Living the Good Life ~ In His Word 3-1-2021
People are worrying about the changes in the world. They
want things to be back to what they consider normal but to be truthful, how
many of us really want the world to go back? How many of us what to go back to
fighting to get to work outside the home? Who really desires for the lies, the
bickering, the push to get ahead all coming back home with them to be forced
into the life at home? Would you rather not change who you have been and take
the good things from the shut down and apply it to your life? It’s a bit like
when you became a Believer in Christ. You took the old you and changed it to
meet the plans that He gave you over those selfish desires you had prior to
knowing Him.
Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your
sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at
God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life
is hidden with Christ in God. And when
Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all
his glory. Colossians 3:1-4
If we must go back, and of course we must move forward so
yes things will open up again and people will go out to work; though I hear
many will stay at home to work and get to enjoy less commuting. I think if we change
the way we did things that things will improve both in the workplace and at
home. The thing is we need to focus on God’s plan in it all.
Remember how you took your family to prayer time again? You
began having prayers at 7:11 or whatever time you chose to pray for the world,
the country, the states the cities, and the people. Don’t forget that! Don’t
drop that because you become busy. Keep on praying for your family, friends and
continue praying for those in charge of you; keep your eyes on Jesus’ plans.
So, put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within
you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil
desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the
things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. You
used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. 8 But now
is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty
language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful
nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on
your new nature and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become
like him. In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile,
circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is
all that matters, and he lives in all of us. Colossians 3:5-11
Be kind, focus on doing good things, stop being the person
who only cares about the dollar, but instead be personable and show your
clients integrity. Put on Christ. You know do what Jesus would do and all that?
Take that back with you to the workplace! Have your kids take it back to school
too!
Years ago, when I was teaching a before and after school
class a little girl named Nicole an evangelist on the playground at her school.
It started when she asked Jesus in her heart one day. I give
her my bible to borrow until she could get her own. She came home one day and told
me her teacher said she could not talk about Jesus in class.
I told her, with what I believe was a God given wording; “Maybe
not but outside does not belong to the school system, you can talk all you want
out there!”
She was so happy and gave away my bibles as fast as I could
get them to her. It turned out she was sharing them with friends on the
playground and they wanted to read more! She even prayed with them.
It is funny to me how easy it was for this girl to share what God had, to be that holy person God chose her to be. We adults have so many quirks to overcome to share in our workplace, but Nicole shared how ever she could.
God chooses us to do the will of the Father, just like Jesus.
He called for us to be holy, full of integrity, share kindness, forgiveness,
and love with others around us. He tells us in His Word to be filled with the
spirit and speak to ourselves with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing
and making melody in our hearts to the Lord. And when we do that others will
hear us, others will see us worshiping Him with our lives, others will know
that Christ is the difference in us. We are called to speak about Him, to share,
to show others that He is Lord of our life. In all that we do we need to get
the message out!
So, going back to the ‘new normal’, let's bring Jesus with
us! Let us remember that He walked with us through this time and will walk us
through it to the end, when we put our trust in Him.
Let the message about
Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with
all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with
thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the
Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. Colossians 3:16-17
Let us share the true Good News with those who get the good
news to go back to the world’s influence and make a difference. Let us pray for
them to be sheltered under His arms, in Jesus’ name.
Read some more? Colossians 3:1-25, Ephesians 5:1-33, and Acts
9:1-44.