Tag: colossians

  • We Gather Together

    We Gather Together

    Perhaps you know the Thanksgiving hymn, “We Gather Together.”

    Look to the lyrics of the hymn of thanks and give thought to them:

    1.	We gather together 
    	to ask the Lord's blessing; 
    	he chastens and hastens 
    	his will to make known.  
    	The wicked oppressing 
    	now cease from distressing.  
    	Sing praises to his name, 
    	he forgets not his own.
    
    2.	Beside us to guide us, 
    	our God with us joining, 
    	ordaining, maintaining 
    	his kingdom divine; 
    	so from the beginning 
    	the fight we were winning; 
    	thou, Lord, wast at our side, 
    	all glory be thine!
    
    3.	We all do extol thee, 
    	thou leader triumphant, 
    	and pray that thou still 
    	our defender wilt be.  
    	Let thy congregation 
    	escape tribulation; 
    	thy name be ever praised!  
    	O Lord, make us free!
    e
    source: We Gather Together lyric
    
    We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing. Yes, that's what Thanksgiving is all about. Yet dig deeper into the text of this formerly well-known Thanksgiving hymn (many churches no longer offer a service of Thanksgiving) and find more for which to be thankful.
    
    To begin, here is an interesting looking a probable emergence of the hymn: The Surprising Origins of "We Gather Together"

    “We gather together” is cherished as yearly opportunity for family gatherings; however further examination of the lyrics suggest an occasion of worship “to ask the Lord’s blessing.”

    Do you gather together with other Christians (not just family) regularly to ask the Lord’s blessing? And if you do not bless God, would it not be appropriate for God to curse you? Therefore, let us always give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    And if we receive blessings from the Lord day by day (and we do, if you will take note of these), should we not thank the Lord each and every day even as was ask the Lord’s blessing on the food and full provision for our lives?

    “He chastens…”

    Chaste: there’s a word you don’t see in the Christmas ads on T.V. or anywhere else.

    Chasten:

    1. to be instructed or taught or learn, correct,
    2. of those who are moulding the character of others by reproof and admonition
    3. of God to chasten by the affliction of evils and calamities

     Revelation 3:19

    As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

    What does it mean that the Lord rebukes and chastens his beloved (you an me, dear brothers and sisters in Christ)?

    Perhaps you think that Thanksgiving is not a time for ‘rebuke’ from the Lord. Yet if we are unrepentant in our relationship to the Lord and in our relationships to each other, I can think of no better time for a loving Father to rebuke and correct His children, even adopted children through the Cross of our Lord, His only Son, Jesus Christ.

    He chastens AND…

    “… and hastens His will to make known.”

    “Thy will be done,” is the prayer we all pray.

    What is God’s will for you? Do you want to God’s will when you finally get around to it? Or if we listen to the lyric, it would seem that God would make haste in our measured days to make His will know to us.

    “The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.”

    A definition (as if we need a reminder): oppression – prolonged cruel or unjust treatment, mental pressure or distress

    The world surrounds us with wicked oppressing; but thank be to God for redeeming us from oppression of our our sin. Is anything more oppressing than sin? Yet by grace we may cease from distressing over the punishment of the Father we truly deserve.

    And what should be our response to the lifting of our oppression from us by the grace of the Cross?

    “Sing praises to his name…”

    Indeed, Thanksgiving is all about worship of God our Father and Christ Jesus.

    Thank God; for:

    “… he forgets not his own.”

    Colossians 1

    English Standard Version (ESV)

    11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

    Verse 2.

    Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining…

    Encouraged?  You know this from the Christmas message:

    Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
    and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

    “… ordaining, maintaining his kingdom divine;”

    Jesus began the Kingdom. Jesus maintains His Kingdom. Jesus will return for His subjects… His family.  He will reign.

    We thought that we were losing out on life, but by accepting Jesus as our King we cannot be defeated.

    Hebrews 12: 1b-2 NKJV

    … let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

    “so from the beginning the fight we were winning; thou lord wast at our side,”

    Isn’t it comforting to know in our daily struggles that Jesus stands right there with us? It’s just one more reason to praise him.

    “all glory be thine!”

    Verse 3

    “We all to extol thee, thou leader triumphant,”

    ‘Extol.’ It’s an old word that has fallen from our vocabulary. It means to praise enthusiastically. Furthermore, it is appropriate to make mention of another old English usage that has fallen by the wayside. The King James Version of the Bible remains popular with many because of its use of ‘thee and thou.’ It is a proper reverence for God and Christ, lost in familiarity of worshipers bordering on disrespect. Our attitude of worship (as a church and in our family and personal life) should at the very least show God the respect due a father. Often, it does not.

    Jesus has triumphed over death… and He did it for us. IF Jesus is our Lord, He IS our leader triumphant.

    “and pray that thou still our defender wilt be.”

    We will be raised up with Him at the Judgment.

    1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

    “Let thy congregation escape tribulation;”

    Do you know what tribulation is really? According to the Oxford Dictionary, its a cause of great trouble or suffering.

    First century Christians suffered much tribulation from evil men opposed to Christ. Last century Christians will suffer a worse tribulation under the oppression of the Antichrist and the persecution by all those opposed to Jesus Christ as Lord. Yet we are victorious in Christ Jesus, who has overcome death, will defeat Satan, and rule a new heaven and a new earth. We will reign with Jesus our Lord!

