And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

colossians 3:17, ESV

Whatever you do. Fill in the blank. Whatever is whatever. Do everything in the name of Jesus. In simple terms on this Saturday morning, this means doing everything as if Jesus was going to sign off on it. Because he is Lord.

What are you doing today? Can you do it in Jesus’ name. This is a great test. If there is no way that what you plan to do today can be done in Jesus’ name, then what you’re planning to do is sin. Sinning on Saturday and worshiping on Sunday won’t work.

Let’s assume what you’re planning today isn’t sinful. The question then is how to make it worshipful. How can you worship while washing your car, working on your honey-do list, or watching your kid play ball? This attitude will prepare you for worship on Sunday…and make Saturday better than you ever thought it could be.

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.

Colossians 3:16, ESV

Worship is essential. Worship isn’t sitting on your sofa watching a broadcast (and if that’s all you’re able to do, I’m not dissing on you!). If you’re reading this and you have chosen not to worship in person, there is no way you can fulfill Colossians 3:16 (and some other verses in Scripture too).

We teach and admonish one another through worship! Singing is sanctifying!

Singing is sanctifying!

When we sing the Psalms we are singing the Word. This is why what we sing MUST be rooted in the Word of God. Let’s think about this. When the Word of Christ dwells richly in you and you stand up in a worship service to sing those words, it won’t be foreign to you. Sunday worship becomes an extension of weekday time in the Word. And God works! As we sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, our hearts are lifted and our minds are renewed.

…addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart…

Ephesians 5:19, ESV

Paul emphasizes here that worship is addressing one another! We not only sing to God, we sing for one another!

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Hebrews 10:25, ESV

It’s Friday. Be in worship Sunday. On campus. Singing to God and one another.

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.

colossians 3:16, esv

Yesterday we talked about how God has called each of us to be able to teachers of one another. You don’t have to take a seminary course, or even a Bible class. When you come to faith in Jesus and the Holy Spirit comes to live in you, you are an able teacher. To be certain, the more you grow, the more you know and the more you know the more you grow.

The more you grow, the more you know. The more you know the more you grow.

And that’s where wisdom comes in. Knowledge is knowing the facts, wisdom is knowing how to use the facts. Wisdom is the ability to make the best use of God’s Word and apply it to specific situations. All of God’s Word is equally inspired, not all of it is equally applicable (have you read Leviticus lately?).

How do you put this into practice? Use a resource like this to look up subject-related verses. https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/
God’s Promises for Every Need is a great book.

Keep these resources nearby. The opportunity will come for you to find verses that fit a need. Respond with God’s Word. Rest assured God’s wisdom will prevail through His Word.

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.

colossians 3:16, esv

Think back (and if you’re as old as I am, this will take some work!) to your favorite teacher. Why was she or he your favorite? What about that teacher made you glad to sit in her classroom, do the homework he assigned? While they are often under-esteemed in our culture, teachers are critical to the wellbeing and sustainability of a people.

They are essential in the Christian life too. The surprise: you are a teacher! If you know Jesus Christ, you have a story to tell, a lesson to teach, a “student” waiting to be instructed. Paul writes, “teaching and admonishing one another.” We are all called to be faithful teachers to one another.

Your marriage is a classroom of two instructors and two students (and yes I can do math…you both are students of one another and able teachers to one another!). Parents, this is how you parent. You teach your kids. This is all of the Christian life–learning and teaching, teaching and learning.

And admonishing. Think warning. The phrase literally means to “put in the mind.” Teaching tells us what to do, admonishing what not to do. Admonishing is the warning side of teaching, the negative instruction that yields a positive result.

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.

Ephesians 4:15, ESV

Some of us are better at this than others. Some speak truth without love, others love without truth. Speaking truth without love is harsh, loving without speaking the truth is deceitful. Truth and love are like coffee and chocolate, ice cream and apple pie, baseball and hot dogs (ok, you can tell I’m hungry when I’m writing this). My point is, combined they’re wonderful. Apart…well I hope you get my point.

