“And
whatsoever you do, whether in word or deed, do it ALL in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father thru him.”
Colossians 3:20. “Whatever you do work at it with ALL your
heart, as working for the Lord.” Colossians 3:23
January 3,
2020!! How many New Year’s resolutions
did you make and already break? Lose
weight? That is often one after the
Holidays! Work harder? Take more vacation time? Increase savings? Less TV or Social Media? Most of us are not very good at keeping these
and give up when we fail to keep them just once
I have a
suggestion: call it life-style change
and ask God to help you draw closer to Him
That is far more important and has eternal value!
He is God of
second chances – even 3rd, 4th … etc. Read Hebrew Chapter
11 where the Fathers of Faith are listed.
Then check out their lives and what got them to this faith. often times
it was failure or missing God’s mark.
Then came recognition of need, repentance and forgiveness.
Here are a few
of the New Testament heroes:
Peter, an apostle, often put his foot in his mouth – even
denying he knew Jesus. Luke 26:31-34,
but when the Holy Spirit filled him, became a strong leader (69-750.
Zacchaeus was a Jewish tax collector
who lined his pockets at the expense of his own people. Then he met Jesus! And his life was changed. Luke Chapter 19
Paul, a very religious man who
persecuted those of The Way, met Jesus and was changed 180 degrees. The
Book of Acts tell us the rest of the story- how he traveled and spread the Good News of Jesus’
Love to Asia Minor, even while enduring much persecution from Jews and Romans.
Years ago, I
learned three things that established my lifestyle:
LOVE GOD – I need an active relationship
with Him – search His Word and pray.
LOVE OTHERS – I need an active relationship
with Him, Jesus, who is the Living WORD.
He taught us
to care for poor, widows and orphans and to love others in word and deed.
SHARE JESUS – I need to obey the Holy
Spirit (with in me) guidance, nudges and leading to walk in the Light and Joy
of Jesus.
Sooo my
friends, I would challenge you to include Colossians 3:14-20 as a part of your
Lifestyle: “Therefore as God’s Choses…clothe yourselves with compassion (and
other fruits of the spirit)…Bare with each other… forgive as the Lord forgave
you. And put on love that binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the
peace of Christ dwell in your hearts…be thankful. Let the Word of Christ dwell
in you….sing and gratitude…. do it all in the Name of the Lord Jesus!”
Blessings,
Gma J
PS This New
Year will bring some additional lifestyle changes for us, so we will probably
only send one blog a week – not promising which day. Kermit will continue to write and rewrite as he
can. Chemo does some strange things to being
able to focus. I will add as the Lord
leads, but as you can tell I have the heart of a teacher, not so much a
storyteller.
Prayers
believing for God’s healing and restoration are welcome. Our times are in His
hands.
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