Wisdom Matters

God judges our lives much differently than we judge others, even ourselves. In Psalm 139, the psalmist cries out to God because he has been misjudged and slandered by others. He doesn’t defend himself to his enemies. Instead, he goes to God and asks for God to judge his heart and his motives. The fact the psalmist wants God to judge his heart is his best defense. He wants to know what God thinks of his thoughts and his actions. He wants God to “search” his life and know him at his deepest, most secret levels.  It's comforting to realize that we can trust God to judge us in a way that benefits us. The psalmist wants to know God’s conclusions about his life because those are the only judgments that matter. How would our lives be changed if we petitioned God to search our hearts and thoughts? If we knew God’s judgment of our lives, would anyone else’s opinion carry much weight? We often make choices we think will bring approval from those around us. The psalmist sought the correction and approval of the best judge, God himself. He knows us, he loves us, and he wants the very best for us. At the end of the day, if we find ourselves right with God, does any other opinion truly matter? Allow the word of Christ to dwell in your life richly and, like the psalmist, you can eagerly ask God to search your heart and your thoughts because he will see his Son in your life. At the end of the day, his approval is all you truly need.

The Apostle John is the only apostle believed to have lived a long life and died a natural death. By the time John wrote his letter that we know as 1 John, he had watched the Christian church grow, thrive, and weaken. The Christian church offered an audience that some outside the faith wanted to influence or serve for personal gain. These outside speakers presented a message that appealed to many of those who were young in the faith and not strong in the teaching of the apostles. John’s heart for the people is seen in the way he addresses them as “Beloved.” They were his church, his “children” in the faith, and he didn’t want to see them lose sight of the true gospel message. John told the church he loved, “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.” It has always been important to distinguish between what sounds or seems like something God would say and submit those words to biblical truth. The culture has usually taught a message that differs from the message of Christ. As John said, “Many false prophets have gone out into the world.” John gives the same warning to Christians today. We don’t have to wonder if the culture is still influencing God’s people with a message that conflicts with God’s word. False prophets will always teach a false message. But John would warn that some of those false prophets will enter the church as well. A false prophet is anyone who teaches a message contrary to the truth of God’s word. We have all heard a message like that, and, most likely at some point, we have delivered false truth as well. Many words are spoken “in the name of Christ” that aren’t authored by the “word of Christ.” How can you tell if someone is a false prophet? Allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly. The best way to determine if a hundred-dollar bill is counterfeit is to study one that isn’t. The same is true of God’s word. When truth dwells in us “richly,” we will be able to discern more easily what is only partially true. Beloved, don’t believe every spirit. A true prophet teaches biblical truth, even when that truth is unpopular or unappreciated.  A true prophet has allowed the word of Christ to dwell in their life and their message.

People are created in the image of God; therefore, we were created to “think.” So, it's important to remember that, apart from God’s Spirit, we aren’t able to think like God.  We are human beings, living in a fallen world. Many of our thoughts are formed from our own desires, opinions, and dreams. God’s thoughts are always formed from his perfection. God is not capable of a wrong or selfish thought. Paul taught the early Christians that even as they had thoughts no one knew except themselves, so God has thoughts that no one but the Spirit can comprehend. And Christians have been given the Spirit of God. We won’t think like God, but the Holy Spirit within us will think as God.  Every day we will have thousands of thoughts, and some of those thoughts will be authored or inspired by the Holy Spirit. God wants us to have his perspective, his priorities, and his plan. We can trust that the Holy Spirit will be directing us through our thoughts. We need “only listen” to our thoughts and pray for the spiritual discernment to distinguish those which are authored by God. “No one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” Pause to consider the fact that you have been given his Spirit. You will have God thoughts every day. What did the Lord’s Spirit say today? You can trust that he will speak to you tomorrow. Allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly. Christ’s words are the thoughts of God, inspired by the Spirit of God, so the children of God can comprehend the presence of God’s thoughts in their daily lives. We can know what God is thinking through his Holy Spirit!

