So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. — Colossians 2:6-7
Thoughts on Today’s Verse…. Jesus is our Lord, and our Lord, Jesus is our center! He is the hub around which we turn. Rather than trying to add Jesus to our other priorities, Scripture reminds us that he alone is Lord (Exodus 3:1-6; John 20:28; Titus 2:13).
Rather than trying to add to the truth of Jesus, we must learn to accept it and trust it in child-like faith, a child-like faith that must be nourished and grown through obedience and godliness (2 Peter 1:3-11, 3:18).
As Jesus remains our central focus and our hearts remain thankful to God for his grace, our faith will be strengthened, our thankfulness grown, and we will be transformed to be more like him each day by the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:22-23).
My Prayer
Holy and Righteous God, please give me eyes to see and avoid evil. Please give me the wisdom to know deceptive and false teachings when placed before me. Empower me to live a thankful life of holiness rooted in Jesus as my Lord and overflowing with thankfulness. I pray to honor and exalt Jesus as Lord to the glory of God the Father and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Did you have a favorite childhood story—one you read again and again? Maybe you imagined you were that princess who rose from rags to riches. Or you soared with a superhero who donned a cape to save the world. Stories shape us in subtle and significant ways. From them we learn values, priorities, and goals. They can shape our view of God.
What happens, though, when the Bible contradicts these stories? Which one wins the war for our mind? Loving God with all our mind means examining our worldview and aligning it not with our culture, but with the God of the Bible.
In today’s passage, Paul was “greatly distressed” when he saw how the wrong stories were winning the allegiance of the Athenians. They were intellectual people, but they were misguided. Paul’s emotion and compassion compelled him to action.Instead of preaching to the people of Athens, Paul went to their synagogue and marketplace and reasoned with them. He likely asked them questions, using the popular Socratic method.
Paul understood the people and met them where they were. They believed in many gods and worshiped each god for the specific role it played. Paul acknowledged their study and quoted their poets. Then, rather than attack their world- view, he invited them into a new narrative: of a God who “made the world and everything in it” (v. 24).Paul told the story of God’s development of the nations (v. 26) and His desire to be known by them (v. 27). This God is a personal Father (v. 29) who “commands all people everywhere to repent” (v. 30) and will one day judge the world’s response to Jesus whom He raised from the dead (v. 31). Paul’s story contradicted everything they had learned.
How would they respond?
What stories have influenced your worldview?
How does the truth of Scripture reshape our values, priorities, and goals?
Pray with Us: Is my mind aligned with the truth of Your Word? Give us discernment to navigate all the worldviews and teachings of society and never lose sight of Scripture’s wisdom and sound mind.
Hunger and thirst are natural expressions of the basic human desire and need for food and water. One of the clear indicators that something is wrong physically is when we lose our appetite. It is the same spiritually.
To hunger and thirst for God is at the very root of our being. It’s the way God made us. When there is no hunger for the presence of God, it is an indicator that something is wrong spiritually. Because that hunger is so basic to human nature, it often finds fulfillment in other areas rather than in seeking God. Much as eating unhealthy junk food can dull physical appetite, so that which is not of God can dull our spiritual appetite.
This happens to believers and non- believers as they look for happiness and fulfillment in any area except in their relationship with God. It may be in human relationships, quest for power or money, or escape to physical pleasure. The saddest examples, however, are of Christians who allow their appetite for God to be dulled by other things . . . even religious things. Our churches are filled with believers who are so satiated by activities, programs and projects that they no longer have a hunger for God.
It is obvious that the imagery of hungering and thirsting after God is a scriptural concept. From the prophets of the Old Testament to Jesus and on through to the book of Revelation, the people of God are depicted as those who have developed a desire for God. Could it be that the missing element in the Church today is that desire for God Himself?
“Since the best teacher of prayer is the Holy Spirit, the best way to learn to pray is by praying. Whether, and how much we pray is, I think, finally a matter of appetite, of hunger for God and all that He is and desires.”
Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.”‘ – John 4:10-14
As Christians, we believe that each of us have a spirit that makes us ‘ourselves’. This spirit is what informs our thinking, loving, doing and being. We believe that our spirits need to be nourished in ways similar to our physical bodies. When someone talks of being ‘fed’ or ‘watered’, ‘hungry’ or ‘thirsty’ spiritually, this is what they are referring to – the nourishment of their spirits.
But what will sate our thirst and what will satisfy our hunger spiritually?
‘Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.’ – John 7:38-39
Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again.
What is this spiritual hunger? You might be asking yourself – how is spiritual hunger different from spiritual thirst? I think of it this way: when you’re thirsty, you want water but when you’re hungry you need food.
Spiritual hunger according to the Bible refers to the Word of God which is the bread of life. If we are spiritually hungry, then we are longing for more of the Word of God.
We all have questions and we had to find our answers in God’s Word. This increased our spiritual hunger for God’s Word so much, we devour the Bible through intense studying of all the areas we question. This is the very reason for our increased spiritual fervour for God’s Word. I hope we never stop wanting to read God’s Word, and that we never stop growing in our understanding of His Ways and what He wants of us or else we will end up with Spiritual starvation.
Like physical hunger though, the longer we go without nourishment, the less hungry we become eventually. You then enter – without realising – starvation mode. Spiritual starvation looks like less and less of a desire for God’s Word. If we have no desire for God’s word or no interest in reading the Bible – perhaps we are in a state of spiritual starvation. Come to Jesus and ask God to bring back your spiritual hunger, so you can eat spiritual bread again.
Prayer
"Lord Jesus, my soul aches at the mere mention of Your name and my heart leaps for every rumor of Your coming, and each possibility that You will manifest Your presence. I’m not satisfied with mere spiritual dainties. I’m ravenously hungry for You in Your fullness. I’m desperate to feast on the bread of Your presence and quench my thirst with the wine of Your Spirit.” Amen.
Proverbs 16:24 Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.
When you say something kind to a friend, give a compliment to a coworker, tell your spouse that you love them, or encourage a neighbor, it can seem like a simple thing, no big deal. But those words have incredible power. Today’s Scripture says you can make someone healthier by speaking kind words.
Just a simple compliment such as, “You did great on that presentation,” nourishes their soul. When you tell your spouse, “I love you. I’m blessed to have you in my life,” that’s not only going to make your relationship stronger, but it’s making your spouse more secure and confident. When you call a friend who’s down and say, “I’m thinking about you. I care about you. You mean the world to me,” that’s not just encouraging them; it’s bringing healing to their body.
Don’t miss opportunities to bring nourishment. The people around you need what you have. Your kind words and compliments can be what push them into their destiny and make them healthier and stronger. That’s how they are going to become all they were created to be.
Prayer for Today
Father, thank You that You have given me the power of words to lift others up. All through the day help me to speak kind words, offer compliments, give encouragement, and lift up those around me. I believe that as I lift others, You will lift me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.” (Mathew 13:44)
Riches of His Goodness or Kindness – Or despises thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long suffering: not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? (Rom 2:4).
Jesus gives abundance of His goodness day by day, why He gives goodness to see His kind heart daily, to understand His Loving care, to understand His blessings. But behind that this Kindness will lead us to repentance first. To clean us from all kind of shortcomings he leads us to convictions, repentance and forgiveness. God doesn’t want to count our fault but gives us a chance to repent and experience His kindness in our life.
(2 Cor.12:9, 2 Pet 3:15). Lord waits for our final salvation with longsuffering because of Riches of His Goodness or Kindness. Because He is good God.
Treasure of His Hidden Wisdom “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:3). “How be it we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world” (1 Cor 2:6). This treasure of wisdom is from before the foundation of this world which is perfect. This is the mystery of God and this mystery God has given us as treasure. Once we go to heaven there will be no mystery God will open every hidden mystery. But now by the Holy Spirit, God reveals his mystery to Church of God. Christ Himself is the wisdom.
In Him all Treasures of Knowledge also there “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3).
More the knowledge of God we have more we will be pure and holy. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning” (2 Pet.2:20).
Through the knowledge of Jesus Christ we are escaped the pollution of this world. “Yea doubtless, and i count all things but loss for the Excellency of the khowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung. that I may win Christ, let’s reiect the things of this world. Phili.3:8). If we have the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus we will be rejecting the riches of this world. Treasure of this world is for this world only not for eternity.
Riches of His Forbearance and Long suffering–
It’s only the riches of the goodness and forbearance and tolerance of God is the basis of our sustenance. Having not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance is the real failure in life. Tremendous patience and tolerance to all of us to come to repentance, all of us to get a chance to get enter in to the eternal kingdom of God. This treasure of Longsuffering is also consider as the Door of Grace of God, door is open for all to get into the boat of salvation like Noah’s boat. “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. (Revelation 3:2). Because of God’s nature of Forbearance and Longsuffering he forgives and forget. Our God is a final Judge patiently waiting for His White Throne Judgement.
Riches of His Glory–
“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19). Under His glory we have our complete satisfaction and He satisfy all our needs. Jesus gives His divine manna and strengthen us in this journey of wilderness. Unto His children God opens His treasure house of Glory those who ask.
“The lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you” (Genesis 22:5).
Abraham, the father of faith, spoke these words of faith and victory, from the unshakable faith of his heart. It was his faith that the lad Isaac and himself will come back.
God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only beloved son Isaac. And Abraham spoke words of faith before offering his only son as a sacrifice. It was his firm belief that even if he sacrificed Isaac, God is able to bring him back to life.
It is true that Abraham went to Mount Moriah with wood, fire and knife; it is true that he went there to offer Isaac as a burnt offering. Even then, he did not speak about losing his son but says that they will come back. Even when his son asked him about the lamb, he taught him to be faithful and said “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering” (Genesis 22:8)
We can sense the deep faith of Abraham in the above verse. Men of faith, speak words of faith. They will definitely have opportunity to see super-natural and glorious acts of God in their lives. And they will have opportunity to witness miracles.
According to the promise: “If you would believe, you would see the glory of God”, Abraham witnessed the glory of God that day. He heard a voice from heaven and received a commandment not to lay his hand on the lad. He also received a great covenant from the Lord. He lifted up his eyes and saw a ram for the sacrifice. Every event was so wonderful and Isaac came back as one who returned from death to life.
The Scripture says, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense” (Hebrews 11:17-19). Abraham’s word of faith even prepared a ram in the thicket for the sacrifice.
Children of God, what kind of words come out of your mouth when you go through trials and tribulations? Make sure that only words of faith come out of you.
John 15:4 Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can you, except you abide in me.
Every soldier in the army has to maintain a fitness schedule so that he is prepared at any time to fight a battle. As we are the soldiers in the army of Jesus we also have to grow spiritually strong and continue to train ourselves to maintain a spiritual life So we will be able to destroy the evil desires of the flesh . We have to cloth ourselves with the armour of God so that we will be able to shatter the plans of satan.
The first step on any journey is the commitment to living a life that is pleasing to our Lord Jesus Christ. We have to be disciplined in our daily activities so that we will be able to grow spiritually strong everyday. We have to have a daily routine with a time for prayer, worship and the Word of God.
7 things to make you Spiritually Strong
1. Everyday spend time God in the morning
Psalms 5: 3 My voice shalt thou in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee,and will look up.
Mark 1: 35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out and departed into a solitary place and there prayed.
Jesus has set an excellent example in the above course which tells us that he used to have his first conversation with His Father. In the same way we also should give our first time in the morning to communicate with Him. We should commit our day into His hands so that we will be able to carry His presence with us throughout the day.
We have to make a rule for ourselves that if we do not read the Bible then we should not eat, this will enable us to read and meditate on the word of God first thing in the morning.
We have to spend time in worshipping the Lord in spirit and truth
2. Everyday spend time feeding your spirit on others sources like books, audio or videos
2 Timothy 4:13 The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books and the parchments
Here Paul tells us the importance of books and the parchments. He loved reading and worshipping. He has also written letters and teachings which are very encouraging for us.. We have to make time to keep reading spiritual books and also to listen to the Word of God and also the Praise and worship songs.
3. Everyday spend some amount of time insilence ( Quiet time)
When the water is still you can see your face so when you are silent you will see yourself clearly. This is the time when you will be able to listen to God’s word
Proverbs 27:19 As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.
Testimony
When I was troubled due to my eldest son’s behaviour I was not able to pray, worship not sleep for 3days. On the fourth night I got up at 2:40 AM and came out of our room and sat in the hall. I just sat quietly with a very heavy heart then I heard a distinct voice saying “Be still and know that I am your God.” This voice gave me so much peace that immediately I want to sleep and the next day onwards I was totally free and surrendered my son to the Lord
4. Spend some time with a man of God who will strengthen your soul.
1Peter 4:10 As every man hath received the gift Even so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God
Jesus set an example of how we used to go out everyday touching people’s lives hence we also should edify eachother , if not by meeting with each other atleast by speaking and encouraging each other to grow more spiritually
5 . Everyday take time for random pauses to acknowledge God throughout the day.
Psalms 119:164,165. Seven times a day do I praise because of thy righteous judgements. Great peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them
Proverbs 16:3 Commit thy works unto thy Lord and thy thoughts shall be established.
Take a pause just to thank the Lord for all the blessings in your life we can be thankful for the breath, food water, our families, friends and the innumerable things that God has blessed us with..
Everytime I keep thanking God for my life my job,my ability do the house chores, my ability to drive , for a supportive life partner, for all the trials that I went through, and am still going through which helps me to grow more spiritually stronger .
6. Everyday say no to the things which you are not supposed to do.
There are 6 things the Lord hates 7 that are detestable to him; haughty eyes a lying tongue hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devices wicked schemes feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and the person who stirsup conflict in the community
We have to train ourselves to keep ourselves from all activities and actions which will hamper our spiritual growth , and we have to learn to see Yes to the things that we have to do
Proverbs 3: 5,6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding, In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.
We have to humble ourselves, love unconditionally and be kind to everyone
7 . Ever pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit
Ephesians 5:17,18 Wherefore be ye not unwise but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
As we spend time with the Lord worshipping him inspirit and truth we will be able to discern what is the right and what is wrong. As we try to follow these steps we will be able to grow more spiritually strong
Prayer:-
Lord Jesus we come before your awesome presence with a humble heart. Help us to have a personal relationship with You. Give us the strength to overcome the perils of this world and seek your face. Give us the grace to be equipped with the fruits of the Holy Spirit and also the gifts of the Holy Spirit. . Lead and guide our life at all times. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Mark 7:5 The Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?”
The religious thinking at the time was that sin could be transmitted by coming into contact with Gentiles or other “sinners.” Thus, the washing of the hands was not for hygienic purposes, but for religious purification.
While the priests needed to do ritual washings before entering the Tabernacle (Ex. 30:19; 40:13), religious tradition made this mandatory for all others to live a righteous life.
It’s not a big deal to wash your hands, right? Sure, it isn’t in the Bible, but why not just allow these religious leaders to do what they want? Jesus disagreed. For one, it makes it seem like sin is superstitious, floating in the air outside of us. Second, it lowers the nature of sin to something superficial (e.g. “skin deep”), and the solution for sin to be equally superficial (e.g. washing with water).
This question by the Pharisees, isn’t directed at Jesus, but at Jesus’ followers (disciples). If it could be shown that Jesus’ followers were immoral, the religious leaders could argue that these disciples picked up this practice from their leader. Of course, the religious leaders couldn’t indict Jesus or the disciples with breaking Scripture, because this entire practice came from the tradition of the elders.
(7:6-7) And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. ‘But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.
Jesus cites the fulfillment of Scripture to show how they are breaking from Scripture. If only they had emphasized the authority of Scripture, they would have seen that they were in clear violation of it. Jesus cites Isaiah 29:13 which is fulfilled in the religious hypocrisy of the Pharisees and scribes.
We need to watch out if we are Neglecting the commandment of God and holding on to the tradition of men.Mark 7:8
