Clarity: What If I Live? (part 2 of 3)

God has chosen you and made you his holy people. He loves you. So you should always clothe yourselves with mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other, and forgive each other. If someone does wrong to you, forgive that person because the Lord forgave you. Even more than all this, clothe yourself in love. Love is what holds you all together in perfect unity. Let the peace that Christ gives control your thinking, because you were all called together in one body to have peace. Always be thankful. Let the teaching of Christ live in you richly. Use all wisdom to teach and instruct each other by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Everything you do or say should be done to obey Jesus your Lord. And in all you do, give thanks to God the Father through Jesus.

(Colossians 3:12-17)

• I. Jesus First! in me (Col. 3:1-11)
• II. Jesus First! in my relationships (Col. 3:12-17)
• III. Jesus First! at home (Col. 3:18-25)

We have all heard the classic question – If you died tonight would you go to heaven? However, the question on most people’s minds is WHAT IF I LIVE? There has got to be more to this life than this!

• Please post a comment about a time in your life when you knew there must be more to life than this.

II. In Christian Fellowship (Col. 3:12-17)

In Christ there are no barriers (Col. 3:11); we are one in Him, and He is All. If Christ is preeminent in our lives, then we will be able to get along with others for His glory. 

If there are differences, the peace of God will be “umpire” (rule) in our hearts as we feed on the Word and worship Christ. Christian fellowship in the local church cannot be legislated by a constitution, although constitutions are useful; true fellowship must come from within, from the hearts of the believers. If a believer is out of fellowship with another believer, it is because one or both of them have gotten out of fellowship with God. “Do all in the name of Christ!” Paul admonishes (Col. 3:17).

Read James 4:1-12 and you will see that wars and fighting come when Christians do things for their selfish reasons and not for God’s glory. 

Give Yourselves to God

 Do you know where your fights and arguments come from? They come from the selfish desires that war within you. You want things, but you do not have them. So you are ready to kill and are jealous of other people, but you still cannot get what you want. So you argue and fight. You do not get what you want, because you do not ask God. Or when you ask, you do not receive because the reason you ask is wrong. You want things so you can use them for your own pleasures.

So, you are not loyal to God! You should know that loving the world is the same as hating God. Anyone who wants to be a friend of the world becomes God's enemy. Do you think the Scripture means nothing that says, "The Spirit that God made to live in us wants us for himself alone"? But God gives us even more grace, as the Scripture says, 

    "God is against the proud, 

       but he gives grace to the humble." — Proverbs 3:34

So give yourselves completely to God. Stand against the devil, and the devil will run from you. Come near to God, and God will come near to you. You sinners, clean sin out of your lives. You who are trying to follow God and the world at the same time, make your thinking pure. Be sad, cry, and weep! Change your laughter into crying and your joy into sadness. Humble yourself in the Lord's presence, and he will honor you.

You Are Not the Judge

Brothers and sisters, do not tell evil lies about each other. If you speak against your fellow believers or judge them, you are judging and speaking against the law they follow. And when you are judging the law, you are no longer a follower of the law. You have become a judge.God is the only Lawmaker and Judge. He is the only One who can save and destroy. So it is not right for you to judge your neighbor.

Seeing the problem is not that difficult. 

Seeing the problem doesn’t make the world better.

"Are we spending up our limited and valuable time telling God what we can’t do? Or, are we asking God what He wants to do through us?"

• Please post a comment about overcoming fear or the "I can't" attitude.

 “I’m Glad That’s Cleared Up!”:  It is so difficult to stop evaluating our relationships based on what we receive from a person. The only way this is possible is to spend all of our time listening to the Holy Spirit, who is constantly prompting us to give ourselves away to those the Lord puts in our path.

(Outline from Weirsbe's Expository Outlines)