God’s perfect peace is beyond understanding. His peace is the calm that carries a grieving spouse or parent through the funeral. His peace covers the fears that are real but don’t need to control or cloud our faith. God’s peace doesn’t deny realities; it's the greater reality our faith provides. His peace isn’t found because of our efforts to achieve it. God’s perfect peace is the result of being “kept,” or held, by his sufficiency rather than our own. Sometimes the most difficult part of achieving his peace is learning to submit our best efforts to his perfection. We do all that we can hoping we will achieve all we want. God’s perfect peace is the result of trusting in the One who fully knows what we need. The person whose mind is “stayed” on God understands that every other resource is imperfect. When we “stay,” or fix, our minds on God, we don’t escape our challenges; we simply allow God’s peace to transcend our challenges. Jesus said, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). When tough times come, it's common to feel like God has let us down or our faith isn’t strong enough. But the promise of Scripture is that we “will have tribulation.” We can take heart, not because God promised to spare us from trials, but because he promised that we would overcome those trials. Our peace is trusting his promises for life eternal rather than expecting that those promises are alway provided for in our lives on earth.  How can we have God’s peace? We can allow the word of Christ to dwell in us richly. Jesus said we would have tribulation, then he said we would overcome—because he did. In the tough times, we fix our eyes on Christ, fill our minds with his truth, and then we can receive the peace that passes all understanding because we trust his love.

My favorite moment at a wedding is the look on the bride and groom’s faces when they first see one another. There are many other people in the room but only one face that each other most wants to see. I love watching people at the airport as they are looking for that family member who has been serving overseas. Urgency changes to joy when they spot their loved one’s face. So it will be when we meet Jesus face-to-face. The skies will open up and we will see him come, eager to take us home. First Chronicles was written to the nation of Israel as a reminder of their history and to encourage them with the knowledge that the Lord had always been faithful to them, ensuring future generations would be able to know and follow God. Why would that always be true? There will always be people who look to the Lord and his strength. Faith is a legacy we leave to others when we “look” to him for our wisdom and strength. The verb look describes the action of looking for something in order to possess it for ourselves. Our most valuable possession is the Lord and the strength he provides. To look for the Lord, we “seek his face always.” When a mother wants her young child to listen with focus, she takes the child’s face in her hands and says, “Look at me.” That is a picture of what Scripture means when it describes “seeking God’s face.” We are to focus on him, undistracted by anything else. We are to look for him like the groom looks for his bride. We are to seek him with urgency knowing our joy will be seeing his face.How can we seek God “always?” We allow the word of Christ to dwell in us richly. The voice of Christ is “present” in his word. When we look to the Lord in Scripture, we find his strength and we learn how to recognize his presence throughout the day.  And one day, we will meet him face-to-face. That wedding is a day to look forward to now.

Charles Sheldon published In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do? in 1896, and there have been more than fifty million copies purchased since that time. The book is one of the best-selling books of all time. It's a Christian classic that illustrates the truth of Psalm 119:15. How would our lives change if we applied the precepts of Scripture and the “ways” Jesus taught his followers to live to our own lives? In His Steps is about a church that decides to ask themselves, “What would Jesus do?” and how that one choice changed their lives and their town as a result. In the Bible, a “precept” means a commandment or an instruction. The psalmist told the Lord, “I will meditate on your precepts.” It's so important to read God’s word as the pure truth it is. It's equally important to think about God’s word until it becomes the truth we live.  What choice did the word of God cause you to make today? How did God’s laws and Christ’s teaching alter a decision you were making? That is the result of meditating on the word of God. The words become knowledge, the knowledge becomes wisdom, and then wisdom governs our lives.  The psalmist says to “consider” the ways of God. In the thousands of thoughts we have each day, how many of those thoughts are dedicated to thinking about Sheldon’s important question: “What would Jesus do?”When we “allow the word of Christ to dwell in us richly,” we allow the example of Christ to be formed in our thoughts. If the most important influence we have is the example of Christ, then we will walk “in his steps.” Every day is an opportunity to “dwell” with the word of Christ and do those things that Jesus would do. Christians are the hands and feet of Christ in our world. We should meditate on his word so we can walk in his ways.

