herlucidlife

“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” ‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬-‭17‬. 

A loose paraphrase of this would be…We allow the word God has told us regarding Christ to live heavily and boldly among us. Giving instruction and warning each other with all godly knowledge through praise, worship and songs from the Holy Spirit. Singing with thankfulness in our hearts. And whatever we do, whether it be in action or words, we do it in the name of Jesus. Giving thanks to God the Father through Him. 

I do my best to mention the name of Jesus in places outside of church. In order for the message of Christ to dwell richly among us then someone has to bring Him up. He must first dwell richly in me. I always thought sharing the gospel message was something that was done quickly and I do believe in some cases that is correct. God is introducing me to a slower form of sharing the gospel. Teaching and correcting are things done when in a relationship with someone. My mission field is work. Building a connection with those around me, I bring up Jesus in a non-abrasive way. For the name of Jesus for some is abrasive enough.

Gratitude, thankfulness, doing everything unto the Lord. The attitude of “I get to” over “I have to.” Doing things unto the Lord helps me not sin because how can I do anything for the Lord that He hates? Sin is doing things unto myself. Acts of Christ are things He condones. I go the extra mile at work because I know God watches. I do my best to be the same in public as in private because God is watching. I surrender my thoughts and actions to Him because God is watching. And when I sin, I immediately go to God because He is watching and knows the true reason of why I behave the way I do. 

At this point in my walk with God I realize and behave as though He is always with me…because He is. I better understand that I don’t sin because I want to but because there’s some brokenness inside that I haven’t surrendered to God. This verse reminds me that when the message of Christ dwells richly in me it will also dwell richly in my actions and speech. When He lives richly within me I am able to have gratitude at all times. Singing of His praise at all times. I’ve noticed when in my head Christian music helps me come back to His truth and lifts my spirits. Praise is the antidote to a multitude of unholy thoughts.