Leadership...

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