Friday devotions - still a lot of the Thanksgiving in here...Colossians 3:12-17

Today's verses are Colossians 3:12-17 which read,

12 - So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 
13 - bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 
14 - Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
15 - Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful. 
16 - Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 
17 - Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

In my Bible the title of this passage is called "Character of the New Man."  There is so much packed into these 6 verses.

v. 12 gives us another listing of some of the fruit of the Spirit that we know from the book of Ephesians.

v.13 throws in forgiveness as Jesus taught at the end of the Lord's Prayer.

v.14 mentions love as the binding agent as it does at the end of 1 Corinthians 12 and the whole of chapter 13.

v.15 reminds us about the "one body" concept that Paul loves to talk about with us being "many members" but "one body."
  
v.16 instructs us about worship with the focus on the Word of God and our gathering together to sing songs that glorify Him and don't forget our expression of thankfulness.

v.17 takes us outside the four walls of the church to our homes and schools and careers with the opportunities to let that light shine for Christ. 

Some words to look at:

v.12 - "...put on..." means like you put on clothes to cover yourselves, let this fruit of the Spirit cover you.

v.13 - "...forgiving..." has the element of gratefulness, that I am so thankful that I have the ability to forgive others as Christ has forgiven me.

v.14 - "...bond of unity." can also be translated "band" like a rubber band in which house objects together and stretches for more to be added.

v.15 - "...rule..." literally means "be an umpire."  Let peace be the umpire in the context of the church.

v.16 - "...richly dwell..." means that we are to be saturated with the Word of God.

v.17 - "Whatever..." encompasses "who, which, what, and that" so it truly is all encompassing to what we say and do.

Much to pray to the Father about this morning.


Pastor Adam
A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

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