Category: Thursday

What fills you up

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits[a] of the world, and not according to Christ.  For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,  and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

Colossians 2:8-10

Everyone fills their heart and their head with something.

What we focus on first in the morning will be with us all day and what we focus on at night will be with us in our dreams and may even wake us up.

How we start and end our day impacts how our day goes. That doesn’t mean that we can’t change our focus through out the day, but we will be trying to counteract something instead of starting out on the right foot.

Starting our day with God sets the tone for the day, putting him first gives us the energy, wisdom and stamina to not just get through the day but to strive.

When we let him fill us up in the morning and ask him to direct our step through the day, our days go smoother. We have more peace and calm, because he gives us all we need, helps us do what we need to better, more effectively and more efficiently and helps us to avoid the pitfalls that can drain us or steer us in the wrong direction.

Let God direct your steps and you’ll be surprised how amazing your day will go.

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roots

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,  rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Colossians 2:6-7

Where we draw our strength is what lets us stand in the storm.

Our faith is built on Jesus and when we root ourselves deep in him, we can weather the storm. When we draw our nourishment from Jesus, our roots grow strong in him and we can withstand more then we can imagine.

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When the storm is over we may see damage to branches and leaves but its what you can’t see deep down the roots that give the us strength to grow back bigger and stronger that matter.

Let’s root ourselves in Him.

So when the storm comes it’s his words, his love, his strength and his character that we depend on to weather the storm and come out stronger.

You don’t have to have all the answers

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.  Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Colossians 4:5-6

We are not meant to know everything or the answer to all of life’s questions. but we should know how to respond. even Jesus didn’t always respond with words. Sometimes all people need is someone to listen, a shoulder to cry on or someone to cheer them on and encourage them.

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We have the Holy Spirit with us at all times and he is the one with all the answers. But even his response is not always what to say but sometimes what to do or what not to do.

How to react to a situation usually makes a bigger impact then words. that’s why building a deep intimate relationship with God is so important. So that in the hardest and most influential situations we can hear him and follow his leading.

Next time your in a situation and you don’t know what to do, ask the Holy Spirit and trust that he knows how best to react.

Give out of Him

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,  of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,  the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.  For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Colossians 1:24-29

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When you know God, sacrificing for him is easy. Putting others first, before yourself, giving of all you have and loving as he loved, comes easy because it’s him through us.

And we know that no matter how much we give or how empty we think we are he will fill us up and bless us all the more.

When we give out of him he fills us with his abundance and we lack nothing, because he always takes care of his kids.

Find new life in death

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, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Colossians 1:21-23

Life and death reverberate throughout all creation. In creation the dead brings life to the living. Plants draw nutrients from the compost of the creation that has died and gone back into the earth.

If you look and listen God is always teaching us, echoing his message throughout all creation.

Death brings life.

Jesus died to bring us new life. His sacrifice paid for our mistakes and makes us new creation before God, so that we might have freedom from guilt and shame, so that we may have a pure, loving, deep, intimate connection with him.

Jesus’s death brings life and so does our own. When we die to our selfishness and let him live through us it’s like a light being turned on in dark room, we can finally see and find freedom from the darkness that once surrounded us.

Find freedom in him and let his love and sacrifice lead you to the light of forgiveness.

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What draws us together

We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,  since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel  which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth;  just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf,  and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit.

Colossians 1:3-8

When we hear of new believers there is an excitement and a joy that comes with knowing that others have found the same love and peace that we did when we surrendered our lives Jesus. Knowing that more people have found Jesus and are in turn sharing Him with others is something that over joys all believers.

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Often we divide ourselves by what church we go to or what denomination. But God never intended for us to be divided. We are all believers in Jesus and His grace and that is what brings us together.

Something I’ve been thinking about lately is how when we meet other believers our first responses is usually. ‘What church do you go to?’ And then we immediately begin to either bond or judge each other based on the answer to that question.

But what if our first question to other believer when we find out we share faith in Jesus is.

“What has God been doing in your life or teaching you recently?”

This question can direct our conversation to encourage and uplift each other by focusing instead on what draws us together, instead of what separates us.

Cherish those who faithfully serve

But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.  For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill.  Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety.  So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him, 0because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me.

Philippians 2:25-30

Ministry is so much more then the person with the microphone.

There are always others, working to make events, outreaches and ministry happen.

When was the last time you thanked the person who faithfully makes the coffee each Sunday or the person who cleans your church, how about the person who opens their home up for your small group. Ministry is a group activity, we can reach other on a one on one basis but to reach multitude is hard without a team that supports each other.

