Everything Together in Perfect Harmony

“Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 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.” (Colossians 3:12-17 ESV)

In the previous verses we were instructed that, if we are true believers in Jesus Christ, who have died with him to sin, and who have been raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, then we are to seek the things of God and not the things on this sinful earth. So we are to put out of our lives such things as sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, sensual passion, and evil desire, etc. For on account of these things the wrath of God is coming. And these are the kinds of things we once walked in, when we walked in sin, but we are now to put them all away.

But we don’t just put off sinful practices, by the grace of God, in the power of God, but we must put on all that is of God and that is holy, godly, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord. So, in place of the sinful habits we once walked in, now we are to put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, and the like, and we are to love and to forgive one another. For Jesus Christ died on that cross that we might die to sin and live to righteousness (1 Peter 2:24) and to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of slavery to sin so we now honor God with our bodies.

[Romans 6:1-23; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 4:17-24; Titus 2:11-14]

And the kind of love that this is saying that we should have for one another is not human love which is based in our emotions and in the person we are loving, but it is agape love, which comes from God, and which prefers what God prefers. So for us who believe in Jesus Christ, it means that we prefer to live through Christ, to choose his choices, and to obey them in his power. And what God chooses (prefers) is all that is holy and righteous and morally pure and upright, etc. So when we love with this kind of love we will give preference to what is holy and no longer to living in sin.

And the peace of God is an inward peace which comes to us from God when we surrender our lives over to Jesus Christ to do his will, and we forsake our sins to follow our Lord in obedience to his commandments (New Covenant). For then we are at peace with God when we are no longer walking in sin but we are now doing the will of God the Father, in the power of God, and as being led by the Spirit. For if sin is still what we practice, and not obedience to God, we cannot have true peace with God and be at peace in the trials and tribulations that will come upon us in this life.

And the foundation necessary for us to be able to do all of these put offs and put ons is Christ Jesus, and the faith that he provides, and that we receive from him, and that we walk in, by his grace. And, for those of us who now live under the New Covenant, it is the word of God living within us and out through us as we study the Scriptures in their context, and as we put those teachings into daily practice. For the Scriptures are given to us to give us instructions in what it means to be a believer in Christ and in how we are to live, as followers of Christ, now that we believe in him.

But it goes beyond just us and us studying the Scriptures and applying them to our daily lives. But as members of the body of Christ, his church, we are to be teaching and admonishing one another in all godly wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with thankfulness to God in our hearts. And we are to do all for the glory of God and for the salvation of human lives and for the encouragement of the body of Christ, that we may all grow to maturity in Christ together as one body. And we need this mutual encouragement to help us to mature in our walks of faith in our Lord.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Peter 1:15; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

In Faithfulness He Leads Me 

An Original Work / March 20, 2013

Based off Various Scriptures 

(Psalms 26:3; Psalms 86:11; Psalms 91:4-5; Psalms 111:7-8; Psalms 119:73-76; Isaiah 25:1-9; Isaiah 42:6-7; Hosea 2:16-20)

Teach me Your ways, Lord, and I’ll walk in them.

Give me a pure heart. I’ll fear Your name.

Your love is always, ever before me.

Continually I’ll walk in Your truth.

You will cover me with feathers.

Under Your wings I’ll find refuge.

My Lord’s faithfulness will be my

Comfort and my shield.

The works of His hands are faithful and just.

Trustworthy are all of His precepts.

Your hands have made me, and they have formed me.

Give understanding of Your commands.

I have put my hope, O Lord, in Your word.

Your teachings, O Lord, are righteousness.

Lord, in faithfulness You have

Afflicted me so I may learn of

Your unfailing love and comfort

And Your truthfulness.

You are my husband; You have betrothed me

In love, compassion and faithfulness.

O Lord, You are my God, I’ll exalt You.

In faithfulness You’ve done wondrous things.

You’ve been a refuge for those who’re needy;

A shelter in storms; shade from the heat.

This is the Lord, we trusted in Him,

Let us be glad and rejoice

In His salvation which He

Provided through the Lamb.

Open the blind eyes; free all the captives.

Tell them of Jesus: “Be born again!”

https://vimeo.com/115747912