Living In The Right Spiritual "Time Zone"

"giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins."
Colossians 1:12-14 (NKJV)

In my personal life and ministry work, I have done a lot of traveling.  When I travel overseas, there is a several hour change in the time, and that means adjusting to a new time zone.  My strategy is that once I am on the airplane I change my time from the location where I am to where I will be.  Some people keep their watch and devices in their former time zone during the entire trip, and even after they have arrived in their new location, which only makes adjusting to the new time zone more difficult.

When someone becomes a Christian, a born-again follower of Jesus, they move into a new kingdom.  So there has to be an adjustment from living the old way of life, in the devil's kingdom, to a new way of life in God's Kingdom.  If we try to continue to live the way we have in the past, then just like trying to live in the wrong time zone we will have some problems.  We have left the past behind, and even though we may sometimes feel like we are still a part of that former kingdom, we need to make the shift and adjustment to living in God's Kingdom.

Colossians 1:13 says that we have been conveyed, transferred, out of the kingdom and power of darkness into the Kingdom of God's Son, Jesus.  You could say that in God's Kingdom we are in a new spiritual "time zone," and we need to make the necessary adjustments to live there properly.  In our new kingdom, we have an inheritance and redemption through the blood of Jesus; we are in a new kingdom, and we have to live that way.  No matter how we may feel, or how much we may remember our former kingdom and spiritual time zone, we have to leave all of that behind and live in the reality of our new kingdom. 

Your Piece Of The Puzzle

"But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.
And if they were all one member, where would the body be?
But now indeed there are many members, yet one body."
1 Corinthians 12:18-20 (NKJV)

Putting together a puzzle can be an enjoyable way to spend time.  When a puzzle is completed, you have a beautiful picture of something, or you at least have an interesting picture, depending on the puzzle.  But, for a puzzle to be complete, you have to have all the pieces in the right place.  Some pieces may look similar, but each piece will only fit in one specific place, so each piece is uniquely necessary to create the entire puzzle.  If a piece is missing, you cannot complete the puzzle, and you will have an incomplete picture.

Many people lack purpose in their life, and they live without a real purpose.  That is one reason so many people have problems.  If someone does not have a true purpose in life, if they are just existing, their life is not as full as it should be.  God has a plan, a purpose, for each and every person, whether they are born again or not.  But, until someone receives Jesus as their Savior and Lord, that person will never really connect with the true purpose that God has given them.  If people understood that there is a place and purpose waiting for them in God's family, it would make a difference in their lives.

The Bible refers to believers as the Body of Christ, and we each have a part to play in the Body.  This is just like every piece of a puzzle being important for the complete picture.  If someone is not filling their place in the Body, then something is missing, just like if you were missing a piece for a puzzle.  God has a purpose for our life, and it is up to us to discover it.  This comes through spiritual growth and development in God's Word and with the help of the Holy Spirit.  We are all valuable parts of the Body of Christ, and God needs us all to take our place so that His will can come to pass.

Thankful And Peaceful

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful."
Colossians 3:15 (NKJV)

It has been said that for every cloud there is a silver lining, meaning that even when things are less than perfect, something good can still be found.  However, some people seem to have this concept backwards, because for them it seems that every silver lining has a cloud.  Two people can be looking at the same thing and see it completely different, it is simply a matter of perspective.  We can choose to find a silver lining in a cloud and find something positive in a situation, or we can see a dark cloud, no matter how bright things might be otherwise.

The Thanksgiving holiday in the USA happens every year in November.  But that does not mean that we cannot be thankful for things during the entire year.  We can see the positive in things and be thankful all year long, or we can wait for some special thing to happen to give us a better reason to be thankful.  Being grateful and thankful for things will help us beyond just having something positive to say in every situation.  If we are actively looking for something to be thankful about, it can create an attitude of thanksgiving in us that will be a benefit to us in other areas of life.

