Colossians 4:6

Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

Personal Challenge…

Laura and I have often labeled this age that we live in the “Seinfeld Age”. Sarcasm, putdown’s, criticisms offered followed by “Just Kidding!” and snarky remarks are the normative way of speaking. But here we are commanded to always speak with grace to be loving and caring and building up in our speaking. If being a dedicated Christian means living a life that is “Set apart”, different and conforming to the likeness of Christ then it must go beyond the fasts, or reading the Scriptures, or attending church regularly, and encapsulate both what comes out of my mouth and how it is delivered; with grace and love!

Luke 9:23-24

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.”

Personal Challenge…

I am either all in or I am all out…there is no in between. If I choose to receive the salvation of Christ then my life must constantly be changing into His likeness. If it is not, then I am just basking in the glory of His work and am not one of His. This means that I am continually taking up my cross, which God has made unique to me, and bearing it for Him. Why? Because in so doing I am following in the footsteps of Christ, being refined, purified, sanctified by Him and for Him. And I do not just bear my cross for myself, but for those around me so that they may see Christ, just as when Christ was lifted up on His cross it was so that all would see God.

Philippians 3:8-11

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Personal Challenge…

Paul gave up so much in order to be a disciple of Christ. He was of the religious elite, from a wealthy background, a figurehead in his community. And yet he cast that all aside to follow and pursue his Christ. Am I willing to do the same? Throughout the history of the church we have had so many who have stood firm in their commitment to Christ, martyred, persecuted, and minimalized. Am I willing to do the same? Am I willing to count all that I have, all that I am, all that I desire as loss so that I can gain the excellence of the knowledge of Christ? When I can truly begin to answer “Yes!” to these questions then I will be on the path of truly knowing Christ.

Proverbs 17:1

Philippians 2:12-13

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Personal Challenge…

Christ gave His life for mine. It is His work that makes salvation possible for me. But there is an obligation that goes with the receipt of this free gift; the obligation to work out by salvation. I can no longer just be a consumer of His grace and mercy, going to church each Sunday looking to be fed, entertained and taken care of, without being willing to contribute to the building of His kingdom with my time, my resources, my sacrifices. Salvation becomes a cooperative relationship with my Lord.

John 17:3

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Personal Challenge…

Eternal life in Christ is not a single event but an ongoing work of Christ in our lives. It is not enough to just know Christ, but it is imperative that Christ dwell in our hearts and permeate every aspect of our lives.

1 Corinthians 15:58

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Command with a Promise…

The life of a Christian is supposed to be both static and dynamic. Static in that we are commanded to be steadfast and immovable in the teachings and ways of our God.We are not to allow the ever changing ways of the world cause us to falter on our commitment to our Lord. We must always remain strong and true to Him.

Dynamic in that we are not to sit on the laurels of our salvation but to be abounding in the works of the Lord. We should be helping in our family, church, and community. We should be proclaiming His word, feeding those who are hungry, clothing those who are in need, loving our family, friends, neighbors, and enemies. It is our responsibility to enter into the presence of our Lord tired and worn out from doing His work, not all rested up from waiting for that day to arrive.

Psalm 145:8-9 (144:8-9 LXX)
The Lord is gracious and merciful,
Longsuffering and abundant in mercy.
The Lord is good to all,
And His mercies are upon all His works.

Encouraging Words…

What a blessing it is to go through life as a Christian knowing that my God is gracious, merciful, longsuffering, and good to all. He loves His creation ..all of it, and desires that all will be renewed by choosing His Son. He is the God of love, of grace, of mercy…and I am His.

Philippians 1:21

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Personal Challenge…

This is probably one of the greatest tensions in a Christian’s life…the Holy Scriptures and traditions of the Church give us so much to look forward to after we have left this temporal life. It is no wonder that those saints that have gone before us had such a deep yearning to be in eternity with Christ. Yes indeed, that will be much gain. However, we can have that glorious eternity in our lives today, and every day, if we live our lives for Christ, in Christ, by Christ’s power and authority. And why do we remain here in this temporal confinement? So that we can proclaim Christ , glorify God, and share this Good News with all whom we come into contact with.

Philippians 1:15-18

Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.

Personal Challenge…

We need more Pauls in the church today. He stayed focused on his calling to share and defend the gospel of Christ. But he was also able to look around and see that those who were trying to better him, one-up him, in their preaching of the gospel, were still preaching the gospel. Even if they did not quite have it right, or if they were doing it with the wrong motives, it did not matter because the gospel was still being preached. It is God who germinates and causes the seed to grow, not us. We need to stop bickering amongst ourselves in the family of God and start working together if we are to seize the world fo Him.