1. Take time to SLOW DOWN your busy pace. (Matt. 6:25–34) – “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? ….. O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

2. Be deliberate in building UP your RELATIONSHIPS. (Col. 3:8–14) – “But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man… Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.”

3. Watch OUT for unresolved conflicts. (Heb. 12:14) – “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”

4. Stay FOCUSED on our Lord’s will. (Phil. 3:10–14) – “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

5. CREATE an atmosphere of unconditional LOVE. (1 John 3:14) – “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.”

Love y’all,
Dr. Randy Reese

3. Turn on your lights if you want others to WITNESS JESUS by the Power of God! (1 John 1:1–3) – “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.”

1. JESUS CHRIST’S birth was PROPHESIED! (Isa 9:6) – “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

2. JESUS CHRIST will IMPLEMENT HIS earthly KINGDOM! (Isa 9:6–7) – “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever.”

Conclusion: Go ahead and make up your mind that this CHRISTMAS you are going to honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Bring out the BEST!

With that in mind, check out what the apostle Paul wrote to the Colossian Church as well as us today.

Truthfully, since JESUS gave His BEST, how can we do anything less than our best?

Application:

Introduction: Are you going through a hard time? Read Romans 15. It will encourage you. As you read, notice the different phrases the Holy Spirit led Paul to write.

Check it out:

1. JESUS CHRIST “in” us! (Col. 1:27) – “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” 

I love that! This was a “mystery” in days past. Paul is speaking of the CHURCH. Old Testament prophets looked beyond the Church age in their writings. Actually, they saw with the eye of faith Jesus Christ’s birth and then His millennial reign. Therefore, this joining of Jews and Gentiles was somewhat hidden to them. But God has a plan for His Church as He does for Israel.

Besides that, this Savior of the world would come and dwell in His people. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

Can you grasp that truth? Imagine the Creator of the heaven and the earth residing in you now! You talk about POWER!! Beloved, that is why we can OVERCOME.

2. JESUS CHRIST “thru” us! (Col. 1:28–29) – “Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.”

The word “perfect” means mature. In other words, it is God’s will that we become mature in Him. Next, the way He accomplishes that is by “working” thru others by His Holy Spirit. Do you see that?

Notice the word “labor.” It is κοπιάω and means labor, toil, to the point of being weary. Also check out the word “striving.” It is ἀγωνίζομαι. It means to fight, or to labor fervently.

Do you get the picture? Paul is saying that CHRIST was in him for the purpose of working thru him as he served the Lord to the point of exhaustion. Think about the spiritual warfare element. Intense! But the Good News is it’s His POWER, not ours!!

Perhaps this song sums it up:

“I have decided to follow Jesus
I have decided to follow Jesus
No turning back, no turning back
The cross before me, the world behind me
The cross before me, the world behind me
The cross before me, the world behind me
No turning back, no turning back.”

Have you heard about the story behind the great song, “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus”? Here is a copied version (Hymnary.org):

“About 150 years ago, there was a great revival in Wales, United Kingdom. As a result of this, many missionaries came from England and Germany to North-East India to spread the Gospel. At the time, North-East India was not divided into many states as it is today. The region was known as Assam and comprised hundreds of tribes… Naturally, they were not welcomed.

One Welsh missionary succeeded in converting a man, his wife, and two children. This man’s faith proved contagious and many villagers began to accept Christianity. Angry, the village chief summoned all the villagers. He then called the family who had first converted to renounce their faith in public or face execution. Moved by the Holy Spirit, the man instantly composed a song which became famous down the years. He sang:

‘I have decided to follow Jesus. (3 times)
No turning back, no turning back.’”

Whereas this speaks of real worship, it reveals the proper attitude of our hearts. Thanksgiving should be given freely and happily to the Lord for all His benefits and blessings. Are you thankful?

Another wonderful passage in the Bible concerning this subject of being THANKFUL is found in Psalm 107:22, “And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.”

Apparently, as you can read, there was some false information going around concerning legalistic practices, much like today. Whereas this is not to be used as an excuse to sinful living at all. On the contrary, rather, this is an admonition to give THANKS for everything, more specifically what we eat or in regards to marriage.

Interesting to note, the word here used for “meats” is βρῶμα (brōma) — which means “whatever is eaten,” and may refer to animal flesh, fish, fruit, or vegetables.

Eating certain meats became an issue throughout the early Churches due to the restrictive Jewish laws; in addition, some meats were offered to idols. Therefore, it became a stumbling block to weaker CHRISTians. God the Holy Spirit led Paul to warn the stronger CHRISTIANS not to eat it if it was a stumbling block. But besides that, they were to give THANKS.

Introduction: Is the table set? What’s there to eat? This “Thanksgiving” you can feast on spiritual food. Check out the BIBLICAL menu for the CHRISTian. It is more than a FREE lunch!

1. Jesus offers “Spiritual” food as well as physical food! (John 6:27-35)

“Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” 

Jesus had just performed a MIRACLE! With just two fishes and five loaves of bread from a little lad’s lunch, Jesus fed over 5,000 people! Imagine the scene. The food kept multiplying. People could not believe their eyes. They were amazed.
All of this supernatural event had a heavenly purpose.

2. Jesus offers “Spiritual bread” which turns into eternal life! (John 6:53-58) – “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.” 

Now why do you think Jesus fed the 5,000? Because they were hungry? Not completely. Rather, His mission in this life was to reveal the Father. In so doing, people would BELIEVE that He was the MESSIAH. And consequently, they would put their TRUST in His WORD, His WILL, and His WAY for eternal life.

3. Jesus offers “Spiritual food” -eternal life for FREE but taking up a cross as a disciple will COST you something! (John 6:67- 69) – “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Even today, this same crowd will be impressed by Jesus, the Miracle Maker!

Sign seekers……… “Show me a SIGN”!

Are you a SIGN SEEKER? Or are you a SURRENDERED SAINT?

Conclusion: Sad to say but people today want a FREE lunch from Jesus! “Meet my needs…heal my body…give me a job…etc.” Nothing wrong with asking our Lord for those things but please DO NOT STOP there! People want the blessings from Jesus but not the burden of a CROSS! Tell me. Are you seeking Jesus for a FREE lunch or total commitment?