So…who speaks truth to you, in love? Thank them today. And if you don’t have anyone, pray for that teacher to come into your life, that fellow student.

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.

colossians 3:16, esv

Our hearts and minds are repositories. Experiences, both good and bad, make their home in us. A familiar aroma can take you back to a childhood memory. Even certain sounds can transport us to an experience that happened a decade ago.

Here Paul commands (yes, that’s a strong word) our hearts and minds to be emptied of some things and filled with God’s word. The phrase word of Christ has a dual meaning. First of all, it references the gospel. What is the gospel? We are so sinful Jesus had to die for us, so loved he was glad to die for us. When that reality dwells in you richly, you will remember on your best day that, apart from Jesus, your best day would not even be a reality–you wouldn’t have best days! And you will recall on your worst day, that Jesus’ worst day resulted in your best day.

We are so sinful Jesus had to die for us, so loved he was glad to die for us.

tim Keller

Second, the word of Christ dwells in us through the Bible, God’s revelation of himself to man. What a gift God’s Word is! We have his breathed-out words, inspired by the Spirit, to guide, correct, comfort and yes, even afflict us. Did you know that Psalm 119, the longest Psalm in all of Scripture with 150 verses, is all about God’s Word. Every single verse has a reference to God’s Word! It is there that we learn that…

• keeping God’s word causes us not to be put to shame (vs. 6)
• keeping God’s word helps young people stay pure (vs. 9)
• memorizing God’s word helps us not to sin (vs. 11)
• focusing on God’s Word keeps my eyes from worthless things (vs. 37)
• focusing on God’s Word gives us an answer to one who taunts us (vs. 42)
• …and there is so much more.

What is your practice of being in the Word? When? How often? Who do you need to keep you accountable for your daily time in the Word? Call them today! Don’t delay.

It’s a short phrase with a far-reaching implications. Perhaps the most radical words on gratitude are found in Paul’s writing:

give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:18, ESV

All circumstances. God instructs us to give thanks in every single thing. We know that God knows how we’re wired, what we need, and how to supply all of our needs. The University of California at Berkeley has research to demonstrate that last statement! God says to be grateful. UC-Berkeley says it’s good for your health. They describe gratitude as the “social glue” to building and nurturing strong relationships.

Robert Emmons, professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, and one of the world’s leading experts on the science of gratitude, defines gratitude as having two parts. The first is an affirmation of goodness: People can learn to wake up to the good around them and notice the gifts they have received. The second part of gratitude is recognizing that the source of this goodness rests outside of oneself—that we receive these gifts from other people, and sometimes from a higher power, fate, or the natural world. In other words, gratitude helps people realize that they wouldn’t be where they are without the help of others. (from mindful.org)

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

James 1:16-17, ESV

Every good thing given comes from God. Gratitude recognizes that the higher power behind it all is none other than God himself. Every good thing given comes from Him! So, on this Monday, thank him. Wendy and I have begun a daily journal. The first thing we have to write down every morning is what we’re grateful for. It does change our attitude. We can see a difference!

From the Valley of Vision

Glorious God,

It is the flame of my life to worship you,
the crown and glory of my soul to adore you,
heavenly pleasure to approach you.
Give me power by your Spirit to help me worship today,
that I may forget the world,
be brought into fullness of life,
be refreshed, comforted, blessed.
Give me knowledge of your goodness
that I might not be over-awed by your greatness;
Give me Jesus, Son of Man, Son of God,
that I might not be terrified,
but be drawn near with your fatherly love and with holy boldness.
He is my Mediator, Brother, Interpreter, Branch, and Lamb;
him I glorify,
in  him I am set on high.
Crowns to give I have none,
but what you have given I return,
content to feel that everything is mine when it is yours,
and the more fully mine when I have yielded it to you.
Let me live wholly to my Savior,
free from distractions and care,
free from hindrances to the pursuit of the narrow way.
I am pardoned through the blood of Jesus—
give me a new sense of it,
continue to pardon me by it,
may I come today to be washed anew,
that I may worship you always in spirit and truth.