Information is easily and quickly accessible, but wisdom requires some time to acquire. It seems a simple thought, but it takes time to think. Those who think wisdom is simple are more likely to believe answers they have googled. The prudent person understands that wisdom is taking the necessary time to think about what they know, to determine what they should do. We have all made snap decisions and some of them have worked out well. Sometimes our quick choices have led us to do something we needed to undo later. We live in a culture that values quick decision making. We also live in a culture that believes the most efficient road to knowledge is the internet. But that's true only some of the time. We also live in a culture often driven by opinion rather than truth. “The simple believes everything,” and that has become more and more evident among those whose thinking has been impacted by technology and the media.  Knowledge is most effective when it has been thoughtfully considered and prayerfully thought through. It takes time to submit what we have come to know to the One who knows all things. That is the difference between having knowledge and having wisdom. God provided his word and his Holy Spirit so we could have God’s thoughts in our lives. Most of our choices have both a physical and spiritual perspective. If we know God’s word on the subject, we have the truth. God doesn’t always function in the realm of the practical or logical. In fact, God often leads us in a direction that requires faith. He wants us to know we are better off trusting him than ourselves. It takes time to think about what we know in light of what God has said. That is why Scripture tells us to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly. When we are prudent and “give thought to our steps” the words and will of Christ direct our choices. It takes some time, but mostly it takes our willingness to include our Lord in our thought process. Jesus wants us to believe him and not to believe anything which he has said isn’t biblical wisdom. That is the difference between being simple-minded and prudent with our choices. Taking time to think with God will save us from making a lot of unwise choices and help us undo a few mistakes we made along the way. Let the word of Christ dwell in us richly so that we may discern God's truth over the world’s.

My favorite description of the Holy Spirit is found in Paul’s word to the church at Corinth. He was writing about the wisdom that the Spirit imparts to believers. The Holy Spirit is able to know our thoughts and the thoughts of God. Paul concluded that lesson by writing “we have the mind of Christ.” It's common for us to think of ourselves in human ways. We know we aren’t perfect and make mistakes. How then could we have “the mind of Christ”? Scripture promises that we do, but it's always important to remember that our minds are being perfected but not yet perfect. We can’t be fully like Christ until we live with him in heaven. Humility is necessary when we want to truly know the Lord. Jesus humbled himself to be born in a manger. We need to think with the humility of Christ’s humanity. Knowing God is our Father is necessary if we want to live as God’s child and consider ourselves the way Jesus sees us. We are “joint heirs” with Christ, his brothers and sisters through faith.  Scripture is necessary if we want to know the character and capacity of God. Jesus was present with God when the world was created. Jesus left heaven to become our Savior. There is nothing in the Bible more difficult to understand than the need for the death of God’s Son on the cross. Even Jesus struggled in the Garden. Yet Jesus knew God’s perfection and knew he could say, “Not my will, but yours.” Jesus didn’t question God’s perfection, even when he struggled to accept his plan. Can we think like Christ? The answer is yes because we have been given the mind of Christ.  It’s important to allow the word of Christ to dwell in us richly so we can then think his thoughts and come to trust the perfection of God, who is our Father.

