TENUOUS, TENDER, LOVING, FOREVER RELATIONSHIPS

Posted on May 12, 2018 by randscallawayffm
Colossians – Christ in Us!
 
There are times when my husband irritates me greatly. I know this is hard to believe, but I seem to irritate him at times, too! Shocking, isn’t it? But, why? Because we are very different in problem solving and how we approach situations. But we love and respect each other at ALL times. Divorce is not an option and never has been. Why? Because of Christ in us.
 
I will be frank and honest. I do not know how great, loving no matter what relationships survive without Christ’s love in us showing us how to love others. Relationships that last begin with loving God first then loving others like HE loves us. Jesus, God’s Son who laid down his life for us because of this rare and wonderful love, taught us how to love each other without strings attached and without conditions unattainable. All that is required of us is to believe and love God back.
 
This is how loving relationships begin. This is how they will last forever. Love God. Love each other. Love others. In our homes and in the work place of our lives, Paul explains, specifically, how to love day to day.
 
Colossians 3 love wellColossians 3, The Message
(Part 4)
 
Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
 
18 Wives, understand and support your husbands by submitting to them in ways that honor the Master.
 
19 Husbands, go all out in love for your wives. Don’t take advantage of them.
 
20 Children, do what your parents tell you. This delights the Master no end.
 
21 Parents, don’t come down too hard on your children or you’ll crush their spirits.
 
22-25 Servants, do what you’re told by your earthly masters. And don’t just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you’ll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn’t cover up bad work.
 
Colossians 4, The Message
And masters, treat your servants considerately. Be fair with them. Don’t forget for a minute that you, too, serve a Master—God in heaven.
 
Colossians 3 love is our guideWhat do we learn?
–Every thought and action must come from a heart of pure love for God and for others.
–Think, say and do everything with the motivation to please God, make Him smile and show our love for Him.
 
Dear Heavenly Father,
I love you with all my heart, mind and soul. I trust in You alone for all of life. Thank you for your love that has no bounds, is limitless and without conditions. Yes, help me to love others like that without a single thought of expecting anything back from them. Help me to be loving and kind and to just love. Continue to transform me. Transform your church. Transform the world…with your love.
In Jesus Name, Amen
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WHAT TO WEAR? ONLY DESIGNER LABELS…

Posted on May 11, 2018 by randscallawayffm
Colossians – Christ in Us!
 
I was gratefully a bridesmaid only a few times. In each episode of getting ready for the wedding I was amazed by the mothers of each bride who attended meticulously to every detail…details that for this outdoor, sportsy type girl didn’t even think about. It was crazy! From underneath to on top of my body every detail had to be perfect in the eyes of these moms. Yikes. I learned that even the bows cannot be tied and placed by just anyone, they must match. So they were made and placed on each dress by a professional. (I’m seriously not making this up!) Tears were shed at times during the process of getting ready for the big day. Back in the day, my wardrobe consisted simply of jeans and a clean sweatshirt for winter. My winter jeans turned to cut offs for summer with a t-shirt on top. Yes, my wardrobe was cheap and simplistic. (It still is.) Smiling.
 
I learned a lot about what is important to some might not be as important to others. I didn’t fight the process of getting ready. In fact, it seemed I took the role of mediator and comforter, to help the bride relax and laugh in the craziness. Just do it, and we will have great stories to tell later, I would tell the brides to be.
 
What to wear, what to wear…I think back on my young adult days to remember dressing for different occasions and remembering my own mom telling me I should dress up a little more. She loved to sew and created beautiful dresses for me and herself to wear to special events. She even made a suit for me. I looked very “professional”. Someday you will get a job and you will need to dress up a little more than jeans and a t-shirt, she told me. Later, she decided to teach me how to sew which was a skill that came in handy later in my young married life. She taught me to be perfect in every line of stitching and to pay attention to following the pattern or “it won’t turn out right or be fit to wear”.
 
So many lessons in life teach us about how to do life here. We must sift through those experiences to seek the Truth of what is expected of us to wear in preparation for the most spectacular event of all. The return of Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom coming for His Bride, the church of believers, you and I! Ooh, what to wear, what to wear…
 
Jesus came to show us exactly what to wear and how to wear it. In thought, it is just as simplistic as my T-shirt and jeans but requires attention to every detail as we adorn ourselves, from the inside out, with the wardrobe God, Our Personal Designer, has picked out for each one of us.
 
