This is God's Will
This morning I
read something that I am hoping is fitting for this day we set aside each year to be thankful, and that it will encourage someone as it did me. Isn't God’s
Word amazing?! I will try and keep it short and sweet because I know that many
of you don’t have time to read a novel today.
“Let the message about Christ, in all its
richness, fill our lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he
gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.”
–{Col. 3:16}
There are simply a few things that stuck out to me this morning as I read this verse, and
I just want to break down the three things that are mentioned in this one verse
that God is asking us to do.
1) Let the message of Christ, in all its
richness, fill our lives…
How
befitting to read that on a day when we fill
our lives and stomachs with so much rich food. We allow so many other things besides the Gospel to
fill our lives. I love that before we are told teach and counsel each other, we are told to let the message of Christ to
fill our lives--in all it's richness. Today we will fill our stomachs
with all kinds of rich foods, but no matter how good it is, and how much we
eat, it’s all temporary. We will still wake up hungry again tomorrow--but when we will fill our lives with the message of Christ we will not leave hungry.
We
are all guilty of filling our lives with things that don’t satisfy, but let's allow the richness of the message of Christ to fill our lives and hearts. Christ
is the only one who can truly fill our lives so we can then live and love from
the overflow
2) Teach and counsel with all the wisdom HE
GIVES
As
someone who makes a living doing these two things (teaching & counseling) this spoke volumes to me in
how these two things are to be done—with all the wisdom HE gives. But this
isn’t just true for teachers/counselors…it’s true for all believers. It gives
us simple instructions on how we are
to teach and counsel each other. If you are like me, you like things simple and to the
point. We are to teach and counsel with the wisdom
that comes from the Word of God--not earthly wisdom
and logic. It gives us accountability, that when we are teaching and counseling
each other we need to make sure we are always pointing people back to the
Scriptures. If what we are being told/taught does not line up with the Word of
God it’s not wisdom that HE GIVES! So
lets make sure we are encouraging each other, and whatever we do lets make sure
we bring it back to the Word of God.
3) Sing to God…with thankful hearts
Many of us wonder what the will of
God is for our lives—we treat the plans and will of God as something mysterious
out there forever to be discovered. When really, it’s much clearer than we
think. There are verses that clearly say, “this is the will of God for you..”
One of those clearly stated things in Scripture is: God’s will of you and I is to be thankful in all circumstances.
I have found
when I do the revealed will of God, when I obey the parts of God’s will I do know I can better discern his hand in the unknown
decisions and directions in life. Thankfulness has a way of making us
pause—to be still for a moment and take things in. Thankfulness still our hearts before God. I think if we can learn to be
thankful in all circumstances we’ll
begin to see the blessings, gifts, and opportunity that God has given us in our
current seasons and situations. Our eyes are opened to what’s around us and how
we can serve God were we are—in that current moment or circumstance.
When we
pause long enough to praise it changes our perspective.
No matter what
we are facing if we are doing those two things, we are in the center of God’s
will in that moment.
God’s will is
rarely a place I’ve found…sometimes he does call us to specific places and
people. But in the BIG PICTURE God’s will and ultimate goal for us is to be
made more like Christ and the destination is Heaven. But often times what God
wants us to do is to simply be thankful & faithful with were we are. Bringing glory
and honor to Jesus wherever you find yourself.
So let’s make
sure we take the time today to be thankful, to pause and praise God with
thankful hearts.
You may not know
God’s will about something, you maybe waiting on an answer to something, you many not know or
understand situations surrounding you today, you may not know God’s will
about everything going on, but today you and I do know God’s will for us today: be thankful!
Be thankful in all
circumstances,
for this is God's will for you
who belong to Christ Jesus- 1 Thess. 5:18
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