We are meant for maturity, yet day after day we either stay the same or grow worse. We have to actively acknowledge that our Lord intends for us to grow, to become more than we were yesterday. It is not simply for our selfish purpose but for the maturing of the Body and the salvation of the world. We must mature.
Maturity comes at a cost, it requires us to face and walk through situations we would rather avoid. It is hard but Paul's letter to the church of Colossae makes it clear that it is part of our purpose. Paul prays:
Because of this, since the day we heard about you, we haven’t stopped praying for you and asking for you to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, with all wisdom and spiritual understanding. (1:9)
Notice what Paul stated was needed for spiritual maturity:
1. knowledge of God's will
2. wisdom
3. spiritual understanding
Paul stated that the purpose of his prayer was:
We’re praying this so that you can live lives that are worthy of the Lord and pleasing to him in every way. (v. 10)
So, worthy of the Lord's sacrifice on the cross (a fruitful life instead of a wasted one) and one that would please him in the living. Paul names three ways that this will be done in our living:
1. by producing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God (v. 10)
2. by being strengthened through his glorious might so that you endure everything and have patience (v. 11)
3. and by giving thanks with joy to the Father. (v. 12)
Good works, growing in knowledge of God, endurance, patience, and joyful thanksgiving; these are themes throughout the epistles and are the foundations to our growth. We need to pay attention and ask for these to increase so that we may mature and increase in Jesus.
We have fallen for the enemy's trick of getting us to focus on ourselves, seeking short cuts and comfort in life. Do you recognize any of these? Perhaps something that had been said to Jesus? Take a quick look at our society and then look in the mirror. Instead of running away from the discomfort, the hardships, trials, and storms, we need to trust the Lord for the strength to stand and to learn, growing into the fullness of Jesus.
There is much to learn and put into practice from this letter. I hope to spend some time in it with you over the next while.
Showing posts with label patience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label patience. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Friday, May 3, 2013
Just Like Jesus Did It
I hear it every day: "You are such a patient man". Not really a sentence I would have used to describe me. I used to be a short tempered man when I was young. My anger came from my self-centeredness. Sure, I cared about people and loved doing nice things for them but I had yet to mature spiritually. I did not yet understand how to see people with the eyes and heart of Jesus.
When we consider Jesus we see that he taught with patience. He was not concerned with being honoured and gladly took on the role of a servant. Being in the place of a servant he did nothing for himself and concentrated on what he could do for others. Although he came to "cast out demons and preach the good news", his heart of compassion also moved him to heal the sick, bring sight to the blind and cause the lame to walk. Even in his deepest distress he placed others before his own wants, needs and desires. A person like this does not have anger issues.
Leadership in the Church is based on Jesus' teaching of servant-leader. Leaders can have no personal vested interest in anything, must be empty of self and see themselves as servants of God, to the Church. If a leader has any self-centeredness it is going to show in the way he or she deals with the "sheep". Paul wrote to Timothy:
You must correct people and point out their sins. But also cheer them up, and when you instruct them, always be patient. (2 Timothy 4:2)
Leaders have been called to lead. They lead by example and in instruction but leadership also means correction. However, when a leader takes a person's sin as a personal insult they will end up dealing with it in anger. But sin is not an offense against a leader; sin is an offense against God and all God wants is it to be confessed and forgiven. Leaders must be patient in instruction and gentle in restoration. You can't cheer them up if you have taken the offense personally.
It is unfortunately that too much of leadership training these days is based on man's model instead of God's. It is too bad we chase after seminars based on business teaching instead of biblical teaching. It is too bad that pastors are too busy building a corporation instead of the Kingdom. It is too bad because we are missing the mark and "sheep" are being slaughtered in the process.
Personally, the Spirit is taking me through a re-processing as he strips away ideologies that I have allowed to be built in my life. Much of it has to do with man's thinking of the Church and leadership. As the Spirit does this I realize how easy it is to take on man's thinking instead of God's thinking. It is so easy to fall into that trap, just as easy as it is to fall into the trap of financial dependency on this world. Servant-leadership takes as much faith as trusting the provision of God. We have to trust that the Spirit is working on the hearts of those we must correct so that when we speak, our gentle word is a confirmation of what God is already doing.
I grew out of my anger issues the day I realized it wasn't about me. The day I realized it was about Jesus and my neighbour, all that anger drained from my heart. The reason I am a patient man is because I serve a patient God. The reason I don't take offense is because I realize I am not the one being offended. The reason I can correct is because I know it is about that person's good and not about my wound. Leadership in the Church is a cool thing because it is all about serving Jesus by serving others, and I mean really serving where all the benefit is for them and none for yourself. Just like Jesus did it.
When we consider Jesus we see that he taught with patience. He was not concerned with being honoured and gladly took on the role of a servant. Being in the place of a servant he did nothing for himself and concentrated on what he could do for others. Although he came to "cast out demons and preach the good news", his heart of compassion also moved him to heal the sick, bring sight to the blind and cause the lame to walk. Even in his deepest distress he placed others before his own wants, needs and desires. A person like this does not have anger issues.
Leadership in the Church is based on Jesus' teaching of servant-leader. Leaders can have no personal vested interest in anything, must be empty of self and see themselves as servants of God, to the Church. If a leader has any self-centeredness it is going to show in the way he or she deals with the "sheep". Paul wrote to Timothy:
You must correct people and point out their sins. But also cheer them up, and when you instruct them, always be patient. (2 Timothy 4:2)
Leaders have been called to lead. They lead by example and in instruction but leadership also means correction. However, when a leader takes a person's sin as a personal insult they will end up dealing with it in anger. But sin is not an offense against a leader; sin is an offense against God and all God wants is it to be confessed and forgiven. Leaders must be patient in instruction and gentle in restoration. You can't cheer them up if you have taken the offense personally.
