15-03-2020
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Jeremiah 17:10 New International Version (NIV)
10 “I the Lord search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”
Jeremiah 17:9 New International Version (NIV)
9 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
Jeremiah 29:13 New International Version (NIV)
13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 24:7 New International Version (NIV)
7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.
Jeremiah 32:39 New International Version (NIV)
39 I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them.
Jeremiah 31:33 New International Version (NIV)
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
God will always help you in the direction you want to go.
Remember the story of Pharaoh? God gave him plenty of chances when he was dealing with Moses. Pharaoh hardened up his heart and refused to listen to what God was trying to tell him. So many times God gave him a chance; he hardened up his heart. After the fifth time, God hardened up his heart. The sixth and seventh time, God hardened up his heart. If a man chooses to go in one particular direction, and the direction is away from God, initially God will give him a chance to come back to Him. But if he continues to seek after that and refuses to obey God, God will even help him to go in that direction as well.
If you desire to seek God with all your heart, God will help you along this line. Do not fear. Do not think that it is beyond you. God will always help you in the direction that you go. When He tells you to seek the things that are above and set your heart on things that are above, He is going to help you. He wants you to focus your entire being on things above and no more on things below. You have been made complete in Christ. You have no more fear. You are not bound by the superstitious misconceptions anymore. You have complete freedom not to sin and and to walk a holy life. That's the theological implications of Chapters 1 and 2.
Now God is saying through Paul that the first practical thing that you need to do is, you need to focus on things above.
Matthew 6:22-23 New International Version (NIV)
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,[a] your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,[b] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Our destiny is to live a holy and fruitful life--a life of faith, hope and love. That is called living in the light. If our eyes are focused on living in the light, our body will be full of light. But if we are focused on things of the earth, then our body will be full of darkness.
2 Corinthians 5:17 New International Version (NIV)
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!
Matthew 13:44-46 New International Version (NIV)
The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
Have you bought that pearl? The Christian's life is all about buying that pearl because that pearl is a pearl of great price, everything else pales into insignificance. When Christ is your life, everything else doesn't matter because we will come with Him again.
Colossians 3:4 New International Version (NIV)
4 When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
When Jesus comes again to this earth, those of us who have fallen asleep or who are dead will rise from the dead and come together with Him. Those who are alive at that time will rise up to the clouds together with Christ. And for the next one thousand years called the millennium, you will rule together with Christ. During that time, the lion and the lamb will sit together. The lion will eat grass and the little child will lead them. All the soldiers will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. You will then enjoy the beauty that God has created.
So fear not, my dear brethren. This is faith. When we understand our hope, everything we do is not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed to us.
Romans 8:18 New International Version (NIV)
Present Suffering and Future Glory
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Paul says it is inevitable when you try to make the mysteries of the universe known to the world, you suffer. And you suffer a lot.
Colossians 3:5-11 New International Version (NIV)
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[a] 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Even when we are doing things of God, we can be doing it out of our impure mind. Our motivation is because we lust after power and position rathe than our of love and affection for God. When we are slighted or not recognise for the things we do or we do not agree, we get angry and we desire evil for others. When Paul says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," he was actually talking to Christian workers because even as a servant of God, he was facing poverty and he had difficulties making ends meet. And when he had money, he spent his money on God's people and God's work. He was a spendthrift for God. That's the wonderful thing about Paul. We are misers with God and spendthrift for ourselves. Our richness in Christ us not meant for our own indulgence. We need to rethink our approach to Christian service and generosity, and understand when to be generous, when to aboud and when to abase.
Romans 1:18-32 New International Version (NIV)
God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
One of the wrong conceptions that we have is that Christians can continue to indulge in sin.
Galatians 6:7-9 New International Version (NIV)
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
As a Christian, if you continue to focus on things of the earth and continue to indulge in known sins instead of repenting from them, you will reap what you sow. God's wrath will descend. When you indulge in things that the world does, you will see therein lies the wrath of God. Psalm 91 doesn't make you bulletproof.
Colossians 3:10-11 New International Version (NIV)
10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
All of us need to put away the old self.
Matthew 5:29-30 New International Version (NIV)
29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
We are not talking about self-immolation or self-mutilation. The teaching in Matthew 5 is this: if something causes you to sin, use your common sense. Stay away from it. Stay far, far away from it. If you have a weakness for cigarettes, why do you always mix with people who smoke? If you have a weakness for alcohol, why do you insist on going and joining your friends during happy hour? You know jolly well when everybody is drinking beer, you cannot be just drinking your A&W root beer.
Psalm 1:1-2 New International Version (NIV)
Psalm 1:1-2
1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
Not only you stay away, you keep away. That is the best way of putting to death all the evil desires. We need to take ourselves away from all delibitating influences that cause us to go back into the world.
Our freedom, completeness, destiny and the supremacy of Christ all lead us to this: stay away and keep away.
RELATED:
A Holy People in the Kingdom of Light (Colossians 1:1-14)
The Supremacy of Christ (Colossians 1:15-23)
How Should We Serve Christ (Colossians 1:24-2:5)
Completeness in Christ (Colossians 2:6-15)
Freedom in Christ (Colossians 2:16-23) The Attack on a Christ Centred Life
Mentality in Christ (Colossians 3:1-17)
Our Roles in Christ (Colossians 3:18-4:6)
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