It's more common to quote Proverbs 3:5 with verse 6 as well. Verse 6 isn’t possible without verse 5, but our focus is almost always drawn away to the good news verse 6 provides. Verse 5 tells you to “trust in the Lord with all your heart.” The only way to trust God completely is to “not lean on your own understanding.” It's a spiritual discipline to learn to trust God as we are called to do.  Remember that in ancient days people understood that the heart was the “driver” of a person’s life. In Scripture, the heart is often associated with passion and motive. God wants us to trust him above all other motivations. We are to trust that only God’s motivations are completely pure; therefore, we should trust him more than any other. When we understand God’s motivation is pure, we are more likely to trust his will.  But trusting God stands in conflict with most of what we are taught and, truthfully, what we teach. We know it's important to “think for ourselves.” It's important to gather the facts and process them into a well-thought decision. Yet, Scripture tells us not to lean on our own understanding. God created us, and his word encourages us to be “thoughtful” in our actions. God gives us discernment and good judgment through his Spirit. God will never contradict his word, yet a lot of our decisions and choices aren’t directly addressed in Scripture. A key to Proverbs 3:5 can be found in the word leaning. When we lean on someone, we trust them to hold us up. When we lean a ladder against a wall, we trust that the wall won't fall. We don’t lean on something we know is weak or flawed. That is why we are to trust God with our whole heart. God can never be untrustworthy, weak, or flawed. God holds us, his children, in his righteous right hand. The same hand that created the world is able to do all things, all the time. Then, as Proverbs 3:6 says, “you will acknowledge,” or know, God. Knowing who God is through his word makes it possible for him to “direct your path.”  Allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly and you will likely learn to lean on it more than your own understanding.

Peace is one of the best indicators that your life is centered in Christ. It's the peace of Christ that accompanies his perspective on the things of this world. It's the peace that carries us through difficult days or decisions. It's the peace that follows a time of personal worship or prayer. God’s peace results from an awareness of who we are in Christ Jesus. God’s peace is beyond human understanding which so often is based on the circumstances of our day. God’s peace includes the hope of our salvation and our faith and trust in the power of God.  That is the peace of God that can guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. It's comforting to understand that God’s peace “stands guard” over our lives. A guard protects from harm. A guard warns of danger. A guard stands between us and harm. We can picture God’s peace as our shield, protecting our minds and our emotions from the Evil One. The peace of God is greater and more powerful than we can understand or explain. It has to be experienced. Only those who have asked Jesus into their hearts can truly understand and experience his peace. We have an eternal hope that transcends the circumstances of this world. Allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly. May the overwhelming peace of God guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

We should never underestimate the power of God’s word or the power of his word in us. People need God’s joy. A sense of “gladness” should motivate us to speak of God and share his word. But God’s word needs to fill our lives if we want to share it with others. Every night our news can create anxiety in our hearts. Imagine the anxieties that might have weighed on the hearts of those in ancient times. They went to bed hoping for rain or hoping that it might stop. They didn’t have a “radar” to give them hope and understanding. In ancient times, people went to bed wondering what might have happened that kept their loved one from returning home. They didn’t have a cell phone to call and check on them. They didn’t know what another nation was planning or preparing to do. They didn’t know if their crops would succeed, if their livestock would live, or if their illness was an inconvenience or a concern. No matter what era of history, people have always needed “a good word.” We should never underestimate the power of God’s word or the power of his word in us. Whom have you shared the joy and certainty of Christ with? Whose spirits have been lifted through the Spirit at work in you? God created us to speak and hear; therefore, he must have known of our need for his word to make us “glad.” Churches were often built with beautiful stained glass windows, and their beauty had a higher purpose. So many of the Christians who entered those older churches were unable to read. The sermons each week were the way many learned what the Bible said and meant. In addition, the earliest stained glass window “told a story.” What the people in the church couldn’t read they could see illustrated in the beautiful glass. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly so that your life can share and display the stories that some people might never read. A good word can make people glad!

