TAPESTRY OF LOVE

Posted on March 9, 2022 by randscallawayffm

No matter how we live, we are woven into a tapestry of life with others. “No man is an island” is a famous quote used often in explaining isolationism as an unhealthy way to live and almost impossible.  But, where did this phrase originate?  “No man is an island” is taken from a 1642 sermon by the Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral. The Dean happened to be John Donne, a clergyman who now, almost four hundred years later, is regarded as one of the greatest English poets.

It is often assumed that “no man is an island” is from one of Donne’s poems: it’s ironic that though he is the author of some of the finest and most memorable verses in English poetry, this phrase, not from a poem, but a sermon, is the most famous quote from him.

Here is the full John Donne quote from his sermon:

“No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

The words “No man is an island” were embedded in a deeply Christian sermon about how human beings are connected to each other, and how important that connection is for the wellbeing and survival of any individual. When you hear the church bell tolling for someone who has died, don’t ask who it is, Donne says, just know that it’s tolling for you too because you are part of the same society and the death of anyone takes a part of your own life away. 

The sermon is noted, not just for “no man is an island,” but also the phrase “for whom the bell tolls,” which was used by Ernest Hemingway as the title of his most famous novel.

Ah, now we get it—we’re all a part of the same tapestry, something much larger than ourselves alone. We are all woven into a one simple but yet complex and beautiful masterpiece.  But, what is most important to know and remember is WHO the weaver of this masterpiece is for only then will the tapestry make sense.

Paul explains… 

COLOSSIANS—ONLY JESUS!

Colossians 2:1-5, The Message

I want you to realize that I continue to work as hard as I know how for you, and also for the Christians over at Laodicea. Not many of you have met me face-to-face, but that doesn’t make any difference. Know that I’m on your side, right alongside you. You’re not in this alone.

2-4 I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God’s great mystery. All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge are embedded in that mystery and nowhere else. And we’ve been shown the mystery! I’m telling you this because I don’t want anyone leading you off on some wild-goose chase, after other so-called mysteries, or “the Secret.”

5 I’m a long way off, true, and you may never lay eyes on me, but believe me, I’m on your side, right beside you. I am delighted to hear of the careful and orderly ways you conduct your affairs, and impressed with the solid substance of your faith in Christ.

THINK ABOUT IT—

We are a part of a One masterpiece, woven into a tapestry of the love of Christ in us.

Each thread is tightly woven, coming alongside the other to form a work of art to be on display in God’s Kingdom.

Woven together we form the minds of the Weaver, Jesus Christ, who is creating the work. We are all a work in progress.  The work will not be complete until we see Him face to face.

“All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge” are embedded in the tapestry of knowing Jesus who is the source of unconditional love, mercy and grace. 

The tapestry begins and continues with faith in the Weaver, the solid substance of knowing, believing and following without seeing Him.  But we know He is there working in and through us to finish the work He started in all of us.

Lord,

Thank you. Thank you for saving my soul.  Thank you for saving the souls of all who come to you, confessing and repenting, believing and following, without seeing you now with the hope of seeing you later.  This tapestry you are weaving is indeed a masterpiece of everyone’s stories connected to Your Story of redemption!  How beautiful You are, Lord.  How beautiful is your work in us!  Continue your work in me. I will be flexible and pliable, listening and obeying, for I know your workr is best.  Help me to love others in the tapestry like you love me.  Thank you for weaving me into this great work of love forever with others.  Come alongside us as we come alongside each other.  I know you will.  I trust in you, dear Jesus.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen

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IT’S COMPLICATED?

Posted on March 8, 2022 by randscallawayffm

When asked about a new relationship, the young man replied, “It’s complicated.”  Then a lengthy explanation began with the details of this “complicated” relationship.  He did all he could, even putting his own agenda aside to gain her affection and attention.  He impressed her with unexpected gifts.  He focused on her every need because he loved her greatly.  But there were others who competed for her attention.  She was easily distracted and woefully needy.  When she felt he wasn’t paying enough attention, she would throw a fit until she got what she wanted.  But as soon as she received what she thought she wanted, she cast it aside as if it were filthy trash.  She saw what someone else had and demanded to have that, feeling that what they had would her happy.  It’s complicated.

