DO YOU SEE JESUS IN ME?

Colossians 3:12-17 (NRSV)

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts

As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

DEVOTION

Today’s Bible passage paints a most beautiful picture of The Church. As Christians, we are The Church, the living, breathing, Bride of Christ and as such we are held to a higher standard than the rest of the world!

Whereas “worldly” folks are prone to acting selfish, mean, proud, and impatient, Christian people are to be compassionate, kind, humble, and long-suffering. Whereas “worldly” folks may be argumentative and combative, Christians people are expected to extend forgiveness and grace whenever possible. And whereas “worldly” folks may be hateful and spiteful, Christians are to live in harmony and love with all the people of the world!

I love this vision! As GOOD NEWS people, we ought to walk, talk, look, act and even smell different than folks who do not have a saving relationship with Jesus! The sweet aroma of the Holy Spirit in us--and on us--ought to cause folks to want to be around us.

Oftentimes my non-Christian friends say things like, “I don’t know what it is about you, but you make me feel good about myself. You make me feel loved. You make me feel special. I can count on you for wisdom and a kind word.”

In response to their misplaced praise I say, “The Jesus in me, loves the Jesus in you!”

As we allow Christ to rule our hearts, we will simply live differently than our “worldly” neighbors. We will be thankful, when others are greedy. We will seek wisdom, whilst others seek stuff. We will be worship-full whilst others go their own way…

Friends, our difference in attitude and behavior only makes sense! We know, believe, and understand that God loves us so much that God gave Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sin and gift us with eternal life.

Knowing that someone thought we were worth dying for, makes us eternally grateful and very, very secure that we are loved and precious. As a result of our love relationship with God through Jesus Christ, we are able to share God’s great love with others!

Paul painted a picture for the church at Colossia of what the community of faith ought to look like. As friends and brothers and sisters of Christ, we ought to look like Jesus!

Let’s go out and love somebody into the arms of Jesus today! Will you do it? If so, please pray with me…

Holy God, thank you for loving me so well, that I am able to easily love others. Please give me a passion in my heart to share Your GOOD NEWS with everyone I meet. Please forgive me of my sin and fill me with the Holy Spirit so that others can see Jesus in me! All of my non-Christian friends need you so much! Please help me to share GOOD NEWS in such a way that they are able to receive it! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

To listen to audio recordings of Pastor Yolanda's Sunday sermons, please visit http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/57814 or click the widget to the right on this page!

If you would like to put all of your hope in Jesus today, please visit my blog entitled, “Putting All Your Hope In Jesus” located at
http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com/2009/04/putting-all-your-hope-in-jesus.html

If you have additional questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see the devotion entitled, "Come to Jesus"
http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com/2009/03/come-to-jesus.html

Pastor Yolanda is now publishing another blog entitled, “A Spoken WORD” in celebration of Holy Hip Hop, Gospel/Christian Rap and Spoken Word. Please check it out @ http://aspokenword.blogspot.com/

You are invited to follow Pastor Yolanda on Twitter www.twitter.com/PastorYolanda

Good News has now added a Prayer Ministry. http://www.kindlejoy.com/groups/goodnews

You are invited to leave comments or questions regarding today’s devotional. These comments are public.

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Thanks for reading and please come again. Pastor Yolanda extends a very special welcome to all of our friends reading outside of the United States of America! We are honored that you are sharing with us today.

From Pastor Yolanda's blog http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com