Daily Bread #14
A Thought To Ponder:
The last chapter of a good book. The bottom of a carton of Blue Bell. The instructions on how to build a crib. The waistline of your “skinny pants.” If you’re like me, you’ve gotten to one or more of these locations and had the same thought: “I wish there was just a little more.”
Life is so often that way. We want just a little more time, more money, more credit, more sleep. If we could increase any them by just the smallest of increments we could finally be happy. We can get so caught up on the precious little we do have that we miss the point that the “little” is precious. Not to mention, that with God there is always more to come. Maybe not the more that we clamor and claw for, but the more that God knows is enough.
The plans and provisions God has in store for us are far more than we can ask or imagine. Or in the words of Isaiah, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” Rest today in the thought that with God there is always more to come. More love. More forgiveness. More of His presence in our life. Praying today that you will receive “more.” I also pray that you realize that in this time when we’ve been forced to slow down and shelter in place that the “more” we’ve seeking has always been right in front of us.
Questions To Discuss:
1. Can you think of a time in your life when you felt completely empty? Was it a physical hunger or thirst? Did you run out of gas in your car? What does it feel like when we are empty?
2. How about the opposite? Describe a season in your life when you felt full. Fullness can be a positive or a negative. Feeling full after a great meal feels great. A full schedule might leave you completely stressed out. When you think of being full, is it a good thing or bad thing?
3. Paul talks about Jesus emptying Himself in order to come to Earth. What are some of the things Jesus gave up for us?
4. Our lives, especially before quarantine, were packed to overflowing with appointments, deadlines, and more work than we could do. How has this pause to our busy lives changed your perspective? What are some of the things we’ve lost or gained by having to stop being so filled with activity?
5. Paul also talks about being like Christ in several different ways. What are some things that get in the way of us being like Christ or having the same mind as Christ?
6. When you think about the empty tomb of the resurrection, what are some of your emotional reactions? How does the empty tomb encourage to strive to be more like Jesus?
Scripture To Read:
Colossians 1:15-23
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[g] your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
A Prayer For Change:
Bob Perks wrote a beautiful prayer that he uses with his family around the Thanksgiving dinner table. It’s especially appropriate for this week’s study.
I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough.