If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above,

.... where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth (Colossians 3:1, 2).  Paul had been talking about how religious observances alone have no value in restraining sensual indulgence (2:23). He goes on to remind us that we died with Christ (verse3) and were raised with Him to new life. In this morning's verses then,  he admonishes to seek those things which are above. It's about seeking first the Kingdom and His righteousness  (Matthew 6:33). The rest of chapter 3 is a practical exposition of what this means. It is about putting to death, putting off,  the sinful nature and embracing,  that is  putting on the characteristics of the new.  When we are in Christ, we are a new creation, the old has gone, all things are new (2 Corinthians 5:17). We have a part to play, and part of it is embracing the new mindset, the new perspective. We are to see ourselves seated  with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:3).

Some of the things then that we are to put off, to put to death are sexual immorality, impurity, lust,  greed (verse 5), anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language (verse 8).  But this is only half of the equation. The saying “nature abhors vacuum” comes to mind. If after we have emptied ourselves of these things we don't replace them with the positive, something else will rush in. In particular it is far too easy to replace our addictions with different ones.  I did that, bought the T-shirt! Jesus put it this way, that when the house is clean, swept and empty,  seven more devils come in (Matthew 12:44, 45).

So then rather than simply concentrating on getting rid of the bad, we are to replace the bad with the good. And these things include putting on  tender mercies, kindness, humility longsuffering;  bearing with one another, forgiving one another, putting on love, letting the peace of God rule in our hearts and being thankful (verses 12-15). Part of how we do this is to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly in all wisdom. We are to teach one another (not just the Pastors), we are to admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing to the Lord with grace in our hearts (verses 16, 17). We need to sing more than just choruses, and we need to sing to Him not just about Him. Paul sums this all up by saying  “whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (verse 17).

Father, Paul is talking here about sanctification, growing in the Christian life. He is not talking about justification, it's not about earning our salvation. It is about glorifying You in our bodies, and Lord we fall pretty far short of these things at times. Thank You for Your forgiveness. But again with Paul,  we choose to forget those things which are behind, the good the bad and the ugly,  and with Your help press towards the goal of the high calling in Christ (Philippians 3:13, 14). We give You thanks and praise again this morning Lord, and we give You all the glory in Jesus Name Amen

Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths,

.... ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, 'We will not walk in it' (Jeremiah 6:16). I have heard some ask “How can anything thousands of years old be relevant for today?”  I usually answer along the lines  of “Well right,  we don't need the wheel anymore do we? Not!” Of course not everything old is good, but we throw out the lessons of history and the wisdom of the ancient Scripture at our peril.  According to this verse and the principles of Hebrew poetry,  the ancient path is the good way. And since it is the Lord speaking, it is His way as revealed in Scripture.  We laugh at the ancients who worshiped idols of wood and stone, but we worship success and beauty and intelligence, and power, and it's just as empty and senseless.

The decisions of life are like crossroads, There is a way that seems  right, but in the end it leads to death (Proverbs 14:12). We need to look before we leap, we need to look, and we need to ask. The Lord has given us Scripture as our guide. We read “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). Rick Warren comments that this means it shows us the path (teaching), it shows us where we got off the path (reproof), how to get back on the path (correction), and how to say on it (instruction in righteousness).

We need to look every day, we are so want to forget, and we need to be reminded even if we think we know and are established  (2 Peter 1:12). And we need to ask Him, especially when we lack wisdom (James 1:5). It's all about relationship it's not just the written word, it is His rhama word, the word spoken into our hearts. His sheep hear His voice (John 10:27), and we are His sheep if we follow. It is about obedience. We will not hear His voice if we are not willing to look and ask for the ancient paths. But if we obey, when we have obey we ill hear a voice behind us saying “This is the way, walk in it!” And part of our obedience is that acknowledging Him in all our ways , it is then that He will direct our paths and make them straight (Proverbs 3:5, 6).