Paul explains…
 
Colossians 3 rags to rigtheousnessColossians 3, The Message
(Part 2)
 
12-14 So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
 
15-17 Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
 
What do we learn? What to wear?
Colossians 3 wardrobe
–Begin with love. Everything else is put on top of and around love. Love is always worn. Love is what you put on first. It is the basic all purpose garment. Everything else “fits” around love.
–With Christ’s love living in us we build our wardrobe with compassion for others. We begin to be more kind and gentle. The details of our lives are attended to with greater humility, quiet strength and the discipline to stay with what God began in us.
–We don’t need to be first in line or dress for success in the eyes of humans, we dress to meet Jesus one day, preparing for His return!
–We are more and more even-tempered, not worrying about what others are wearing or how they dress in their process of maturing.
–We forgive quickly. Like Christ.
–We follow the Pattern of Christ and don’t do things our own way. We wear what works, what fits, and pleases God.
–By wearing what works we have the peace of Christ with us through every situation and circumstance. If we get a rip or tear, He is there immediately to repair and restore us.
–The peace of Christ holds all of us together, “in tune with each other”, “in step with each other” because we are all following the Leader, the Head of the Band of followers.
–Do all, “every detail”, in Jesus Name. Yes and Amen!
–Live gratefully…for God has done, is doing and will do!
–Wear only our Designer Labels. We are what we wear.
 
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for picking out our wardrobe that allows Your beauty and glory to be seen in us. Continue to transform and “dress” me. Transform your church. Transform the world.
May all be said and done in Jesus Name, Amen.
 
And I’m singing…
 
Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me,
All His wonderful passion and purity;
O my Savior divine, All my being refine,
Till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.
 
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WHERE THE ACTION IS!

Posted on May 10, 2018 by randscallawayffm

Colossians – Christ in Us!

I admit it. I love being where the action is, don’t you? Mundane tasks we tolerate, but being where exciting things are happening draw us in. Humans want life, abundant life, life that satisfies our deepest longings…to be loved and accepted. We want to know we count and are included. You CAN have all that and more! “Pursue the things over which Christ presides.” “Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ–that’s where the action is. See things from HIS perspective.” Wow.

How many times do we go about life seeing only the mundane, busy schedules, work to be done, church activities to attend right in front of us without looking up to see His glory, looking in to feel His power working in us, and looking out to see Who Jesus is and what He has done, is doing and will do?

Colossians success“Are you serious?”, asks Paul. “So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, ACT like it.” This means living our new life in Jesus out loud. It means not referring back to our old life before Christ but moving forward with our new life in peace through every storm, problem solving with the power of the Holy Spirit in us, going where the action is and obediently joining God where He is already at work when invited by Him. It means leaving and losing self’s desires that lead to sadness and destruction to gaining all there that gives life, hope, God’s best for us in Christ! Seriously? YES and Amen!

Colossians 3, The Message
Part 1

Colossians 3 action in ChristHe Is Your Life
3 1-2 So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.

3-4 Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

5-8 And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It’s because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn’t long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.

9-11 Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.

Think About It….
–What do we need to lose to gain more of Christ in us?
–Do we come to Christ empty and spilled out of all that we have allowed the world to pour into us?
–Jesus Christ took all the sin of the world upon Himself so that we can be made holy before God. He was broken and spilled out completely for you, for me. He was serious.
–Christ is life and where ALL the action is…look up and really live!

Tomorrow…”How to Dress for Success”

Dear Heavenly Father,
I am serious. I love you with all my heart, mind and soul. Your word is seriously convicting me of things I still cling to that are no good for me. Each day I desire more of You in me. Continue to transform me and my thinking. Transform your church. Transform the world.
In Jesus Name, Amen

 

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THE SOURCE

Posted on May 9, 2018 by randscallawayffm
Colossians – Christ in us!
 
I had a boss who knew enough about religions and denominations to be dangerous. He loved to debate what each religion dictated. He even made fun of those (me) who were more spiritually joyful in their praise, how they sang, or lived their lives. He boasted of the church he attended and how much influence he had on the board. He came from a high church background but was now going to a church with less ritualistic practices but still did church the “right” way. He knew how to talk about God but did he know Christ? I still don’t know. Every thing got lost in the debate.
 
