Clothed with Christ

One of my favorite theologians is the renowned Bugs Bunny. In one of his cartoons it speaks volumes to the fact that what we choose to wear is key to who we are and whose we are.  We fulfill what we believe to be true about us, what we choose wear every day. In a cartoon, Elmer Fudd is relentlessly chasing Bugs through the woods firing his gun as he goes, when off in the distance a delivery van carrying various costume hats hits a bump in the road the back door flies open and out comes the many hats floating randomly in the breeze. The chase continues but now one of the hats lands on Bug’s head and he becomes a game warden and proceeds to bust Elmer for a hunting violation. As the cartoon unfolds the various costume hats land on the two characters and with each landing transforming our characters into the person that particular hat represents. When the hat blows off they go back to the chase.

Wouldn’t it be cool if that happened in our lives? When our kids get sick, we could just put on a doctor’s hat and cure them, or put on a banker’s hat when we need money, a clown suit when we are sad. (Ok, scratch the creepy clown suit!) You get the idea.  

I have good news for you. God says that we are “clothed with Christ”, which means we are transformed into being just like Jesus. For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on the character of Christ, like putting on new clothes. Galatians 3:26-27 (NLT). We see this “spiritual undressing and dressing” in the third chapter of Paul’s letter to the Colossian church:  (3:5-9, 10; 12-14) So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. ⁶ Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. ⁷ You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. ⁸ But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. ⁹ Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. (This is your biblical verse for stripping) ¹⁰ and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him— ¹² So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; ¹³ bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. ¹⁴ Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

We are also told to put on the full armor or God, meaning we are to receive what is promised for those of us who dress themselves Christ by faith. (See Ephesians 6:10-17) We are declared holy, righteous, free, and powerful, a royal priesthood, dead to sin, God’s inheritance and much more. We don’t have to wait until random hats plop on our heads to be transformed into who we really are. We as followers of Christ have the mighty hand of God to clothes us with Himself and to anoint us with his truth because his word is truth. We have a choice as to how much like Jesus we will become. Jesus was put on, dressed with the cross so that he could be our covering from sin and death so that we too could cover others with this same love, grace and power. We simply need to receive what God’s word already declares is ours and dress accordingly. We will receive the crown of life (See James 1:12) meaning eternal life with Him starting here on earth and even better in Heaven. That is the “hat” I want God to place on my head someday, but until then I want to be immersed in Christ, completely covered, clothed if you will with Him so that I can be Him incarnate for this lost and broken world.

So let me ask you:

·        What does your “spiritual closet” look like?

·        What do you need to take off (put to death) in your life?

·        What “spiritual armor” do you wear often and what do you need to start wearing? See Eph. 6

·        What biblical truths do you need to live in order to have a more Christ-like wardrobe?

 

Anyone want to join me and get dressed? (Separate rooms of course!)

An Excerpt from Paul

Colossians 2:1-5 ¹ I want you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for many other believers who have never met me personally. ² I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. ³ In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴ I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments. ⁵ For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong. (NLT)

Paul is writing to a church that struggled with the early heresy of Gnosticism. Without defining the elements of this heresy (you can look it up on your own if you like) I want to unpack a few things from this passage that I believe applies to us as small group coaches and those who strive towards maturity in Christ.

V.1. When you pray do you truly agonize in prayer over the groups in your care or do you simply throw a “blanket prayer” over them and check the “pray for my hosts” box? I personally need to step up both my prayers for my hosts and you the team I get to shepherd. That last phrase in vs. 1 “and for the many other believers (Hosts) who have never met me personally”. Maybe this is one direction we need to pray: that we would start personally meeting the hosts we pray for. That God would make our paths connect. 

Here is how we are to pray for our groups. vs. 2.

·        Encouraged
·        Knit together by strong ties of love
·        Have complete confidence in knowing and experiencing Christ

 V.3 We need to mine all the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge that are in Christ by spending more intentional time in His word, in solo prayer and in community prayer. Specifically, that we would not be content with just getting it done, but staying in His presence until we are satisfied with the encounter. (Like Jacob, wrestling with the angel and not letting go until he was blessed). The end result of us pursuing Christ beyond what our current life experience has been and dig deeper into the One who knows us and desires to be known.

 

V.4 The better you know (Both about and through experience) in someone the deeper the trust you have in that person. It works the same with our relationship with Christ. The more we strive to know Him the more we will trust in Him and the more He will trust in us. When you really know someone (let’s say a close friend) the moment a false or defaming statement is made about your friend you don’t even question whether it is true or not because you know the person. When false doctrine is expressed, it is your constant intimate connection with the Lord that helps you to discern the truth from the lie. This is exactly what Paul was writing (praying) about for the church in Colossae and is passed down to us as an example of how to pray for those in our care.      

I close with Paul’s words as an expression of my love for you:  I rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong.

