Author: LizG

Colossians 3:22-24; 4:17 (JBP)  Slaves (employees), your job is to obey your masters (bosses), not with the idea of currying favour, but as a sincere expression of your devotion to God.  Whatever you do, put your whole heart and soul into it, as into work done for God, and not merely for men—knowing that your real reward, a heavenly one, will come from God, since you are actually employed by Christ, and not just by your earthly master….4:17 A brief message to Archippus: God ordained you to your work—see that you don’t fail him!

Observation

Archippus gets an admonishment here and a passing more affirming mention in the book of Philemon.  I don’t find him mentioned otherwise in the New Testament and I don’t think he is someone who is generally recognized.  This verse stopped me this time because I suspect I might understand why Archippus was called out by Paul.  Because of the subject of these two chapters, I am speculating that Archippus might have been unhappy or discontented in his work.  Haven’t we all been there at some time?

The reason could have been unhappiness brought on by fear because of the threat to life and liberty which Christians faced.  Paul was evidence that imprisonment with the threat of death was a real possibility. It could have been the possibility of failure because he was assigned to a role in ministry that he was ill-equipped for or otherwise under qualified to do in his estimation. It could also have been frustration based on a feeling that his efforts were without impact because he was not seeing the results he expected.  He could have felt his time, effort, gifts and anointing were being wasted in an insignificant, secular or non-visible job while his heart ached to do something which appeared to have more eternal impact. I don’t suppose we will ever know for sure, but, whatever the reason, it must have been obvious enough for Paul to call him out to be content, submitted, faithful and to follow through in the place and position which God ordained for him at that moment.

Impact on Me

Sad to say, if these were the motivations for Archippus, I understand and must substitute my name for his in Paul’s admonition because these types of fears and frustrations all passed through my mind during the years I worked in a secular job.  I suspect they are common to us all and challenge us to find out exactly how much we do trust God. Being content, submitted, faithful to and patient with God’s plan and timing for me was much easier for me to promise to do than to consistently actually do and be.  I am subject to my performance-based upbringing, in a society where visible, measurable accomplishment equals success.  The ache in my heart was to be in full time ministry.  Little did I understand that every Christian’s ministry and witness is 24/7 regardless of where God assigns one.

I worked for over 20 years in a full-time secular job and, while it was a good job, good company, good boss, it’s time and attendance requirements limited my ability to follow my heart in ministry.  I brought this before God regularly, trying to convince Him to consider my plan or change His timing, and, when I was done, He graciously brought someone into my office who needed prayer or encouragement or some other dose of the loveliness of Jesus.  It is then that the Holy Spirit graciously reminds me of Paul’s words to Archippus and I knew that they were meant for me, too!  I was reminded that where I was is where God placed me for such a time as that to fulfill His will and purpose and, if I could be content, submitted, faithful and patient, He would give me the desires of my heart at the perfect time. So, I endeavor to remember that I am employed by Christ wherever I may be and need to put my whole heart and soul into whatever He has asked me to do, trusting that He is using me even when I don’t recognize it. 

Devotion

Lord, You are God of both Heaven and Earth, Almighty, Everlasting, Faithful, Promise Keeper.  Help me in the power of the Holy Spirit to be a faithful and consistent doer, not just a promiser.  Where I am weak in commitment, understanding, follow-through, rise up to be strong in and through me.  Mold me, shape me, change me through Your wisdom to embrace whatever You have for me to do wherever You place me to do it.  Make it so, Lord, in Jesus’ name.

2 Tim 1:11-12 JBP  It is this Gospel that I am commissioned to proclaim;  it is of this Gospel that I am appointed both messenger and teacher, and it is for this Gospel that I am now suffering these things.  Yet I am not in the least ashamed.  For I know the One in whom I have placed my confidence, and I am perfectly certain that the work He has committed to me is safe in his hands until that day.

Observation

We can forget when we start to judge our efforts by the world’s standards, settling down into what we consider possible based on past experience or human limits, that creation, all power, victory and knowledge of the future, everything that has been and ever will be, all rests in our God and that everything is safe in His hands.  We see the disarray around us and feel as though things are out of control, morality is falling through the cracks, times are desperate.  The prophetic words of Isaiah and Jeremiah seem to be suddenly relevant to our times.  Because we have His Spirit and life working within us, we want to fix things, restore godliness in our culture, make people wake up and smell the coffee (The lovely fragrance of grace and salvation in Christ), to draw them out of this present darkness into His marvelous light.