Do you know people like this? Are you one of those people? It’s similar to the debate, rather the drilling, the religious heads did to the now sighted man that Jesus healed. His response after all the accusations and debate was, “I don’t know. All I know is I was blind and now I see.” In our next passage, Paul clearly explains why it is dangerous to enter into religious debates when there is Someone far more important to think about, imitate and live for…The Source, The Center of all life, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
 
Colossians 2 Christ in usColossians 2, The Message
 
6-7 My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You’re deeply rooted in him. You’re well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.
 
8-10 Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything. They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. But that’s not the way of Christ. Everything of God gets expressed in him, so you can see and hear him clearly. You don’t need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him. When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything.
 
11-15 Entering into this fullness is not something you figure out or achieve. It’s not a matter of being circumcised or keeping a long list of laws. No, you’re already in—insiders—not through some secretive initiation rite but rather through what Christ has already gone through for you, destroying the power of sin. If it’s an initiation ritual you’re after, you’ve already been through it by submitting to baptism. Going under the water was a burial of your old life; coming up out of it was a resurrection, God raising you from the dead as he did Christ. When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.
 
16-17 So don’t put up with anyone pressuring you in details of diet, worship services, or holy days. All those things are mere shadows cast before what was to come; the substance is Christ.
 
18-19 Don’t tolerate people who try to run your life, ordering you to bow and scrape, insisting that you join their obsession with angels and that you seek out visions. They’re a lot of hot air, that’s all they are. They’re completely out of touch with the source of life, Christ, who puts us together in one piece, whose very breath and blood flow through us. He is the Head and we are the body. We can grow up healthy in God only as he nourishes us.
 
20-23 So, then, if with Christ you’ve put all that pretentious and infantile religion behind you, why do you let yourselves be bullied by it? “Don’t touch this! Don’t taste that! Don’t go near this!” Do you think things that are here today and gone tomorrow are worth that kind of attention? Such things sound impressive if said in a deep enough voice. They even give the illusion of being pious and humble and ascetic. But they’re just another way of showing off, making yourselves look important.
 
Colossians 2 Jesus is LifeWhat do we learn?
–We don’t need to look for signs of Jesus. Jesus lives in us! Look inside!
–Don’t debate. Jesus needs no defense. Jesus was and is and is to come. Period.
–Jesus is the Source of life abundant and forever. Want answers about life…go to The Source.
–We grow up healthy in God on as He nourishes us. God grows us! Did you get that? Debates about Him do not grow us, they just frustrate us.
–Jesus is the Source. HE puts all things together in one piece. He is the Head and we are body doing the part He has assigned us to be and do.
–Jesus’ very breath and blood flow through us! Wow…just think about that for a while, praising God for The Source of life.
 
Dear Heavenly Father,
We come to you this morning with grateful, humbled hearts. We praise you for The Source of life in your Son who died and paid our debt. We praise you for breathing life into our very souls. Continue to transform our thinking, being and doing. Transform me. Transform your church. Transform the world.
In Jesus Name, Amen
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A TAPESTRY OF LOVE

Posted on May 8, 2018 by randscallawayffm
Colossians – Christ in us!
 
Sometimes we look at life and complicate it with our own opinions and assumptions. We look for trouble before trouble comes and worry over what could happen. We become obsessed over what others do and wonder why they do the things they do. We pull ourselves down pondering over what others think of us and how we live. Yes, we spend useless, wasted time on stuff that never happens. All this human thinking stunts our spiritual growth and unravels us.
 
Jesus came to free us from this kind of thinking. Paul reminds us over and over in his letters how Jesus Christ brings all the loose threads and weaves all who believe into a tapestry of love, “in touch with everything there is to know of God.” Our minds think higher thoughts when we think of Christ first and focus solely on Him. We are more confident in life, not in what we can do but what Christ has already done in and for us. Life’s greatest mystery, is Christ in us.
 
Paul reminds us, “Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now LIVE him.” Oh, that we might take a moment this morning to pause and give praise for the One and Only, Jesus Christ who saved us so that all the loose ends (us) are woven back into a tapestry God’s love He is creating in all of us. Live for Christ knowing Christ is in us! “And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.” Yes and Amen!
 
Colossians 2, 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.
 