Paul acknowleded that in this passage. He appreciated the work and support of Epaphroditus.

If you are a leader remeber to thank those that make it possible for you to do what you do, if you serve encourage and lift up those who serve with you.

A simple thank you can go a long way.


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More than Hello

Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Philippians 4:21-23

Have you ever thought about how we greet other believers.

We are really good at saying a quick ‘hi’ or ‘welcome’ on Sunday morning. But do we ever ask how people are? Or do we just plaster on the fake smile hiding what’s going on in our life or let others pass by with the same fake smile hiding there own struggles.

We are the body of Jesus. We are meant to help each other.


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Asking each other how we are doing and actually paying attention to the answer can help so many people and even ourselves.

We can encourage those you see are having a rough day or might even get some encouragement from others.

Jesus’s grace is in all of us lets share it with each other.

Find Freedom

2Steer clear of the barking dogs, those religious busybodies, all bark and no bite. All they’re interested in is appearances—knife-happy circumcisers, I call them. The real believers are the ones the Spirit of God leads to work away at this ministry, filling the air with Christ’s praise as we do it. We couldn’t carry this off by our own efforts, and we know it—even though we can list what many might think are impressive credentials. You know my pedigree: a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God’s law; a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting the church; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God’s law Book.

The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness.

Phillippians 3:2-9 (MSG)

Yesterday I talked about not earning God’s love. All he asks is our faith, our believe in the sacrifice he made for us.

The apostle Paul before he met Jesus followed all the rules and regulation to try to earn his salvation. But once he me Jesus he realized it was all in vain.

God gives salvaion freely, it can’t be eaned by good deeds and following the rules, because we have all done something wrong in our life and we can’t make up for that to a holy and perfect God, but he can. Jesus being both God and man lived a sinless life and paid the price for us so that we could find righteousness through him. He did what we can’t, because he loves us.

Stop striving to earn salvation and accept what he freely gives.


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Baptism and Circumcision

In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,  having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 

Colossians 2:11-12

Circumcision and baptism sound like religious terms that many of us don’t understand the reasoning behind.

Circumcision and baptism symbolize our choice to die to our selfish ways, cutting ourselves off from our old life and being reborn into a new life in Jesus.

That new life in Jesus frees us from the guilt and shame of our past mistakes.

Jesus dying and being raised back to life gave us the gift of doing the same spiritually. We can die to our old selfish ways and be reborn into the new life that he gives us.

It is a spiritual circumcision, its cutting ourselves off from who we use to be and finding new life in Jesus.

Baptism is a public declaration, a symbolization of that new life, of being made new, being reborn into the life Jesus paid for and originally interned for us to have. A right relationship with him.

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One where we can laugh and talk with God, where we can feel free from our past and share that same freedom with others.

Don’t shy away from what you don’t understand or think is just tradition or old ways. Talk with God, ask him what it means and let him show you his true intent.

Alone

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,  for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.-Phillippians 2:12-13

How do you act, speak, think when your alone? Is it the same way you are in public, at work, at church?

Would you be ashamed to share who you are at home or what you do?

Does who you are change depending on where you are? Or who your around.

If we have Jesus living in us and we are living by the guidance of the Holy Spirit we should be the same person whether we are alone or surround by thousands.

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What’s your legacy?

I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare.  For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.  But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.  I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me.  And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon.

Philippians 2:19-24

When we are in leadership we should be the example of how to serve others and how to put others before ourselves. We should be cheering on those that we are leading. Guiding them to achieve more then we have. How else can we grow if we don’t encourage others to go further then we have.

Paul saw the potential in Timothy and Timothy was sent to help the Philippians. The Philippians in turn were to lead others to learn about the gospel.

If you are a leader in anyway, as a boss, parent, mentor or coach. Your legacy should be that you taught others how to do what you do better then you do it.

Paul was a leader in the early church and he never lorded it over anyone, he lead by example and humbled himself over and over again.

What legacy will you leave behind? What will people say they learned from you?

Glory to God in the Highest

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all the people were on their way to register for the census, each to his own city. Now Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,  in order to register along with Mary, who was betrothed to him, and was pregnant.  While they were there, the time came for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock at night.  And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. And so the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;  for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army of angels praising God and saying,

 “Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among people with whom He is pleased.”