It is unfortunately that too much of leadership training these days is based on man's model instead of God's. It is too bad we chase after seminars based on business teaching instead of biblical teaching. It is too bad that pastors are too busy building a corporation instead of the Kingdom. It is too bad because we are missing the mark and "sheep" are being slaughtered in the process.
Personally, the Spirit is taking me through a re-processing as he strips away ideologies that I have allowed to be built in my life. Much of it has to do with man's thinking of the Church and leadership. As the Spirit does this I realize how easy it is to take on man's thinking instead of God's thinking. It is so easy to fall into that trap, just as easy as it is to fall into the trap of financial dependency on this world. Servant-leadership takes as much faith as trusting the provision of God. We have to trust that the Spirit is working on the hearts of those we must correct so that when we speak, our gentle word is a confirmation of what God is already doing.
I grew out of my anger issues the day I realized it wasn't about me. The day I realized it was about Jesus and my neighbour, all that anger drained from my heart. The reason I am a patient man is because I serve a patient God. The reason I don't take offense is because I realize I am not the one being offended. The reason I can correct is because I know it is about that person's good and not about my wound. Leadership in the Church is a cool thing because it is all about serving Jesus by serving others, and I mean really serving where all the benefit is for them and none for yourself. Just like Jesus did it.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Why Are You Here?
We seek after God`s will for our life.
Why?
Is it our goal, our longing, our desire to live a life worthy of Jesus?
Do we wish to please him?
Do we know what it is to please our God?
Some would say we please him just by being with him, and we are with him every moment of our day. We actually have the pleasure of friendship with God.
But there is more!
We were left in this wretched place for a reason. There is purpose to our life:
First, to bear fruit in every good work. We are producers. God blesses everything to which we put our hand, he promised he would, and especially eternal things. Every good work is every kind word, every act of kindness, every act of love, every scripture shared, every dollar spent, every encouraging embrace, every moment given. You have no idea how powerful these things are and the fruit the Spirit produces from them.
Second, to grow in the knowledge of God. Yes, study the Word but more than that, because God also speaks in our circumstances, to apply the Word. We go through what we do in order to learn about God, to become even closer and more dependent on him. There is purpose in it all and we are told it is to benefit us. God doesn't waste any of the things we experience. It only requires trust on our part.
Third, to grow in great endurance and patience. God does not want us dependent on ourselves but on him. He is not raising independent children. He actually fills us with his power for this purpose. He provides us with super human strength to endure much more than we thought possible. He doesn't rescue us from situations because he is teaching us through them. The trick is to fully lean upon and trust our God. We continue to fail to learn this lesson and have to repeat it again and again. We don't understand that we are in training and the muscles we are gaining are called endurance and patience. Both of these in us are under attack by this society that demands instant gratification.
Our fourth purpose is a thing of joy, giving thanks to our Father. We call it praise and worship. It is something not confined to a moment of the day or week; it is an attitude of living. It is Jesus who has given us great joy because of all that he has done, and nothing can take this joy from us. We can give it up, caste it down, throw it away but nothing can take it from us. We are meant to be creatures of joy, of great thanksgiving, always content in Jesus, filled with praises for our God all day long, in all circumstances of our life. Why? Simply because of what he has done, what he is doing and what he will do. There is no sense of gaining patience and endurance if it contains no joy, no thanksgiving.
These four things are our purpose: to bear fruit, to know God, to be patient and enduring, to be instruments of praise. This is who we are. This is who we are designed to be. But are we living our purpose?
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14)
Why?
Is it our goal, our longing, our desire to live a life worthy of Jesus?
Do we wish to please him?
Do we know what it is to please our God?
Some would say we please him just by being with him, and we are with him every moment of our day. We actually have the pleasure of friendship with God.
But there is more!
We were left in this wretched place for a reason. There is purpose to our life:
First, to bear fruit in every good work. We are producers. God blesses everything to which we put our hand, he promised he would, and especially eternal things. Every good work is every kind word, every act of kindness, every act of love, every scripture shared, every dollar spent, every encouraging embrace, every moment given. You have no idea how powerful these things are and the fruit the Spirit produces from them.
Second, to grow in the knowledge of God. Yes, study the Word but more than that, because God also speaks in our circumstances, to apply the Word. We go through what we do in order to learn about God, to become even closer and more dependent on him. There is purpose in it all and we are told it is to benefit us. God doesn't waste any of the things we experience. It only requires trust on our part.
Third, to grow in great endurance and patience. God does not want us dependent on ourselves but on him. He is not raising independent children. He actually fills us with his power for this purpose. He provides us with super human strength to endure much more than we thought possible. He doesn't rescue us from situations because he is teaching us through them. The trick is to fully lean upon and trust our God. We continue to fail to learn this lesson and have to repeat it again and again. We don't understand that we are in training and the muscles we are gaining are called endurance and patience. Both of these in us are under attack by this society that demands instant gratification.
Our fourth purpose is a thing of joy, giving thanks to our Father. We call it praise and worship. It is something not confined to a moment of the day or week; it is an attitude of living. It is Jesus who has given us great joy because of all that he has done, and nothing can take this joy from us. We can give it up, caste it down, throw it away but nothing can take it from us. We are meant to be creatures of joy, of great thanksgiving, always content in Jesus, filled with praises for our God all day long, in all circumstances of our life. Why? Simply because of what he has done, what he is doing and what he will do. There is no sense of gaining patience and endurance if it contains no joy, no thanksgiving.
These four things are our purpose: to bear fruit, to know God, to be patient and enduring, to be instruments of praise. This is who we are. This is who we are designed to be. But are we living our purpose?
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14)
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