Today, I found an old email that I wrote to the other people on the worship team and it was something that I really needed to read today. Maybe that is why it was saved in my email! I wonder why I feel like I have to keep "re-learning" lessons.
From March 30, 2010:
"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." - Colossians 2:6-7
I read this today and had a couple of thoughts. I hope this will encourage/challenge you as it is doing me. I thought about February 4, 1994. This was the day that I was baptized. Now, I don't know the exact date, but I know that I "accepted" Christ months earlier than this. When I look back on when I cognitively understood my need for redemption (as much as a 9 year old can!), I remember expressing genuine joy and thankfulness for Jesus. It was like I had just been saved from a scary monster...I used to think they would jump out of my closet and my dad would always check it for me...I had this overwhelming sense of gratitude and wanted nothing more than to talk about the man who saved me from the scary monster (aka my sin).
Growing up and now being an adult, I tend to lose that joy and thankfulness so easily. To do lists, schedules, work, bills, exercise, car pools, family, church, sports, performances, school, feelings of defeat, expectations of life. Not all of these things are bad, but they tend to suck joy right out of us when we let them and become overwhelmed by them (or allow them to become an idol.). When I read this verse I am challenged to remember my child-like faith and understand that foundation that was laid. I am lucky that both of my parents loved the Lord and I visibly saw how Christ changed their lives. I am blessed that I grew up in a church that taught the Bible. Maybe your experience was different. The point is, how do we continue to emit that same emotion, all the while growing on it, that we had when we first met Christ and repented of our sin?
When I pray for us as a team, I always pray that we would be filled and overflowing with the Holy Spirit. The only way to overflow is to be fed. So I ask, how is your quiet time? How is your relationship with Christ? There is no possible way that you or I can come to church on Sunday morning and lead overflowing with thankfulness if we have not been filling up during the week. Are you thankful for the righteousness of Christ that is made yours simply because of your faith in Him? Prove it! Spend time with Him, love Him, tell others about Him, worship Him, adore Him, glorify Him!
Growing up and now being an adult, I tend to lose that joy and thankfulness so easily. To do lists, schedules, work, bills, exercise, car pools, family, church, sports, performances, school, feelings of defeat, expectations of life. Not all of these things are bad, but they tend to suck joy right out of us when we let them and become overwhelmed by them (or allow them to become an idol.). When I read this verse I am challenged to remember my child-like faith and understand that foundation that was laid. I am lucky that both of my parents loved the Lord and I visibly saw how Christ changed their lives. I am blessed that I grew up in a church that taught the Bible. Maybe your experience was different. The point is, how do we continue to emit that same emotion, all the while growing on it, that we had when we first met Christ and repented of our sin?
When I pray for us as a team, I always pray that we would be filled and overflowing with the Holy Spirit. The only way to overflow is to be fed. So I ask, how is your quiet time? How is your relationship with Christ? There is no possible way that you or I can come to church on Sunday morning and lead overflowing with thankfulness if we have not been filling up during the week. Are you thankful for the righteousness of Christ that is made yours simply because of your faith in Him? Prove it! Spend time with Him, love Him, tell others about Him, worship Him, adore Him, glorify Him!
1 comment:
Aw...impressed...:)
N.C.
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