Living a Colossians 3 Life

By Candace McQuain –

God’s Word provides believers with precise instructions on how to live as Christ-like as we possibly can. Why is it then, we seem to pick and choose when and how we apply those instructions in our everyday life? Why is it we think there are acceptations within our own circumstances that give us permission to side step around His truth?

The “why” my friends is actually a “who.”

Satan does not want us to follow any of God’s commands as they are written. He puts in our head that our situation doesn’t match up with what our Father is asking of us. He feeds our minds with lies that our situation requires a different set of rules. His rules.

If it were up to Satan our relationships, our homes, our work lives and well, every aspect of our life would be in constant turmoil. His hope is that, this constant “turmoil” which we allow him to create, will eventually lead us into a very long season of sin. Then he’s got us.

Believers, we need to keep a vigilant eye on the enemy’s approach and we must fight back.

In Colossians 3:12 (NIV) we are reminded that we are chosen and we are “holy and dearly loved” by God. That right there should stop us in our tracks and force us to take a long look at ourselves and our relationships, and correct everything we are doing that would not be pleasing to Him. Our heart should feel convicted to make changes, to incorporate that “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” which God has instructed us to “clothe ourselves in.” The truth is, we typically only correct a few minor things and conveniently, with enemies help, we ignore those larger issues that are still looming in the distance.

Our God deserves so much more than that. He deserves unconditional obedience. He deserves to see His children, at the very least, be cordial and forgiving to one another.

“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (Colossians 3:13-14 NIV).

That grudge we have been holding on to, that apology we owe someone, or that genuine connection we just can’t seem to make with a loved one, those are all spiritual strongholds that are all pulling us farther and father away from God.

I know it’s a painful process to put ourselves out there in order to ask for or to grant forgiveness and ultimately love unconditionally again, but I can say from experience that when we finally get over ourselves and put God first, He will change our hearts and tender healing, will replace the grudges and the anger that have been on our hearts for so long.

Let’s start living that Colossians 3 life that the enemy is so afraid of!

A New You

By Cheri Cowell –

With all the talk at the beginning of the year of diet plans and exercising our way to a “new you,” it makes me think of the “new you” promised us in the Bible. We talked often in my childhood home of what heaven was going to be like. We spoke of the people we loved who had gone before us and what fun they must be having in the perfect place God had prepared for them. We just knew that my great-grandmother, Mumsey, was in a perfectly outfitted kitchen, baking heavenly treats for the heavenly host. We knew my grandfather was in the woodshop building beautiful pieces of furniture for the many altars in heaven. I now appreciate the gift my parents gave me in providing those happy discussions of heaven. My father was a diabetic and took insulin shots three times daily from the age of nine. He is now in heaven and I am grateful he no longer suffers that pain because he has a new body. One day I know I will be with him again and will hug him with my new body. What a gift that assurance is. Do you need to be reassured today of that hope?

In today’s Scripture, Paul contrasts our earthly bodies (tents) with our resurrection bodies (eternal house in heaven- heavenly dwelling). Our earthly bodies make us groan, but when we die we will not be naked (without a body). We will have new bodies perfectly suited for an eternal life with Christ. What a hope! What a promise!

PRAYER: I praise You, God, for Your promise of a new life with a new body when I die and go to live with You. Thank You for the reassurance that those I love are no longer suffering in their earthly bodies; help me stay focused on that promise, that hope, when this body makes me groan.

BIBLE VERSE: “For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge” (2 Corinthians 5:1-5 NASB).

Qualities vs. Symptoms

By Rhonda Rhea –

Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I think I have some very unique and useful character qualities. Granted, most better psychoanalysts might not refer to them as “character qualities” as much as they refer to them as “symptoms,” but still.

I think writers acquire an exclusive symptom or two…make that a “quality” or two…that others don’t necessarily encounter. Maybe it’s the inordinate amount of rejection we’re called to deal with, but insecurity is so often the order of the day. Not to mention that when fiction writers hear new little voices in their heads, they never medicate. No, they actually encourage the little voices. And then publish them.

This week, though, I experienced a “quality” beyond voices. It’s a weird thing that happens to me now and again. I look over the writing du jour and I keep thinking I’ve misspelled words—even when I haven’t.

I think I might be a typo-chondriac.

Interestingly enough, if the psycho-professionals come up with a 12-step program for typo-chondriacs, I’m pretty sure step one will be admitting you don’t have a problem.

When it comes to successfully walking out this life for Christ, though, we have to recognize right from the get-go our complete lack of ability to make it happen ourselves. We do have a problem. And without surrendering to the leadership of God’s Holy Spirit, there’s no hope for resolving that problem. No 12-step program. No self-help book. Personally speaking, I don’t even have a horn to toot. Not a leg to stand on. Not a keyboard to type on. It’s got to be all Him and zero me.

You’d think that would cause a more intense insecurity than even a writer has to bear. But it doesn’t. As a matter of fact, it’s the exact opposite. There is great security in knowing that I don’t have to depend on my own abilities. There is even greater security in knowing that I can so completely depend on the One who is all-powerful. Paul reminds us in Philippians 3:3 that, “We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort,” (NLT).