    For this we ought to have much thanks giving.

    “thy name be ever praised!”

    And one final plea of the hymn (only it is not for freedom from tyrants):

    “O, Lord, make us free.”

     Are you part of the family of God? Or do you remain a slave to your sin?

    John 8: ““Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

    You may gather with ‘family’ and give brief thanks for too much food; but Thanksgiving is much more than this.

    Psalm 102:18-22

    Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
    so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD:

    that he looked down from his holy height;
    from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,

    to hear the groans of the prisoners,
    to set free those who were doomed to die,

    that they may declare in Zion the name of the LORD,
    and in Jerusalem his praise,

    when peoples gather together,
    and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.

    Children singing “We Gather Together”

     Happy Thanksgiving.

    Praise the Lord.

    Jesus IS Lord.

  • Pray also for me

    Pray also for me

    I have a prayer list. If you are reading this, you probably do too.

    Some of the names on mine: Lissette, Rachel, David, Ashley, Dad, Ed, Ken, Jenny, Tom, Robin, Marianna.

    Please pray for these loved ones of my family.

    I guess that all Christians pray for our families at times (as we ought). It’s in our own best interests, in addition to theirs. IF God blesses a family member and does not curse them, our prayer is answered (maybe not in our way, but in His).

    But the truth is that most people, probably even most christians, do NOT take any time to pray for others (except out of circumstances of desperation).

    Why not?

    Why don’t we at least take time to pray for our family (let alone our boss or workers or neighbors or friends or our President and Congress or the hungry or homeless or one in prison or any others…)?

    I suspect that most of us are too caught-up in our ‘selves.’

    So it is with some hesitation that I even ask you to pray also for me.

    Let’s talk about prayer briefly from the Bible. (For an in-depth study of prayer would take more time than we are willing.)

    In fact: PLEASE take just a moment right NOW to STOP reading, close out the world, close your eyes, bow your head & PRAY.

    amen. 

     

    What does it mean to pray?

    To begin, perhaps you would like to look at a few examples: first, from the Hebrew word for pray:

    God speaking to Abimelech in a dream here: Genesis 20:7 Now then, return the man’s wife,for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live.

    Here is a reason to NOT complain about God: Numbers 11: And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. 2 Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. 

    The story of 1 Samuel 1 shows the prayer of Hannah, the answer of the Lord and the sacrifice of thanksgiving from Hannah.

    Many of the Psalms of David speak not only directly to our hearts, but also provide examples of prayer to God:

    Psalm 5

    Give ear to my words, O Lord;
    consider my groaning.
    2 Give attention to the sound of my cry,
    my King and my God,
    for to you do I pray.
    3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
    in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

    Do we do that?

    Do we pray to the Lord in the morning? (Did you this morning?)

    Do we even offer a small sacrifice of our mortal time?

    We also know that the Priests and Prophets prayed to God on behalf of their people. In fact, we probably recall at least one Prophet also praying to God for himself.

    Jonah 2: Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying,

    “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
    and he answered me;
    out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
    and you heard my voice.

    In ALL prayer we should see something in common:

    Prayer implies conversation with God

    A faithful man or woman may assume an answer from God our Father.

    In the New Testament, Jesus and later the Apostles teach us to pray.

    A brief look at the Greek word for pray:

    Jesus sums it up perfectly in Matthew 6 (some of which we memorize & other of His instructions about prayer we sometime forget).

    5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray… that they may be seen by others…

    6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

    7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases… for they think that they will be heard for their many words.

    8 … for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this:

    “Our Father in heaven…

    (Though your memorized words are good, Jesus was showing us HOW to ask. Pay attention to the structure of His Prayer and you will learn truly how to pray.)

    Peter and the Apostles prayed before decisions [Acts 1:24], prayed before healings [Acts 6:6], prayed and fasted, prayed and sang hymns.

    One of our best instructions about prayer from Paul, Silas, and Timothy:

    1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

    Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances;

    for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

    Most encouraging to the churches of the first century – to all of the believers – the Letters from the Apostles and leaders of the Church are filled with references of personal prayers for individuals and prayers of thanksgiving for the church corporately as a body of believers for whom they prayed.

    Colossians 1: (from Paul and Timothy)

    3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard ofyour faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints…

    9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding…

    (I pray that ALL of our church leaders pray for us like that and also encourage us by such public praise in prayer as did Paul and Timothy.)

    Do our church leaders call us to pray for each other and pray also for them?

    Colossians 4:3 Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains.

    1 Thessalonians 5:25 Dear brothers and sisters, pray for us.

    2 Thessalonians 3:1 Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we ask you to pray for us.Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to you.

    Hebrews 13:18 Pray for us, for our conscience is clear and we want to live honorably in everything we do.

    Since I do not address you as a church, but individually as my brother or sister in our Lord Christ Jesus, I do ask that you will pray also for me.

    I would ask that you pray for our Christian Social Witness and for the sharing of the Gospel through this place for your encouragement.

    I will pray for you, as will others with whom you Share your COMMENTS.

    Please ASK for prayer in our comments. May we add you to our prayers?

    May our Lord, Christ Jesus bless you and keep you for His own until we pray with each other once again. amen.

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