Thanksgiving is a great time to be thankful, and by being thankful, we are choosing to focus on something positive rather than something negative.  Colossians 3:15 talks about allowing the peace of God to rule in our heart, and being thankful.  God wants us to live a life of peace, as well as being thankful, and I do not think it is just a coincidence that these two things are linked together.  In every situation, we need to see what we can be thankful for, not just on Thanksgiving.  Being thankful can help us live at peace, rather than being agitated by things we are unhappy about and not thankful for.

Nothing Else Will Satisfy

"Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me, and to finish His work."
John 4:34 (NKJV)

Have you ever gone to a restaurant, with a high expectation of enjoying a wonderful meal, but when you finished your meal, you were not very satisfied with what you had?  Maybe the food was not prepared properly, or maybe your idea of what the food would be like did not match what you received.  Or maybe you had the experience of being hungry, finding some food, and then what you ate did not satisfy you, and you wanted something else.  But no matter what, having an experience like this that does not satisfy you and leaves you disappointed is not good.

Just like someone can eat some food and not really be satisfied, there are a lot of things that people fill their lives with that may be nice, but they ultimately do not leave them feeling satisfied.  People put an emphasis on things in their life like sports, family activities, a career, money, social status, and other things, but none of them bring lasting satisfaction.  But by following the will of God we see in the Bible and following the direction of the Holy Spirit in our life, we can live a successful and satisfying life.

Doing the will of God and fulfilling His purpose in our life is the only thing that will truly satisfy us.  This is what Jesus was telling the disciples in John 4:34 when He talked about His "food" was doing the will of God.  There are many things that people try to substitute for God's will, but those things never bring the ultimate satisfaction that following God and doing His will can bring.  The only thing that will really satisfy us is following God's plan for our life, living according to His Word, and doing the will of God.  Jesus' satisfaction in life came from doing the will of God, what about us? 

Called, And Excited ... But Trained?

"And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen."
Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)

Imagine a situation where someone is hired to do a job that they are excited about, some kind of a job that they have always wanted.  For example, there are some people whose dream job would be that of a barista.  The person who was hired for the job would be happy that they were hired, and they would be very excited about the job and motivated to do the work.  But if the person who is employed as a barista does not know how to operate the coffee machine, they are ineffective, they still have to be trained.

Many Christians understand that we have been called to go into all the world the preach the Gospel.  Once someone is born again, they are an ambassador for Christ, but not all believers are as focused on, or as excited about that as they should be.  And while some Christians understand that they are called by God to do something, and they are excited about reaching the world for Christ, their level of spiritual development is too low for them to be effective in going out into the world to make disciples of all nations.     

When Jesus gave us "The Great Commission" (Matthew 28:18-20), He was talking about making people disciples, not just converts, but people who had been taught and then observe, do, what they were taught.  Some believers know they have been called, and they are excited about doing the will of God, but they have no training or spiritual development, so they are not really equipped to do the work the God has called them to do.  Being called, and being excited is good, but we need to be trained and equipped to be the kind of disciples that Jesus expects us to be.

The Bible Is Not Clickbait

"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
The statues of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, yea, then much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Psalm 19:7-10 (NKJV)

In the world of the Internet, things are not always what they seem to be, or what they claim to be.  You have probably seen something that talks about a celebrity who may have died, some amazing thing that you have to see, or an unbelievable situation that just happened.  But if you click on the story, it is not really worth looking at.  These types of things are often referred to as "clickbait."  Clickbait is defined as something that tries to get a person to click on a link or story, but the content is actually of little value or real interest, and could even be something bad.

The Bible is a book that is easily available, but even so, not everyone reads the Bible.  People are sometimes skeptical about the Bible and what it says, and there are also people who think the Bible is too confusing, out of date, unreliable, or not really relevant any more.  But the real problem is that people do not spend the time in God's Word that they really need to in order to get the benefit from it.  While we cannot just figure everything out in the Bible with only our natural intellect, God will help us to understand the Bible and show us how we can apply His Word to our life.

