Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:9
When I first saw this verse, (and the ones prior to it) I didn't think there was anything more that I could say to illuminate them. Of course, I was wrong and God had a different plan. As I went through this week, God was planting little nuggets to help me understand them better. First let me say that I had typed this all up, and thought it was saved. I pushed the post button and it all disappeared. I'm hoping this second version will live up to the first one's legacy LOL.
I was watching the movie Fireproof last night. If you have not seen this movie, you must. I don't care if you are single, married, divorced, widowed, etc. It is a wonderful testimony of God's redemptive power in relationships. In the movie, Caleb, (Kirk Cameron) recieves a book from his father called "The Love Dare". The instructions are to focus on a different aspect of marriage or your spouse every day for 40 days. One of the days leads Caleb to study his wife. He was to make a candlelit dinner for her, and to ask her some questions at this dinner to see what makes her tick. What makes her happy? What makes her sad? What are her dreams? What does she love?
As Christians, we should be doing the same with God. We should be having candlelit dinner with Him, and have a list of questions to ask Him. How do we do that? The only way to ask God questions here on this earth is through prayer and reading His word. Our candlelit dinners full of questions are our devotional times with the Lord. Let's think about putting on a candlelit dinner for a moment. We get out the good china and silverware, throw on the linen tablecloth, play soft music, pull out our best recipes, and don't forget the candles! When the moment comes, we make sure we look our best and everything is perfectly ready for our guest. Do we do this for the Lord? Don't misunderstand me here. I'm not saying that God will only accept us if we are polished and perfect. I'm also not talking about needing hours to meet with God. I'm talking about the posture of our hearts. Are we coming with an open heart to God or have we put up walls of self-defense? Have we prepared ourselves to meet with him or are we just going through the motions? Are we giving him the first fruits of our time, or just the scraps that fell off our schedule? Are we soaking in his word, or are we distracted by other things that we just can't get off our mind? We were created to be in fellowship with our Lord. He wants our best offerings, not our leftovers.
In the bible, our relationship with the Lord is compared to a marriage relationship.
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Rev 19:7
Do you see that? The bride has made herself ready! My friends, there are many ways we can get ready for our Lord. One of those ways is by getting to know the character of our God. My friend preached the sermon at our church this Sunday for the family service. She is travelling to Disney as I type this. My friend told us about how she got ready for her trip by doing some research. She looked up the Disney characters in books to learn all about them. The reason she did this, was so that when they saw the different characters at the theme park, they would recognize them, and know what role they played in the Disney movies. The only way we can recognize God, is if we know his character. What pleases Him? What burdens His heart? What (or who) does He love? What are His desires? We can learn all of this in His word.
And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,so your God will rejoice over you. Isaiah 62:5b
Paul said ANYTHING you have learned or seen from him, put into practice. Paul was certain that what he was teaching, and modeling, was all that he learned from Christ. Christ was certain that everything He was doing, His Father in heaven was doing as well.
Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. John 5:19
Have you ever seen a little girl playing dress up with mommy's high heels, and scarves and hats? How about a little boy strapping on his daddy's toolbelt and boots? They want to be just like us. We are children of the most high God. We too should be trying to be just like our heavenly Father. How about we strap on his helmet, and wield his sword and shield, and grow up to be just like him?
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