Colossians 2 tapestry2-4 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.
 
From the Shadows to the Substance
6-7 My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You’re deeply rooted in him. You’re well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.
 
Colossians 2 loose endsWhat do we learn?
–You know Jesus. Now live Jesus.
–Our goal is to think like Jesus so we will live more and more like Jesus.
–School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it!
–Focus on Christ. Developing the mind of Christ brings peace and confidence because of Christ in us.
 
Dear Heavenly Father,
Our minds wander and you bring us back into your peace. You take all the loose ends of life and weave them back into Your love, grace, mercy and beauty. Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me. Continue to transform my thinking and living. Transform your church. Transform the world.
In Jesus Name, Amen
 
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WANT TO USE YOUR TEACHING, TECH AND/OR MINISTRY DEGREE IN A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY?

Posted on May 7, 2018 by randscallawayffm
Santa Cruz, Bolivia is the place to grow what God has already given you!
 
IMG_3029 (1)Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center is a wonderful, progressive school filled with beautiful students eager to learn and grow in their faith as well as in academia. You can talk about Christ here! You can pray with your students and grow right alongside them! You can use the Bible as the path to problem solving with students from preschool to high school.
 
Want a break from public school teaching for a while? Would you prayerfully consider teaching in a Spanish speaking country? Ask God for His will and see if He might be guiding you to this wonderful opportunity.
 
“But, I don’t know Spanish”, you say? Not to worry, the school is an English-speaking school. It is highly recommended that you learn the basics so you can get around the city, but you will teach all students in English.
 
IMG_3020The school was originally built for the children of missionaries located in Bolivia and surrounding countries but has grown to serve Bolivian students who can speak English and want to perfect what they know. If you have children, take them to school with you! The school environment is warm and beautifully accepting of all students and staff. The physical facility is kept clean. The landscaping produces a beauty of its own, showing off God’s creation in an array of blooming colors around the sidewalks and playgrounds.
 
IMG_E3375World Gospel Mission will help and guide you if you and your family feel God’s call to pursue this teaching adventure. They will help you find a place to live, budget your donated income and support you with prayer and guidance. Other missionary teachers are there to help you navigate city living and life in general in your new location. How do I know? I’ve been there…twice!
 
Openings that are available for the 2018-2019 school year are as follows: English teacher for High School and/or Middle School, Secondary Principal, Chemistry, Physics, Old Testament Bible for High School, Calculus and Algebra, 5th grade, 2nd grade, Kindergarten, and Youth Pastor. Some of these positions can be combined. They also need a media specialist who could work on the school’s websites, publicity, videos and photos collections.
 
img_3442-1.jpgPRAY first, ask God if He might be inviting you to join Him in His work in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Sometimes in the “stuck or stalled” times of our lives, God is getting us ready to send us. Ask, “What’s next, Papa?” as Paul suggests for us to pray, and then listen.
 
For more information call World Gospel Mission at 765 671 7227. Ask about teaching and tech positions available in Santa Cruz, Bolivia specifically.
 
For more information, from a veteran teacher in Bolivia, email Emily Barlow at: emilybarlow@mac.com
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THE MYSTERY

Posted on May 7, 2018 by randscallawayffm
Colossians – Christ in us!
 
I love a good mystery novel, movie or TV show. I love all the problem solving shows such as NCIS and CSI as long as they don’t get to gruesome. I am more interested in how they solve the mystery. When you watch for as long as I have, you know the drill…the show opens with finding a body. Lots of questions are asked. All the answers are formulated and analyzed until it leads to the truth. Case is solved in under 60 minutes! We move on until the next body is found next week. Amazing.
 
Mysteries draw us in. We want to know when, where, why and how something happened. We see spilled milk on the counter and wonder how it got there. If you have children, you go to them first. But they respond with, “It wasn’t me!” So who did it? Toys and ball gloves are left out in the yard. You surmise what probably happened only to hear from your precious offspring…”It wasn’t me!” Sometimes they say this before you pose the question. Amazing. (Smiling, remembering what it was like to raise three kids.)
 
Paul poses the answer to the even more amazing mystery of God simplistically and clearly. It is all about God and His plan to bring ALL His created, (Jews and Gentiles) back into full, unrelenting relationship with Him through Jesus Christ, His Son and our Redeemer. The climax to this mystery is that for all who believe, CHRIST NOW LIVES IN US! Mystery solved! “It’s that simple!”, says Paul. With Christ in us, we will see God someday. We can “look forward to sharing in God’s glory.” Yes, and Amen!
 
