Category: Morning Musings

Morning Musings: Colossians 2:8

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“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Our world is awash in philosophies.  Everyone seems to have one.  They are everywhere we look.  If you don’t like the one you have now, you can easily trade it out for another that looks about the same, or even another that looks totally different.  Philosophies are a dime a dozen.  There are many different doors all calling us to enter through them.  Truth, though, is something more elusive. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Colossians 1:15-20

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“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  And he is the head of the body, the church.  He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.  For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

This is one of the most exalted pictures of Jesus in all of the Scriptures.  It is a good reminder that the Jesus we serve and whose birth we will celebrate this next month is not just our friend, He is also our Lord.  Today we often see such an emphasis on Jesus as our friend and our personal Savior who knows us intimately that we lose sight of His glory. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Proverbs 24:13-14

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“My son, eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste.  Know that wisdom is such to your soul; if you find it, there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off.”

When was the last time you enjoyed something good simply because it was good?  So often, if we allow ourselves to experience something good, it is as a stopping point on the way to something else.  The good thing is not the end, but rather part of the means.  This can be especially true for followers of Jesus.  To seek out the experience of something good for no other reason than that it is good feels too self-indulgent.  We are not worth such efforts.  It is selfish.  We don’t deserve such things. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Jeremiah 4:18

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“Your ways and your deeds have brought this upon you.  This is your doom, and it is bitter; it has reached your very heart.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Much of the judgment heralded in the prophets is tough to read.  It is gloom and doom that sometimes seems to roll on for pages without reprieve.  But, if there’s anything we can take from all of this today it is this: Our choices have consequences. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Jeremiah 3:25

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“Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us.  For we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Genuine, heart-felt repentance is tough to do.  It requires a couple of things that we are pretty loathe to give.  It requires first a recognition that we have done something that was not right.  It was wrong, not in an abstract way, but in a way that was deeply personal for us and also for the other people who were affected by it.  This is tough in and of itself.  Often, when we have gotten caught doing something wrong we recognize the abstract, but not the personal.  We are inconvenienced by the attention to our misdeeds, but not truly sorry we did it.  This is the politician’s apology.  In other words, we are more sorry that we got caught than that we did whatever it was we have been caught doing. Read the rest…