Friends, we, as the church, the “bride of Christ”, are sometimes like the one being courted but never satisfied.  What should be very simple; we complicate because of our own selfishness.  We are easily distracted by a world who could care less about our real needs.  It this state of mind, the evil one has us right where he wants us—too busy, easily distracted, envious of others, jealous of others gifts and abilities, bitter when we don’t get our way which leads to being unkind, unloving and so very woefully needy and whiny.

Paul tells the Colossian church that they are a great example, “a case study”, of those who were once lost, without Christ, but now are found completely and relentlessly focused on the One and Only who died for their sins and rose again with resurrected power.  The secret?  Christ lives in them!  The believers now live for Him, accepting his love, abiding in His grace, joyfully expectant of what He will do in and through them! 

The relationship is no longer “complicated”, it is simple.  Jesus IN us, abiding in us and we in Him.  The relationship is deep and wide, expansive, more than we can imagine or think, and oh, so beautiful.  AND get this, the more our relationship grows and matures the less complicated it becomes!  Paul tells us;

“To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That’s what I’m working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me.”

PAUSE, REFLECT AND PRAY—

Am I making my relationship complicated or keeping it simple? In what ways?

Is it really Christ alone or Christ fitting into what I have planned for my life?

“But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. You don’t walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one.

COLOSSIANS—ONLY JESUS!

Colossians 1:  The Message

Christ Holds It All Together

15-18 We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment.

And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.

18-20 He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so expansive, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.

21-23 You yourselves are a case study of what he does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. You don’t walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message. I, Paul, am a messenger of this Message.

* * *

24-25 I want you to know how glad I am that it’s me sitting here in this jail and not you. There’s a lot of suffering to be entered into in this world—the kind of suffering Christ takes on. I welcome the chance to take my share in the church’s part of that suffering. When I became a servant in this church, I experienced this suffering as a sheer gift, God’s way of helping me serve you, laying out the whole truth.

26-29 This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but now it’s out in the open. God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God’s glory. It’s that simple. That is the substance of our Message. We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That’s what I’m working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me.

Lord,

I repent of the complications I have thrown into our relationship.  I choose only You. Help me to mature even more in the simplicity of loving you with all my heart, mind and soul with loving others then like you love me.  Simple.  Keep it simple.  Lord, help me to keep it simple.  No more, no less, only You.  Undistracted.  You are my message of life.  You are Life to me.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen

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COLOSSIANS—ONLY JESUS!

Posted on March 7, 2022 by randscallawayffm

An introduction by Eugene Peterson—

“Hardly anyone who hears the full story of Jesus and learns the true facts of his life and teaching, crucifixion and resurrection, walks away with a shrug of the shoulders, dismissing him as unimportant.  People ignorant of the story or misinformed about it, of course, regularly dismiss him.  But with few exceptions, the others know instinctively that they are dealing with a most remarkable greatness.”

“But it is quite common for those who consider him truly important to include others who seem to be equally important in his company—Buddha, Moses, Socrates, and Muhammad for a historical start, along with some personal favorites.  For these people, Jesus is important, but not central, his prestige is considerable, but he is not preeminent.”

“The Christians in the town of Colosse, or at least some of them, seem to have been taking this line.  For them, cosmic forces of one sort or another were getting equal billing with Jesus.  Paul writes to them in an attempt to restore Jesus, the Messiah, to the CENTER of their lives.”

“The way he makes his argument is as significant as the argument he makes.  Claim for the uniqueness of Jesus are common enough.  But such claims about Jesus are frequently made with an arrogance that is completely incompatible with Jesus himself.  Sometimes the claims are enforced with violence.”

“But Paul, although unswervingly confident in the conviction that Christ occupies the center of creation and salvation without peers, is not arrogant.  And he is not violent.  He argues from a position of rooted humility.  He writes with the energies of most considerate love.  He exhibits again what Christians have come to appreciate so much in Paul—the wedding of a brilliant and uncompromising intellect with a heart that is warmly and wonderfully kind.”

As we read Paul’s letter to the Colossians, pray that Jesus Christ be the center of all our thinking.  If he is, we will learn and grow, maturing on his love because of his mercy and grace.  With Jesus in the center of our being, we will become more and more like Him in every way.  This is what is pleasing to God.

Colossians 1:1-14, The Message

1-2 I, Paul, have been sent on special assignment by Christ as part of God’s master plan. Together with my friend Timothy, I greet the Christians and stalwart followers of Christ who live in Colosse. May everything good from God our Father be yours!