So, we get busy doing all that is humanly possible to make it so.  In our good intentions, we can forget that when He decides that a thing will be done, it is not an “if” but a “who, how & when” question.  He has THE plan that will succeed (no question here!) and has offered to let us partner with Him in the implementation.  Our participation may require sacrifice (setting aside our own plans, giving up our own rights, investing inconveniently and generously of our time/talents).  His directions may leave us baffled at times because they seem to lead in the wrong direction or along a serpentine path.  If He asks us to be the “who” in a venture and we set off on our own and in our own strength to do it, we will fail His plan for our participation in THE plan even if we gain human praise for our accomplishment and form of success in the world.  Our God will seek and find someone else who will listen and obey whatever He asks to accomplish His eternal purposes.

Impact on Me

I should be wise enough by now to never set out without soaking my next efforts in prayer and submitting my plans to the Lord.  I want the witness of my life, my words, my actions to be always sharing the Gospel.  I want to live by, “Share the Gospel.  If necessary, use words.”  I want my life to demonstrate why being in Christ is better than anything the world can offer.  I do not want to limit what God can do with my obedience, allowing His goodness, kindness and grace to season all that I do.  Nonetheless, I don’t always take the time to listen well and sometimes get drawn off into what is good to do that keeps me from what I am called to do. 

How do I discern the difference between what is good to do and what I am called to do?  How do I avoid being distracted from my specific part in God’s plan by filling up my time with so many good things that I neglect the necessary time alone with God and His Word so I can hear how and where He is asking me to devote my time?  It is a fine balance.  I serve several ministries at church, attend Home Group, do my morning devotions, spend time in prayer daily.  Still, I need to submit my time and efforts to the Lord, allowing Him to be my scheduler, my supervisor, my time manager.

Devotion

Lord God, Ruler of Heaven and Earth, Waymaker, I worship You.  I place my confidence in You, “For I know the One in whom I have placed my confidence, and I am perfectly certain that the work He has committed to me is safe in his hands until that day.”  By Your Holy Spirit, work in me the patience and wisdom to submit all of my days, all of my efforts, all of my words, all of my planning to You.  May I be faithful to complete the work You have assigned to me.  I want to marinate what we do in prayer so it will be saturated with the Holy Spirit and full of God-flavor in every bite.  Help me have the patience and faith to take the time for soaking, waiting, allowing for gradual change, never becoming discouraged by what I see.  May I absolutely trust He Who holds everything safe in His hands, insisting that You lead and I follow.  In Jesus’ Name, make it so, Lord.

2Timothy  4:6-8 JBP – As for me, I feel that the last drops of my life are being poured out for God.  The glorious fight that God gave me I have fought.  The course that I was set I have finished, and I have kept the faith.  The future for me holds the crown of righteousness which God, the true judge, will give to those who have loved what they have seen of Him.

Observation

On this journey, God gives each of us a different race to run, call to fulfill.  Whether we are a runner or part of the support team, our part is key to winning the prize God has set before us – individually and as the Body of Christ.  For Paul, the race was an obstacle course full of highs and lows, joys and sorrows, public ministry and prison isolation, heavenly victories and earthly defeats.  That was his race, his call.  There were so many others whose names we do not know who supported his ministry, brought him encouragement, preached the same Gospel in obscurity because they were pursuing their race, following their call – obeying God.

My former church had a focus statement, a goal on which to set our sights.  Some might call it a mission statement.  It was, “Follow Well, Love Well, Serve Well.”  We used “well” to allow for the grace of God to pick us up, dust us off, and set us on course again when we confessed and repented for the trips and falls of life.  Our life is a journey – mapped out by us or on a course set by God.  Which one is up to us.  However, we should not be intimidated or feel inadequate by comparing our race to any other.  Obedience is better than sacrifice.  Spend the time to get God’s plan for you.

