Heart, Mind and Character

A series on Pauls’ prayers
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Philippians1:3-11 

[Paul was a controversial figure in the first century church. But it could also be argued that he was the most dynamic and influential apostle. In this series we’ll be looking at Paul’s prayers and what he has to say to us today.]

  

I recently spent the day with an old friend who is very dear to me. When we were in college at Michigan Tech, Ken shared the gospel with me one night. My life was changed forever! The rest of that summer Ken was my best friend, mentor and teacher. Wherever Ken went, I followed.

 

And it didn’t end there. The next summer, I followed him to participate in an intensive discipleship program in East Lansing, Michigan. It was another life changing experience.

 

When Paul wrote his letter to the Philippian church, he felt the same kind of love that I have for Ken.

 

^7a So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart. ⁸ God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus.            NLT

 

It was because of the love that Paul had for the Philippian believers, that he prayed the following prayer.

 

⁹ I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. ¹⁰ For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. ¹¹ May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.                 NLT

 

Pauls’ prayer for the Philippian believers was for love, knowledge and right living. In other words, for their heart, mind and character. Scripture tells us that Paul stayed in Philippi for only “several days”. However many days it was, he had a lasting impact on the people there.

 

Like my friend Ken, Paul invested himself into their lives. He shared the Gospel, taught them and lived out his beliefs. Then he prayed for them. For their heart, mind and character.

 

That’s a pretty good prayer don’t you think.

 

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Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

The Lesson of the Fish Fry

Subtitle: Breakfast on the Beach

John 21:1-14

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2021%3A1-14&version=NIV;NLT

 

Easter is when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. Normally, it’s a busy week with services on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and two on Easter Sunday; a sunrise service and a special Easter day service. Following this, we normally go home for time with family to celebrate Easter.

 

For over a decade, my wife and I have celebrated Easter Sunday with our daughter, her husband and our grandchildren; as well as my brother and his wife. Together we have enjoyed our annual Easter egg hunt, opened Easter baskets filled with goodies and shared an Easter dinner with traditional ham and cheesy potatoes.

 

Because of the stay at home order, Easter will be significantly different this year. However, in an effort to still “eat together”, we are going to celebrate our Easter dinner with our daughter and her family… virtually.

 

The menu and food preparation has been divided. An exchange will be made, at the appropriate social distance, on Saturday. Then, using Face Time, we will enjoy our Easter dinner together… just in different homes. We’ll see how it works.

 

In John 21, we read about Jesus and some of his disciples having a fish fry on the beach. Not exactly an Easter celebration, but a time of fellowship, discipleship and teaching.

 

You may have experienced déjà vu all over again as you read this story, because previously, in Luke 5, there’s a similar story with the same results. Only the first time when Simon Peter caught a boatload of fish, Jesus told him that from now on, he would fish for people. “So they pulled their boats on shore, left everything and followed him.”

 

So why does Jesus host a second fish fry on the beach? Could it be, that he is reminding his disciples of this earlier lesson? Could he be trying to get them to refocus on their mission? Could he be calling them once again, “to follow me”?

 

During your celebration of Easter this year, I hope you are able to enjoy some of your traditional activities.

But also, remember the lesson of the fish fry. We, like the disciples, have been called to catch fish; to share the Good News of Easter; to follow Jesus wherever he leads.

 

May you have a wonderful Easter; the best day of the year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Titus 3:3-8

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Titus%203%3A3-8&version=NIV;NLT

 

Might as well jump. Jump!           Go ahead, jump.
Might as well jump. Jump!           Go ahead, jump.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8LdRJqjjRM

 

In 1984, the rock group Van Halen, released a song by the title of Jump. The chorus wasn’t real creative.

 

My daughter was 4 years old at the time. After dinner I used to play the record really loud and we would jump around together. When it came to the chorus, I would lift her up by both hands singing “Jump”!

While she would laugh and giggle.

 

Today, when either of us hear the song come on the radio, that person will get the other on the phone, crank up the volume so that we can both hear it and relive the memory. We’ve been doing this for years.

 

That’s an example of how you invest in your children; how you invest in your spouse; how you invest in those you love. By spending time with them; pointing them in the right direction; doing everyday things together.

 

Titus was assigned to disciple the churches that Paul founded on the island of Crete.

There are many instructions in this letter including how to set up Elders and how to relate to various groups of people. But none are more critical than these.

 

When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, ⁵ he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. ⁶ He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. ⁷ Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.         NLT

 

Of all the things Titus could do for the believers on the island of Crete, the most important was to point them to Christ. Of all the things you or I can do for others, the most important is to point them to Christ.

 

My daughter will soon give birth to her third child, or I should rephrase that to say “our third grandchild”. I’m not sure she has introduced her kids to Jump, but for sure she has pointed them to Christ. Let us do the same for those who the Lord has brought into our lives to love and to serve.

 

 

(If God has spoken to you through this blog, please feel free to share the link with others.)

http://lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shocking Grace

Mark 2:13-17

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%202%3A13-17&version=NIV;NLT

  

When was the last time you ate with a bunch of “sinners”?

