Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Wednesday Thought -- December 17, 2014

Good Morning Friends,

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:15-17)

Be at peace … be thankful … be in the Word … be helpful … be focused.

Those are great admonitions from the Lord about how to have a life that pleases God and is good for us, too.

Our lives are not improved by contentiousness. We don’t accomplish good things in the lives of others or for the Lord by being critical and hard to get along with. Rather, it is the peaceful spirit that pleases God and improves our lives. Jesus reminded us, it is the peacemakers who are blessed. Is your life characterized more by peace or by contention and criticism?

God has provided us with so many blessing. That’s true for every one of us. Do we respond in a way that takes those blessings for granted as though we deserve them? Is our attitude one of thankfulness? God deserves our thanks and He is pleased when He receives it.

Paul encourages us to let the Word dwell in us and the only way that happens is if we are in the Word on a regular and consistent basis. We often wonder why we struggle to discern God’s will or why we don’t hear God’s voice more frequently or clearly or why we aren’t growing as rapidly as we think we should. Yet we think those things will happen without being disciplined about being in the Word. It just doesn’t happen.

We aren’t responsible for the spiritual lives of others. Each person will give an account of his own life to the Lord. But we can be helpful to each other as we share God’s Word with each other. I need you to be helpful to me and you need me to be helpful to you.

Finally, be focused … let your life be characterized by the desire to please God in everything. That doesn’t leave any area of our lives out. At work … at play … at home … at school … be focused on the Lord.

Those are keys to a healthy and happy … and God-pleasing life.

His, by Grace,


Steve

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