This mystery is as clear and understandable as knowing who left the ball glove out in the yard or who spilled the milk! It’s that simple. No more, no less, says Paul. Preach Jesus!
 
Colossians 1 mysteryColossians 1, The Message
(Part 3 of 3)
 
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.
 
Colossians 1 Christ in us is hopeWhat do we learn?
–Who did it? Jesus Christ. Mystery solved. He died and rose again so that we can live forever with Him. Our debt of sin is paid.
–Christ died for all…seriously…ALL people.
–People need to know the Truth, not our opinion of the Truth.
–Preach Jesus.
–It’s that simple.
–Teach with common sense in understandable ways.
–Use words if you have to.
–Grow and mature in Christ by being basic. Stick to the Truth.
–No more. No less.
–To suffer is a gift of growing deeper in love with the One and Only who suffered for us. Suffering teaches and humbles us in ways that help others grow in their faith, too.
 
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for Your Word that teaches, guides, directs, convicts, and helps us grow to reflect You in us. Thank you for living and abiding in us! Thank you for Your Holy Spirit, a part of You, that comforts and leads us to simple Truth. Thank you for revealing yourself in and through Christ, solving the mystery of your plan to bring us back to you. Continue to transform me. Transform your church. Transform the world.
In Jesus Name, Amen
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BROKEN

Posted on May 6, 2018 by randscallawayffm
Colossians – Christ in us!
 
We are getting ready for a garage sale. It’s been a few years since we have done this. Yesterday, we spent time cleaning out the garage where things broken collect and find a temporary home there. As we moved things around, swept and cleaned we pondered these broken things. We looked them over carefully and decided they could be fixed. It’s time to do just that. The broken things were fixed so they could be used again. We had discarded them as useless the way the were but now they can be used again! It is a good feeling to fix the broken. Mm.
 
Colossians 1 brokenWe come to part two of chapter one of Paul’s letter to the Colossians. He reminds us of the supremacy of Christ, the One and Only Savior and Lord, who was and is and is to come. No one is forgotten in His sight. “We look at this Son, and see the God who cannot be seen.”, says Paul. We get a glimpse of who God is in Jesus. We get a glimpse of who God is when we love, accept, believe and follow Jesus, too!
 
God misses nothing. He is above all and in all. No one of God is thrown away and forgotten. “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. Everything broken gets fixed! The broken pieces of our lives given all to God gets fixed! We are useful once more. That’s why we praise Him! That’s why we are grateful and humble.
 
Paul get pretty excited about this as he should…and we should, too!
 
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 roomy, 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.
 
What do we learn?
–The broken of God gets fixed. Every time.
–God “properly” fixes the broken (all of us) and brings us together as his people to fit together, love each other like He loves us, to work together in vibrant harmony because of what HE has done for us. It’s all about God. It’s all about Christ in us!
 
Think about it…
–As Christ is formed in us, will others get a glimpse of God through us?
 
Colossians 1 broken piecesDear Heavenly Father,
I was broken but you properly fixed me. Thank you for your continued work to transform me into all you intended for me to be. Thank you for doing the same for all who love and follow You. Thank you for saving us. Thank you for being in us. Please continue your transformation work of restoring, fixing and fitting in me, your church and in the world.
In Jesus Name, Amen
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PREACH CHRIST!

Posted on May 5, 2018 by randscallawayffm
Colossians – Christ in us!
 
Are we merely impressed with Jesus? Do we know of Him but don’t really know Him? Do we consider Him a great teacher, even read what He said, but don’t talk with Him, get to know Him, or invite Him into our very being as we do life? Do we lump Jesus into a “woohoo” category of greatness with other well known humans of world? If we do, we are like many others in the world. We can believe Jesus as Savior without developing an intimate Christ-centered life of following Him as Lord. If we do that, we are missing out on the most important, intimate relationship we can possibly have.
 
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 fo 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 certainly 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. Oh, that all of us, would speak as Paul with a Christ centered heart, mind and soul!
 