Working in His Orchard

3-5 Our prayers for you are always spilling over into thanksgivings. We can’t quit thanking God our Father and Jesus our Messiah for you! We keep getting reports on your steady faith in Christ, our Jesus, and the love you continuously extend to all Christians. The lines of purpose in your lives never grow slack, tightly tied as they are to your future in heaven, kept taut by hope.

5-8 The Message is as true among you today as when you first heard it. It doesn’t diminish or weaken over time. It’s the same all over the world. The Message bears fruit and gets larger and stronger, just as it has in you. From the very first day you heard and recognized the truth of what God is doing, you’ve been hungry for more. It’s as vigorous in you now as when you learned it from our friend and close associate Epaphras. He is one reliable worker for Christ! I could always depend on him. He’s the one who told us how thoroughly love had been worked into your lives by the Spirit.

9-12 Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven’t stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you’ll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.

13-14 God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He’s set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating.

Lord,

Be the center of my life.  I lay all of my life before you right now, at this hour, in worship to the One and Only who saved, rescued and redeemed me.  Because of your work on the cross, defeating death in the grave, going to hell and back again in victory defeating the enemy, I am free from my own sins and free from self.  I am free to love like you love me without conditions, worship with abandon, all while your holy Presence walks with me.  There is no better way but you, dear Jesus.  You are Life.  You are the center of my thoughts in the quiet of this hour.  You are at the center of my being.  Continue to mature me so I will be more and more in every way like you.

In Jesus Name, For your Glory, Amen!  Yes!

And I’m singing— “In Times Like These” (George Beverly Shea)

In times like these you need a Savior
In times like these you need an anchor
Be very sure, be very sure
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!

This Rock is Jesus, Yes He’s the One
This Rock is Jesus, the only One
Be very sure, be very sure
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!

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I CAN’T STOP SMILING!

Posted on March 5, 2022 by randscallawayffm

Challenging circumstance happen in our imperfect world to teach us one thing—One person is all you need and that One person is Jesus.  When all the things of this earth we hold tightly to slip through our fingers and fade away, Jesus stands waiting to take our hand and lead us to better thinking which leads to a higher, greater perspective of living.  This thinking and living produces a joy “unspeakable and full of glory” because the joy runs so deep, we just can’t explain it.  The smile on our glowing faces when we do realize it and find we have everything we really need and want, cannot be erased.  This joy is eternal.  This joy which drives us forward, trudging through circumstances we never dream we would have to face or walk through, is all we need and all we want. 

This powerful, eternal, unending deep joy is Jesus.  And I can’t stop smiling!

In the background of our reading and praising, childhood choruses flood my mind—

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full, in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace

The joy of the Lord is my strength, the joy of the Lord is my strength, the joy of the Lord is my strength, the JOY of the Lord is my strength!

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy down in my heart (where?)

Down in my heart (where?) Down in my heart! 

(I can sing this one in Creole, too!)

This theology of Joy in Jesus, because of Jesus, settled deep in my heart long ago.  This Jesus Joy has lifted me out of scary pits of despair, saw me through challenging times that forced me to grow and mature more and more.  Jesus Joy and has taught me to say, “It is well, it is well, with my soul”!

So Paul, I see you there, sitting your jail cell, with your apprentice, penning these words of Jesus Joy as quickly as he can.  I see you kneeling in prayer and then standing in grateful praise to the heavens, telling Jesus, the One and Only Savior and Lord, that HE is all you need in this particular circumstance.  I hear you shouting, “Jesus, you are my strength and my song in the night.”  “Jesus, I can make through anything this world throws at me, because I know You!”  “And, I want to know you more!” 

Paul, you have learned your lessons well and now you are teaching us that Jesus is all we need and want in a life that is lived joyfully, expectantly, knowing that Jesus is coming back some day to claim His own.  Thank you for forgetting you are in jail, it doesn’t seem to even faze you!  What an example you are to us!  You continue to obey God, loving Jesus as Your Master, while being used by God as a mentor then and to generations of believers to come!  Wow!

He Who Began a Good Work in You (By Steve Green)

He who began a good work in you
He who began a good work in you
Will be faithful to complete it
He’ll be faithful to complete it
He who started the work
Will be faithful to complete it in you

If the struggle you’re facing
Is slowly replacing
Your hope with despair
Or the process is long
And you’re losing your song
In the night

You can be sure
That the Lord has His hand on you
Safe and secure
He will never abandon you
You are His treasure
And He finds His pleasure in you

He who began a good work in you
He who began a good work in you
Will be faithful to complete it
He’ll be faithful to complete it
He who started the work
Will be faithful to complete it in you…

PHILIPPIANS—PURE JOY!

