1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. This is just awesome. We really need to shift our focus from the things of this world to the things of heaven. We have written it again and again...we need an eternal mindset! It is easy to get caught up with the worries of today, but if we were to truly focus on our promise of an eternity with Christ...nothing can come against us...nothing can harm us! Paul wrote these letters, many times from prison...he was eternity focused and that is what changed his life! That is what allowed him to press on!
Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.
ReplyDeleteOk. So I tend to get a rep as an asshole. I am actually trying to change that somewhat. It's something that I hadn't realized fully till about the end of last semester. God has been working in my life to change that. It'll take work, but this verse really hit me today reiterating God's message he has been speaking.
Also thought it was appropriate for Valentine's day tomorrow. Haha
6: "Because of these, the wrath of God is coming."
ReplyDeleteMan, that is a super strong verse. Can you imagine seeing the wrath of God in person? I know we feel it when we are punished for sin, but do we really think about the concept of the wrath of God? Can you imagine the creator of an infinite universe, one who is in charge of every large and minute aspect of all life, being extremely angry at you, feeling wrath? The wrath of God. That's intense. Good to know we are forgiven!
Whenever we are tempted to sin, we should remember that one day we will have to stand in front of God and answer to that sin. We should keep in mind the wrath of God that will be poured upon us before we sin.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
ReplyDeleteI really like this verse as it could relate to my live in so many ways. If i could be thankful for what i have been given then there would be no reason to be anything but peaceful. There is no place for belligerent in our hearts once we have inherited the love of Christ.
9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
ReplyDeleteThis is pretty amazing to think about. We have been completely transformed by God. Now that we have accepted Christ, we are new creations, and God wants to see himself in us. We should give him his wish by not doing anything that the old, sinful people we were would do, but to put on our new selves, like a cloak, to represent our Creator.
verse 8:
ReplyDelete"But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language."
So basically this verse is telling us to watch our heart. Slander and filthy language may not be as obvious, but Jesus did say, "It is not what goes into the body that makes it unclean but instead it is what comes out. For what comes out comes from the heart." Basically the words we speak come from our heart where we can also store up anger and malice. All of these things are hard to do... by yourself. It is God's work to change the heart. All we can do is pursue after him and let him do the rest.
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this whole chapter, but these first two verses stood out to me as a reminder of where our priorities should be - not focusing on earthly things but focusing on God.
16 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.
ReplyDeleteDo I let the word of Christ dwell in me richly? God's word has been revealed to us so that we may know him. It is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword (Hebrews 4). His word is infinitely valuable and it is such a blessing that we have a way to know God. I take his word for granted so often. The more I realize the worth of the word of God, the more I desire it, which results in the word dwelling within me richly, thus permeating every aspect of my life. How valuable is the word to me? From a rich indwelling of the word comes our ability to teach, disciple, and minister effectively to those around us.
23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
ReplyDeleteWe work extremely hard for the degree that may take 4-5-6 years to earn from Tech. During this time it is easy to become a slave to our work. We are working for a variety of reasons and most of them are not what the Lord has intended. Working for our pride, parents, self worth, identity, ect. In this passage the lord tells us to work for Christ because he is whom we are serving. We may be called to be fully time students for the Lord and pursue a degree that will allow us to bring glory to god in that position.
Live as a slave to Christ and not of man or creation.
PShack
1.If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
ReplyDeleteSeek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
Fix your eyes on Jesus the author and perfector of our faith.
"Father, if only I would fix my eyes on Jesus, my true desire really could be for the things of your kingdom. If only I would make you my deepest treasure, I would do everything out of a heavenly mindset. If only I would reject the things of sin and pursue you, I would love you all the more deeply. Transform the heart of myself and my brothers to more fully seek your face."
23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
ReplyDeleteThis applies directly to me this semester. I am in the first term of my co-op right now and it's extremely easy so far. They expect me to not know that much, so they don't really expect that much production out of me. This being said, I can slack off all I want and they really don't care. When I worked at Chick-fil-a in high school, I always tried to remind myself that I needed to work hard because I was serving Christ; not just men. Now I consistently need to remind myself of the same thing at my new job. People should see a difference in us as believers. One of the best places for this to happen is in the workplace when it's easy to slack off.
Colossian 3:12-14
ReplyDeletePut 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.
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I think verses 12-16 are absolutely huge for us right now as members of Beta Alpha. We are in such a unique position to make an impact for the Lord. But we need to strive with all of our hearts to be united. As Jesus said in Matthew 12, "A [fraternity] divided against itself cannot stand."
We need to set glorifying the Lord, and building each other up as our first priorities, as stated in our chapter objectives.
These verses really talk about how to do it. Fundamentally, we need to make sure that in everything we do, we are working for the Lord. This requires that we humble ourselves.
We must make be compassionate, kind, meek, humble, and patient. In all of our disagreements, even with you brother who has disrespected you the most, we must put on an attitude of forgiveness. Compassion and kindness, followed by a proper (humble and meek) view of oneself, all mixed together with a little patience breeds forgiveness.
We must not cry foul against our brothers when they wrong us, but instead, pray that you may be reconciled to them, and that the love of Christ may grow in your hearts. Do not be quick to write someone off as a jerk, or as disrespectful, or mean, or immature, but instead pray for their humble approach to God, as they come to know him as their Lord and Master.
Above everything, we must fill ourselves with love for our brothers, that we may live in harmony together.
2- "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."
ReplyDeleteWe are all guilty of this. It is human nature to want and lust and covet. It is the sin that we are born from to dwell on material things instead of godly things. Paul tells us that we need to shed this part of ourselves and put on a new skin that is completely for God. We should look towards spreading His word instead of lusting after a girl. We should pray with our brothers instead of cherishing a new car. We should spend time with God and reading his word instead of getting drunk and partying. And one of the more important things; we should go to church rather than sleep in on a Sunday morning. All of the latter things are material, bodily, earthly things that we think we need. The former are those of a higher purpose. Those are the things that will bring God glory. Those are the things that God will be pleased with us as we enter His kingdom. Our bodies won't even matter once we reach heaven. So why try to eat or drink or sleep as much as we can? Or why do we try to earn all this money and accomplish all of these goals that don't glorify our Lord? God doesn't care how much you can bench press, but I'm sure he would be pleased if you prayed to him and told him how thankful you were for all of his blessings. God would rather you bring one of his children to know Him and spread his word to one person than for you to earn all of the money in the world. God does not care about worldly things. That is why he is in heaven and not on earth. Because he knows that the gifts in heaven are infinitely more valuable than anything we have here. That is why we need to focus on things that are not of this world, but are godly things.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
ReplyDeleteThe battle against sin must be fought daily; however, I think sometimes, as Christians, we forget that we still have to fight. It is easy to get caught up in the idea that because we have been forgiven of our sin and, through the power or God, have the ability to fight sin, we no longer have to struggle with it. Even though we have been forgiven, temptation is still a regular part of our lives, and it must be actively fought. If we are not actively working to put to death the sin that is in our lives, sooner or later we will give into our temptations.
9 "Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices."
ReplyDeleteI think that honesty and openness amongst each other is something that we as brothers in the bonds and brothers in Christ should strive for. In the past, this area has been somewhat lacking in our midst with the result of division and strife. I think that it would be an appropriate goal to work harder in this area as I believe that large steps can be readily achieved with very discernible results. Personally, I have not been very open with others at times. It's part of my nature to withhold feelings. However, I have taken it upon myself to work on this area, as I want to fully experience the benefits and accountability that come with being a part of a group like this.