One Relationship

Nearly every time I scold my children, I hear how the problem is someone else’s fault – “So-and-so hit me first, wouldn’t be quiet, yelled, took my toy, distracted me, or started it.” I remind my children that we are responsible for our choices, and another person’s behavior doesn’t justify a bad choice on our part. As adults, we are guilty too. Sometimes the situation looks more refined, but it boils down to the same problem. We react.

Every day we will encounter people making bad choices. How do we respond to them? How do we get along with them? How do we love them? As I thought about these questions, I realized only one relationship matters – us and God. When we react, we should react to God, not man. If we are in deep relationship with God, the Holy Spirit will incite us to bear fruit.

Every person we meet is an opportunity to interact with God. Each person is God’s beloved creation, made in His image (Genesis 1:27). When we respond to a person, we should recognize and reflect that fact. We are looking at a person just like us – made by God, broken, and in need of Him. If God pours out love and grace on us, we should respond likewise. We don’t have to fret about how to respond to people making bad choices, and we certainly don’t treat them as they (may rightfully) deserve. We focus on the only relationship that matters – our relationship with God. If we are intimate with Him, all of our relationships and interactions will reflect Him. We will be the hands, feet, face, and grace of Christ shining on Earth.

Accompanying Scripture:

Matthew 5:16 (WEB)

Even so, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

 

Ephesians 5:8-10 (WEB)

For you were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, proving what is well pleasing to the Lord.

 

Philippians 2:13-15 (WEB)

For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and arguing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without defect in the middle of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world.

 

Matthew 25:35-40 (WEB)

³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? ³⁸ When did we see you as a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

 

Colossians 3:12-17 (WEB)

¹² Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; ¹³ bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.

¹⁴ Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection. ¹⁵ And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.

¹⁷ Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through him.

 

Colossians 3:23-24 (WEB)

And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

 

Ephesians 4:32 (NIV)

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

 

John 15:4-5 (WEB)

Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

 

John 15:8 (WEB)

“In this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples.”

 

1 Samuel 16:7 (WEB)

But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Don’t look on his face, or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for I don’t see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.”

 

2 Corinthians 5:16a (NIV)

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.

Photo – Heart in the Shining Light © 2015 Leslie Klosterman.

Live In Him

Day 2 of my morning study brought me back to Colossians, this time the first chapter.  Let me share my reading with you.

 

Colossians 1:9b-14 (NIV)

^9b We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, ¹⁰ so 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, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,¹² and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. ¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

 

What a powerful passage!  I found it especially insightful after my prayer the previous day asking for God to reveal how I am to live in Him.  What struck me was verse 10 telling me that I could live a life worthy of the Lord and I could please him.  I have struggled with this concept.  Once a subject of sin, I am saved through grace.  I can only come to God because I am clothed in Christ.  So when I prayed that I would be pleasing to God or that I could serve him, I questioned what that meant.  Clothed in Christ, I am pleasing to God but that has nothing to do with my own actions.  And who am I that I could serve God?

 

Acts 17:24-25 (WEB)

²⁴ The God who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands, ²⁵ neither is he served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself gives to all life and breath, and all things.

 

Previously I accommodated the desire to do works for God as a reflex of gratitude.  I wasn’t trying to earn anything, but I wanted to express my thankfulness for his mercy by being obedient to him.

But these verses say directly that I can live a life worthy and I can be pleasing.  While still not about achieving salvation, the language reflects that my actions carry weight in my relationship with God.

So how do I live worthily and please him?  The passage lists 4 ways: bearing fruit in every good work; growing in knowledge of God; being strengthened for exceeding endurance and patience; giving joyful thanks.  How very straightforward.

Reflecting on these four imperatives led me to another insight—pleasing Him and being worthy is still not something I can do!  These statements describe something He is accomplishing through His power.

Bearing fruit through good works sounds like my responsibility to always be about good works, but let us not forget that only through Him will we bear fruit.

 

John 15:4-5 (WEB)

⁴ Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. ⁵ I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

 

Growing in knowledge of God is something I can facilitate by prayer and study of the Word, but ultimately God and the Spirit dwelling in us opens our hearts and minds to the truth.  Many a man can study without coming to wisdom.  The Bible clearly and frequently points out that God himself provides the knowledge and wisdom we seek.

 

Proverbs 2:6 (WEB)

For Yahweh gives wisdom.
Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

 

James 1:5 (WEB)

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach; and it will be given to him.

 

“Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience” says it all – once again we are leaving ourselves open to the work He does in us rather than doing something ourselves.

Lastly, we are to give joyful thanks. (Quick note – this says joyful, not somber, begrudging, reasoned or self-flagellating thanks).  We can praise and worship, but who is the source of our joy?  Who but God can instill joy in all circumstances?

Which comes first, the chicken or the egg, obedience or salvation?  So often, we try to achieve the ends (the fruits) through our means, but God constantly teaches us that we need to rest in Him and His power.  If we constantly seek Him and His will, He will work in us that which makes our lives pleasing and worthy.

Photo – Egg Heart © 2015 Leslie Klosterman

In the Love 11

Bearing Fruit

John 15:1-17 (NIV)

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

⁹ “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.

In God, we will bear fruit.  His love will produce love in us.  We are not saved by the works that we do, by the fruit that we produce.  Because we are saved, because his love dwells in us, we cannot help but bear fruit.  Faith without works is dead because all our greatest efforts without love are nothing and gain us nothing.  We must protect LOVE and reflect LOVE.  That is the Gospel of Peace.

James 2:14-26 (WEB)

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him? ¹⁵ And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you tells them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled”; and yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it? ¹⁷ Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself. ¹⁸ Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith.

¹⁹ You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder. ²⁰ But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead? ²¹ Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? ²² You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected; ²³ and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God. ²⁴ You see then that by works, a man is justified, and not only by faith. ²⁵ In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way? ²⁶ For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.

 

Ephesians 2:4-10 (ESV)

⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,⁷ so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

 

1 John 5:2-5 (ESV)

² By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. ³ For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. ⁴ For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. ⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

 

1 Thessalonians 1:3 (NIV)

³ We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

1 John 3:16-20 (WEB)

¹⁶ By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. ¹⁷ But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and closes his heart of compassion against him, how does the love of God remain in him? ¹⁸ My little children, let’s not love in word only, or with the tongue only, but in deed and truth. ¹⁹ And by this we know that we are of the truth, and persuade our hearts before him, ²⁰ because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

Photo – Branch © 2015 Leslie Klosterman