Philippians 4:10-23, The Message

Content Whatever the Circumstances

10-14 I’m glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess—happy that you’re again showing such strong concern for me. Not that you ever quit praying and thinking about me. You just had no chance to show it. Actually, I don’t have a sense of needing anything personally. I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. I don’t mean that your help didn’t mean a lot to me—it did. It was a beautiful thing that you came alongside me in my troubles.

15-17 You Philippians well know, and you can be sure I’ll never forget it, that when I first left Macedonia province, venturing out with the Message, not one church helped out in the give-and-take of this work except you. You were the only one. Even while I was in Thessalonica, you helped out—and not only once, but twice. Not that I’m looking for handouts, but I do want you to experience the blessing that issues from generosity.

18-20 And now I have it all—and keep getting more! The gifts you sent with Epaphroditus were more than enough, like a sweet-smelling sacrifice roasting on the altar, filling the air with fragrance, pleasing God to no end. You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus. Our God and Father abounds in glory that just pours out into eternity. Yes.

21-22 Give our regards to every follower of Jesus you meet. Our friends here say hello. All the Christians here, especially the believers who work in the palace of Caesar, want to be remembered to you.

23 Receive and experience the amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, deep, deep within yourselves.

Savior and Lord,

What a way to end our reading of Paul’s letter to the Philippians!  You ARE the joy of my life.  You are everything I need and want.  You are my hope.  You are Hope.  You are my Life.  You are Life.  And you are my Joy.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Continue to grow me in all ways.  I know you are not finished with me, yet, and you are working to complete your work in me.  To YOU be all glory!

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen!

I still can’t stop smiling!

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FILL IT UP!

Posted on March 4, 2022 by randscallawayffm

Do you look at a cup of water and say it is “half-filled” or “half-empty”?  Ah, the great question of life, right?  Wrong.  Our next passage sometimes gets reduced to secular interpretation:  positive thinking vs. negative thinking.  But there is a higher, better, deeper, more Christ-like perspective that Paul is trying to articulate for us.  How about going to the Source of Living Water and filling our cups (hearts, minds and souls) to overflow with Christ-like thinking which leads to joyful, abundant, through good times and bad, living in the wide-open spaces of His forever love, mercy and grace!  Mind blown?  Too much?  I think not!

Friends, fill your minds with Jesus!  Think Jesus thoughts.  The more we do the less we think of ourselves.  The less grudge holding, hateful revenge, jealousy, competitions and comparing attitudes that lead to empty, or half-empty living. 

Paul is adamant, while sitting in a jail cell, about filling our cups and clearly tells us how:

Trade worry for Christ.  For those of us who overthink, okay maybe this is just me, this is a daily task that must begin each new day.  Lay.  It.  All.  At. His.  Feet.  I did this an hour ago.  His Holy Spirit overwhelmed with peace and assurance.  Do I have resolution?  It doesn’t matter.  It all belongs to Jesus, now. 

Put Jesus at the Center of all thinking.  “It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”

Jesus thinking is the best thinking: “… you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.”  In today’s language, to be clear; no gaslighting, narcissistic thinking and behaving, no put downs with sarcasm, no assumptions of what you think others think and judge them for it, and stop bullying because you are bullied.

CELEBRATE!  REJOICE!  “Revel in Him!”  “He could show up at any minute!”  Jesus is coming back, you know.  In what frame of mind will He find me?  (Oops, it just got personal, didn’t it?)  Pause, pray, think, pray again and then rejoice for God is a God of renewed minds, refreshed souls, and restored and mended hearts!

PHILIPPIANS—PURE JOY!

Philippians 4:1-9, The Message

My dear, dear friends! I love you so much. I do want the very best for you. You make me feel such joy, fill me with such pride. Don’t waver. Stay on track, steady in God.

Pray About Everything

2 I urge Euodia and Syntyche to iron out their differences and make up. God doesn’t want his children holding grudges.

3 And, oh, yes, Syzygus, since you’re right there to help them work things out, do your best with them. These women worked for the Message hand in hand with Clement and me, and with the other veterans—worked as hard as any of us. Remember, their names are also in the Book of Life.

4-5 Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!

6-7 Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down.