 When the angels had departed from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem, then, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen Him, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it were amazed about the things which were told them by the shepherds.  But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.  And the shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

Luke 2:1-20

Serve without complaining

 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”[Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky  as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.  But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.  So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

Phillipians 2:14-18

We are meant to stand out by our words and by our actions. We are to be know by how we react. We should have peace in times of trouble and pour our lives out for others.

Jesus never complained, he served people without prejudice or regard for himself, and we should do the same. Not out of obligation, but out of love. We are to serve, to demonstrate his love to others, to stick out like stars in the sky because of our compassion.

If you are serving or volunteering out of obligation or because you think it will earn you points with God. Stop.

Ask God how he wants you to help others and ask him to show you those you serve the ways he sees them.

I have been on many missions trips and seen destitution and poverty but I have also learned from the people I have served because I saw them as equals. Don’t serve people because you see them as less fortunate, uneducated or less then you. Serve because he asked you to and learn from those you serve.

We are all people and we all have the capacity to share God’s love with each other.

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Lift the Load and Find Freedom

You were dead in sins, and your sinful desires were not yet cut away. Then he gave you a share in the very life of Christ, for he forgave all your sins,  and blotted out the charges proved against you, the list of his commandments which you had not obeyed. He took this list of sins and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross.  In this way God took away Satan’s power to accuse you of sin, and God openly displayed to the whole world Christ’s triumph at the cross where your sins were all taken away.

Colossians 2:13-15

Freedom from guilt and shame is amazing. We have all done something we regret in our lives or the word ‘sorry’ wouldn’t exist. We all have days where it feel like the world is ending either by choices we have made or choices others have made that affect us. But its when we dwell on those and let them consume us that we give it power over us.

Forgiveness is powerful; God’s forgiveness gives us freedom from the guilt and shame of all our mistakes and forgiving others takes away their power over us.

When you are forgiven its like a ton of bricks is lifted off your back, forgiving others gives us that same freedom.

Don’t let a simple choice keep you from lifting the load.

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Written by: Rebecca Darga

Choose your thoughts

8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.  What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:8-9

Your surroundings affect you.

If you surround yourself with negativity, anger, hate, and immorality, it will be hard to be happy and positive.

But if you surround yourself with good, positive, pure encouraging things being optimistic will be almost natural.

God is love, and if we want to follow him and live a life for him then we must put ourselves in an environment where we can focus on him.

We all have a choice in what we listen to, read and watch; and in our current society of constant media we are continuously being influenced.

Direct your thoughts by making choices that foster what you want.


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Blessing and Giving

Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Philippians 4:14-20

When we take care of others, God takes care of us.

So many times in my life when I have given to others God has provided for me and almost always above and beyond what I needed.

Giving to others is not supposed to be done out of compulsion but out of love.

Parents give to their kids because they love them, in the same way God gives to us.

He provides for other through us and many times blesses us through others.


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Atmosphere matters

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 1:2

This is Pauls common greeting when addressing other believers. It’s easy to gloss over and say yeah ok, but it’s important. 

How we greet each other matters, it’s sets the tone for our whole time together. Nothing’s worse then coming into a social situation and feeling awkward, ignored or unwanted. 

When we greet each other we should make everyone feel at peace and that means giving grace. Grace to that person that might get on our nerves and that gives everyone peace because there is no strife or conflict.

We can choose what atmosphere we create.

What has God called you to?

And say to Archippus, “See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.”

Colossians4:17

It’s easy to be envious of other’s ministries or success, but we are each called to our own ministry.

God made each of us unique and has called each of us to our own ministry. I can’t reach someone the same way you can and in the same respect; you can’t reach someone like I can. We are all special, all chosen by him and he has a calling for each of us. For some it’s to minister to thousands, for others it’s to reach the person no one notices. The point is we are each special and unique and we were all met God in different ways and now we are to be those different ways for other people.

We need to stop comparing ourselves to others and start seeking what God has special just for us.

What has he called you to? Who has he set on your heart? Seek him for how he wants you to reach the people he has given you a heart for and enjoy your unique calling.

Don’t limit your perspective

Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame.Their mind is set on earthly things.  But our citizenship is in heaven.And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,  who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Philippians 3:17-21

Limiting you perspective to what you know and not being willing to believe or even conceive of something out side your current knowledge, limits your ability to grow.


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If we only dealt with what was around us and never looked for a solution outside our current knowledge we would never improve.

By seeking the knowledge and perspective of our creator we allow him to change things that we may have seen as impossible before.

Just because we can’t see the solution doesn’t men one doesn’t exists.

Trust that God has an eternal view and that his solution is beyond what we could think or imagine.