God our Father

With so much unforgiveness around us, I’m reminded of our Father’s work of reconciliation. One clear verse about this is Colossians 1:20b – “…and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.” (NLT)

I’m impressed with the scope of God’s plan of salvation through Christ. Our Father initiated it in reconciling us to Himself by adopting us as His dear children. This makes us joint heirs with Christ and brothers to Jesus because we now have the same Father as Jesus. The Father’s work of reconciliation has tremendous benefits for us. One of them is being at peace with Him:

Romans 5:1 – “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s (Father’s) sight by faith, we have peace with God (Father) because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.” (NLT)

I find this wonderful truth in the Lord’s Supper as seen in:

1 Corinthians 11:25 – “…This cup is the new covenant between God and his people – an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it.”(NLT) This new covenant between our Father and us is eternal. How blessed we are in this! The new covenant is the result of His marvelous reconciliation of us through Christ.

The more we appreciate God’s reconciliation the more we’ll be able to forgive others totally. Col.3:13b – “…Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” (NLT)

These are good daily reminders for us in walking with God.

We can make Jesus famous by making Him Center of our hearts, Center of our families, Center of our church gatherings, and Center of our daily lives.

Consider the name given to Jesus at His birth – Immanuel meaning, “God is with us”(Matt 1:23). John 3:16 declares that God the Father sent Jesus His only Son to give Him as the sacrifice for our sins so that He could live with us – here and forever.

After listening one day to a lot of news about Canadian and world politics, I got tired of it; so that evening I sat down to read Jeremiah to focus instead on God’s Kingdom politics. My eyes became glued on two verses in chapter 23. Here we see God’s description of a false prophet. How would you describe the very nature of a false prophet? ______. Here is God’s description of such in verse 18: “Has any of these prophets been in the LORD’S presence to hear what he is really saying? Has even one of them cared enough to listen?” And verse 22: “If they had stood before me and listened to me, they would have spoken my words, and they would have turned my people from their evil ways and deeds.”

How can we as God’s servants receive His direction if we don’t spend time in His presence? How can we as individual followers of Jesus or as groups in local church meetings or in missions planning and strategizing hear “what He is really saying?” Do we care “enough to listen” to Him?

It is thus that we can practice Christmas, the presence of Christ, Emmanuel, each day. He is to be the Center of our lives in our love, thoughts, values, traditions, and actions. In midst of challenges and struggles may we experience Christmas as “the joy of the Lord is our strength”

Life - A School in Walking with God

Our life on this earth is a school in walking with God.

He has given us the tool for this – The Bible “Such things are written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.” (Romans 15:4 NLT);

He has given us the means for this – the Holy Spirit “Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.” (Gal 5:25 NLT);

He has given us the focus for this – Jesus “…clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 13:14 NLT)

All this, so that we might get to know our Father “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.” (Eph 1:3,4 NLT).

What a privilege thus to walk with God!

Keys of Kingdom of Heaven

After Jesus had questioned the disciples as to His identity, He gave an astounding affirmation to Peter’s answer and an astounding statement regarding the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.

“Jesus replied, ‘You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” (Matt.16:17-19 NLT)

The church had not yet been formed, so Peter could be taken as a token of the church, then future. Since Peter received the information from the Father, the keys must be figurative of the Gospel of Jesus. Peter was given the keys to preach the Good News to the Jews, and later to the Gentiles. Jesus, by His authority, commissioned all of His followers to preach the Gospel to the world.

Peter makes a comment about this in 1 Peter 2:9 NLT: “…you are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God...”

This truth gives me greater boldness in sharing the Gospel of Jesus by looking for and anticipating opportunities.

The Father's Covenant

“I am the way, the truth and the life…” John 14:6a NLT

Jesus is the essence of these three absolutes. Consider the first one – “I am the way.” There is no other way to the Father than through Jesus.

Since the Father is holy, no sin can be in His presence. His love, though, provided the way for us to relate to Him in holiness. He sent Jesus and made Him sin for us and poured out His wrath upon His Son. The result? We can be healed – saved – by Jesus’ stripes! By dying on the cross, He paid the penalty that was due us, and He was raised so that we could become just before God.

Therefore Jesus commanded us to remember Him, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people – an agreement confirmed with my blood.” Thus when we drink of this cup, it is a symbol of that agreement and of Jesus’ being the only way to the Father.
What a marvel! What a mystery! “…since we have been made right in God’s (the Father’s) sight by faith, we have peace with God (the Father) because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.” (Romans 5:1 NLT)

Jesus Christ the Head

We have many “heads” in our society – heads of state, heads of departments, heads of organizations – and we have a tendency to make room for a head of a church.
I am challenged, though, with the truth found in Colossians 1:18a

“Christ is…the head of the church, which is his body.”

This is a marvelous reality. Every believer in Christ is a member of His body, having been baptized into that body by the Holy Spirit.

“But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.” (1Corithians 12:13 NLT)

Connections with other people might fall flat, but our connection with Jesus Christ stands as a rock. He is the Father’s supreme gift to us, His body. And what a gift! He alone deserves to be the head of the church – our Savior, eternal Lamb, King of kings, Good Shepherd, Brother, Bridegroom, Advocate, Friend.

My challenge is how to function within the body of which He is the Head. For one thing, Christ’s headship alerts me to pay more attention to what He says than to what people say. It moves me to learn more about what it means to follow Him.

I am challenged by God's Word with the questions: Am I truly a follower of Jesus Christ or am I a follower of a church, mission, books, or the Internet? How can I find out?

Take a look at Psalm 145:10-12 for a description of a follower of Jesus.

All of your works will thank you, LORD, and your followers will praise you. They will speak of the glory of your kingdom; they will give examples of your power. They will tell about your mighty deeds and about the majesty and glory of your reign."

This passage greatly influences me to think more and more from His perspective. To reinforce this direction in your life, meditate on Colossians chapter 1 each day for about 6 months. Start with verses 1-4, reading this paragraph daily until you know it for memory (without having tried to memorize it). Verse 1 is like a sandwich to me. The first and last phrases speak of spiritual truths of God and in between is what my response to these truths is to be, namely "to set (my) sights on the realities of heaven."

For your convenience, here is the first paragraph:

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is you like, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.

Enjoy walking with God as Christ's follower with your sights on eternity with Him.