Live Free with Josh Howerton - Overflowing with Inclusive Love | Ep. 71 | Monday May 15, 2023

Episode Date: May 15, 2023

Life is hard. We all face difficulties, tragedies and suffering at some point in our lives. But what if there was a way to live, one marked by confidence and hope even in the face of adversity? Today, Pastor Mike discusses the characteristics of the Colossians' vibrant faith and love, which came from their confident hope in what God has reserved for them in heaven. Are you living for today or for eternity? The choice is yours. For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.com. Church slash daily drive. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, what's up, everybody? Hope you having a great day. So great to hang with you for a few minutes every day. Thanks so much for making the effort to consistently do this. I run into people all the time. They just like do it every day. So I'm grateful for you. And I pray every day that God's Word will make its home in your heart.

And that's my personal prayer for me too. We are walking through a letter in the back of the Bible called Colossians. You know, a lot of the books of the Bible in the back of the Bible were letters written to encourage and instruct brand new Jesus followers. They are written by eyewitnesses to Jesus such as John, Peter, Jesus' brother named James, and a whole bunch of them were written by a guy chosen by God named Paul. And this is one of those letters that he writes from prison where he was unjustly locked up for his faith. And it's a letter all about new life. We said if the books of the Bible were a season, this one would be spring. I'm so excited for you to perhaps find some of the freshness in life that it invites all of us.

into. We're still in chapter one. And over the past few days, we've identified some of the characteristics of this church that Paul writes to. These are in the DNA of every prevailing, difference-making kind of church. We saw how those kind of faith communities are full of people who, first of all, live a distinctive lifestyle. They live counterculturally right in the middle of the culture. They are set apart for God's exclusive use, and they shine his light wherever they go. They also are full of people that pulsate with a passionate faith. They build their lives on a firm foundation. They unconditionally trust their father and move through life with passion and gratitude.

And they also overflow with inclusive love. We talked about how that was the number one thing the early Christians were known for, inclusive love. Even though they lived distinctive lives, they wanted everybody to experience the same love that they had experienced. They wanted everybody to find what they had found. They also embrace life-changing truth. We talked about that last time. We talked about re-wallpaping our minds with truth, with God's Word. And as we do that, all those old lies that may have shaped us in the past, all that stuff gets replaced by life-giving truth.

And now we're down to number five. All of this is because, Paul says, because you cling to a living hope. Where do the vibrant faith and love of the Colossians come from? He says this in verse five. which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. It was the truth of a better place that kept them going. They lived in an extremely violent world. The Roman Empire in which they lived was oppressive and dangerous to anybody who followed Jesus.

These people face the very real threat of persecution every day of their lives. So they live with an eye on eternity. they live knowing that along with this new life came a new home. So they walked through life with a sense of, this world is not my home. Their perspective was, man, we can't wait to go to heaven. And we want to take as many people with us as we can. Paul at other points in this letter,

make sure that that's where their focus is. To know that you're going to live forever in a place that's been promised to you through Jesus Christ. I'm telling you, that does fill you with confidence. You know, I love life. I really do. One of my favorite old songs is the one that says, and I think to myself, what a wonderful world. I love beauty.

I love nature. I love people. I love the experiences I get to have. I have been so incredibly blessed. But still, even as good as this life can be, don't you just sometimes long for heaven? Man, I do. Every time we hear about another mass shooting or the ugliness of racism

or another kid that's been abandoned or abused or some country scheming war plans or another girl or boy that's been trafficked or or another friend with cancer. We'd go, oh, man, I just want to go to a better place. Once again, just a reminder that Paul wrote this letter from prison, unjustly incarcerated for his faith in Jesus Christ. And in another letter, he calls all the extremely tough stuff he was going through. He calls it light and momentary troubles. because he lived with an eye on eternity, because he also was confident in his hope.

One of Jesus' best friends, a guy named Peter, he wrote a couple of these letters in the back of the Bible, too, and he referenced the rough times here as, quote, unquote, just a little while. He told us that we have a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus, and our inheritance, our home is reserved and waiting for us in heaven someday. You know, Jesus was right when he directly told us, told us that in this life, you will have trouble. We live in a fallen world. And the truth is, we will work hard here, and then we'll rest. We will get sick here, and then we'll find healing. We will experience loss here, and then we'll receive more than we could ever imagine. We will

struggle for answers here, and then know completely. We will endure disappointment and heartbreak here, and then watch all of that be erased forever. We will courageously tell our friends about Jesus on this side of eternity, and then we'll get to sit around having with them on the other side. So let that hope motivate you today. Man, it's real. It's living. It's secure. And it is forever.

Whatever you may be going through. Keep paddling upstream. It's just a little while. Live a distinctive lifestyle, a passionate faith, an inclusive love that flows from a life that is grounded in truth, knowing that there really is a perfect place prepared. for us. That's what our new normal looks like. See you next time. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 9.30 and 11 a.m. Central Standard Time. Also, if this

podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out? For more information about all digital ministry, of Lake Point, visit lakepoint.compt.combe.combe. Church slash daily drive.