“Come follow Me.” Jesus calls all of His disciples (you and me included) to come and walk with Him. Walking with Jesus does not come naturally to us, we need to pray for God to help us follow in His footsteps. In order to Pray Specifically to follow Jesus, please click on the link. Pray Specifically: Walk with God
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Thank you for joining us in our Colossians series. Today Mary Kane and I (Jane VanOsdol) will be discussing Colossians 1:13-17. This session finds us exploring how we were each created for God.We also learn that God is involved in every facet of our lives.
For such a small book of the Bible, Colossians is loaded with information. So, grab your Bible and a pen, and let’s get started!
Feel free to pick up our Viewer Guide to get even more out of this podcast session. Some sessions also have additional resources available for download, which you will find on the Viewer Guide page.
We pray that this series blesses you. Feel free to add your comments and questions below.
Pray on!
In His name the nations will put their hope. Matthew 12:21
Thursday, May 2, is the National Day of Prayer. Let’s all join together in praying for our nation. The theme this year is Pray For America. Here are two websites for you to access for prayer events to participate in.
National Day of Prayer
One Cry Radio Summit and Unite Event
We’re never at a loss for things to pray about for our country, are we? It’s especially true this year given some of the recent tragic events we’ve watched unfold in our country and around the world. Whether your church is holding an event, you’re going to tune in to the national podcast, or you’ll be praying at home, I’d love to hear what some of the requests are that you’ll be interceding for this year. What issues are on your hearts and minds that you’ll be praying about?
This is an important reminder for us to pray not only for our friends and families every day, but also for our country. Feel free to leave your requests/prayers below, and add to the list as God lays more requests on your heart.
Pray on!
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A sunset… a walk by the waters of Lake Michigan…a stroll in the woods. What makes you peaceful? While many activities may refresh and renew us, true peace often eludes us. To receive a little peace, please click on the link: Peace of My Mind
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“And do not grumble as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.” 1 Corinthians 10:10
We’ve almost made it to Easter! Today we are looking at the following stanza of the True Lenten Discipline poem.
FAST from discontent; FEAST on gratitude.
(Here is the full poem of True Lenten Discipline. Here are the devotions for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.Here is the link to the True Lenten Discipline Podcast.)
Today we will start out by looking at how seriously God takes our attitudes and obedience to Him. Our verse in 1 Corinthians is referring back to Numbers 16 when the Israelites were on their journey out of Egypt. Three men, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, became insolent and were sinning by complaining against Moses and Aaron. They were of the Levite tribe and felt that they should be part of the priesthood too. Their attitudes were spreading to those around them. A dramatic standoff occurred and what happened is that these men and all that belonged to them were swallowed up by the earth.
The next day the entire Israelite Community grumbled against Moses and Aaron blaming them for the deaths, and God was so upset with the rebellious camp that he started a plague. Aaron made atonement for the people’s offense by offering incense, but not before 14,700 people were killed. This plague is what the the verse in 1 Corinthians 10:10 is referring to.
Phew. This is a sad, scary story, but it shows us the importance of our attitudes and obedience to God. God was serious about weeding out evil from the camp, because He knew how fast it spreads. Today, as Christ followers, we have Jesus standing between us and God, making atonement for our sins, but God still takes our attitudes seriously.
The word for grumble is goggyzo, and it means “to murmur, mutter, say anything against in a low tone, of those who confer secretly together, discontentedly complain.”
It’s all to easy to fall into complaining when life doesn’t go the way we want it to, isn’t it? Thoughts of “my life would be better if ….” echo through my mind. The stanza of the poem redirects our thinking to gratitude, to being thankful for what we have, where we are right now. Mary Kane often refers to the illustration of Daniel in Daniel 6:10 as a person who offered thanks even in the midst of dire circumstances.
At the advice of his satraps (who wanted to trap Daniel), King Darius had issued a decree that for the next 30 days, no one could pray to anyone or anything but King Darius, otherwise the person would be thrown in the lion’s den. Verse 10 says that when Daniel heard this, he went home and prayed, giving thanks to God, just as he had done before. Now if anyone had cause to grumble, it would have been Daniel, but instead he chose to count his blessings and thank God. God protected Daniel from harm when he was thrown in the lion’s den.
The word for gratitude is charis, and it means “joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, lovliness.” When we dwell on these things in our lives, it lifts our spirits and puts our focus on God. Let’s cultivate that habit and redirect our focus. When we start to complain about something, let’s stop and mentally list one thing we are thankful for in our life. And the first thing we can be thankful for this Easter is Jesus’ atonement for our sins, which has given us abundant life.
Application: Today let’s leave behind the “My life would be better if … mentality, and put on the mantle of gratitude and thanksgiving by acutally making a list and counting our blessings. We’ll be able to clearly see God at work in our lives, even if we’re in the midst of a difficult situation.
Prayer: Lord, we do thank you that you loved us so much that you sent Jesus to atone for our sins. Thank you for the gift of eternal life in heaven and the life you have given us to be lived out on earth. Help us to focus on our blessings. Amen.
As we head into Holy Week, I’d like to share an poem/excerpt that gives us much to focus our hearts and minds on as we walk through the sorrow and joy of this week. Being that this version of the poem True Lenten Discipline has seven suggestions, it works out perfectly to look at one each day during Holy Week. On Monday we’ll begin with a brief devotion to encourage us and start a discussion on the first topic in the excerpt–judging. We’d love to have your participation–a conversation is always better with more two or more people! If you’d like, please add your comments each day at the end of the devotion.
Feel free to adapt this to your life. Perhaps you want to spend a meal or a day in fasting. Maybe you want to take an afternoon and set aside some time for prayer to prepare your heart for Easter. Whatever you decide, I pray this blesses you.
(I received this poem in an email from my friend a few days ago, and the author was credited as “Anonymous.” I Googled the title and several versions popped up, some much longer, but I wasn’t able to ascertain the true author. If anyone knows, please let me know.)
Here’s the version we’ll use this week:
TRUE LENTEN DISCIPLINE
FAST from judging others; FEAST on Christ dwelling in you.
FAST from bitterness; FEAST on forgiveness.
FAST from apparent darkness; FEAST on the reality of God’s light.
FAST from thoughts of illness; FEAST on the healing power of God.
FAST from words that pollute; FEAST on phrases that purify.
FAST from discontent; FEAST on gratitude.
FAST from anger; FEAST on patience.
Author Unknown
You may also be interested in a podcast Mary and I will be recording tomorrow evening on this topic. I’ll insert a link to it as soon as it is up. We’ll see you tomorrow!
Pray on!
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