don’t grow weary of doing good when it becomes difficult. Draw nearer to God and put on the armor He has given you. The truth of the Gospel and who you are in Jesus Christ. The certainty of your salvation. The faith that Christ is present in and with you. The righteousness that is already yours in Christ. Let God’s peace calm your troubled soul. Wrap yourself in God’s truth and prepare to do spiritual battle using the words of Scripture. #FollowJesus