Monday, April 4, 2011

God's Chosen Ones

Colossians 3: 12 - 17
12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience,
13 forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you,
so you also must forgive.
14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

How different our actions are when we truly do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. What a wonderful, simple way to “clean up our act”.
I do thank You, Lord, for Your Word. I thank You for my nine year old grandson through whom You chose to show me this scripture this morning. I thank You because this is exactly the word I needed in my life this morning as I try to be more and more as You would have me to be.
It is truly a blessing to have the way so clearly laid out for us.
12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience,
First, acknowledging that I am one of God’s chosen ones and therefore called upon to demonstrate the qualities of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience. I know that I am elevated to a special place as a child of God, as one of his beloved. I know that I partake of His kindness and mercy every day and that there is nothing that I do which earns this freely given love.

How can I do less than to be kind and patient with my brothers and sisters in the Lord when I remember that they, too, are God’s chosen ones?
13 forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you,
so you also must forgive.

I looked back this morning at all of the little things that I had allowed to bother me over just the last few months and neither one of them individually or all of them collectively was worth the time it took to get upset about them. It is not a matter of forgiving someone; it is truly a matter of not having anything worth getting riled up about in the first place.

How sad I would be if God was as quick to get upset with me as I have been with my fellow believers.
14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

We are blessed to have two Great Commandments, love of God and love of our brothers and sisters and these two commandments truly do bind everything together in perfect harmony. When we base all of our actions on these two commandments there is very little room for error.
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.

I close my eyes and enjoy the fullness that comes with the peace of Christ. I understand that I don’t leave room for that peace when I allow foolishness to fill my heart.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

It makes perfect sense that we are encouraged to be in fellowship with one another. It is in fellowship that we can grow in the Word. It is in fellowship that we can enjoy the spiritual uplifting of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. It is in fellowship that we can rejoice with thankful hearts to God.
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Father, God, my prayer is that You bring me closer to these simple truths every day. I ask the guidance and support of the Holy Spirit as I strive to do everything in the name of our Lord and Savior.

I do give thanks for all You are in my life and for the continued stirring in my spirit to be more and more what You would have me to be.

May God Forever Be a Blessing in Your Life!!!