July 20, 2020 PUT ON
Ephesians 4:24 “and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
Colossians 3:12-14 “And so, those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”
Romans 13:14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regards to its lusts.”
In the last blog, ‘Lay Aside’, we learned that we have the power to ‘lay aside’ those things that are not pleasing to the Lord, and that we can ‘lay aside’ because the Holy Spirit lives is us. To lay aside the things we should is a good thing to do, but to be complete, we also must ‘put on.’ (Doing the things that please the Lord are also the things that will give us peace, joy, and fulfilment.) Romans 13:14 tells us to “put on Christ.” To put on Christ is to take His life as our life, to have Christ as the supreme desire of our heart, and to die to ourselves. To put on Christ is to put on our new self, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:24. The idea of putting on Christ is not just theory or some lofty idea, nor not just reserved for a select few; putting on Christ is something we do-an action on our part. Daily, and through-out the day, we acknowledge that we belong to Him, that we have died to ourselves, and that He is our life. The decisions we make through-out the day, the thoughts we allow, the responses we have, and the things we do are to all flow out of our desire to please Him in all we do. It is amazing, but putting on and living in our new self enables us to be “imitators of God.” Ephesians 5:1. Putting on Christ is no small deal-it’s dunamis-like dynamite to the old ways. Putting on Christ is a package deal; when we put on Christ, we are putting on attributes of Christ: compassion, kindness, humility, a forgiving spirit, gentleness and patience, and love. Colossians 3:3-14. By putting on Christ, we become equipped and empowered for life; we have wisdom and understanding; our thoughts and our actions honor Him; and we have peace, joy, and hope. All of this may sound too good to be true-but it’s not. Putting on Christ does not exempt us from difficulties, BUT it does mean that we are equipped and empowered to deal with whatever comes our way-and that is awesome news for us. To trade our old self for the new self that Christ has made us is the best deal we will ever make. Today, let us put on Christ and walk in His ways.
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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