Readings: Philippians 2:1 – 11;
Colossians 3:12 – 17; Mark 12:28 – 31; 1 John 2:3 – 11
Meditation and Prayer on
Philippians 2:1 – 11:
Meditation:
(Philippians 2:3 - 4, ESV) 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Have you ever been inspired by the Spirit? Inspired to the point that the words that
come out of your mouth are not your words at all. Words that have such wisdom in them, you know
they could not be of your own? Have you
been in the position where after a conversation with someone about Christ or
faith or God, the individual has been so moved, they come up to you afterwards
and wholeheartedly thank you for that inspiration? The pride you feel in that moment is so
overwhelming. The accomplishment is so
tangible that your heart is overwhelmed with belonging and purpose. I have had these moments, actually, I
continue to have these moment…”Oh good for me”, right? I am not saying this so you see in me a
Spiritual advisor looking for adoration.
I am not saying this so you remember to come up to me and thank me. I am saying this, because I am confessing
that in my heart of hearts, I actually want that, but it is that way of
thinking that feeds my personal pride that I constantly battle with when trying
to emulate the character of Christ. We
are all called to live out the character of God, to love, do nothing from
selfish ambition or conceit, to live our life in humility and obedience. Jesus Christ, born a human, being of God and
God yet chose to humble himself to the point of being exposed to the desires,
emotions, and fleshly outcome we all face.
Christ came into this world and became a king. Yet, not a king that exposed himself through
flashy clothes or trumpets to announce his presence. He represented humbleness to the point of
death. Humbleness to the point of taking
no credit of the grace and blessings that had already being given to His
people. Credit that was so richly
deserved that Christ should have been praised while he walked this earth,
praised in a way where his face was splashed on Billboards and his signature
sought after, because his inspiring word has more depth than any 10 step help
book. Yet, Christ did not seek that type
of publicity, in fact, he always tended to avoid it. After many of his miracles, he asks that they
tell no one. In his ministry, he did not
seek to be glorified as king nor does he admit that he is God all too often.
“All glory to God our Father and Jesus Christ”,
a message missing from my repertoire and vocabulary post a Spirit filled
conversations. In many ways, we need
validation as humans that what we have said or done in the name of Christ is
inspiring. This validates in some way
that we are abiding in what God asks of us.
God knows that we need some form of praise as humans to move forward in
our journey, a form of feedback that lets us know we are not off our rocker,
and that what we are saying and doing is Spirit led. We must remember in those times to not dwell
on the pride that comes with that validation or praise, but to thank and give
praise to God for His inspiration. A
lesson I must learn and live by. I need
to remember that it is gifts from God and the Spirit that provide me the
ability to say and do things on His behalf.
That he has put all of you on this earth to hold me accountable to
living out the Word of God. That through
your feedback, praise, and adoration, it keeps me motivated to keep living my
life in the direction set before me in Christ.
That I must also check my pride at the door and respond with a thank
you, but also with “All glory to God our Father and Jesus Christ”. It is in for the honor of the Father we
live in His son Jesus Christ.
Prayer:
Dear God,
I come to you with
thanks and adoration. I come to you with
love and thankfulness. I realize that I
do not always abide in you even when I say and do what you ask of me. That I seek praise and adoration for myself,
and that my pride gets in the way of accepting praise for your Spirit filled
words and wisdom. I also thank you for
giving me the feedback through the friends and peers that you surround me
with. Help me to keep that in mind when
I stand in front and lead others on Your behalf. Help me to honor you in all that I say and
do. That you break down the walls I
surround myself with in selfishness and that I take a page out of Your Book and
humble myself to the point of kneeling before you and confessing that Jesus
Christ is Lord, and that all that I say and do is to the glory of God the
Father.
Through thought,
word, and deed, may I abide in You…Amen
Meditation and Prayer on
Colossians 3:12 – 17:
Meditation:
(Colossians 3:12 - 17, ESV) 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
When I look at the list of attributes set before
us in these versus; compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience,
and love, one attribute is set above all, and that is love. What is love, and what does it mean to put on
love. You see, the way in which love in its Greek form is stated here is
ἀγάπην, translated as agapēn. When alone, the word is usually seen as just agapé, which means love,
benevolence, and good will. It is to
represent that of the love of person to person; especially of the love of God
toward men, of the love of Christ toward men.
In Colossians, it means to literally to “put on love”. We are to wear this attribute like a
coat. It is to be the attribute that we
clothe ourselves with. It is the
attribute that holds all of the other attributes together.
Have you ever cooked with a lean meat? Specifically, have you ever tried to make
burgers using a lean meat like lamb?
Lamb is so lean, that by itself, if you try and make a burger, all it
does is fall apart. It does not hold its
form, because it is missing fat to help keep it together and cook in a way that
when finished represents what we would expect a great burger to be. In order to cook with a lean meat, you must
add some sort of fat in order to help keep it together, so it doesn’t lose its
shape, so that in the end it does stay together. Love is that proverbial fat that holds all of
the other attributes together. If
missing, none of those other attributes will stick. They will dry up and fall apart, and what we
were all striving towards will not turn out the way we expected it to.
We are to put on love.
We are to put on the desire to do good to others. We are to put on love so that the other
attributes we are called to have can be put to use and not selfishly horded for
ourselves. That “whatever you do, in
word or deed” everything be done in love, everything be done in the name of the
Lord Jesus, whose name and actions represent that of agape.