Lord Jesus Christ, You are the Way the Truth and the Life, in You there is life and health and peace. Your ways are past finding out,  You lead and guide in the good ways. Your “no” and Your “yes” are for out provision and our protection and for our benefit. You are for us not against us and we love You Lord in Your Holy and precious Name we pray Amen  


They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly,

....  Saying, “Peace, peace!’” When there is no peace (Jeremiah 6:14). The “they” are the priests and prophets, the leaders of the people.  The Lord had sent Jeremiah to backsliding Israel (3:6). Judgement was coming,  and Israel would be taken into captivity in Babylon, “yet the priests and prophets gave assurances of peace when all is war” (14b Living Bible). “They offer superficial treatments for my people’s mortal wound (14a New Living Translation).  Jeremiah was one of the few who were speaking the Word of the Lord. Punishment and exile were coming as a result of the backsliding of the people (Your own wickedness will correct you, And your backslidings will rebuke you – 2:19).  Jeremiah's commission was,  first to  “root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down,” and only then “to build and to plant” (1:10).

Everything changes, and yet nothing changes.  Many leaders today are “healing the hurts” of society lightly. We are told that evil is good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20). Unbridled expressions of sexuality are said to be  wholesome  and healthy,  yet sexually spread diseases are rampant fatherlessness is epidermic.  We are being told that the family and family values are archaic,  things of the past and to be discarded. Yet in the pain and meaninglessness of our godlessness we are turning to drugs and  other mind numbing things. Suicide is up and violence has taken to the streets. In the name of compassion and justice the oppressed are being turned into the oppressors, yet we stumble blindly on blaming our pain and dysfunction on anyone but ourselves.

The Living Bible's version of 14a reads “You can’t heal a wound by saying it’s not there!” The word denial comes to mind. The point is, that if you don't believe the truth, you will in the end believe anything that helps you to avoid admitting and then having to deal with the truth.  And there will always be those who are willing to affirm you, or enable you in your dysfunction. This is how victims become the victimizers.  When real and tangible wrong is done to you, and you are told “don't get mad, get even,”and you follow through what you do in the end is to poison yourself and those you love (Hebrews 12:15).  And in any case bitterness is not content with justice it is rather two eyes for and eye and two teeth for a tooth (see Matthew 5:38).

Father, the Law said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but You tell us not repay evil for evil (1 Peter 3:9). Lord we need to come out of denial where we are in it, and we need to speak the truth in love at the right time,  and in the right way. to those who are stuck there. Sometimes Lord we just need to have good boundaries, and we need courage and wisdom to put up boundaries where we have failed to protect ourselves, or we have been enablers of others.  So first of all Lord search my heart this morning to see if there be any wicked way within me and lead me into all truth. And secondly Lord  give me the serenity to accept what I cannot change in others, give me the courage to act when I should, and the wisdom to know the difference in Jesus Name Amen

Break up your fallow ground,

....    And do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, And take away the foreskins of your hearts .... Lest My fury come forth like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, Because of the evil of your doings.” (Jeremiah 4:3b, 4). In the manner of Hebrew poetry, the first sentence and the second are essentially saying the same thing.  Fallow ground is that that which is left uncultivated and likely grown hard and unworkable. In the parable of the sower Jesus speaks of the Word of God sown among the thorns, and that the thorns choke it. There are those who receive the Word but have no depth and don't endure, others stumble because of tribulation or persecution, still others because of the  deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things (Mark 4:15-19).

 Paul takes up the second picture when he says “because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Romans 2:5). Part of what we need to see from these Old and New Testament parallels,  is that though God operates differently in the age of Grace, He is the same God, He is still righteous and just, and justice still demands,  well justice! In particular hard and unrepentant hearts will still incur wrath on the day of judgement.  You might object “ but what about the love of God?” Well God is love, God is unchanging and of course in the gospel love and justice have kissed.