Fortify Your Mind

There is a spiritual pattern I see in my life and of those I share life with that has been around for thousands of years. In 2 Chronicles 24:2 tells us that King Joash of Judah “did right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest”. We find out later that King Joash leads the people back to a life of  idolatry right after Jehoiada the priest dies, but that is another discussion altogether. You repeatedly read how when the kings of old would be in a desperate situation, they would seek the Lord as a last resort and by his grace he would respond in amazing fashion defeating their enemies or whatever the situation dictated. You read that they worshiped the Lord, made some repentance lifestyle changes and usually an oath of total allegiance. (Does this sound familiar so far?) Here is what hit my heart. Once the dust settled, the blessed kings would begin to form alliances with the kings of other nations, even marrying their daughters so that they would have peace from their enemies. In addition, they would begin a major building campaign. They would fortify their cities to secure them from invasion. Did you grasp what was going on here? Who needs God when we can stack the deck for our own benefit, safety and security?

Joash actually did something a bit different and rather commendable from some of his ancestors; instead of building up the walls of the city, he fortifies the house of the Lord by taking an offering from the people so that the skilled workers could repair all that was removed and in need of repair.  “So the workman labored, and the repair work progressed in their hands, and they restored house of God according to its specifications and strengthened it.” v. 13

How can this affect us today? Since our bodies are the new temple of God how are we fortifying it? What are things in His temple of your life that need to be removed and what parts need to be repaired? How are we making these necessary repairs and are they according to His specifications? Who are the  "skilled workers" in your life?  Are they aware of what needs to be done in your temple and can they walk alongside you to help make the repairs?

Where do we begin this spiritual renovation?

·        Start with your mind.

Remove the areas of self-deception. (Who me, I am not self-deceived?) If that was your first thought, guess what?
We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NLT)

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing (renovate, restored, to make better than new) of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 (NASB)

If you are not able to identify the areas in need of spiritual repair (We call them sin) ask God to reveal to you what needs to be done in His temple.
But as for me, LORD, you know my heart. You see me and test my thoughts. Drag these people away like sheep to be butchered! Set them aside to be slaughtered! Jeremiah 12:3 (NLT)

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT)

Once it is revealed and removed, here is your next step to renewal... Read, Reflect and Remember:

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9 (NLT)

How is Your Prayer Life...Really?

How is your prayer life really? I don’t care to know how much time you spend talking to God. The question isn’t, “are you praying your lists consistently”, but rather, are you partnering with God in what is on His heart to the extent that lives are changing, healing is taking place, people are broken and in awe of our Lord and mountains are being moved all for His glory. James provides us positive example of what happens when God’s people really pray: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops. James 5:16-18 (NLT)

Do your prayers exemplify the death of Christ or the power of His resurrection? Dead prayers are those Christian words we say for others and for various circumstances that sound good, but there is no Holy Spirit power drawing and moving mightily as a result. Dead prayers are really not prayer at all but feeble attempts of reading through our lists, asking God to bless “so and so” and when complete we move on feeling good about ourselves because we accomplished our pseudo-spiritual task. God wants so much more from us than mere list reading, He longs to communicate with us, to commune in intimate fellowship with Him to the extent that our heart beats with His and our breath and His are one as we speak His heart on behalf of others. We call this type of prayer intercession. Intercession is meeting and conversing with God on behalf of others. Joining God in what His heart (will) is for an individual, a people group or circumstance. It is being that peacemaker on behalf of another pleading God’s grace and power for one who is in dis-ease.

Keys to Successful Intercession:

·        Removing obstacles such as sin, idols and selfishness: Hebrews 12:1-2

·        Remain Intimate with God (Abide): John 15:1-17

·        Request according to His will: Romans 12:2

·        Request according to His name: John 14:13,14

·        Remain committed to glorifying the Father: John 14

Another thought to leave with you regarding intercessory prayer. Did you know that both Jesus and the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf to our Heavenly Father? I call it a “Holy Dance” a perfect harmonious movement of the Trinity praying for us, according to His heartbeat and will.

 

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.  And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:26-28 (NLT)  

…Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Romans 8:34 (NASB)

I don’t know about you, but this truth, this mystery that God prays to God His will for me is beyond description. What this tells me is that I may not know how to pray for a person or situation, but since the Holy Spirit and Jesus know this person or situation perfectly and are praying His perfect will on behalf of that person or situation, I only need to agree with whatever He is praying. My lack of discernment or insight need not be a prayer barrier because He is praying according to His will. A simple, “Lord I am without wisdom or words for “so and so”, I agree with You in what you desire to happen, thank you for praying for me and “so and so”.

Last note: God is more concerned with us intimately connecting, communicating with Him than He is about the method we use to pray. When you are connected with Him, you will know His heart for a person and will be able to pray more effectively. Jesus said, I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides (remains connected) in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. John 15:5 (NASB)