Monday 12 December 2016

The Wisdom of Christ

Scripture: Colossians 3 v 16 - 17:
"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 whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him."

Proverbs 3 v 4 - 7: "So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil."

The whole Bible is the CV of Jesus Christ. He is The Word of God made flesh. When God spoke forth creation in Genesis, Jesus made everything come alive. He is our life. When Adam was created, God said, let us make man in our image. "US" means Him and Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  The Godhead was present for the creation of everything and man was made in Their image and wisdom.

Adam's fall meant that we lost our intimate connection to the wisdom of God and proceeded to make our own plans, religions, doctrines and cultures.  The unity was lost and competition, rivalry and greedy covetousness reigned to this day in those who know not Jesus our Lord, who is the second Adam and whose sacrifice gave all who followed Him the blessing of being able to restore the flow of Godly wisdom.

So if you let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom you become more and more like Him every day. Take these studies and read the whole chapter of the verses mentioned. Meditate on the words you read and apply them to your life. Every one of these Bible studies that you read, God expects you to comply with, not just discard and forget or think that's not for me.  He may use me to expound His words but the anointing is always on His Word.  The wisdom of Christ.

That's when the Word dwells in you richly.  Ploughing into your soul and flesh, weeding out the wrong stuff and planting the good seed that will bring forth righteousness and holiness. This is your daily bread, broken for you by Jesus Himself who lives in you. The Holy Spirit will bring these words to your remembrance when you need them.

Added to this blessing is the ability to teach and admonish (warn; rebuke; correct wrongs) one another in psalms and spiritual songs. We remember things well that have a melody or song to help us. So our singing is not just for praise and worship but should also be used for teaching and correcting errors in believing. The songs of Keith Green come to mind, and Don Francisco. Singers like John Starnes really taught things.

The old hymns too were filled with teaching like Holy, Holy, Holy; and How Great Thou Art which bring deeper elements of Christian teaching to life. We should not neglect those words and spiritual songs that instil a depth to our belief.  Let us sing with grace to bless our Lord Jesus with our love and obedience.

Do everything with a grateful heart and do it all for Jesus. He has full ownership of you because He made you and He bought you back from death with His own life. You owe Him big time yet He gives you free will to choose if you will serve Him or not. Those who read and discard will face the possibility of being treated the same way when it matters most. Those who give their all to Jesus will never lack anything ever.

Prayer: Heavenly Father we do not want to be rebellious and difficult children requiring rebukes. We joyfully accept Your corrections that liberate us and give thanks always for your abundant blessings. Let us walk in the wisdom of The Word of Christ learning from our daily bread. In Jesus' name. Amen.