He paid the price for our redemption, for our salvation. It's a gift, it is paid for, we cannot in any way earn it (Ephesians 2:8,9).  However according to the writer to the Hebrews,  it is possible to neglect it and drift away (Hebrews 2:1-3).  In particular  “if we keep on sining willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:26). He does qualify us to be inheritors of the saints in light, but we can disqualify ourselves by hardened and unrepentant hearts.  Paul disciplined his body and brought it into subjection, in case when he had preached, he myself should become disqualified (1 Corinthians  9:27).

  

Father, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. I want to thank You this morning Lord that You have qualified me to be an inheritor of the saints in light, and that I am confident of my place in heaven. But I cannot be presumptuous Lord. I fool myself if I think I can be saved and live for the Devil.  I fear for many in the body Lord who profess to know God, but in works they deny You, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work (Titus 1:16).  Paul tells us that if we walk according to the flesh we will die. I thank You Lord there is a “but” here,  “but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13). Help us to do our part in the cooperation implied here. We cannot do it without You Lord, but You will not do it without us. Thank You for the assurance of salvation that we have when we walk in the light as You are in the light (1 John 2:3, 5), in Jesus Name Amen

for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances

....  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation (Philippians 4:11b, 12b). The Philippians had often supported Paul in his ministry, but there had been times when they had no opportunity (no internet banking in those days). But now at last they had renewed their support and Paul was rejoicing in that   (verse 10).  Paul is not wanting them to grieve that is was not always possible for (because) he had learned .... etc. He goes on to tell the Philippians that God will supply all their needs according to His riches in Glory (verse 19).

It seems to me he can say that,  because he knows that God is not unjust to forget our labour of love (Hebrews 6:10). To put this another way, we reap what we sow both positively and negatively (Galatians 6:7). Verse 19 is often quoted as a stand alone verse, but as we just read,  Paul was in need at times. And if we are stingy, we will reap what we sow in that area too. Reaping what we sow, as with planting and reaping in the natural realm,  is not usually instantaneous.  Nor is the reaping necessarily in material terms.  I have heard stories though,  of those in need, being directed by God to sow what little they did have. And they received back their material need.  The Christian though, according to this morning's verses,  can be in need, or can have more than enough. And we are not just talking about physical needs here.

But Paul had learned the  secret of being content no matter what the circumstances. It was something he had had to learn, and if we are to get there, it is something we will need to learn too.  So how did Paul learn to be content in need?  Well, he had to suffer need, and indeed he had (2 Corinthians 11:22-28). He could describe what he suffered in those verses,  as a sentence of death given so that he might learn to trust in God who raises the dead (2 Corinthians 1:9). So how do we learn to be content in difficult circumstances? Well we too have to choose to trust God in the midst of them, at the very time we are going through them (Romans 8:28). With regard to the times our needs are being met, these times are perhaps even more dangerous, for in them we can too easily forget God. This may well account for the weakness of the Western Church, for we hardly seem to need God for our basic needs. And all too easily we can get caught up in ingratitude and greed. And in any case, how much is enough? Famously it is “just a little bit more!”

Father, thank You for underlining these verses for me from this morning's reading. My meditating on them is really helping me to get my rather trivial difficulties back into perspective.  Thank You for the depth of Your Word, and for prompting me to replace my anxiety with prayer and supplication, and especially with the ingredient I had been missing, namely thanksgiving. Thank You for Your promise that Your peace will guard our hearts (verse 8), and for the process that with Your help teaches us to be content in all circumstances. We give You thanks and praise again this morning, in Jesus Name Amen.