Prayer:
Dear God,
Help me to put on the attribute of love. As said in Philippians
2:4,
help me to look not of my own interests, but through love, look to the
interests of others. Help me to rely
upon you God, to abide in Your will, to abide in Your love, that my words and
deeds reflect that of Your desires for me.
I ask that Your spirit live in me and that Your spirit drives my words
and actions. That all those around me
see my love as a reflection of who I put my trust and faith in. That all those around me are brought closer
to you through the authentic living and putting on of your love.
Through thought, word, and deed, may I abide in
You…Amen
Meditation and Prayer on Mark
12:28 – 31:
Meditation:
(Mark 12:30, ESV) 30 And you shall
love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and
with all your strength.’
“With all your soul” is Christ’s answer. Christ answers the scribes question by citing
the Shema, which would have been well known to the scribes, because it was a
central part to the confession of all Jew’s faith. It would be like us citing from the Apostles
Creed, which all Christians would hopefully recognize and understand. One thing strikes me as I read this verse and
that was Christ’s use of the word soul.
In Greek, soul would be translated as psuché, defined as “the vital breath, breath of
life, the human soul, the soul as the seat of affections and will, the self, a
human person, an individual. The Greek word
has led to our English word of “psyche” which is defined as “a person’s
distinct identity, unique personhood”. Throughout
Jesus ministry, His use of the word psyche meant “life” and not what we would
think of as “soul”. With our whole life we
are to love the Lord our God. We are to
dedicate our heart, soul, mind, and strength, our life to loving the Lord our
God. Not only that, but with the same
love God has shown us, we are to love our neighbor with that same love. We are to embrace God’s love in a way that
allows our lives to be a living sacrifice to the love of God. We are to lose our psuché
so we can follow
Him. We are to take the example of
Christ, who came down to give his “life” as a ransom for many.
Prayer:
Dear God,
There are many things in my life that I have not died to
that I know I must in order to follow you.
I thank you for sending Your son to give up His life for me. A true sacrifice where Christ’s purpose was
to come down to give us new life. He
came down to give us the ability to actually die to our old self and to be born
again. I ask you Lord to forgive me for
not giving my whole life to you. Help me
to make progress in dedicating my mind, body, and soul to you. That I use what human strength I have to
dedicate my whole soul and life to you.
Through thought, word, and deed, may I abide in You…Amen
Meditation and Prayer on 1
John 2:3 – 11:
Meditation:
I personally could not have written or thought of
any better way to meditate on these versus than what I read this morning in a
devotional from Walk in the Word. Pasted
below is that devotional.
Are You Abiding?
(John 8:31, ESV) 31 So Jesus said to the Jews who
had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples”
You probably can’t remember the last time you used the
word abide in a conversation.
Most of us don’t tell our kids, “If you abide in my house, you live by
my rules!” We don’t usually say to our
spouses during our wedding anniversary celebrations, “I’m glad we’ve abided
together all these years!”
But abide
is a time-honored word I like because it makes me stop and think. I’m also drawn to it because Jesus used this
word on some significant occasions with His followers. In fact, Jesus said abiding is the test of
whether or not we are truly His disciples.
The word abide can be translated “to live
within,” “to dwell,” or “to take up residence.” Jesus was basically saying, “If you live in my
Word,” or, “If your life is a genuine reflection of what I say, you are truly
My disciples.” This means that our
conversations, illustrations, and meditations ought to be permeated with
Scripture. We should live so much in
God’s Word that it fills us up and overflows constantly from our lips. The
beginning of knowing what God wants you to do is knowing what God wants you to
know!
Conversely, if we’re not abiding in Jesus’ words—if
we’re not basing everything we believe on the book God wrote—we can’t expect to
know the truth or experience His freedom. And we can’t honestly claim to be His
disciples. When Jesus spoke of the importance of abiding “to the Jews who had
believed in him,” He made it clear that recognizing who He is isn’t quite the
same thing as surrendering to Him and living for Him.
Abiding in Jesus’ words involves more than saying we
believe certain things about Him and about the Bible. It’s about how our lives
represent His life and His words. At the practical level, it’s about becoming
increasingly familiar with God’s Word over the course of a lifetime. And it’s
also about our lives becoming a more and more authentic reflection of the
Author.
Abiding means His words are persistently changing us. We’re
discovering through practice what David described when he said, “I
have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you”
(Psalm 119:11). He knew how to abide.
There’s a lot about your life today
that will be ordinary: driving, working, talking, shopping, listening, and a
thousand other things. They can all be done without thinking about God and His
glory. But they can also be done while abiding in Jesus’ words, letting His
presence and instruction guide your life. The choice you make is an indicator
of whether or not you are really one of His disciples.
JOURNAL
- During
a typical day, when do you most sense that you are abiding in Jesus’
words? When is abiding hardest?
- What
about today’s schedule needs to change in order for you to practice
abiding in Jesus’ words?
PRAY
Lord, it’s painfully obvious to me how easily I go about my daily
routine without thinking of You. I don’t want to live that way. I want to walk
with You and abide in Your words. I want my life to be a disciple’s life. Yet
it’s so easy to get sidetracked with my failures rather than rest in the truth
that You want to abide in me and live Your life through mine. Please help me
sense today that You long to abide in me so I can abide in Your words. In
Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
One Body