It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

8-9 Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Lord,

May I sing praises to you this morning as I did as a child:

Rejoice in the Lord always

And again, I say rejoice

Rejoice in the Lord always

And again, I say rejoice! 

Thank you for changing my mind, restoring the joy of your salvation in me and filling my soul with all of you in me.  No worries, here.  No “half-empty” thoughts, only praise!

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen!  Yes!

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RELENTLESS FOCUS ON A RELENTLESS CHRIST!

Posted on March 3, 2022 by randscallawayffm

Lord, help me to stay focused!  How many times do we pray that pray each day, maybe even each hour, as we strive to do what God wants us to be and do?  Our thoughts are so easily distracted.  Staying busy isn’t the answer.  Busy people are perfect prey for the enemy who enjoys throwing shiny objects of all kinds in our path.  The enemy’s goal is planting thoughts in our mind, both good and bad, to throw us off track, derail the work given to us to lead, which often leads to the work being diminished in helping people find and follow Jesus.  The enemy hates focused followers of Jesus!

As a leader of volunteers, I watched this happen last week.  I gave a volunteer a specific, important task to do for an event.  But he lost focused in a matter of minutes.  He left his post to see what others were doing and joined them.  He not only joined them but he took over!  His clouded vision was more about looking good to others, so he went from station to station doing the work of other assigned volunteers as a way to “help” them.  His lack of focus caused other focused followers to wonder if they were doing the right thing. In other words, his lack of focus brought confusion to the work instead of doing his part for the whole. 

Dear friends, it happens all the time to all of us.  Paul teaches the church to relentlessly focus on the goal, working with others who are relentless focused and who are “running this same course”.  It is so much more enjoyable when focused people, with their eyes on God, desiring to work together, for the desired goal of helping others see, know and follow Christ.  You will know these people by their focused love for Jesus with no desire of turning back to confusion of worldly thinking and behaving!

PHILIPPIANS—PURE JOY

Philippians 3:12-21, The Message

Focused on the Goal

12-14 I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.

15-16 So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you’ll see it yet! Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it.

17-19 Stick with me, friends. Keep track of those you see running this same course, headed for this same goal. There are many out there taking other paths, choosing other goals, and trying to get you to go along with them. I’ve warned you of them many times; sadly, I’m having to do it again. All they want is easy street. They hate Christ’s Cross. But easy street is a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites.

20-21 But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He’ll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him.

Lord,

You know my heart.  I’m not saying I have it all together either, but this one thing I know, I love you with all my heart, mind and soul.  I also know you loved me first and forever.  I know I am redeemed of all sins.  I know you are still willing to work on me, deep inside me so I will grow steadily in your love because of your mercy and grace.  There IS far more to this life and that is preparing ourselves for your arrival!  You are my everything.  You are my relentless focus because of your relentless love for me.  I am a citizen of heaven, your Kingdom, forever!  Yes!

In Jesus Name, for Your Glory, Amen. 

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KNOW HIM—Know and grow with those who know Him

Posted on March 2, 2022 by randscallawayffm

Everything else is insignificant to knowing Jesus Christ as Lord!

It’s hard to choose good friends who will help us on our journey to grow in Christ.  It is fairly easy to rub shoulders with people who tell you what you want to hear, massaging your mind with flowery compliments for the purpose to get what they want from you.  Yes, my friends, as in Paul’s day, I’m afraid it is still dog-eat-dog world in and out of the church, those who say they believe in Christ but do not live like Christ is in them.  Sometimes, it could be me or you.

Discernment, asking God for wisdom in choosing friends that will add to, not take away from our growth, is the key to healthy spiritual living that leads to greater joy and peace in Christ who lives in us who truly believe and follow Him.

In any group of people, it seems there will always be that “one” who is not in sync with others.  Jesus had that “one” in his group.  Jesus knew exactly who he was, but he loved and served him anyway.  Jesus knew the enemy had taken over the mind of Judas.  Paul warns the church often about this same enemy who tries to weave his way into the community of believers.   Be aware that the real enemy, the prince of darkness, consistently tries to worm his way into our thoughts so we will think only of ourselves and not what God wants for the good of the Body of Christ.  We must not be that “one” or listen to those who would pull us away knowing and following Jesus. Like Jesus, we love and pray for our enemies so they may come to know and listen to Jesus.