People have a lot of different ideas about the Bible and how important it is for us.  God gave us His Word to help us and to guide us, and not just to try and attract our attention and then not give us what we need.  God tells us plainly what the truth is; He's not trying to hide things or make it difficult to find what we need for our life.  God's Word is not just some clickbait that is trying to draw us in with a promise of something it cannot deliver.  God's Word is life changing, and what we learn from God's Word can make an amazing difference in our life. 

Why Aren't You Walking Together?

"Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?"
Amos 3:3 (NKJV)

Recently, when I was out for a walk, I saw two other people walking.  These were people I had seen before, and it seemed to me that they were probably husband and wife.  But, in this recent time when I saw them, they were not walking together.  The man, presumably the husband, was walking about five feet in front of the woman, who I took to be his wife.  But for some reason on this day, they were not walking together.  It made me wonder what had happened that they did not want to near each other, and I hoped that it was not some permanent problem.

In the Bible, our life and relationship with God is compared to, and even called, a walk.  And our walk with God should be with God, not separated from Him.  Sometimes Christians talk about how they do not feel as close to God as they once did, but God is not changing, and if anyone has moved, it is certainly not Him.  It should be that what we do in our life is done in unison with God, and that we walk along with Him in our life, following His plan and direction, and not wandering off on our own way, which would definitely be a bad thing.

Amos 3:3, says, "Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?"  Sometimes Christians do not "walk" as close to the Lord, so to speak, as they might at other times, but why is that?  Are there times in our relationship with God where He changes or somehow moves?  Or could it be that there are times that we are not in such a close relationship with God because we are somehow not really in agreement with God?  Our goal should be to have a life, a walk which pleases God, where we are walking along with Him and not somewhere behind Him. and certainly not ahead of Him. 

What Is Our Source?

"Preach the word!  Be ready in season and out of season.  Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching."
2 Timothy 4:2 (NKJV)

Many times, when reading a story, listening to a report, or researching something, you can find sources listed for the material that someone is writing or talking about.  To be accurate with a story, a news account, or any information that is being shared, a reliable source needs to be quoted or made note of.  Anyone can say something or cite some information that has no actual basis in truth, so to be certain that what is being said is worth paying attention to, a good source for the given information is necessary.

There is so much information that we have access to, and that is both good and bad, because while there are good things available, there is a lot of information being given out today that is not correct.  This is true in every area of life, and unfortunately it is also true with Christians and people who talk about God and the Bible.  There are so many things I have seen and heard from various sources, talking about some supposed Bible truth, which is not right, and it sometimes goes into completely wrong teaching.  To be accurate when talking about biblical things, we need to base what we say and teach on God's Word.

God's Word has to be our source for what we believe and for what we use to teach and share with others.  As Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2, we must "Preach the Word!" to not only be accurate but also helpful.  Paul encouraged Timothy that if he was going to be helpful to others, he could not preach about his own ideas or opinions, but Timothy had to be sure to use God's Word as his source.  What is the source for what we do and say?  Is our source really God and His Word, or are we taking our source materials from someplace else?

If I Had That, I Would Do This

"He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much."
Luke 16:10 (NKJV)

Have you ever heard someone say, "If I had a million dollars, I would ..." talking about something that person would do with a large amount of money.  Or maybe someone talks about what they would do with more time, a certain ability, or if they lived in some other place.  If we are honest about it, we have all probably said, or thought, something like this at some time in our life.  But the point is not what we would do if we had something different or we were in some other place, the question really is, what are we doing right now with what we do have?

It is easier to talk about doing something than it is to actually do it, and it is easier to talk about what we might do in the future, rather than looking at what we can do now.  This is really something that is a universal type of thing, and pretty much everyone, including Christians, are guilty of this kind of thinking.  We can all fall into the trap of looking at something someone else has, wishing we had that thing, and dreaming about what we would do if we had it.  But rather than looking at something we do not have, we need to see what we do have and make use of that.

In Luke 16:10, Jesus said that if someone is faithful in a little thing, they would be faithful in a big thing, and if someone is not faithful with something small, then that is how they would deal with something bigger.  This relates to all of us in some way.  If we are not making the best use of our time, our resources, and our abilities now, then what makes us think things would be different with more time, resources or abilities?  Instead of looking at what we do not have, and dreaming about what we would do if we had that, we need to see what we can do now, where we are, with what we do have.