As we read this letter to the church in Colosse, let us learn how to communicate as “clearly as we should” to others seeking to know Christ intimately. May our hearts be open and our minds ready to realize and live the “secret” of Christ IN us!
 
Colossians 1, The Message
Part One
 
Colossians 1 Christ in us1-2 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.
 
Colossians 1 JesusWhat do we learn?
–The Message, Jesus, does not change over time. He is the same then, now and forever will be Savior and Lord.
–Hang on tightly to the Hope of The Message, Jesus.
–As we learn how God works, we will learn how to do our work that He invites us to do.
–God gives us strength for the work of telling others about Him.
–God’s strength endures forever and produces joy and thanksgiving in our hearts.
–God saved us. Jesus, His Son, redeemed us from our own sins, “got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating”. Praise God!
 
Dear Heavenly Father,
What a great opening to the people of Colosse and to us! Thank You for Your Word that helps to know You more. Thank you for inviting us to Your work and will. Thank you for saving us and making us fit for Your Kingdom. Thank you for paying our debt to sin. Thank you for teaching us to live with You in the center of all of life. Thank you for wanting to have an intimate relationship with us. We are humbled. Continue to transform me. Transform Your church. Transform the world.
In Jesus Name, Amen
 
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CARE PACKAGE OF CONTENTMENT

Posted on May 4, 2018 by randscallawayffm
Philippians – Radical Joy
 
This radical joy that gives us the urgent, enthusiastic life response of praise to God no matter what is happening around us is found in knowing, really knowing, God intimately. When you love God intimately you want to find out everything about Him. His Son taught us that radical joy comes from trusting in God, knowing God has our best interest in His Heart. It is loving Him back more and more each day as we realize the depth of His love. It is loving others in the same way God loves us.
 
This indescribable love gives us the desire to love others naturally and appropriately. Nothing forced or fake. How does this happen? God sent His Son, a part of Himself, to imperfect earth to live, to feel all the humanness we feel, to show us how to love each other, how to love God, know Him, and feel His Presence. Then, Jesus willingly followed the will of the Father and laid down his life for our life so that we can have a full, unrelenting, tenacious and intimate relationship with Him that will outlast earth itself. Forever.
 
Philippians 4 GodGod’s eternal love for us and KNOWING that love internally and personally, giving Him all glory for all good, breeds this radical, everlasting joy within us. AND that’s not all. We are finally content in all circumstances as we understand this inexplicable joy within us that is flowing through us. Contentment is another gift of that accompanies God’s gift of peace and joy.
 
I believe, trust, love God with all my heart, mind and soul. I seek to love others as He loves me. I am content.
 
Here’s Paul’s explanation of contentment, as he sits in jail, to his friends, the Philippians.
 
Philippians 4, 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.
 
Philippians 4 contentmentContentment versus Chaos, What do we learn from Paul?
–Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS, and again I say rejoice for God has not left us. Ever.
–It makes us “glad in God” when we love and help each other. Generosity to others is a blessed opportunity to show our gratitude to God for what He has done, is doing and will do for us!
–We learn and mature in our contentment through relying solely and completely on God for all, knowing if God says that’s all we need, then that’s all we need!
–Be happy (joyful) with whatever life throws at you because we know God is with us, for us, and will never leave us.
–Paul’s recipe for radical joy and contentment: “Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.”
–We can make it, too!
 
“I CAN do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” (v13)
I CAN make it, like the “Little Engine Who Could”, around any mountain or valley all because of knowing Christ. I CAN make it with HIS strength in my weakness. I CAN be content in Him no matter what! All because of Christ in me! Not me, but Christ in me!
 
Philippians 4, The Message – Last words…
 
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 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.
 
PLEASE AVOID…
–Comparing our troubles to another person’s troubles so we can feel better…be content knowing God is for us all.
–Holding back or stalling generosity to those in need.
–Asking God to bless OUR plan. Go with God’s plan. Therein lies His strength and help.
 
Philippians 4 it is wellDear Heavenly Father,
We learn that contentment and radical joy come hand in hand with knowing and trusting You. It also comes in giving You praise and glory before, during and after our temporary troubles here on earth. I love you, Lord with all that is in me. I give you praise today for all the many, limitless ways you show your love for all of us. I believe therefore I am content. It gives me such joy to know and love you. Continue your work to transform me. Transform your church. Transform the world.
In Jesus Name, Amen
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