Friday, April 28, 2006

Today's DB Colossians 3 w/Lena's Journalin'

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.

Colossians 3:1-25
Living the New Life
1Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God's right hand in the place of honor and power. 2Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth. 3For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4And when Christ, who is your F9 real life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
5So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and shameful desires. Don't be greedy for the good things of this life, for that is idolatry. 6God's terrible anger will come upon those who do such things. 7You used to do them when your life was still part of this world. 8But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. 9Don't lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old evil nature and all its wicked deeds. 10In its place you have clothed yourselves with a brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who created this new nature within you. 11In this new life, it doesn't matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, F10 circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, F11 slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
12Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13You must make allowance for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are all called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
16Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. Use his words to teach and counsel each other. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the while giving thanks through him to God the Father.
Instructions for Christian Households
18You wives must submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord. 19And you husbands must love your wives and never treat them harshly.
20You children must always obey your parents, for this is what pleases the Lord. 21Fathers, don't aggravate your children. If you do, they will become discouraged and quit trying.
22You slaves must obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Obey them willingly because of your reverent fear of the Lord. 23Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 24Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and the Master you are serving is Christ. 25But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites who can get away with evil.
FOOTNOTES:F9: Some manuscripts read our. F10: Greek Greek. F11: Greek Barbarian, Scythian.
Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living TranslationCopyright © 1996 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

~ Lena’s Journalin’ ~
Raised means, brought up out from a mortal’s death (sentence) into a brand new, unlike the old, life that is now fully dedicated to God.
Did you realize that when you got “saved”, when you said that “sinner’s prayer” with someone, you gave up your old life, the old way you used to live, the old things you used to do? That passed away, have a funeral and celebrate, because all that old man did was based in mortality and death. Did you realize that every part of your new life is given over to God?
In King James vs. 2 says set your affections on things above, not on things in the earth. That means change your old earthly-temporary desires to be one with God’s eternal desires. Seek out new bases for opinionated thinking, don’t base your opinions on old thoughts, habits, and patterns taught you by the world, who rages war against your Father! Come into His word and begin to think the same way He does, not by disputing to see who wins the arguments, but rather by simply believing as a child would, that what He says, is truth. Put value in what God puts value in. Change your value system, especially where self is concerned. See you as He sees you! A new creature inside of Christ, with Christ alive inside of you.
NOW is the time to be rid of all of the worldly junk that tries to take up God-space in our spiritual houses.
How is it one can renew their mind, make changes, and become as Christ, if they do not ever read how? The only way to be continually renewed is by learning how through studies on the Bible and intimate discipleship of a – quote - one on one tutor of faith.
You may read the word or hear a message, but left to yourself and old patterns of understanding, you may hear wrong. One way to hear right is to become filled with the Holy spirit. He is our Teacher and is set by God to teach us about God the Father and Jesus the Son. He bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God and sons of God by walking in truth, the truths we learn as we continue, pressing on in the discipleship of God’s word.
Love is THE clothing one must wear in the heavenly on earth kingdom of God, because God is love.
What if people are unlovely, can I take it off and put on vengeance? What if they are unfair, can I require of them fairness? What if they are mean, can’t I rail back and argue with them, proving their incorrectness? Can’t I help them see how unloving they are and show them the splinters in their eyes? Or do I have to do what is hard and love the unlovely? Do I have to serve those who don’t ever serve, those who always take and never give? Do I have to submit to the tyrant at work or at home or the one who requires my service even when I did not volunteer my services?
Why would I behave like that? That’s not natural, that’s quite weird, that’s crazy!
Yeah, it is. Love is driven by passion’s fire and burns down bridges of partician, where no other man would ever want to go.
How far would you go for love?
To the grave?
To the highest mountain?
Lowest valley?
Deepest sea?
Widest distance (on foot)?
For your enemy?
How far did He go?
Do we follow Him, or did we just say a prayer, cause we wanted the benefit of salvation with no commitment?
Would we follow Him, to the cross? (That’s what coming to an altar to say a salvation prayer is).
Would we follow Him to hell and back? (He went there to get the keys of death for me, to unlock grave doors of destiny for others).
Do we go into the Throne room and worship Him unabandondly?
Do we sit with Him high above all sources of darkness ruling over them, rather than being under their old rule?
Do we go into the earth, walking with Him and bringing truth from love to the world He loves?
Are we unashamed to be called His chosen ones, appointed ones?
Do we love who the Father loves?
Do we?
All for love?
He went all the way for me, for you, for us, for our enemies, for this world, Amen!


Daily Repetitive Verses:

John 3:17
You know these things – now do them! That is the path of blessing.