Good Morning Wednesday

Well, This morning I was woken up by not one, but two very awake kids. (-: ...LOL... I think they conspired against me, because they decided to wake me up extra early so they could play with me before getting ready for school. (-:...They are clever kids (-:   
     I wanted to write down some of my thoughts from Sunday's sermon before I completely lost my train of thought. The sermon was from Eph 4:3-6.
        "³Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." and       
       Col. 3:12 "So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."
      2 Corinthians 5: 14-21 "14For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21God made him who had no sin to be sin^a for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

     We are to seek peace with the world and unity in the Spirit. Keep in mind I am not talking about World Peace because it is obvious from Scripture that is not happening. Rather that you and I as an individual seek peace rather than enmity. You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar. We make the "Christian" life way to difficult. Now, look at the last sentence. What is the biggest issue in it? "We"  when we try and do it we will fall flat on our face. So, what is the secret to living the way Christ would have us? We must be Spirit led in the knowledge of His Word and what HE can do through us in unfathomable. We must rather seek God, His Word, and DO what He tells us to do. If we ask for His will only to decide if we want to do if after, do you think He will tell you. NO, God's not stupid. First we must decide that whatever He tells us to do we will do, and then guess what...He will tell you. Simple. We must do it, even if it is uncomfortable, strange different, whatever. All those things are us thinking about ourselves not God and we must focus on God and Love Him. So now that we have covered doing what God tells us to lets look at the verses above. Col. 3:12 "put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." That's a tall order right there and only accomplished when we are focused on God. A lot of unsaved people are pushed away from Christianity because they feel judged. Hmmm... that certainly doesn't sound like the verse we just read. By God's grace we must look past a person's issues and have compassion. Do we know how they were raised? Do we know what they are struggling with in their lives? No. We know that for someone to act in a negative manor they must have pain in their life and instead of getting mad at them for it we should show compassion and when we are compassionate all of a sudden we can be kind to them even if they aren't to us. Prov. 15:1 "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. " Wow, it's like defusing a bomb. Kindness is remarkable. Humility - Do you think anyone is going to respond if you have a I am better than you attitude or I am going to make you better? Far from it, They will run as far away from you as they can get. Remember, It is only by realizing we are nothing without Christ and focusing on Him that we can do anything good or rather that He can do it through us. Christ is the only thing that makes us different that anyone else. Left on our own we are just as dark and sinful. Gentleness - I think that can tie in to compassion and kindness. Don't be ruff with them, don't react to them, just love them. And last but not least the dreaded word - Patience - Yes, things take time - we must be longsuffering and stick to what we are called to do. The where and when is up to God. Every day we must continue in these attributes. Being faithful every day in the little things bring you to the bigger picture.

     Well, my time is up for now. Hope you enjoy this post. It sure has given me a lot to think about. Blessings, Anne