Tuesday – July 12, 2016
It is Tuesday and time to not only receive the Word of God as our own but to pray for the many levels of government across these United States and the Canadian Provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador. The picture is a map locating the province in Canada. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Colossians 3:15-16 (KJV)
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.
16 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.
The Word concerning the Messiah, the Anointed One, and the Anointing is to be abundant in our hearts and is to be clear, clearly understood and acted upon. There is to be this clarity in our teaching and correcting of one another. This passage also makes it clear that the Word of God is to be the instrument of instruction and correction. In the days when this passage was written, really all of the Bible days, the hymns and spiritual songs were Scripture with a melody.
The final phrase of our Scripture passage is “with grace in your hearts to the Lord” This use of the word ‘grace’ is not talking about the Holy Spirit but an emotional state with an attitude of thanksgiving. It comes from a Greek word transliterated, charis which is feminine in gender meaning that coupled with the right seed fruit will be produced. In this case the word of Christ in abundance with clarity is the seed, the seed is always the Word of God. It is not just random or rote speaking of the Word of God, it is the Word of God spoken by faith, in love, focused on the will of God, led of the Spirit of God. According to the Complete Word Study Dictionary this word ‘grace’ means: to rejoice, that which causes joy, pleasure, gratification, favor, acceptance, for a kindness granted or desired, a benefit, thanks, gratitude.
The word ‘hearts’ in this passage is also referring to that area of our soul, our spirit man, which decides on all the data presented to us. We must make the conscious decision to allow, even invite the word of Christ, the peace of God to dwell in abundance and rule our hearts. Our knowledge of the word of Christ and the peace of God is a present reality for which we are to be thankful and convey to other believers in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Our focus is the Lord, but those around us can learn in the process of our obedience. I will pick-up tomorrow with the following verse.
Colossians 3:17 (KJV)
17 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.
By Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
