All Hostile to God

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death. (Colossians 1:21–22)

The best news in all the world is that our alienation from God is ended and we are reconciled to the Judge of the universe. God is no longer against us, but for us. Having omnipotent love on our side mightily steels the soul. Life becomes utterly free and daring when the strongest being in the universe is for you.

But Paul’s message of salvation is not good news to those who reject the diagnosis in Colossians 1:21. He says, you “were alienated and hostile in mind.”

How many people do you know who say, “Apart from God’s grace, I am hostile to God in my mind”? People seldom say, “I hate God.” So, what does Paul mean that people are “hostile in mind” to God before they were reconciled by the blood of Christ?

I think he means that the hostility is really there toward the true God, but people do not allow themselves to think about the true God. They imagine God to be the way they would like him to be, which seldom includes any possibility that they might be in really serious trouble with him.

But concerning the God who really exists — a God who is sovereign over all things, including sickness and calamity — we were all hostile to him, Paul says. Deep down, we hated his absolute power and authority.

That any of us is saved is owing to the wonderful truth that the death of Christ obtained the grace by which God conquered our hearts and caused us to love the One we once hated.

Many are still learning not to be hostile to God. It is a good thing that he is gloriously patient.

John Piper

Traveling Incognito

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, a heart of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering. Colossians 3:12

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Sometimes people will ask, “Are you a preacher?”

How do they know I’m a preacher before I’ve said anything “spiritual”?

I’m not ashamed I’m a preacher, but I think a preacher ought to dress and act so that nobody will suspect he is! I don’t want them to know I’m a preacher by the way I look.

We’re not posturing, posing, or somehow going through life trying to look holy or trying to act holy. We ought to be transparent vessels of the Lord’s anointing. We just simply are what we are by the grace of God.

ACTION POINT:

What does your countenance say about who you are in Christ? Dress in His robes of righteousness and His countenance of glory today. 

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Dependable in the Mundane

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

One of the most powerful testimonies to the all-sufficiency of God’s future grace is the “faith principle” that has governed the lives of so many missionaries, notably those of Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF).

Without condemning those who follow a different pattern, it has been the practice of those who follow in the steps of Hudson Taylor and George Mueller to move the hearts of supporters to give by directing their requests to God and not to people.

James H. Taylor, the great-grandson of the founder of OMF, explains how this faith in future grace, rooted in demonstrations of bygone grace, honors God.

We . . . begin from a position of faith. We believe God does exist. We have become convinced of this in a variety of ways, but all of us have experienced the grace of God in bringing us to know Himself through Jesus Christ and through rebirth by His Spirit. We believe we have good grounds of believing in Him through the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead: we believe that someone who said He would die and rise again, and did it, is credible in every other way. Therefore we are prepared to trust Him, not only for the eternal salvation of our souls, but also for the practical provision of our daily bread and financial support.

OMF publishes testimonies of God’s amazing faithfulness to demonstrate the glory of his all-supplying future grace. “We want to demonstrate that God can be trusted to do all that He says He will do, by sharing how He has provided for such mundane needs as plane tickets, meals, medical expenses, and the regular support of a whole group of Christian people for well over a hundred years.”

What OMF is devoted to is glorifying the dependability of God — in their message and in their method. Hudson Taylor put it this way: “There is a living God. He has spoken in the Bible. He means what He says and will do all that He has promised.”

Lives of faith are the great mirror of the dependability of God.

John Piper 

When God lets you co-pilot

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Some time ago I was invited to preach in another state, but my schedule was such that I couldn’t arrange it. When they offered to send a private plane, it made it possible for me to go.

As we flew over Arkansas, the pilot asked me if I wanted to try my hand at flying the plane. I said, “Yes!”

Of course, he was sitting right next to me. He could fly the plane without me, but I couldn’t fly it without him. He had his hands on his set of controls all the while, and he allowed me to participate with him.

That’s the way prayer is. God can do it without you, but God enables you to have fellowship with Him and teaches you a dependency upon Him through prayer.

ACTION POINT:

Meditate on 1 Chronicles 16:23-36. Glory in His presence: 

Sing to the LORD, all the earth; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised; He is also to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Identity Crisis

Why are we here?

Why do we struggle with self esteem?

Comparing yourself to others and their possessions brings you feelings of not measuring up.

These things bring depression and discouragement.

Be set free from comparison.

Satan is the master of using this to effect your witness.

Be who God made you to be.

How to avoid an identity crisis.

1. Remember what is really important in life!

38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.

39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. - Luke 10:38-39

Establish your core values.

Know what is right.

Be truthful.

You can not please everyone.

Set your priorities.

Commitment to Worship 

Commitment to Family

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, - Ephesians 5:25

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. - Ephesians 6:4

2. Keep the main thing the main thing.

But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." - Luke 10:40

Distraction is with us always.

Impending death brings contemplation of your life priorities.

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, - Philippians 3:13

You are who you are in Jesus.

You are forgiven in Christ.

Press on.

When storms roll in.

When the bottom falls out.

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 3:14

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; - 2 Corinthians 4:7-8

persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; - 2 Corinthians 4:9

Trouble is coming but Christ is King!

3. Guard your attitude.

41 But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,

42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her." - Luke 10:41-42

Don't let bitterness steal the glory God wants you to have.

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.  - Proverbs 4:23

1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. - Colossians 3:1-2

3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. - Colossians 3:3-4

Christ is your life.

Walk in holy boldness and confidence knowing you can do all things in Christ who strengthens you.

If not, repent!

Thanks Pastor Kevin!!

What Makes God Proud

But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:16)

I want very much for God to say to me what he said about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: “I am not ashamed to be called your God.”

As risky as it sounds, does this not really mean that God might actually be “proud” to be called my God? Fortunately this wonderful possibility is surrounded (in Hebrews 11:16) by reasons: one before and one after.

Take the one after, first: “God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”

The first reason he gives why he is not ashamed to be called their God is that he has done something for them. He made them a city — the heavenly city “whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10). So, the first reason he is not ashamed to be called their God is that he has worked for them. Not the other way around.

Now, consider the reason he gives in the front. It goes like this: “They desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God.”

“Therefore” signals that a reason has just been given for why God is not ashamed to be called our God. The reason is their desire. They desire a better country — that is, a better country than the earthly one they live in; namely, a heavenly one where God is.

When we desire this heavenly city — this dwelling place of God — more than we desire all that this world can give, God is not ashamed to be called our God. When we make much of all that he promises to be for us, he is proud to be our God. This is good news.

So, open your eyes to the better country, the city of God that he has prepared for us, and let yourself desire it with all your heart. God will not be ashamed to be called your God.

John Piper 

Why doesn't God obliterate evil?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine. 1 Chronicles 29:11

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Have you ever wondered why God doesn’t obliterate the devil and eradicate all sin? If God destroyed evil, God would destroy every opportunity for choice. And if God were to destroy every opportunity for choice, then God would destroy every opportunity for love. Therefore, God would destroy the highest good. For God to destroy evil would be evil.

God doesn’t destroy evil, instead God defeats evil. How? Calvary and the resurrection! God turns every hurt into a hallelujah. Every defeat into victory!

ACTION POINT:

Spend some time today thinking about heaven and the glorious reunion you’re going to have with Him one day.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers