Placemats and Deviled Eggs!

I think I need to take a detour from Colossians 3 for a week and share my 'Mary Melt-Down' from Thanksgiving Day. If you recall from my Mary/Martha Saga series (January-May in archives) I had always considered myself a Mary who felt guilty for not being a Martha. Well, I thought I had that licked after my concentrated study of the two sisters in Luke 10 and John 11. If you recall, we determined that both “Marys” and “Marthas” have their own unique strengths and weaknesses. We discussed the importance of both types working together for the cause of Christ. Marthas have their influence and Marys have theirs.

Well, sure enough, my lack of Marthaness overwhelmed me Thursday as I prepared for our Thanksgiving meal with my son and daughter-in-law. I was so excited to be preparing the meal for the first time in 3-4 years, and as you can imagine, I was stressing to make sure things would be ‘just right’!

GRRrr #1: I was so proud of myself for planning and organizing a Wednesday start to preparations. I planned and thought through what could get done on Wednesday-a very Martha-ish process I might add. One of those details was boiling the eggs for deviled eggs. But, Thursday, when I started fixing them, I realized that that probably wasn’t a wise move, as the shells stuck and the outer egg was all messed up on all but two. So, frustratingly, I had to boil a new set of eggs.

GRRrr #2: When I got ready to set the table I couldn’t find the green placemats that matched my CLOTH (I had to use my cloth one!) rooster tablecloth. I was getting frustrated, and Greg couldn’t figure out why it was such a big deal! I WANTED IT TO LOOK AND BE NICE! I thought it had to be nice-after all, it was Thanksgiving-aren’t things supposed to be nice for Thanksgiving?  (I am sure all the Marthas are shaking their heads ‘yes’.) So, begrudgingly, I set the table with my nice rooster dishes without pretty green placemats.

GRRrr #3: Back to the eggs—They turned out nice-Yeah!  I set them in the frig for just a little while as we finished last minute preparations.  As I reached in to grab the can of cranberry sauce (while my dear, sweet daughter-in-law stood behind me) I knocked over the eggs. Only 3-4 were savable! I stood there and cried! 

Christie couldn’t figure out why I was taking it so hard because just a few minutes earlier we were having a laugh about Jimmy dumping a pumpkin pie as he took it from the oven. Guys must not have those moments because he was laughing with us and sharing how they scooped it up and had pumpkin pie pudding! Back to the eggs, though… I hugged her and told her I had just wanted to make everything ‘nice’. How many of you are relating to this right now??

The problem with those GRRrr moments is that my warped definition of ‘nice’ doesn't compare to the love Jim and Christie have for us and we for them! The fact that our family was together on that special day was the ‘nicest’ thing of all. The fact that my life can be an influence on this young couple and their family is far greater than placemats and deviled eggs!

I think maybe I should go back and reread that series and let it serve as a reminder of our true purpose. I used Colossians 3:17 throughout the "Mary/Martha" series, as well as recently in my "Colossians for Christie" series: 

And whatsoever you do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

I really don’t think our Lord is overly concerned about placemats and deviled eggs!

I trust you learned the lesson better than I did!

I love you, Christie—I trust Thanksgiving Dinner was special! We are so glad to have you as part of our family-both our physical and our spiritual family!

Momma Debbie

When Thanksgiving becomes our Motivation

As we have gone through Colossians 3:15-17 over the past through entries, you may have noticed that I left out one phrase from each verse. Well, today~appropriately enough, we will go back and pick up on those phrases.

In verse 15, the phrase is “…and be thankful.”

In verse 16, “…with gratitude in your hearts to God…”

In verse 17, it is “…giving thanks to God the Father through Him (the name of the Lord Jesus Christ).”

As you recall, these three verses are an admonition for us the keep our heart’s closet clean and fresh by relying on the peace of Christ and the Word of God. We are told to keep in mind that everything we do and say should be for the honor and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Each one includes an element of thanksgiving.

Why do you think God led Paul to include the idea of thanksgiving three times in that paragraph? Well, take a moment to go back and reread Colossians 3:1-4~better yet, go ahead and skim through chapter 2  as well. Do you see where these young Colossians believers had come from, and where they would have been, apart from receiving their new life in Christ? Can you think back to where you came from, or could have been, before receiving your new life in Christ? Are you saying, “WOW!”?

That is exactly why Paul reminds us three times in one short paragraph to stop, think, and BE THANKFUL for our new life that has been raised with Christ, that has set our hearts and minds on Godly things from above, and has provided the hope that we will appear with Christ in glory (verses 1-4)! Stop and think for a moment~How awesome is all that!

When we truly have joyful, thankful hearts and choose to express our gratitude to God for His goodness and salvation, we are (sure should be) motivated to change out our heart’s closet (verses 5-9) and proudly, yet humbly, wear the new wardrobe God has for us in verses 12-14.

Thankfulness and gratitude become our motivation!

Let’s look for a moment at the progression of thanksgiving found in verses 15-17.

First, in verse 15, Paul admonishes us to “be thankful”. We must have an attitude of thankfulness. We must recognize the need to be thankful and think about it daily. Remember verses 1-4?

Second, verse 16 encourages us to sing with gratitude in our hearts. This thankful attitude becomes so much a part of us that it spills out of our hearts in the songs that we sing as we go about our day.

Then, in verse 17 Paul frankly commands us to give thanks to God the Father. It is important that we pause and verbally offer our thanks to God in prayer for all He allows us to do and say. (And, as a side note, if we can’t be thankful for it~maybe we shouldn’t be doing it or saying it???-just a thought!)

Here is a final thought to test your attitude of gratitude:

“An attitude of gratitude contributes to an enjoyment of spiritual tranquility, whereas grumbling makes for inner agitation.” (The Bible Knowledge Commentary)

How are your ‘innerds’ today?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Debbie

Whatever You Do!

Several weeks ago, when I posted my most recent study from Colossians chapter 3, I referred to two directives that allow us to keep our heart’s closet clean and fresh.

1. Allow the Peace of Christ to rule (be the final judge-as an umpire) in our heart-vs. 15

2  Allow the Word of God to dwell (take up residence) richly in our heart-vs. 16

If we choose to allow the Peace of Christ and the Word of God to control the thoughts and responses of our heart, then we can keep our heart’s closet clean and fresh. We can throw out the old, filthy ‘clothes’ of our past live (vss. 5-9). We can wear the ‘outfits’ of compassion, kindness, and humility (vs. 12). We can wear the dress of meekness (vs. 12).  We can put on the suit of longsuffering (patience) and the sweater of forgiveness (vs.13). And, we can accessorize it all with love (vs.14). (See archives for these past posts.)

Now, Paul encourages his readers to stop and think one more time about the importance of one’s attitude as we continue to grow in our Christian life. He wraps it all up in verse 17 by admonishing the young Colossian believers that WHATEVER they do in WORD or DEED (life actions) to do ALL in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ…

These same words hold true for believers today. WHATEVER we do—there is no separation between our Sunday life and our Monday-Saturday life. WHATEVER we do! WHATEVER we say! It should all be done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our actions, our words should represent Christ.  The editors of the Expositor’s Bible Commentary state that everything we do should be done as followers of God; as His representatives.

Stop and think for a moment about when you are wearing a polo shirt with your business, school, or church printed on the front. Are you a little more careful about what you say or do? Are you a little more careful about how you respond to a situation? What about when you are driving the company car?

 How much more careful should we be when we consider that we are representing the One who brought us new life in Christ (vs. 1-4)? 

Yes, Paul summarized this section very well in this one short verse that many of us have memorized. 

It is important that we remember where we have come from and what we have in Christ. It is important that we wear our new ‘clothes’ proudly and faithfully-

                    WHATEVER,

                     WHENEVER,

                             WHEREVER!

In word or deed…

Debbie

 (I am saving the gratitude sections from verses 15-17 for next week!)

My OOPS from Last Week

It has been a week since I posted my Proverbs 3:5-6 blog, and just now realized the MAJOR typo in my publication! I left out the phrase, “…and lean not unto your own understanding”! How in the world did I manage to do that and how did I not catch it? I referred to it and made the concept the theme of the post~ but…. 

So, now I guess this gives me an opportunity to fix it and emphasize that part one more time before returning to Colossians. Since everything happens for a purpose, maybe someone needed to read it one more time. So, here we go again…

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your steps.

It is when you don’t understand what is going on and when you don't understand why something may be happening in your life that you need to rely on the promise of this passage. In our finite, human minds we don’t always understand. Things don’t always make sense. We can’t always figure things out ourselves. BUT, remember, God is God. He knows what He is doing~ and it always turns out for our best.

I think I will return to this at a future date and dive into the entire section (verses 1-8) as mentioned last week.

I know this isn’t my normal in-depth Bible Study, but I wanted to clear up the mistake from last week and offer one more word of encouragement from this awesome passage.

I hope to return to Colossians 3 next week!

Remember, don’t depend on how you understand the situation in which you find yourself, but rather~trust and rely on the Lord.

Debbie

A Special Return Blog

Well, friends~ I’m back! My, it’s been a long time! So excited about my new laptop! But, I am still struggling with writing in the afternoons! I may have to set aside Saturday mornings for my writing time.

I am not quite ready to get back to “Colossians for Christie”, my series from Colossians chapter 3, written especially for my daughter-in-law, but available to all my beautiful readers.  If you are new to my blogs, check out my archives to the right and catch up on this particular series, as well as my previous one entitled “The Mary/Martha Saga”.

But for today, I am going to ‘throw out’ a verse as a reminder to dear family members who need this special reminder. I bet it could come in handy for a lot of you at this particular point in your life, as well as a daily nudge even for us who may not ‘be going through anything’ right NOW.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says,

“TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART~IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM AND HE WILL DIRECT YOUR STEPS”

The pathway in the garden of your life may SEEM like it is not heading where you want it to go right now, but remember, God is setting the bricks in place day by day. Step on today’s brick and wait patiently for tomorrow’s. When you arrive, you will be exactly where the Lord wants you to be. It will be better than you ever imagined, and SO much better than what YOU thought you wanted several bricks back! You may have thought Plan A was best,  but remember, God knew better and had your back!

The meadow may be comfortable, but you will never enjoy the view from the mountaintop without enduring the long, rocky, uphill climb. 

(I actually came up with that on my own!-pretty cool!)

One more time: Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART~IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM AND HE WILL DIRECT YOUR STEPS.”

While you’re at it, go ahead and read verses 1-8. These are some of my favorite verses. At one time I had them memorized. Great lessons to learn in our daily walk!

Step gracefully,

Debbie