LEARNING DAILY

 

Colossians 3:12-17, Therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on the tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another; even as Christ forgave you, so you must also do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which you were also called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. 

 

The result of being a forgiving person is the peace of God ruling your heart. That will cause us to know our place in the body of Christ. This, in turn, creates the sense of how thankful we need to be to Our Father in heaven for all He has done for us.

 

Being thankful is an attitude found throughout Scripture. Christian people ought to be seen or characterized by a thankful attitude because they know they were unable to gain their salvation on their own. Salvation is not gained by being a good person, going to a church, tithing or giving money to a church, or the good things we do; it is gained only through believing in what Jesus Christ did for us while taking our place on a cross. Our thankfulness needs to be seen by others as we do all we can to walk with Him on the narrow way to His kingdom.

 

Salvation is a gift! We are born into a fallen race of humanity which is in rebellion against God. We are self-centered and live to please ourselves. At times, God stated He was sorry He had created humanity because of the evil in their hearts. All of us know John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever (my emphasis) believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” This is God’s gift to us. You cannot take it for granted! Instead, we ought to be giving Him praise and thanksgiving each day for what He has done for us. God did not spare His only Son in order to provide a way back to Him.

 

We also need to be thankful that He does not “leave us nor forsake us” (Hebrews 13:5). God never leaves us to walk the Christian walk on our own. He is always walking with us, encouraging, forgiving us when we mess up, being our protector, and being everything else we need as we move toward His kingdom and eternal life. It does not matter what we have for earthly possessions, how difficult the circumstances we face in life are, we never need to fear that He will abandon us. 1 Peter 5:7 tells us, “to cast all your care upon Him, because He cares for you.” Even more you have to know He loves you and you are the “apple of God’s eye” (Psalm 17:8). This is taken from King David’s request to keep him safe from harm.

 

Let me give a quick example of God’s love for each of us. Remember the story of the Prodigal son? The son spent his inheritance on sinful living and through circumstances he created, went back to his home hoping to be accepted as a hired hand. Instead, his father welcomed with new clothes, a ring and a huge party. The father said, “my son was dead, but now he is alive!” Do not miss the message here. Even when a person might be willing to stop being God’s child, God is not willing to stop being his Father. Perhaps someone reading this needs to get this deep down inside your heart. Be thankful for the love God has for you!

 

Putting this all together, we need to be so thankful what God has done for each of us through His Son. He not only has given us a way to eternal life, but He walks with us along the journey. He continues to cleanse and purify us to enter His kingdom. He is with us to see us through the trials, our times of need, and our walk on the narrow way. Doesn’t He deserve our continual trust, praise and thanksgiving?

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.  I have added Jimmy Swaggart’s Expositor’s Study Bible to be referred to from now on as JSESB.