Jesus’ ministry model was to spend time with “sinners” that nice, religious people wouldn’t want to associate with. Jesus looked at people differently.

 

In Matthew 20, Jesus told the parable of the vineyard keeper who paid the men who worked 1 hour the exact same wage as the men who worked 11 hours! It was an illustration of what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. A friend of mine referred to it as “shocking grace”. But that’s what grace is like; it’s shocking!

 

Tax collectors were considered to be the scum of the earth by Pharisees and other righteous Jews. They were thought of as traitors who turned on their own people because they collected taxes on behalf of the Romans. Levi recognizes that he is the recipient of shocking grace.

 

²⁷ Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his

tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. ²⁸ So Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.      Luke 5:27-28 NLT

 

Following the pattern of Peter, James and John, who left their fishing business to follow Jesus, Levi left everything to become a disciple of Jesus. And Levi wanted his friends, who also happened to be “sinners”, to hear about this shocking grace; to meet Jesus face to face; to find out what it meant to be a disciple of Jesus.

 

²⁹ Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them.   Luke 5:29 NIV

 

How can we duplicate Levi’s example? With whom has God brought into your life? Placed on your heart? A co-worker or neighbor or friend or someone on the periphery of church life? Jesus was always reaching out to sinners; and those sinners reached out to their friends.

 

That’s called discipleship.

 

 

 

That’s called “shocking grace”.

 

 

(If God has spoken to you through this blog, please feel free to share it with others.)

http://lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com/

 

Fan the Flame

2 Timothy 1:3-12

 

You may have heard the story of a minister visiting a parishioner who hadn’t been to church in a while. The parishioner happened to have a fire in the fireplace. The minister didn’t say a thing. Instead, he separated one ember from the main part of the fire. Eventually, that lone ember died out. The parishioner got the message.

 

How do you fan the flame of your faith to keep it going? Paul wrote this to Timothy.

 

⁴ I long to see you again, for I remember your tears as we parted. And I will be filled with joy when we are together again. ⁵ I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you.      NLT

 

Paul is writing to Timothy from prison. Not the nice rented house he had in Rome, but the one for common criminals where he was chained. Paul knew that he was nearing the end of his life, and he wanted to encourage Timothy in his faith.

 

Sometimes I think of Paul as this Type A personality who had little thought for others; only thinking of what he wanted to accomplish; of what his self-driven goals were. But the above words to Timothy focused on the love between them and towards the origins of Timothy’s faith.

 

⁹ For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus... ¹¹ And God chose me to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of this Good News.       NLT

 

God had a plan for Paul and for Timothy. That plan included their lives crossing paths to the point where Paul referred to Timothy as his “true son in the faith”. Paul was encouraging Timothy to speak into the hearts of those that God had brought into his life.

 

⁶ For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you

through the laying on of my hands.       NIV

 

How do you fan the flame of your faith to keep it going?

 

Paul encouraged Timothy to look at the beginnings of his faith. He pointed out how God had a plan for Timothy’s life. Finally, he told Timothy that he had been called by God to spread the Gospel.

 

Over the centuries, Paul is writing the same message to us. Fan the flame of your faith to keep it burning brightly.

 

 

 

 

(If God has spoken to you, or touched your heart through this devotional, please feel free to share it with others.)

 

 

Throughout all Generations

Acts 19:1-7

 

 

One Sunday, when I was about 10 years old, I didn’t want to go to church. My Dad chased me around the house and out into the backyard where he finally caught me. When we got to church I wouldn’t get out of the car so he made me wait there while they went to services.

 

As bad as this story sounds, for the most part I enjoyed, or at least complied, and went to church each Sunday. Although our church tradition didn’t talk about asking Jesus into your heart or being born again, looking back on it now, I believe that I was a Christian trying to follow and obey God.

 

However, years later in college a friend presented the Four Spiritual Laws to me. It made a lot of sense so I asked Christ into my heart. That same summer my friend told me about the Holy Spirit and how he worked in my life. Like the disciples in Ephesus that Paul met, I had an initial belief that later lead to a life changing experience.

 

These disciples had most likely become believers through the ministry of Apollos who had been in Ephesus previous to Paul. They are referred to as disciples, so they must have believed in God, but something was missing, and that something was the Holy Spirit. When Paul placed his hands on them while baptizing them, the Holy Spirit came upon them in power.

 

Years later, while in prison in Rome, Paul wrote these words to the disciples in Ephesus. Notice how many times he mentions the word “power”.

 

^16 “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

 

Looking back at a ten year old boy who didn’t want to go to church, God was at work in my life. He was constantly drawing me to him, even as my father dragged me, kicking and screaming, to church that day. Years later, God opened my heart to His Holy Spirit and changed my life.

 

Paul’s Ephesian prayer ends like this:

^20”Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in

Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

 

“Throughout all generations, for ever and ever”… Paul’s prayer was not only for those disciples in Ephesus, but for you and me today. God is still at work in our lives through the power of His Holy Spirit, to draw us closer to Him and to use us to attract and bring others to Him also.