JUNE 5 – OPTIMISM

(As the people whom God has chosen (verse 12))… Let the peace of Jesus Christ; His rule, make every decision for you. You were called to be one people for Him and His purposes. Always be grateful that He has loved you and called you – let praise and thanksgiving be your character. (Colossians 3:15)

                  Are you optimistic? Shouldn’t you be? You believe that the Lord loves you, and He has chosen you. You know He has a purpose for you. God has called you to lead His people to become a community that is united in doing His work. Should you not be always grateful and optimistic?

                   Paul reminds these people that the burden of being perfect has been removed. They don’t need to have all the answers now, because they have the rule of Christ calling them to work under His direction. That is where peace is found; real, lasting peace. God’s peace allows you to accept each challenge optimistically. You can see each one as an opportunity to be successful simply by doing what He asks. Peace results when you obey, and when you encourage your people to continue to believe and follow the vision too.

                   Consider, always, the hope you have in Jesus. Rest in His peace, and encourage your people with optimism and gratitude.

JUNE 4 – A NEW THING

 So, if someone is to have a part in Jesus Christ, he must become a new creation. The old ways; the old parts – they all die. Listen – everything will be made new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

                   Old stuff is sticky. Habits, speech, attitudes – everything about a person (and the groups of people who spend time together with them) makes that person or group become who they are. These actions frame the character of the people, and they define the culture of the community around them. To change and re-orient character and culture requires new habits, new ways, and new attitudes. What are you doing to introduce the birth of the new to your people?

                   Paul is saying to these people, and to you, this is not a simple, easy evolution God requires. There are parts of you, and each of your people that must die. Everything that goes forward will be new. That means change – both large -scale and small. Some people and some relationships won’t survive those deaths and become part of your peoples’ new life together. There will be cost where there is truly a change to a new thing. All this change will take courage.

                   Ask the Lord to show you the things that must die. Ask Him to give you courage to replace all the old things that must die with His new things.

JUNE 3 – FEEDING PEOPLE

 Jesus is who we put forward, advising, urging, and teaching everyone with all wisdom of the Spirit. We do this so we may see each life be filled and completed as a work of Christ Jesus. (Colossians 1:28)

                   Your community – all the people God has called you to influence and love – is hungry. These people need hope. They need life that is meaningful; that has purpose. They need Jesus – the bread of life (John 6:35). If they are going to last; to make it over the long haul of lives and generations, these people must be unified. Unity will be formed around their definition of the common future they will pursue – your vision. Real, lasting change begins to happen when your people begin to move in the same direction.

                   As Paul observed, this happens one person at a time. As you share the vision God has given you for His future, you point each person toward Him. Advising, urging, and teaching the values critical to the work and the success of the group will bring people to pursue right ends and change what they desire, and how they pursue those desires.

                   Put the vision God has given you firmly in your people’s consciousness and help them find the full, complete lives God desires for them.

JUNE 2 – YOUR PEOPLE

 Who knows if you haven’t come to the kingdom for such a time as this? (Esther 4:14)

                  God created this world and everything in it. It belongs to Him. He orchestrates and He wills. He acts, and His purposes will be fulfilled exactly as He desires. He has chosen to love men and women, and to work in and through their lives. He has called you to a specific people, at a time, in a place, where He intends to use you. Will you say yes?

                   Esther was presented with an incredibly dangerous task. As the queen, she had privilege – but not without risks. Mordecai asked her to consider her people’s lives. Their fate was execution if she could not persuade the king to prevent the slaughter. But, Esther had to risk her life. She did this simply by asking for the audience before the king. If she made such a bold request, and the king denied it, she would be killed. After praying and fasting, she took the risk, trusting God’s Providence and power. Her people were saved. Such is the call to each person whom God calls to lead a people. To lead them, you place at risk everything you value except your relationship with Christ.

                   God has called you to a people. Love them enough to risk everything for them.

JUNE 1 – TEACH YOUR SELFS

 Teaching all the people in all cultures to see and have a solid understanding of everything I’ve given you. And I will be with you each-and-every day until the end of this age. (Matthew 28:20)

                   Jesus talked often about the Kingdom of Heaven, describing it with colorful stories, relating truths, and contrasting it with the religious and cultural practices and rules of the day. Here, He urges followers to continue this work in other places, with other people. Jesus is asking them to help these other people see God’s Kingdom as new, fresh, and better than the religions and cultures they allow to rule their lives.

                   Are you engaged in this work with your people? Do you ask the Holy Spirit how to tell your people what they need to hear? Do you engage with them regularly, patiently, and seriously to understand them? Do you know how they are challenged by the specific, unique circumstances and influences on their lives? Repeating the vision and values that the Lord God has given you for your life is a big part of that teaching. It gives a picture of life that is very different from the world’s view.

                Teach the people God has given you. Tell them everything He has given you. Teach them well.

MAY 31 – SECOND NATURE

 Don’t love this world, nor anything in it. If you do love these things, you aren’t following God. Because, everything in this world that you want and you think is beautiful and important – that all belongs to this world. It’s not the Father’s concern. All that passes away, and men tire of it. But God’s purpose lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17)

                   Are you sure you love what you think you love? Consider that your actions are what show your true loves; your deepest desires. When you must choose between more for you, or more for another person, which do you pick? The things you unconsciously choose to pursue during your day were trained into you before you gave your life to Christ. Has the Lord reshaped you with His new, second nature?

                   Many of the New Testament writers cautioned about mindlessly conforming to old habits and the ways of this world. This world teaches you that there are things more important than Jesus. But you know better. Everywhere, all around you and your people, your culture is helping you to acquire this false narrative – this empty vision they call the good life. Don’t be fooled, and don’t let your people buy in to the lies that tell them who and what to love.

    Choose to embrace the new, second nature that God has placed within you and lead your people to do the same.

MAY 30 – WITH PURPOSE

 I’ve given you a new heart and spirit; taking away your old hard heart, I’ve put in you a heart that loves. And, My Spirit that I put in you will lead you and teach you My ways, and you will live in My reality to be My people. And – I will be your God. (Ezekiel 36:26-28)

                   What is truly at the center of your life? A person? A goal? An organization? A Position? An image you maintain? God does not compromise. God will not share you. God will not allow you to exclude Him from any moment of your day. Without a firm focus on Jesus, you will pursue – worship – something else. Those other things you pursue, no matter what you choose, you will need more and more of that thing. The only God that can be enough is the Lord, Jesus Christ.

                   This passage explains the wholesale change that comes by the Power of Christ in you. When you are changed by God, there is a new you; a new reality. The new you is led and taught; mentored and grown by God’s Holy Spirit, who has taken up residence within you. Your capacity (heart) has been enlarged. You can love Jesus as He intended. You have the heart to love others, and unite them in Christ as the Spirit works in and through your life.

                  Recognize who you are. Take the role you have been given seriously. Act with purpose, and from your new heart, in all you do.