Things above

Colossians 3:1-4 NASB
1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

We had our young couples Bible study last night on Colossians 3. I was drawn to the commands in verses 1 and 2. Keep seeking the things above...Set your mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth.

Our thought processes drive our motives, and our motives drive our actions. How often do we get caught up in horizontal earthly thoughts and end up making decisions with the wrong heart motives?

Christ never once lost his eternal perspective. His thoughts were always focused on the Father. He never once acted out of earthly/fleshly motive.

As I see how far short I fall from this standard, I'm drawn to verses 3 and 4. My life is hidden with Christ and when, in the last days, he is revealed in glory, I will be there with him!

What an awesome promise to come right after such a high calling. Let's remember that it is only Christ who can work out such a high calling in our hearts and give him all the glory honor and praise for any and all our spiritual successes.

Kids!

They say the darndest things!

Plug for Alan

My friend Alan recently started back to graduate school to get a master's degree in social work in order to work with troubled children and families. As a result, he will not be able to keep his full-time job, but work part-time instead for the next two years. In an effort to try to supplement some income, he has started his own business that he can manage during his free time. A part of his business is hosting an online store for exclusive Amway Global products along with many regular name brand products from partner stores such as ACE Hardware, Barnes & Noble, Dell, and Office Depot.

He is looking for people that would have interest in setting up an online shopping account for his store (no cost) and consider purchasing some of the products. There is a wide variety of products to choose from. Some that you might shop for on a regular basis, such as snack bars, juice, bottled water, laundry detergent, tissue paper, skin care, etc... and others that might be just for special occasion shopping like wedding and baby gifts.

If you are interested in checking out the store, you can go to www.quixtar.com and browse it. If you like what you see or have any questions, drop Alan an email at alan_banwart@yahoo.com and tell him you would like a free online account. Alan also mentioned that if anyone sets up an account and place an order by the end of the month, they will be placed in a drawing to receive a $50 gift certificate to the store. Thank you for considering this opportunity.

Just Do Something

Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will Get your copy

About the book... Hyper-spiritual approaches to finding God's will don't work. It's time to try something new: Give up. Pastor and author Kevin DeYoung counsels Christians to settle down, make choices, and do the hard work of seeing those choices through. Too often, he writes, God's people tinker around with churches, jobs, and relationships, worrying that they haven't found God's perfect will for their lives. Or—even worse—they do absolutely nothing, stuck in a frustrated state of paralyzed indecision, waiting . . . waiting . . . waiting for clear, direct, unmistakable direction. But God doesn't need to tell us what to do at each fork in the road. He's already revealed his plan for our lives: to love him with our whole hearts, to obey His Word, and after that, to do what we like. No need for hocus-pocus. No reason to be directionally challenged. Just do something. At 128 pages, it is a concise treatment on a topic of interest to us all.

What people are saying... "God told me that He wants you to read this book. Actually, that is one of the many mistaken notions about God's will that Kevin DeYoung wants to correct." --Collin Hansen, Editor at Large, Christianity Today "The truth is that God is more committed to showing you His will than you are to discovering it. This book shows that discovering God's will happens not as we 'let go and let God,' but as we trust God and get going." --Tullian Tchividjian, Pastor, New City Church “DeYoung explains so well what Oswald Chambers wrote a century ago, ‘Trust God and do the next thing.’ Sadly our wrongheaded search for the elusive ‘will of God’ often prevents us from doing both. This book will help correct that problem.” --Gerald L. Sittser, Professor of Theology, Whitworth University Get your copy

Fishing weekend

Yeah, I had a fun weekend. I caught a 5lb and a 5lb 6oz bass with in 15 minutes of each other. The fact that they both hit on a top water was icing on the cake.

Good times in Taylor.

Created by the Breath of God

Click on the picture to enlarge. Then click on that picture to enlarge further.

Colossian Prayer

The Lord spoke to me about balance this morning as I read in Colossians where Paul speaks his prayer for the church at Collosae. Balance and purpose.9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.Paul prays that they may be filled with "knowledge, spiritual wisdom, and understanding.

Why?

What's the benefit of having those things?

The benefit comes in living a life that's fully pleasing to God as we bear fruit in our good works. Then it comes full circle back to increasing in more knowledge of who God is.

We don't use our fullness of knowledge to feel content in our understanding, but rather to go out and walk a walk that pleases God. We could go out and walk in a manner which mimics "fully pleasing to God", but unless we're walking with knowledge we're not "fully pleasing". Knowledge pleases God as it's used to walk in His footsteps, and then it comes full circle back to increasing in the knowledge of God - continuing His refining process.

And as that process cycles through in our lives, may we find ourselves strengthened with every iteration according to His glorious might, and may we grow in our thanksgiving to the Father for His qualification of us to share in the inheritance.

We serve an Awesome God. May God impart to us a hunger to know who He is.