Christians can do anything Jesus calls and strengthens us to do. Equally important is the knowledge that if we do things in our own strength or personal motives, Jesus is not at work; we are. The key to living with the strength and purpose of Christ is understanding it's much different than our own. Spiritual things happen through the Spirit of Christ. Remember, Jesus said, “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me” (John 5:30). Jesus, when he submitted himself to a human body, walked and ministered according to the strength and judgment of God. Jesus’ earthly ministry is the perfect example for ours. We cannot accomplish the work of God. We can be available to God so that he can work through us. We are called to be disciples, students of Jesus Christ. We need to study his words and his earthly ministry in order to know how to have a ministry ourselves. Jesus taught us to allow God’s voice to call us to his purpose. Jesus taught us to pray for his “kingdom to come, on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus taught us to allow God to reign in our lives. Now Jesus is seated at the right hand of God, no longer bound by a human body. His Holy Spirit is our strength. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, and when we are led by his Spirit we continue the earthly ministry of Jesus in the world. That is why Paul could say, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  That is why we allow the word of Christ to dwell in us richly. It's the word of Christ the Spirit, who will speak to us so that we will function in the power of Christ to fulfill our calling. Apart from him, we can do nothing. With him, we can do all things.

Paul had just listed many of the sinful human behaviors that were causing divisions in the early church and damaging their witness. Then he provided the solution for fixing those natural human behaviors. Paul didn’t say, “Act kind to one another.” Rather, he said, “Be kind.” Another translation could say “Become kind.”  The work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to change us, to help us become more like Christ each day. Scripture often refers to that growth process as our sanctification. God doesn’t want children to simply act kindly toward one another. He wants us to be kind. If we apply that thought to raising our children, we can easily understand the difference. Kindness shouldn’t be measured by our actions; it should become our character. Paul then used a word that is rarely used in Scripture and is difficult to translate. But his first-century readers would have understood completely. It's the word tenderhearted or, in some versions, compassionate. It's worth knowing because embedded in that one word is a measure we should each use for our own lives. How do we know if we are truly “tenderhearted” toward others?  To be compassionate means to “feel with.” People in Paul’s culture understood what it meant to walk by a person who was hurt, see their wound, and have their stomach clench. They knew when their hearts ached with the grief another person was feeling. They understood the physical, visceral sensations associated with “compassion,” or feeling with, another person. That sensation had a word in the original language of Scripture, and Paul used that word in his letter to the Ephesians.  We have become tenderhearted, compassionate Christians when we care enough to feel with other people. A person who cares like that has become a Christian who will know how to love and forgive like Christ. Allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly and become the tenderhearted, forgiving character of Christ to others.

The “peace that passes all understanding” is never fully understood, except through experience. It isn’t the peace we can work hard to achieve. It isn’t the result of our efforts or the consequence of a choice. The peace Christ has left with us is unique because it's only experienced as a gift received from his Holy Spirit. Jesus left us with his Spirit so that we would have his gift of peace. When our minds won’t rest from our troubled thoughts and when we fear the possibilities that exist while living on this side of heaven, it's difficult not to be anxious and afraid. In fact, it's likely that our minds will be troubled at times. But Jesus told his disciples to make a choice during those difficult times. He said, “Don’t be troubled.” How is that possible? If we knew we would inherit a fortune next month, this month’s bills wouldn’t trouble us. If we knew we were immune to disease, we wouldn’t worry about what the doctor might say. If we knew we would always be safe, we wouldn’t fear what might happen. The peace the world gives is only temporary. The peace of Christ is anchored in eternity. We know we have all the promises of heaven, but we want those promises now too. Jesus promised us his peace. We can live with confidence in our inheritance, our health, and our security. The peace that passes all understanding comes from keeping our hearts and minds fixed on Christ, not by focusing on the things of earth.  Christ died and rose again and is now seated at the right hand of God. We have proof that the circumstances of this world are all temporary. Christians will rise again, just as Jesus did, and enter into our promised land. That is the peace that is ours in Christ Jesus, the peace only Jesus can give.  Allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly and the peace of Christ will follow. Jesus left us with his peace because he left us. He ascended to heaven and promised, one day, he would take us too.