Our Weekly Report

"Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed."
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
John 8:31-32 (NKJV)

My smartphone and tablet are made by the same company, so it is not surprising that they have similar features.  Both of these devices have what they call the Weekly Report.  This report pops up on my smartphone and tablet every week, showing me how much time I have spent on these devices, what apps I used the most, and how long I used them.  It is somewhat interesting to me to see what I was doing on my smartphone and tablet in the past week, and what apps I have been getting the most use out of.

Unless someone lives in a nation that does not have some of the basic freedoms that most people in the world enjoy, having access to a Bible is not a difficult thing.  Personally, I have several physical copies of the Bible, Bible apps on my smartphone and tablet, a Bible program in my computer, and there are websites I can go to where I can read the Bible, or have it read to me.  That is all great, unless I never make use of those things.  It would be strange to have all this access to the Bible and never make use of it, but unfortunately that is the case for some people.  

In John 8:31-32, Jesus said that to truly be His disciple, you had to abide in His Word; then you would know the truth, and the truth would make you free.  But what if someone only referred to what Jesus said on a rare occasion?  And what if Jesus' disciples then, and now, had a weekly report, just like the one my smartphone and tablet have every week, that showed how much time we spent in God's Word?  What kind of disciple would our weekly Bible report show we are, and would that help us see why we may not be living in the benefits that Jesus provided for us?  Reading and studying the Bible is something we should do on a daily basis. 

Being Immersed

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."
Colossians 3:16 (NKJV)

Immersion schools develop children in a specific language through an education program done in another language.  This means that classes dealing with things like math are done in another language.  So, while the children are learning the different subjects, they are also developing their language skills.  Another example of immersion would be if you were underwater scuba diving or deep sea diving and doing something while you were underwater.  You are involved in some activity, and the entire time you are doing it you are immersed in the water.

The word immerse means to submerge something, to be put into something that entirely covers and surrounds a person or a thing.  If someone or something is immersed in something, then what they are being immersed in covers every part of the person or thing.  In a sense, being immersed in something could also be used to describe someone who is so caught up in, and focused on something that this thing dominates who they are and what they do, such as someone involved in training for a sporting event, or someone studying in a university.

In Colossians 3:16, it says we need to let the Word of Christ, God's Word, dwell in us richly.  This is talking about our making God's Word a priority in our life so that our thinking, our actions, and our words all have their roots in biblical principles.  We have to immerse ourselves in God's Word on a daily basis so that it is the main influence in our lives.  If we are not immersed in God's Word to the point where it dwells in us richly, and it guides our life, then what is the governing factor of our life?  We need to be immersed in God's Word so that it makes a difference in every area of our life.

Are You Fully Convinced?

"He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God."
and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform."
Romans 4:20-21 (NKJV)

When you believe something strongly enough, and you are convinced about something, there is nothing that can persuade you otherwise.  When you are completely convinced something is true, no one can change your mind about that.  But what if you had an idea about something, but you were not sure if it was right or wrong?  If you were not completely convinced about something being true, someone might get you to believe that something else is true.  But once you are convinced something is true, nothing can change that.

Faith is a key element in the life of a Christian.  Faith is believing in something, and having faith in something means you accept that thing as true.  If you are in faith about something you find in God's Word, then God's Word is your evidence of the truth and accuracy of that thing, despite what you might see or experience around you.  Faith is something that can be developed to the point of having unshakable faith where you are fully convinced about what God has said, and nothing can change that.  But to get to the point of being fully convinced, we may need to have our faith more developed.  

Romans 4:21 says that Abraham was fully convinced that what God had said was true.  Abraham was strengthened in faith as he kept his focus on what God had said, and by saying what God had said.  We may read something in the Bible about what belongs to us in Christ, or what God will do in our life, but it may not seem real to us.  That is when we need to be like Abraham and keep our focus on what God has said, and we need to keep on saying what God's Word says.  By doing this, we can become fully convinced that what God has said is what He will do for us. 

