Instructions for a Changed Life {Colossians 4}
12:30 AM
Treat others right and fair...
I have this picture in a frame on my desk at work.
Everyone is accountable to someone.
Even if you are the boss, we still have a master in heaven. This should be our incentive to treat others
fair and right, especially when we are in a position over them.
Even in the Old Testament God gave rules about how to treat servants
(Leviticus 25:39-43, 53).
I am considered a lead worker where I am employed. A lead worker is the person who knows how to
do many other people's jobs, but also reports directly to management. This can be a very tough position because I
have often struggled to get management to understand the amount of work the
employees actually do. It seems
management spends so much time in their offices, away from the hub of activity. Many times these managers are not Christians
- they simply are not fair. They just
don't know how to serve the Lord. They
are puffed up with accomplishments and have filled their offices with awards
they've received, mostly because of the performance of the employees under
them, but refuse to be good, honest and caring employers.
I recently had the opportunity to change
jobs. Part of the reason I changed jobs
had to do with the season if life I am in. Over the past two weeks, I shared
about this difficult season of life and during the course of our study, I have
discovered a couple of things:
1) Be devoted to prayer.
Prayer is a skill and it takes time to
develop. “pray continually.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17; “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so
that you may be healed.” James 5:16a.
The first key is placing the importance
on praying. If it is not something you
see as important, you will never devote to it.
Prayer carries God's promise. (see 1 John
5:14-15.) This is incentive to pray: learn what God's will is and pray in
faith. When you do, you will see
results. He will answer your prayers.
2) Be watchful, alert and intent in prayer.
God wants us to pray because it gives God
the ability to move and act. He has
given us authority.
“Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven”. Matthew 18:18;
“The
seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in
your name. He replied, “I saw Satan fall
like lighting from heaven. I have given
you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power
of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” Luke 10:17-19
and it's our responsibility.
It's not our last resort - it's our first
line of defense.
3) Be thankful in prayer.
Gratitude and thankfulness is the key
that unlocks the power of prayer.
Why? Because praise elevates you
into a different realm. Praise turns the
focus off you and onto God - the result is FAITH.
The prayer of a
righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16b.
This is the
confidence we have in approaching God that if we ask anything according to his
will, he hears us. And if we know that
he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him. 1 John 5:14-15,
Truly I
tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’
and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen,
it will be done for them. Therefore I
tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it,
and it will be yours. Mark
11:23-24
4) Ask for prayer
Paul was in prison when he wrote this
letter on account of sharing the gospel.
And in verse 2, he asks for prayer.
Because in order for him to succeed, he needed the power of prayer. We all need prayers, not just for our
everyday issues, but more for our calling - for open doors to share the gospel
and that the message be clear and understandable.
People are watching; they sit back and
observe. If your life reflects Christ
and what you believe, it will win the opportunity to speak truth when the time
is right. This is why we are always to
be prepared, behaving wisely in our relationships and seizing opportunities to
be full of grace and seasoned with salt (v. 6).
See also 1 Peter 3:15-16
I know whenever I see a list of people in scripture whose names I
cannot pronounce, I often just skip over those lines. But should our inability to get to know people
hold us back? If it weren't for these
people like Tychicus, who was a convert, we could not have access to these
powerful letters. The fact that these
oddly named people are listed in scripture should cause us to pause and offer a
prayer of thanksgiving. We so often give
Paul all the credit, but we would not know all we know without what they did,
risking their lives to share the good news of Jesus. These people had no idea of the impact they
would have on the world.
We live a changed life because of our relationship with Christ. We may desire to see the fruit if our labor
now, but what a great testimony of faith to know that what you are doing now
could affect someone so far outside of your time and influence!
The journey we are all on has many seasons, but the one thing that is
always with us is God's grace. We should
all be so grateful of our chains, of being a prisoner of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's so worth it. Like Paul said in Philippians 3:8-9, “What is more, I consider everything a loss
because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus as my Lord, for whose
sake I have lost all things, I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ,
and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the
law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes
from God on the basis of faith.”
0 comments