Paul is so good to point out the differences between those who know and follow Jesus as Lord and those who do not.  Those who do not know Jesus and refuse to grow in His ways are more concerned with rule keeping and traditions (we’ve always done it this way).  They are “barking dogs” who are more concerned with how things look to others than actually helping others know and follow Jesus.  They are super concerned that people know how good they are when inside they are full of self and want others to please and serve them. 

My mentoring elders told me that people who consistently tell you how good they are—probably are not.  Watch out for them.  Paul is telling the church pretty much the same.  Be discerning.  Follow Jesus.  Ask for wisdom from God and you will get it. 

Paul uses his own life to point out a profound truth.  Our lives should consistently point people to Jesus, not to us or our pedigrees or degrees.  EVERYTHING in this life is worthless—dung as Paul graphically relates—compared to really KNOWING Jesus Christ, not only as Savior but as Lord of our lives. 

Then Paul takes followers to a much deeper level.  To live is Jesus.  Yes.  To know Him is pure joy.  Yes!  To be willing to share in His sufferings.  Wait, what?  Yes, says Paul, “I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.” 

To be like Christ, we need to BE LIKE CHRIST with willingness to follow Him wherever He leads us, through good times and challenging times but in His power, for His glory, in His name. Amen. Yes!  Imagine if we all tapped into the extreme power that brought Jesus from death to life, running out of that grave!  I want to do it, don’t you?

When leaving all behind, and all that remains is Jesus as the first and most important relationship, our ultimate Lord who leads us, as well as believing He is our Savior, then we come closer to really KNOWING Him.  Ask for discernment.  He will give it.

PHILIPPIANS—PURE JOY

Philippians 3:1-11, The Message

To Know Him Personally

And that’s about it, friends. Be glad in God!

I don’t mind repeating what I have written in earlier letters, and I hope you don’t mind hearing it again. Better safe than sorry—so here goes.

2-6 Steer clear of the barking dogs, those religious busybodies, all bark and no bite. All they’re interested in is appearances—knife-happy circumcisers, I call them.

The real believers are the ones the Spirit of God leads to work away at this ministry, filling the air with Christ’s praise as we do it. We couldn’t carry this off by our own efforts, and we know it—even though we can list what many might think are impressive credentials. You know my pedigree: a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God’s law; a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting the church; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God’s law Book.

7-9 The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness.

10-11 I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.

Lord,

It is all because of you that I am here loving you, reading your word to know you more, listening to Your Holy Spirit to guide me.  All because of you, I am redeemed, saved forever, with life forever with You.  I do want to know you more with all the rest that comes with knowing you.  Help me to love like you love.  Give me discernment on my journey still in this world so my focus is always on you.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, By your Power, Amen.  I believe.

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A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

Posted on March 1, 2022 by randscallawayffm

The church has periods of time in history when we affect society (our world in which we live).  But there are many times that society affects the church and pollutes the Body of Christ.  We become like the world instead of trying to make a difference by pointing people to salvation in Jesus.  This happens when life gets tough and when friends put you down for believing in Jesus.  When life becomes too much mentally and emotionally, we lose energy and we quit.  It’s all too easy to quit.  So, Paul encourages the church to get back to the work of doing “what you have done from the beginning”—live in responsive obedience to God!

Paul calls us to become a breath of fresh air in a stale environment that has polluted society with all kinds of behaviors that do not please God.  Paul is adamant about where our energy comes from and how we need to tap into that power that feeds our energy.  “That energy is GOD’S energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.”, Paul preaches.  THIS is responsive obedience.  Responding with willingness to love and serve God by serving others who need him with an attitude of joy. It is being prepared and ready to begin each day with God.  It is knowing and loving God so deeply that we gratefully obey God at a moment’s notice.  We know, without doubt, that God is on our side and wants His very best for us!

Do you know someone like that with responsive obedience to God?

Don’t you love hanging around a person who loves like God loves us?

Don’t we welcome a breath of fresh air in a polluted, sinful, hateful world? 

Don’t we crave communion with people who are energetic in their love for Jesus, not holding anything back in service to humanity, being in the world but determinedly and joyfully not like the world?

Is that person you?  Is that person me?

It can be!  Be still, let go of what we want in exchange for what God wants to do in us.  Really know God and listen to Him, not ready to reply with questions but ready to obey! 

Be responsively obedient to HIS plans for us even on this day.  There will be a definite difference in us that will go deep and then emerge from us as a fresh air to our world.  Only then will the church, in Jesus Name, for His glory, affect society.

