Author: Tim King

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The image above is a sunset over the harbor in Plymouth, MA. The bay is filled with pleasure and commercial boats. The waterfront is covered in numerous seafood restaurants and hotels. There are fish markets, tourist spots, and ice cream shops. There are also the memorials to the people and events that declare the history of the countries “hometown”.

The waterfront has changed radically in the 400 years since the Pilgrims first landed. But change is normal and expected. The choice to leave England and the life changes that resulted for the Pilgrims were radical and in many ways were a leap into the unknown. That is just how some changes in our lives are…radical, sudden, and extreme. Other changes are slow, barely noticeable, and nominal in magnitude. Regardless of the nature, scope, or magnitude of the change…it is still change. Everything seems to change…well, almost everything.

The instruction from the Lord to go and make disciples has stood the test of time. Since the day that Jesus spoke the words to the disciples in Matthew 28 and then again in Acts 1:8 the church has been called to go and make disciples. From Jerusalem, to Judea, to the ends of the earth we are to go. As we go we baptize and teach the Word. While each of our situations and lives may change, the mission never changes.

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

The Lord will return. Guaranteed. That truth will never change either.

In the meantime we have a never changing responsibility, a God-given privilege, a high and amazing calling to share the truth of the Gospel wherever we are and whenever we can. The Holy Spirit equips, prompts, and guides our work…we just need to stay faithful and committed to the never changing mission.

“Amazing love! How can it be, That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?” And Can It Be, Charles Wesley.

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This week we remember Christ’s atoning work on the cross and blessed victory over death through His resurrection. All of it, every bit of it, was because God loved us. When we think of John 3:16 it starts with the statement “For God so loved the world…” but have you ever given any thought to how much the “so loved” really means? In chapter 17 of his Gospel, John records the words of Jesus in his High Priestly Prayer saying of his church “…that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” God loved and loves us as much as he loves Jesus himself.

That truly is an Amazing love!

During this season, as we take time to recall the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, let’s also take time to remember his amazing love. Remember to thank God for his loving mercy. Be encouraged and rejoice in the truth that you are so loved and then share the truth and proof of God’s immeasurable love for you with others!

In the midst of this current trial we pray.

We pray for our children. We pray for our parents. We pray for each other. We pray for those in authority.

We pray for safety. We pray for healing. We pray for comfort.

We pray for an end…

We pray for God’s mercy.

All of these are things we should be praying for.

This current season may be unlike any other we have ever experienced.

I would argue that it is always a season when we should be praying this prayer:

“In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”

Matthew 6:9-13

May God’s will be done in an through all of this and may he be given all the glory and honor.

“Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.” Colossians 2:8 (NKJV)

As always context of scripture is critical. This passage was a warning from Paul to the church at Colosse regarding the philosophy and false religion of Gnosticism that was tearing at the heats and minds of the church. Much like Satan’s temptation of Adam and Eve in the garden, the lies of Gnosticism were directed at the intellectual and physical/emotional desires of mankind’s mind and heart. The promises of uncommon, God-like knowledge and the unconstrained permission for even the most forbidden human sin is an attractive offer for even the purest of created beings. Adam and Eve, created for communion with God and initially without sin, could not resist the temptations of these desires.

Paul’s concern for this young church was enormous and exceeded only by the gravity and truth found in his warning he gives to them. It is clear, concise, and Christ centered.

BEWARE! The temptation is present and very real, Paul declares. It is not a possibility of a future deception…it is here and it is real. The “philosophy” of Satan’s schemes are deceitful and empty but they are ever-present and have been around since the creation of the world. They were present in the garden when Satan tempted Adam and Eve with physical and emotional “fruits” of deception. Christ himself was tempted by the same deceitful, God-separating philosophies that related to Christ’s physical “desires” and spiritual untruths. Guess what…Satan is still using the same bag of tricks. Sadly, we are not immune to those same schemes and temptations. So BEWARE! We need to be vigilant in standing prepared and to cling tenaciously to the truth of who Christ is and how desperately we need Him more than anything else this world has to offer.

Second, Paul declares in Christ alone we are made complete. All spiritual knowledge we seek and need, and all satisfaction for our physical desires are met in and through our Creator. Paul writes in verses 9-10 “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” We are complete in Christ for in Him we find everything we need in this life and in the life to come.

So let us live with the a keen awareness of the dangers that are ever present, but with the confident knowledge of who Christ truly is, who we are in Him, and live our life satiated in Christ alone.