Are You Stopping In The Wrong Places?

"Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you.
Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. 
Do not turn to the right or the left; remove your foot from evil."
Proverbs 4:25-27 (NKJV)

In Germany, there are different types of trains: regional trains, regional express trains, intercity trains, and intercity express trains.  Regional trains make more stops on their routes than the intercity express trains do, so the intercity trains are able to get you to your destination much faster than the other trains do.  Depending on where you need to go, there may be one specific train you need to take, but no matter what, the best train is the one that will get you to the right destination without making any unnecessary stops.

The Bible says that we are on a path in life, that there is a way we should be going, and we need to be sure we are on the right path to get to where we need to go.  If we are following the path that God wants us to take, then our goal should be to do what we can to reach our destination without unnecessary delays or stops along the way.  If we make unscheduled stops in our journey, or take the wrong route, we will be delayed in reaching our destination and we may not reach our goal the way that we should.  

In Proverbs 4, we are told to keep our eyes looking straight ahead, to ponder (consider), the path we are on, and not to turn to the right or the left.  Just like some trains in Germany make a stop at every station, while others make less stops and travel faster, we can make stops in the wrong places in life and get off track in the plan of God, through getting involved with people and things that are not part of God's plan.  We need to find the best way to reach our destination in life, to be sure that we fulfill the will of God, and that we do not get bogged down with excessive delays and stops along the way.

Honorable In The Sight Of Everyone

"providing honorable things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men."
2 Corinthians 8:21 (NKJV)

Have you ever seen people going to some type of meeting or convention for people who take part in role playing games, or for fans of sci-fi fantasy movies or television shows?   Often people will dress up as a favorite character to attend these meetings as that character.  In those types of conventions, everyone dressed up as some character looks fine and fits in well, but what if someone dressed that way and went to their work as a doctor or a police officer?  If they dressed the same way in both places, they would look out of place in one of those two locations.

It is one thing to live in a way where you are just trying to please people and fit in for the sake of fitting in, but it is something else to do things that do not create some kind of problem.  While we should not live a two-faced type of existence where we behave one way with a certain group of people and then another way with a different group, there is a way to live where we can fit in to whatever situation that we might find ourselves in.  If we fit in well in one situation, and we look completely out of place in another, we may need to check into what we are doing.

In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul said that the way he was doing things was "honorable," not just in the view of God and Christians, but even with others outside of the church.  Integrity is an important quality that every believer, and especially leaders, needs to have.  Do we have a good reputation with those outside the church, or just with the people in our church?  If we only look good to other believers, and in our church group, but not to the rest of the world, we have lost at least some of our influence with those people.  We need to do things that everyone will see as honorable and good, and not just by those closest to us.  

Every Tool Has A Purpose

"from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love."
Ephesians 4:16 (NKJV)

There are many different companies that make tools for different uses, but no company would make a tool that would never be used.  Every tool and piece of equipment that is made is made for a reason, there is some purpose that the tool was created for.  No successful business would create a tool that no one had a reason to use for something.  Some tools are very simple and easy to use, and some tools are more complicated.  But no matter the kind of tool, each tool has a purpose, and it was designed for that use.

Feeling useless and not having a purpose is a terrible thing, and many people today are living a purposeless life, but it should not be that way.  God has a plan and a purpose for everyone.  One of the greatest things in life is discovering the purpose God has for our life.  Once we become a Christian, we need to grow up spiritually and learn about who we are in Christ and about the plan and purpose God has for us.  As Christians, we should not live a purposeless life, because God has something for each of us to do in life.

God has a purpose for us, to help fulfill His plan for the Body of Christ and the world.  Just like every tool was created for a purpose, God has given us an ability that we can use to supply something in and to the Body of Christ, which will then impact the world.  We are God's children, He loves us, and He wants to use us to bring a supply of something to the Body of Christ and the world.  We need to get into God's Word and follow the direction of the Holy Spirit to learn who we are in Christ, what ability God has given us, and how He wants to use us to fulfill His will.