PHILIPPIANS—PURE JOY

Philippians 2:12-30, The Message

Rejoicing Together

12-13 What I’m getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you’ve done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I’m separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.

14-16 Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night so I’ll have good cause to be proud of you on the day that Christ returns. You’ll be living proof that I didn’t go to all this work for nothing.

17-18 Even if I am executed here and now, I’ll rejoice in being an element in the offering of your faith that you make on Christ’s altar, a part of your rejoicing. But turnabout’s fair play—you must join me in my rejoicing. Whatever you do, don’t feel sorry for me.

19-24 I plan (according to Jesus’ plan) to send Timothy to you very soon so he can bring back all the news of you he can gather. Oh, how that will do my heart good! I have no one quite like Timothy. He is loyal, and genuinely concerned for you. Most people around here are looking out for themselves, with little concern for the things of Jesus. But you know yourselves that Timothy’s the real thing. He’s been a devoted son to me as together we’ve delivered the Message. As soon as I see how things are going to fall out for me here, I plan to send him off. And then I’m hoping and praying to be right on his heels.

25-27 But for right now, I’m dispatching Epaphroditus, my good friend and companion in my work. You sent him to help me out; now I’m sending him to help you out. He has been wanting in the worst way to get back with you. Especially since recovering from the illness you heard about, he’s been wanting to get back and reassure you that he is just fine. He nearly died, as you know, but God had mercy on him. And not only on him—he had mercy on me, too. His death would have been one huge grief piled on top of all the others.

28-30 So you can see why I’m so delighted to send him on to you. When you see him again, strong and strapping, how you’ll rejoice and how relieved I’ll be. Give him a grand welcome, a joyful embrace! People like him deserve the best you can give. Remember the ministry to me that you started but weren’t able to complete? Well, in the process of finishing up that work, he put his life on the line and nearly died doing it.

Lord,

As I think about these words, I am convicted once more to step up my efforts in obedient response to you.  I love you, Lord, heart, mind and soul.  I need to show this love in obedience to your message, call on my life, even on this day.  May your glory be seen in me as a breath of fresh air for others seeking you.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen

“Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God.”  Yes!

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WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOURSELF?

Posted on February 28, 2022 by randscallawayffm

What a question to ask, right?  Who do you think you are?  Who do I think I am?  Notice we are not asking what others think we are, for this is personal and the answer determines the state of our growth in the knowledge of who Jesus is in us.  Paul clearly helps us understand how to think of ourselves…

PHILIPPIANS—PURE JOY

Philippians 2:1-11, The Message

He Took on the Status of a Slave

1-4 If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

5-8 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

9-11 Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.

WHAT DO WE THINK OF OURSELVES, NOW?

Here’s what we learn from thinking of ourselves like Jesus thought of Himself:

We are equal but our equality does not guide us, putting others first is our mantra.

Being humble is thinking like Christ who laid down his deity and washed dirty feet of his friends and enemies then ultimately laid down his life for ours.  “He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.”  Put others first without thinking about getting anything back in return.  In this world, that alone is humbling.

God honors His selfless, obedient Son, the One and Only who died for our sins.  Someday EVERY knee will bow to Him.  How about now?

What do you think?  What we think we reflect in our daily behaviors.  It matters what God thinks.  God sees our hearts.  He gave us the freedom to choose how to think, what to think about ourselves, with how to behave.  Choose wisely.

Lord,

Every time I read these words; I praise you with grateful tears of emotion for what you have done for each of us.  I am also humbled by how far I need to grow still in my walk with you in order to think more like you think.  Demanding my own way is not the way to think and not the way to behave.  What I think of myself? I want more of you working in me.  May your will be done in every detail of my life today and always.  For right now, I will concentrate on just today.  I’m listening, Lord. 

In Jesus Name, Amen

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THE MESSAGE CAN’T BE JAILED!

Posted on February 26, 2022 by randscallawayffm

The tenaciousness of Paul reminds me of the story of the little girl who could not sit still on a long flight across the country.  I’m sure this little girl felt “imprisoned” in this flying tube in which there was no escape.  She kicked the seat until the businessman in front of her asked her mom to control her and tell her to stop. So, the little did stop.  She unlatched her seatbelt, jumped up, and ran down the small aisle to the bathroom or wherever else she could run to amuse herself.  She bothered everyone along her way. 