The Amplified version of Philippians 3:3 puts it this way: “Put no confidence or dependence on what we are in the flesh and on outward privileges and physical advantages and external appearances.” That pretty much settles it. Nothing we’ve done. Nothing we’ve said. Nothing we are. Nothing inside us. Nothing outside us. Victory in the walk of faith will only happen as we rely totally and completely in the all-powerful One. And in Him our security is sure.

So it’s not such a terrible thing to recognize that even though I’m a writer, with all the built-in insecurities and various “qualities” that come with it, I don’t have to live in insecurity. There’s freedom in recognizing I have nothing to offer in and of myself, but that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” (Philippians 4:13, NKJV).

That’s especially refreshing to dwell on when I realize that on top of my typo-chondria, I think I might be coming down with a touch of kleptomania. Gee, I hope there’s something I can take for that.

Growing Up in 2012

By Art Fulks –

New Years resolutions are a waste! Maybe that is a bit harsh, but it probably got your attention. Most of us set aside any reality of keeping our resolutions by January 2nd. Setting goals is good, but our failures often make us forsake the goal as either impossible or improbable.

As I study the Bible, I am increasingly convinced that our definite, one-time decision to repent and trust Christ as Lord and Savior may be the only significant, instantaneous event on the Christian journey. After that, the process of becoming the follower of Christ that He desires requires daily acts of the will, (empowered by the Holy Spirit), that develop into patterns of noticable change in our life.

Following Christ is a journey of mountains and valleys, victories and set-backs. It is a path filled with joy and suffering, glory and grace. Understanding this helps maturity begin to grow in our lives. As we decide to surrender our life daily to God, our victories will not make us complacent and our defeats will not cause us to quit.

Bible passages like Ephesians 4 help us see a picture of what growing up in Christ looks like. Our progress is not measured by whether or not we keep one ‘resolution’, but rather faith that produces noticable change in our life over time.

All four of our children are now in their teens. I am noticing more how they are maturing, especially in the younger kids. Why? Because I am observing the patterns of our older kids being repeated in the younger. As a parent, I am not over-reacting as often as I used to because I have faith in the temporary nature of the process. Hopefully, I am also growing in patience.

I cannot help but wonder if that is how our Heavenly Father sees us. He sees our victories with joy and views our failures with disappointment. Yet He has the advantage of Sovereign knowledge that the process of maturity will be perfected in His children.

May we look back at 2011 and notice the ways we are maturing, while evaluating the areas where we still need to mature in the coming months. But whether it is becoming more healthy physically or spiritually, my prayer is that we will all look back at the end of 2012 and be able to see the noticable change as we grow up in Christ together.

BIBLE VERSE: “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6 NASB)

What’s New?

By Kathi Woodall –

My daughters awoke Christmas morning and ran down the stairs to the living room. Wrapped in shiny paper with ribbons and bows, a new box awaited them that hadn’t been there the night before. Instead of lots of little presents, my husband and I bought one large gift for all four girls. They tore open the paper and found a new flat-screen television for their upstairs viewing pleasure. Their current television had been new once upon a time. Twenty-five years later though, that TV had grown unusable for modern day games and media equipment.

On New Year’s Eve night, friends and family gathered in our kitchen, their eyes fixed on the large clock hanging high on the wall. We waited anxiously as seconds ticked by. The hand reached the ten and we all began counting aloud; 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…Happy New Year! Oddly enough, many of the same family and friends had stood in the same spot the year before, watching the same clock, and yelling the same phrase as we rang in 2011. Now 2011 was gone, 2012 had come, and if the Lord tarries, we will cheer in 2013 in twelve more months.

That’s the way life is; things wear out, times change, and new things are always coming. The new and exciting of today will be the garbage of tomorrow.

However, this isn’t the case for one part of our life. A relationship with our Savior Jesus is full of many new things that will never wear out and never need to be replaced. They are just as sufficient fifty years from now, or a thousand years into eternity, as they are the moment they are first received.

We are given new life when we enter into a relationship with Jesus. Because Jesus rose from the dead, “we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4 NIV). Not only does our new birth give us hope of our own resurrection, but it also gives the promise of an imperishable inheritance awaiting us in heaven (1 Peter 1:3-4).

We are made into a new creation. Our old sinful nature and poor moral character are thrown away and we are created anew in Him. Becoming a new creation is more important than adherence to the law (2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15). Our new self is “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” and is “being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Ephesians 4:24, Colossians 3:10 NIV, respectively).

We live our lives under a new command. The 613 commands of the Old Testament have been simplified down into loving God and others with your whole being (John 13:34, Matthew 22:36-40).

We await a resurrected life in a new heaven and new earth. This future “home of righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13) is described; “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4 NIV).

All of this is made possible by a new covenant. We are no longer regulated by the sacrifices and requirements of the Old Testament. Jesus mediated a new covenant through His death that we might be eternally forgiven for our sins (Hebrews 8-10).

What better time than a new year to accept His eternal forgiveness for sins and walk in the newness of life with Him?

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