Impact on Me

The secret for me is to discern and be content with my race, my call, and, then follow well, love well, serve well and finish well in fulfilling the role God has assigned to me.  This is so much easier when the roles and responsibilities are clearly expressed, as in a secular job description.  However, that is not the way God usually does things for me.  I have been led out of my comfort zone into the unknown only to find that Jesus goes with me and brings the Holy Spirit to equip and support me.  So, why do I hesitate when God invites me into the next scary place?  Shouldn’t I get it by now?  Did I just trip and fall on the road of life again?

As I pick myself up and dust myself off, I am reminded by my traveling companion that finishing is the goal, not the order I cross the finish line.  I don’t believe that God is concerned with us being first because He is not performance-based.  However, I do believe that He is concerned that we finish well the course He has set before us.  The first and last finisher of a marathon or Iron Man competition receive a recognition medal for finishing.  I love how Paul describes his recognition award for finishing his race – “the crown of righteousness which God, the true judge, will give to those who have loved what they have seen of Him.”

Devotion

Lord God Almighty, Father, Savior, Helper, I worship You.  I want it to be said of me that I followed well, loved well, served well and finished well.  I step out in faith with a trembling heart not because I doubt You, but, rather, because I doubt my ability to hear You clearly and be bold to continue the race You set before me no matter what it costs.  Oh my, let it be said of me by my Lord – that all my life, my efforts, my words were fired with loving what I saw of You!  Lord, I need Your help to run and finish this race You have set before me.  Help me to know when I am doing well.  I need to know.  Make it so, in Jesus’ name.

Matthew  8:5-12 MSG  ^5-6 As Jesus entered the village of Capernaum, a Roman captain came up in a panic and said, “Master, my servant is sick. He can’t walk. He’s in terrible pain.”  ⁷ Jesus said, “I’ll come and heal him.”  ^8-9 “Oh, no,” said the captain. “I don’t want to put you to all that trouble. Just give the order and my servant will be fine. I’m a man who takes orders and gives orders. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes; to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”  Taken aback, Jesus said, “I’ve yet to come across this kind of simple trust in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know all about God and how He works.  This man is the vanguard of many outsiders who will soon be coming from all directions – streaming in from the east, pouring in from the west, sitting down at God’s kingdom banquet alongside Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Then those who grew up ‘in the faith’ but had no faith will find themselves out in the cold, outsiders to grace and wondering what happened.”

James 2:14-17 MSG  Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

Observation

Wouldn’t that be the worst – to grow up “in the faith” but have no outward evidence of faith?  This Roman captain recognized the authority Jesus had over sickness and disease.  As a Roman, it is unlikely that he knew much about Jewish faith and practice.  Nonetheless, he recognized the absolute and supernatural authority resident in this man, Jesus, because of the visible results of His faith.  The Jewish religious leaders, those who “grew up in the faith,” completely missed it because Jesus challenged their traditions, their training, and the accepted knowledge of the day.  Jesus just was too radical and didn’t live up to the Messiah they expected.  Their education and traditions would not bend to allow for the God of grace and mercy to be Himself in and through Jesus.

We need to be careful in how much emphasis we put on gaining knowledge (pursuing education, degrees and training) without an equal emphasis on serving, which is the substance of the Gospel.  Knowledge alone can set our perspective in stone so we become like the religious leaders – more interested in form than substance.   If we are not giving evidence of our faith by witnessing, reaching outside the church walls, serving the needy, and putting ourselves out of our comfort zone, we are missing it by the same mile as those religious leaders.  Jesus asks us to depend on the Holy Spirit to flow in and through us to rescue, redeem, and restore those in need.  The faith that brought me to salvation through Jesus should mature through me continually exercising faith to make me more like Him.

Impact on Me

I marvel at the Roman who could make the leap between the authority he wielded to the authority he saw exercised in and through Jesus, an itinerant Jewish rabbi.  This Roman believed that there was no distance, no need to touch, but only the word of Jesus needed to be spoken for it to happen.  Do I have this same faith when I pray?  Do I insist on telling God how to answer, placing my expectations on Him or do I make sure to pray in a way that allows for God’s will to supersede and set aside my plan for the answer?  Do I tend to be so spiritual in my response that I ignore the physical or emotional need of those He brings to me? 

“Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?”  How tragic to believe that I followed, loved, and served well to find that I completely missed the mark!  When I stand before Jesus, how will He judge my faith?  Will He say that my actions matched my professed faith in Him?  Will He say I kept the faith while fulfilling what He required of me?  Will He judge that, as I promised, I honored Him with all I am and all I did?  Will my repentance bring real change, real submission to His will and purpose?  When it all been said and done, will I be more like Jesus?

Devotion

Lord God, Merciful, Gracious, Loving Father, I worship You.  I want to always be becoming more like Jesus.  Stretch me in my faith.  Keep me uncomfortable enough that I will always be submitted to Your authority, seeking Your answers, exercising Your power, and listening for what You would have me say and do rather than depending on my own strength, ability and education.  I want to believe when I pray that You are able, willing and will do what You have promised no matter how impossible it may appear to me AND whether Your response fits my expectations, my plan.  I lay down my pride, my rights, my dreams, all I have and am, for to serve You for Your will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven.  Keep my feet to the fire on this.  Make it so, in Jesus’ name.

Matthew  15:32-37  (NLT) Then Jesus called His disciples and told them, “I feel sorry for these people.  They have been here with Me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat.  I don’t want to send them away hungry, or they will faint along the way.”  The disciples replied, “Where would we get enough food here in the wilderness for such a huge crowd?”  Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?  “They replied, “Seven loaves, and a few small fish.” 

So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground.  Then He took the seven loaves and the fish, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces.  He gave them to the disciples, who distributed the food to the crowd.  They all ate as much as they wanted.  Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food.

Observation

Jesus presents a need to His disciples born of compassion and care.  This crowd is 4000 men plus women and children, which could easily bring the crowd over 10,000.  In the previous chapter, Jesus fed a crowd of at least 5000, walked out to their boat on the water, had Peter walk on the water, saved Peter from drowning, and calmed the turbulent seas.  After all that, His disciples could have said, “Okay, here’s what we have to contribute to the cause.  We trust you to make it enough.  Let’s start handing it out”.  But they don’t.

Instead, they state the impossibility of complying with Jesus’ request from a human standpoint.  “Where would we get enough food here in the wilderness for such a huge crowd?”  Jesus then asks, what they bring to this table (have to offer) to help meet the need.  “Not enough,” is their reply.  Jesus then proceeds to send them out to take their insufficient supply to meet the overwhelmingly impossible need.  He used their hands and their “not enough” in hand to deliver the miraculous provision.  In the end, the leftovers are much more than what they had to offer to meet the need in the beginning.

Impact on Me

It is easy for me to be amazed at their lack of faith.  After all, they have seen Jesus overcome the impossible with their own eyes many times.  However, if I am honest with myself, I find myself in this same place so many times.  I can recount many miracles that I have experienced (seen with my own eyes) in my life.  Yet, how many times do I see an overwhelming need born of compassion and then become discouraged when I look at what I have to offer?  In this, I limit God by attempting to meet the need with only what can be humanly brought to the table.  Jesus is not limited by what we bring, but only by what we will offer to Him for His use.

How many times have I allowed my faith to shrink and my courage to fail because I thought, “This is all I have, Lord, and it is not enough!”.  Why doesn’t my faith, the trust born of the experience of Christ in me, lift up what little I have and say, “Lord, here is what I have.  It is Yours.  Use it and me as You will to meet this need.  Nothing is impossible for You.”  The best thing I bring to the table is faith and obedience.  When I do, He has always been faithful to deliver exceedingly abundantly above all I could ask or think.  Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever.

Devotion

Lord God, Eternal, All Powerful, Miracle Worker, Never Changing, I worship You.  You stay the course with me regardless of how many side trips I take from Your pathway set before me.  Please remind me always that I am not the real answer to any need; You are the only answer to them all. May I always remember that it is not what I bring to Your table, but, rather, how freely and completely I offer it up and allow You to use it.  I pray that You will use me as You used Your disciples to distribute Your grace, healing, provision, love, mercy.  BUT never let me forget that I am just the servant distributing what You provide.  In Jesus’ name, I pray.