After a lighter schedule yesterday and more difficult day physically; I had a busier day today and was able to “hang in there” fairly well.\u00a0 I had my morning “prayer connection” downtown and then Bible Study at Morning Star Assisted Living. After being home for about an hour, I had my Rotary Club lunch and then a meeting to review scholarship applications being awarded to high school students by our club. So I was away from home from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. While in the past that would have been a “short” day for me, it is now one of my “long” days.<\/p>\n
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…<\/strong> “We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding <\/span>so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God.\u00a0<\/span>May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy\u00a0<\/span>giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints\u2019 inheritance in the light.”<\/span><\/em> Colossians 1:9-12 HCSB<\/p>\n I recall a story about Alexander the Great passing judgment on the cowardly actions of one of his soldiers. The young man begged for his life and in a rare moment of mercy; the leader listen to the soldier’s plea and pardoned his transgression. Before dismissing him, he asked the young man his name. The young man responded, “My name is as yours my Lord, Alexander.”<\/p>\n The Emperor’s countenance suddenly changed and he flew into a rage. He ran to the man who was prostrate on the floor, picked him and said, “Solider! Change your ways, or change your name!”<\/p>\n When we call ourselves, “Christian” does our life, attitudes and actions reflect those of Christ? Paul’s prayer for the Colossians believers is that they would have the knowledge of God’s will, the wisdom and spiritual understanding to, “walk worthy of the Lord.”<\/p>\n What is the Lord’s will for our life?<\/strong> His will is for us to bear fruit;<\/strong> for our lives to reflect the character qualities of Christ. This among other features certainly involves the “fruit of the Spirit.” “…the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”<\/em> (Galatians 5:22 NLT)<\/p>\n The gifts that we have may vary and be those that are suited to us and given sovereignly by God’s grace. But all of us are to manifest the fruit of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n We are to continue to grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.<\/strong> Paul declared, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!<\/em>“<\/em> (Romans 11:33 NIV) Regardless of how long we have followed Christ, there is always more to learn and greater insights to be gained. That is why Peter said, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…”<\/em> (2 Peter 3:18 NIV) We come to know Christ and we continue to know Him and learn of Him. The Lord wants us to know that there is strength available for every challenge and test and obstacle<\/strong> we may face in life. Along with the strength the Lord provides will be the grace to have patience and to endure. Remember, “trials don’t come to last, they come to pass.”<\/p>\n The Lord want us to know and understand that we are in good company and we have a future.<\/strong> “…with joy\u00a0<\/span>giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints\u2019 inheritance in the light.”<\/span><\/em> (Col. 1:12 HCSB) JB Philips paraphrase uses these words, “you are privileged to share the lot of those who are living in the light.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Paul told Timothy that “…everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…”<\/em> (2 Timothy 3:12 NIV) However we also read the words of Peter how faith, impacts our attitude, “Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.”<\/em> (1 Peter 1:8 NLT) <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After a lighter schedule yesterday and more difficult day physically; I had a busier day today and was able to “hang in there” fairly well.\u00a0 I had my morning “prayer connection” downtown and then Bible Study at Morning Star Assisted Living. After being home for about an hour, I had my Rotary Club lunch and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3012"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3012\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3013,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3012\/revisions\/3013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\n<\/span>As we bear the name and identity that connects us to Christ. Let’s be those who seek to live up to that name and represent Him well to the world around. Let’s live a life “worthy” of the Lord.<\/p>\n