I am Thankful

Colossians 3
12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

Verse 12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;. It is saying to put on like a coat bowel of mercy. I thought bowels? Is that like the gut ? So I looked it up and Webster says it also could be like the seat of something. So in other words if you are working with a problem deal with the problem from the stand point of mercy. Don’t go from the view as accuser or prosecutor. But put mercy on like a coat. Then put on kindness, humbleness of mind. Be humble, we are all here because of God’s grace. There is no big “I’s” and little you.

I have worked with people for 30 years and the hardest to get through to are the ones that are stuck on themselves. They have a hard time keeping themselves at the foot of the cross they think they are God’s gift to mankind or to their world and everyone else should bow down to them. I saw someone the other day that used to be a great person to work with, but she has been influenced by those that think and act like they are a little better than everyone else.
I was surprised when she kind of ignored me and seemingly turned up her nose when I went by. I was glad that it wasn’t raining she might have drowned. LOL! Following humbleness we need to put on meekness.

We don’t have to be so loud and boisterous or violent to get or maintain authority. We don’t have to yell!

• Hey, get off that table!
• Get in here now or I’ll kick you to kingdom come!

We need to remember that we are an extension of God. God’s spirit needs to flow through us at all times. His Spirit of love and peace will diffuse or put out a lot of fires, if we allow it to flow through us. We don’t have to act like the world now, God can and will fight our battles for us. Another definition is to suffer with patience which leads to the next thing that we are to put on and that is longsuffering.

The apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2:3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. When you deal with souls you have to be flexible. They are going to make mistakes. Remember we weren’t perfect when we came to church (some of us think we are perfect now, but I won’t bust your bubble today).

Proverbs 11:30
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

Moving on to verse 13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. The dictionary says that the word forbearing means to control yourself all the time, even if you are provoked. Then the Bible in the same sentence says to forgive one another if you happen to have a quarrel against another. How are we supposed to forgive? Even as Christ forgave the you, so also do ye.
• Even as Christ forgave and gave His life while we were yet sinners we need to do the same.
• Even as Christ died and was not expecting His forgiveness to be accepted by everyone so do ye.
• Even as Christ was bruised and beaten for us and he knew that we would again make some mistakes, so also do ye.
After you have done that put on charity or love which is the perfect bond of peace. God's love will help to keep your soul and body together as some people say.
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, don’t be:
• contentious,
• judgmental,
• argumentive,
• grumpy,
• quick to give someone a piece of your mind

Then be ye thankful!
• Remember where you once were before God found you and changed your life.

I have thought a lot this week about why I am thankful. In preparing to speak to the leadership here today I thought, what am I thankful for as a student that grew up in church?

I am thankful for:
• Teachers that took the time to study and prepare a lesson so it was from their heart and not just read out of a book.
• Leaders that took time for me and kept an eye on me as the watchmen to keep me on the straight and narrow. They also taught me respect for God, leadership and the things of God.
• People that took the time to have fun with me and then talk to me and encourage my dreams of doing something for God and the Kingdom.
• My parents, Pastors, Sunday School teachers, Bible Quizzing Coaches, Bus Ministry Leaders, Choir Directors, Jr. & Sr. High Youth Workers and Youth Leaders that took the time to show me that they cared for me today and they believed in me so they trained me in many different areas to be used in the ministry later in my life.
• They taught me to discipline and commitment.
• Stick-to-it-tive-ness- was the word that Marvin Walker used for Bible Quizzers.
• They taught me to control myself always because others are watching how I conduct myself (how I act, my attitude, how I dress ...). The apostle Paul wrote “Christ in you their hope of glory” or “ Ye are an epistle known and read of all men”. We want the world to love us and in turn they will love Christ as they see Him at work through us.
• They taught me that soul winning and doing a work for God was the most important thing in life. “Only what is done for Christ will last”
• They taught me to Pray & Fast and to expect results from my personal prayer.
• They took the time to show me how to work at church, how to do out reach, how to worship and give of myself freely for the Kingdoms sake.
• They taught me that ministry was being on call 24/7. Jesus is always available when we call on His name.
• They taught me how to do a hard days work and accomplish it, as if I was working for the King of Kings so it was to be done the best way and done right the first time. To save time and effort and money, “being a good steward”.

I guess it all goes back to they took the time to teach me. But the ones that made the most impact took the time to show me how to be a Christian. They all poured themselves into me because they knew that I would carry their mark or their impact with me the rest of my life.

So when I see them as we travel they always ask, “ how are you doing?” Or what are you doing? They are really asking is, “ what are you doing with the time and effort that I put into you?”

I am thankful today and I want to live my life and do my best for God as I have been taught but also as a way to show how thankful I am. So, when I pray for you or speak to you to encourage you or to give you guidance in a situation, realize I am doing what I have been taught over the past 40 some years and I want to show again how thankful I am for what God has done for me.

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. This statement was written by John F. Kennedy (1917 - 1963), in a speech prepared for delivery in Dallas the day of his assassination, November 22, 1963