OCTOBER 9, 2019

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” 
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

ISAIAH 41-42

 10So do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (41:10)

COLOSSIANS 1

We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,^e 10so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you^f to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

JOURNAL 

So often the focus of life seems to dwell on either what we have or what we get. It seems to be a passive valuation of life. The one thing I have seen in scripture is that we are commanded to take an active role in life and that the things that really matter are in what we do not in what we get or what we have.  Paul in writing to the Colossians emphasizes that his desire is that they will receive the spirit in order to "live a life worthy of God", "pleasing him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work..." this spells it out what my life is to be consumed doing...it is laboring in love and living a life that honors God in action and deed. Paul says that God has already "rescued us" and that we are now living in the "kingdom of the son".  We are forgiven and redeemed! Not in the future...now.

How then am I living this out? Is my life reflective of God's kingdom? Is my existence active and passionate? Am I seeking to do or to get? Is my focus on consuming or giving? Every day, every moment is a gift and as a believer I have been made new in a way that changes my focus and my goal. I am to share this good news in loving others and taking an active existence in living out the love of God in all I do and say.

Man this is good news but it also changes the game...its the opposite of the goals and focus of our culture. We have a culture of accumulation however when tragedy strikes we see and know that what really matters are acts of love and sacrifice, not those of self-preservation and greed. What mattered in Las Vegas was recounted in the stories of sacrifice and love...it did not matter someone's social standing or what job they had or how much money they had in the bank. It did no matter what clothes they wore or how their hair looked. All that mattered was what they did in that moment.

It is a lesson in life and it reminds me that what really matters is what I do with each moment I'm given. I don't know how many I'll have, that is the part of life that is completely uncertain. Yet I do get to choose how I live it. I have a choice...do I live it content and active in God's love or in fear and desperation? According to scripture I have all I need to live a life that will honor God.  I have all I need to live a life that "bears fruit in every good work". I have been "strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might". There are no excuses...

11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I 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, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

PHILIPPIANS 4:11-13