“But on this one will I look:

....    On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word” Says the LORD (Isaiah 66:2b). The NLT version of verse 2a brings out  well the context of this morning's verse, and helps explain the “but.” It reads “My hands have made both heaven and earth; they and everything in them are mine.” In verse 1 “Heaven is my throne and the earth my footstool,” nevertheless “on this one will I look.” David has the same thought when He says “What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him” (Psalm 8:4). To put it another way the Lord is saying “in spite of my greatness, there are individuals on whom I will look.” The translators scramble to interpret the  Hebrew word translated here as  “look.”  Some have look with favour, others have esteem,  look favourably, or treasure,  or bless or show special favour. But whatever the precise meaning,  it is clear that this place in His sight, is a place to be desired.  

Perhaps Jesus had the next part in mind when He said “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). The words are also reminiscence of David's when he cries out in repentance  “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. These, O God, You will not despise” (Psalm 51:17).  David had penned this shortly after Nathan had confronted him about his adultery,  and and about his attempt to cover it up, with the subsequent murder of Uriah. And no doubt David had trembled at that word! It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31).

It is something of a paradox, that the one who is of a  contrite spirit and who trembles at His Word is the safest of all, and the most blessed.  We get this wrong many time, coming far too casually into His presence,  or taking forgiveness and salvation for granted. The Scripture tells us that we saints are scarcely saved (“If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?” -1 Peter 4:18). Part of the paradox is that on the one hand, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10),  and that perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18), on the other.

Father, I want to thank You this morning for the balance of Your Word.  We are fearfully and wonderfully made, yet since the fall we are fatally flawed. The safest place of all Lord,  is to stand in humility at the foot of the cross,  knowing that though we are flawed we are fully accepted in the Beloved.  Lord again, help us  to live in the tension of trembling at Your Word,  while resting on Your presence. And we will give You the praise and glory in Jesus Name Amen

But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;

.... My steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked (Psalm 73:2, 3). Have you ever wondered what was the use of living for God,  when many who don't seem to live lives to the full, often prospering from less than righteous means?   The Psalmist was there, and had almost imitated their ways.  This in spite of the fact that he knew that God is good to those who are pure in heart (verse 1). He  spends the next 9 verses caught up in his envy. He declares “Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence” (verse 13). He goes on in the next verse to complain about his lot.  Then finally describes the process of coming to his senses.

To follow the way of the wicked would to be untrue  (verse 15). In other words,  as he almost started down the wrong road,  his conscience was warning him this was not good. All this thinking about the prosperity of the wicked,  and about his own situation was too painful for him until he went into God's presence. There he understood their end,  “they are brought to desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors” (verses 16, 17, 19). At this point he starts to see how foolish he had been, and to consider again the wonder and glory of his relationship with God, how God was always with him,  giving council, and in the end being received into glory (verses 21-24). Moreover in the here and now God is the strength of heart.  And actually there is no one he desire more than God. And with this renewed perspective he  knows that it is good to draw near to God  (verses 25, 28).

Another  translation of verse 2 has “I had nearly lost confidence; my faith was almost gone.”  There are lessons for us here. One of the things he had been doing was taking his eyes off the Lord, putting them on the temporal prosperity of the wicked,  and  comparing his own circumstances with that prosperity. And He became envious. It is all too easy to go there, we likely all have! The solution of course is to get alone with God (the secret place), to meditate on God's goodness and the consequences of going down the wrong road. Also, when we compare ourselves with others we are unwise
(2 Corinthians 10:12), especially when we fixate on these things like the Psalmist did. When we do this, our feet far too easily slip. We need to take such negative thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5), and return to the Lord!


Father, Your Word encourages us not to be discouraged by circumstances, ours or others. Jealousy is a sin because it so easily leads us down the wrong path. Help us Lord to not be weary well doing.  Thank You for the promise that when we endure we will,  in  Your time, reap if we do not draw back (Galatians 6:9).  Thank You Lord for Your principles and Your promises, and Your Word which when we hide it in our hearts helps us not to sin. Thank You too Lord for the Holy Spirit who helps us in our weakness. Thank You  for the fellowship of the saints. Thank You that You who have begun a good work in us will keep right on working in us, in Jesus Name Amen