With all the passengers wanting to quiet her, a crew member came over took the little girl’s hand and led her back to her seat.  She told the girl’s mom; she must control her daughter and that she must stay in her seat.  The mortified mom shot “the mom look” to her daughter who only smiled in return.  Wait, what?!  “Why are you still smiling?”, the exasperated mom asked her rambunctious daughter.  Her reply? “I may be belted to my seat, but in my mind, I’m still running around!”

We laugh, but we have to applaud the tenaciousness of the little girl who is not giving up her inner freedom.

Paul is in a small jail cell for speaking truth about Jesus.  Others, outside the jail, speak about Jesus hoping to benefit themselves, gain popularity and power in his physical absence.  You would think that jail would shut Paul up resulting in a suffering ministry that would dwindle in numbers.  But no, in Paul’s mind, he is still “running around” telling his jailers and their families and anyone else who stops by, the message of Jesus Christ.  Pure joy of Jesus oozes from every pore of Paul’s being as he relates, “everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn’t shut me up; they gave me a platform!”

And the message prospered as many received Jesus because of the jail experience.

PHILIPPIANS—PURE JOY

Philippians 1:  The Message

They Can’t Imprison the Message

12-14 I want to report to you, friends, that my imprisonment here has had the opposite of its intended effect. Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually prospered. All the soldiers here, and everyone else, too, found out that I’m in jail because of this Messiah. That piqued their curiosity, and now they’ve learned all about him. Not only that, but most of the followers of Jesus here have become far more sure of themselves in the faith than ever, speaking out fearlessly about God, about the Messiah.

15-17 It’s true that some here preach Christ because with me out of the way, they think they’ll step right into the spotlight. But the others do it with the best heart in the world. One group is motivated by pure love, knowing that I am here defending the Message, wanting to help. The others, now that I’m out of the picture, are merely greedy, hoping to get something out of it for themselves. Their motives are bad. They see me as their competition, and so the worse it goes for me, the better—they think—for them.

18-21 So how am I to respond? I’ve decided that I really don’t care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on!

And I’m going to keep that celebration going because I know how it’s going to turn out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything he wants to do in and through me will be done. I can hardly wait to continue on my course. I don’t expect to be embarrassed in the least. On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn’t shut me up; they gave me a platform! Alive, I’m Christ’s messenger; dead, I’m his prize. Life versus even more life! I can’t lose.

22-26 As long as I’m alive in this body, there is good work for me to do. If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I’d choose. Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better. But most days, because of what you are going through, I am sure that it’s better for me to stick it out here. So I plan to be around awhile, companion to you as your growth and joy in this life of trusting God continues. You can start looking forward to a great reunion when I come visit you again. We’ll be praising Christ, enjoying each other.

27-30 Meanwhile, live in such a way that you are a credit to the Message of Christ. Let nothing in your conduct hang on whether I come or not. Your conduct must be the same whether I show up to see things for myself or hear of it from a distance. Stand united, singular in vision, contending for people’s trust in the Message, the good news, not flinching or dodging in the slightest before the opposition. Your courage and unity will show them what they’re up against: defeat for them, victory for you—and both because of God. There’s far more to this life than trusting in Christ. There’s also suffering for him. And the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting. You’re involved in the same kind of struggle you saw me go through, on which you are now getting an updated report in this letter.

WE MUST ASK OURSELVES—

Is there anything that we think stands in our way of spreading the message of Jesus?

Are we “running around”, no matter what is happening to us or around us, still telling the Truth of Jesus to a world in desperate need of Him? 

Do we celebrate with others who lift up the Name of Jesus? 

Do we worry about competition?  Yikes, run from that thought, please.

And are we willing to suffer when attacked for believing in Jesus?  “… the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting.”

Are we living in ways that show the Message of Jesus Christ as our Savior and our Lord?  How?  In what ways?

Do we work together to “Stand united, singular in vision, contending for people’s trust in the Message, the good news, not flinching or dodging in the slightest before the opposition. Your courage and unity will show them what they’re up against: defeat for them, victory for you—and both because of God.”

It all depends on where our joy comes from, doesn’t it?

Lord,

You are my joy, hope, peace and contentment.  In you, I have everything I need, no matter what is happening to me or round me.  You provide your joy in all circumstances.  Your joy cannot be taken from me.  Others may try to hem me in, shut me up, but your joy is eternal and still has the run of my soul.  For this, I am most thankful.  Continue to enlarge your work of the joy of your salvation in me.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen. 

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