How would our lives be changed if our highest goal was contentment with all we have? Getting ahead is a great goal unless you are getting ahead of God in the process. Jesus told his disciples to take up their cross and “follow” him. It’s easy to lose sight of Christ in our lives when we are focused on things that, in that moment, we want more than what we have.  Our goal is to be content with what we have and live a life that is free to follow Christ. We are content with what we have when we are content in the knowledge that Christ's presence dwells with us continually through his Holy Spirit, providing all that we need. Jesus said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” When we consider the monumental blessing of our salvation in Christ, the things of this world seem to pale in that light. We will never have everything we want. Even if we did, that would change tomorrow. We do have the ability to be content with what we have. We can’t love God as we should when we love money and possessions more than we should. How many emails would we simply delete if we were content with what we have? How many choices would we adjust if we didn’t feel a need for greater success but simply wanted to enjoy the success we have achieved? Do we define “enough” as “just a little more?” If so, place Jesus on the throne of your life and follow him as Lord. Allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly and the contentment of Christ will be your result.

We usually talk about the subject of prayer when we discuss this verse, but it's also important to look at these words from a different perspective. Paul was telling the Philippians to pray about everything. But this verse is also about God, your Father. God doesn’t want us to fret and worry. We don’t have to be anxious about anything. Why then are we anxious so much of the time? What are you worried about right now? Paul would say, “Take it to your Dad!”  Why do we need to make requests “known” to God, who already knows everything? The answer is simple: God wants us to know we have given our requests to him. When we leave our requests, our worries, and our concerns at his throne, we can be grateful that they are now safely and securely in God’s hands. The same hands that created the world are more than able to handle our requests.  Maybe our most amazing thought is the knowledge that we have been invited to come to God’s throne. Approach him as a child. He is your Abba, your loving dad. He wants you to bring him all of your hurts, bothers, guilt, and worries. You can be joyful knowing God wants to do whatever is perfect. He can forgive, comfort, counsel, and direct. Be thankful that you have an Abba who wants to help. Jesus was praying for the strength to face the cross when he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will” (Mark 14:36). Even Jesus needed to lay his worry at the foot of the throne. Allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly. Allow Abba the chance to assure you that every prayer is heard and held in his mighty hand.

Temptation existed in the garden before Adam and Eve chose to sin. Temptation isn’t a sin; it’s only the possibility or opportunity to sin. Therefore, we shouldn’t think about all the things in our lives that tempt us as much as we should think about the actual choices we make. Martin Luther summed it up this way: “You cannot prevent the birds from flying in the air over your head, but you can prevent them from building a nest in your hair.” In other words, we can’t keep Satan from making suggestions, but we can decide not to dwell on, or follow, those suggestions. It's common to focus on our temptations, but Paul had a different focus. He wanted the church in Corinth to be confident in their faith. Paul told them that every time they were tempted to sin, they needed to remember an important truth. God had already given them a way to avoid the temptation or the power to endure it. Temptations will always be a part of our daily lives. Temptation existed in the Garden of Eden! Birds flutter and squawk overhead, but they can’t build a nest in your hair unless you allow it. That’s why we allow the word of Christ to dwell in us richly. God has provided us with a way of escape and the strength to endure. His word will chase away that bird!