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

colossians 3:15

For the entire week we have focused on putting off the old self and putting on the new. Paul has listed the vices of the old self and the virtues of the new. He has focused on the necessity of forgiveness. The result of putting of and putting on is peace.

Peace cannot be manufactured. You can meditate, listen to the sounds of nature or take a walk on a beautiful day. While those things (and many others) will provide a temporary reprieve from the busyness of your life, they cannot provide peace.

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you.

isaiah 26:3

Peace rules in our hearts, not because of our concentrated efforts to make peace rule, but because of our surrender to the rule of Jesus. Peace is a byproduct, not the produce itself. When we deliberately put off the old self and put on the new, peace rules. When we intentionally forgive someone who has hurt us, peace rules. When we set our minds on things above (Colossians 3:1), peace rules.

Peace will never share the throne room of our hearts with doubt, defiance or unforgiveness. Internal peace, that peace of mind that accompanies a good night of rest and a productive day, is a result, not the cause. Paul adds:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

philippians 4:4-7

Did you see what happens here. We rejoice. We are reasonable. We don’t worry. We pray. We thank God. Peace guards.

Today, rather than pursuing internal peace as a goal, pursue God. And let his peace rule.

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. (ESV)

colossians 3:13, esv

Bearing with one another. If you have been married for more than a few days, you have discovered the need to bear with. The phrase literally means to put up with. Relationships require this. And as you are bearing with your spouse, your kids, your coworkers, you may have cause for complaint. (Let’s be honest…you will have cause for complaint). Somebody’s gonna hurt somebody else.

What do you do when that happens?

One word.

Forgive.

We are most like beasts when we kill. We are most like men when we judge. We are most like God when we forgive.

william arthur ward

Our readiness and willingness to forgive is a distinguishing mark of being a Christian. At the heart of our personal relationship with God is the reality that we have been forgiven. So how do we forgive? As the Lord has forgiven you!

When you are hurt by someone else, before you zero in on what they have done to you, zero in on what Christ has done for you. It is easy (and natural) to fuminate (yes I made up that word…it means to ruminate with an attitude) on how someone else has hurt you. It crawls up in us and makes a nest in our mind and a runway in our hearts. When that happens, every departing flight from our hearts lands on bitterness. Our attempts to hurt the other person inevitably end up hurting us.

Here’s how God describes himself in Exodus:

The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

exodus 34:6-7, esv

Merciful. Gracious. Slow to anger. Abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin (which incidentally are the three words used for sin through Scripture…God forgives it all!).

Do you forgive like that? Why not? Who in your life must you forgive today? What’s keeping you from doing it?

Put 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.

Colossians 3:12–14, ESV

Before we tackle the list of what to put on, let’s look at the basis for putting one. We are God’s chosen ones. Take a moment and let that sink in. Before the foundation of the world, God knew you. Like parents who anticipate the birth of their child, God anticipated you. Like parents who chose an unwanted child, and made her their own, God chose you and made you his own. That’s the basis for putting on. You’ve been adopted. Chosen. Holy. Beloved. Clothed. Born again. Made new. In light of that put on.

Notice that the list is all internal. God’s work is always an inside/outside work. In light of what God has done in you, become on the inside, a compassionate person. Kind. Humble. Meek. Patient. Bearing with (that literally means putting up with) one another. And when somebody fails you (and they surely will!), forgive! We’ll take a deeper dive into that tomorrow.

And above all these put on love. Love is the glue that binds us all together. Love is the missing part that brings about harmony. Love, Christlike, self-sacrificing, self-giving love is the ultimate outfit in the wardrobe of every believer.

How well do you love? Do people look at you and see your Coach bag, your designer jeans…or do they see love. Does love overshadow every other description someone would make of you? Who can you serve today, expecting nothing in return?