Transfromation - Day 19

"Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should." - Colossians 4:2-4

Well after a day of exercising the mind, it's time to re-engage the heart - actually heart and mind. Notice how Paul calls on those in the church to pray - with an alert mind and thankful heart? The Greek here ("devote yourselves") is a strong call to persist in prayer, persevere, to never give up praying. Pray alertly or "wide awake" with thanksgiving. Pray. Pray. Pray.

Haven't we heard this before? What does that tell us?  I don't doubt any of us think we pray enough or do it well.  How can learn to pray as Paul encourages?

I sense that if we can get our prayer lives in order, much of the rest of our lives with fall into place. Do you have a system to prayer? a specific time? a way to be reminded to pray throughout the day? I have a deep longing to help you develop a persisting prayer life, to give you tools and teachings to help you connect deeply with Christ. This devotional blog is one attempt. We must continually spur one another on to live for and listen to Christ.

Why do we think we can live abundantly without Christ and his guidance? Why do we have such spiritual amnesia? I remain convinced that we really need daily contact in both our private devotion and in our relationship with others to give us grace to stay connected to the Vine.


And finally, as Paul requests prayer for his ministry so do I. Pray that God will give me many opportunities to speak about the mystery of Christ. Pray that I can proclaim this message as clearly as possible. Really pray for me!

Paul was in chains and he longed to be with these followers he knew only through Epaphras. I am blessed to be with you every week. Let's not take this gift for granted. Don't let your questions go unanswered. Don't coast though your Christian life without seeking the guidance you need to go deeper and grow deeper. God's blessed me with an education and a life call, not so I can "impress you with my knowledge" but to help you become all that God wants for you to be.  I long to have you become the Christ followers that God created you to be.

Transformation - Day 12

"So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud, and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it." - Colossians 2:16-19

I love Paul's language here.  All this tacked on religious baggage is only a shadow of the reality yet to come.  (CS Lewis, Shadowlands?)  The rules and regulations that we add on to our faith journey turn relationship into religion.  Rather than giving us freedom in Christ - His reality -  they restrict us, slow us down, because they are not the real thing - just a shadow.

Pursue Christ and his righteousness will be imbued upon you, like Moses whose face was found glowing after spending forty days on the mountain in God's presence.

Christ himself is REALITY.

 Again, all the goody two shoes stuff is not an end in itself or a ticket to heaven.  Self denial is not an end.

Fasting works when you do it because more than anything else you want to hunger for Christ.

Worship works when God increases and you decrease.

Prayer works when your desire is to spend time with God, not try to score some God-points.

Self-righteousness, pride has no place in the Kingdom of God.  Because the Kingdom of God is consumed with only one thing - Jesus.

So pious self denial, church attendance . . . even "don't drink-don't smoke" living is never the end.  And if it becomes an end, you will miss the End, the Omega.

You won't be connected to Christ, "the head of the body."

He's the One keeping everything together.

Spend some time, quality time, thinking about like with and without Jesus Christ.

How connected are you?  How have you let the shadows get in the way of reality?  Change.

Transformation - Day 4

So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son,  who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. - 1 Colossians 1:9-14

Paul returns to the topic of prayer and I am again convicted by how much he is praying ("we have not stopped praying . . .") and what he prays for - not for medical healing, for finances/jobs, for safety, comfort . . .  rather  "we ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will . . .  spiritual wisdom and understanding."

Knowing God's will.  I really want to know AND FOLLOW God's will.  I want everyone at my church to know and follow God's will.  The results are mind-blowing.

• living this way honors and pleases God, 
• it produces every kind of good fruit (love, joy, peace, patience . . .)
• it brings greater intimacy with God ("know God better and better"

the second part of Paul's prayer - that the Colossians be strengthened with God's power for endurance, patience, thankfulness and joy.  I want more of God's power in my life.  I need to remain connected to Christ my source.

I am amazed at how often I come back to the life verse for The Vine. John 15:5, Jesus' words - "If you remain in me, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing."  My greatest task is to abide in Jesus.  Everything else flows from him.  I can accomplish some things in my own effort, even do some good, but none of it is sustainable.

And Paul uses the same language - intimacy with God, fruitfulness . . .  it starts with a prayer life that seeks God's will.

Father, I pray right now for those you have entrusted to my shepherding.  As we seek to become the faith community that you long for us to be, help me to stay connected to our Source, Jesus Christ, who is both the revealer of God's will and the power to keep me on the path.  Help us all to hunger for and seek your will, on the deepest level.  And as we hunger, feed us your good and perfect and pleasing will.  Then give us the courage and strength to be obedient.  May your people be filled with joy, always thanking You for the life you have given us, the freedom we have in Christ, the forgiveness of our sins, and the inheritance you've shared with us.  Father, transform us into the image of your Son.  Amen

Transformation - Day 2

"We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News." - Colossians 1:3-5

I don't know why Paul gets under some people's skin - his "ego" or personality just rub some folk wrong. But I read a passage like the above and see someone deeply connected to, praying for, and encouraging others. Most scholars believe that Epaphras, not Paul, started the church in Colosse, but you would never know it from the warmth and pastoral quality of this letter.

I also love the word "we" here. I don't want us to overlook that in the early church, leadership was not a solo act but a shared calling. I wonder if the struggles we face in the modern church from burnout to sexual misconduct can be traced back to mission and ministry leadership not being shared. The longevity of Billy Graham's ministry and his pact with fellow team members speaks to this.

I am also humbled by Paul's acknowledgment that "we always pray for you." I don't think this was hyperbole. Paul and Timothy prayed - a lot. Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 wrote "pray without ceasing" and backed it up by saying this is God's will.

I need to do a better job of praying for you. I can get so busy with life and ministry that I neglect the most essential activity - prayer. My best friend from seminary committed to praying Ephesians 3:14-19 everyday for the people in his church. It's a rich beautiful prayer and I feel the tug to pray it for you as well. Are there other ways I can pray for you - especially when it comes to spiritual transformation? - the heart of these blogs for the next 21 days. Comment below or send me a personal note.

Finally, look at what Paul commends these Colossian followers for: 1) faith in Christ 2) love for God's people and 3) hope for eternity. Sometimes we make things so complicated with ministry plans and smart goals. What if we could simply be a church that trusted Christ and loved everybody (not easy), motivated by a hope for a better reward? (These three remain - faith, hope, love; but the greatest of these is love - where have I heard that before?) And don't gloss over the motivation - eternity with Christ in heaven. I've heard people say that you can be so heavenly-minded that you are no earthly good. I've said it. But here Paul makes it clear that a strong hope for heaven motivates our faith in Christ and our love for others. Eternity fuels us. After all, how can we love if God doesn't first love us, fueling our love with the free gift of eternal life?

Love hard.  Pray hard.  We have hope for a better future. Life is short. make it count. Be transformed. Show someone God's love today. Let us pray . . .