God created each of us with free will, and we are each designed to desire freedom. Yet, every generation has had people who are enslaved in some ways. Some have been enslaved, but most submit their freedoms because of their personal choices. Paul described slavery as a “yoke.” The yoke was a heavy burden placed on the neck of an animal so it could then be forced to walk a certain path and work for someone else. Another type of yoke during that day was used to keep prisoners chained. When Paul wrote to the Galatians, he was speaking to some who had been unable to lay down the many Jewish laws of the Old Covenant and step into the freedom Christ had provided in the New Covenant. Paul was also speaking to some who had come to the Christian faith from a Gentile background. Before their salvation, they had been “free” to behave in some pagan practices they now knew were wrong. Their desire to keep some of their pagan practices had enslaved them to their wrong choices. The same is true for God’s people today.  Our sin entangles our lives, and our consequences burden us with a yoke of slavery. If we stand firm in our faith, we can be free of those burdens. Paul encouraged all of them to seek the freedom Christ offered. Christians have freely chosen Jesus to be our Savior and Lord. We are truly free when we stand firm in our faith, when we choose to walk through life “in step with God’s Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). When you allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly, you are most able to stand firm in your faith and live as the Lord intended. It was for freedom that Christ has set us free.

Christians have always known that Christ will return again because he promised he would. The first-century Christians expected it to be in their lifetime, and those expectations have existed in every century that followed. There are always those who point to certain occurrences in their day and time and become convinced that the return of Christ is imminent. One day, a generation of Christians will be correct. They will experience the prophecy of the Revelation and witness the return of Christ. Peter has taught every generation of Christians how to live until Christ returns. Peter had just written about the second coming of Christ when he said, “Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming” (1 Peter 1:13 NIV). Peter would tell Christians today, “Beware of the many distractions of this day.” In the first century, it was a day’s work to feed the family and try to get a load of laundry done! They didn’t flip a light switch; they had to press oil for their lamps. They didn’t hop in the car and run to a grocery store; they worked gardens, cared for livestock, and walked to a marketplace—if they were lucky to live close to one. Every generation since that time has needed to work to balance their time with their priorities. People have always had distractions. Today, many of our distractions are of our choosing. We “set our minds” on whatever we choose to listen to, read, or use technology to search for. Our distractions aren’t limited to a time of day or a lack of resources. Therefore, if we want to be fully alert and sober, if we want to set our thoughts and hopes on the return of Christ, we must choose to do so. Our world has very little quiet. In fact, our lives don’t have to be quiet unless we choose for them to be.  We should learn to be sober-minded, measuring the moments we spend each day and giving thought to the inevitable return of Christ. When we consider the grace that will be ours in that moment, we will find that we are distracted by our thoughts of heaven and the chance to see those who have gone before us. We can imagine what it will be like to meet the Lord—face-to-face. We have a lot of distractions in our world today. Let’s allow the return of Christ to distract our thoughts as well.  Allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly and you will allow thoughts of his return to be your great hope.

The Holy Spirit is the living presence of Christ in our lives. After Jesus ascended to heaven, he continued his earthly ministry through Christians, who were led by his Spirit. Our relationship to Jesus is strengthened by spending time with him by abiding in his Spirit. The more we invest in that connection, the more we will come to know Jesus as our Lord. Paul described the gift of the Holy Spirit saying, “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” When the Spirit of Christ is at work in our lives, we are not governed by our fears. Instead, we have the Lord’s power at work through us. We can think the Lord’s thoughts, speak the Lord’s words, and love a person as the Lord would love them. Scripture often uses the words self-control, but we can usually translate those words biblically as “a Spirit-controlled self.” God loves us individually. Our relationship to God is unique and personal. That is why God chose to give each of his children his Holy Spirit. God empowers his children in different ways and for different callings. Christians have much in common, but each of us has a unique fingerprint, physically and spiritually. God gave us all we needed when he gave us his Spirit. We underestimate our capacities when we limit ourselves to what we can humanly accomplish. The power, love, and self-control Paul was talking about isn’t human effort; it's spiritual capacity. We read about the miracles, sermons, and accomplishments of our biblical heroes. It's important to remember that the same Spirit who enabled them indwells each of God’s children today. When the Lord is at work through his Spirit, we accomplish things because of his power, his love, and his ability to control our thoughts and actions.  We are to allow the word of Christ to dwell in us richly so that the work of Christ can be accomplished through his Holy Spirit. He is the power source for each of our unique ministries.