Boanerges

Col 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Col 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Col 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Col 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

If we be risen with Christ, if His ressurection power works within us, if our spirit has become the very dwelling place of the most powerful force ever conceived the very presence of the Living God: if all those things are true, and they are in Christ then we have a call to renew our minds, We have a call to die to our old ways of thinking and embrace the new. Our flesh would complain about giving up the corruption is so loves to embrace but in truth never has a great offer been made. To have the priviledge of being free from the corruption of this world and embrace the goodness, the power, beauty and freedom we find in Christ is an opportunity beyond measure.
Col 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
Col 3:6 For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
Col 3:7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
Col 3:8 But now ye alsoputoff all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
Col 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
To put off the old man, to embrace the cross sounds a fearful and dreadful prospect and indeed we may tremble at the thought of it. Those are the thoughts that keep us bound so tightly to this world but there is something so much better for us. Let us dare to believe God at His Word. Let us boldly declare that we are new creatures in Christ, that the old things have passed away- let us walk in the power of His Spirit to the place were we embrace the new creation He has planted in us at the new birth.
1Jn 5:18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.
Here we see this man, this seed of God planted in our spirits. If we feed Him with the Word of God he will grow and mature until we become Christlike in every facet of our lives. Let us not fear death to the old but embrace it as what is really is, our pathway to freedom.
Dare to believe God's Word
Dare to believe that His power is working in you in an undenyablew way
Dare to embrace everything He places in your path as opportunity to know more of His goodness, to see more of His deliverance and to see His Name glorified in your life.
dare to believe Him- selah

violet

Amen

Boanerges

Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
Col 3:11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
Put on that new man, his very life flows from God's Spirit,and the old is made new even as we are freed to believe God. One might say I am uneducated, poor, mentally challenged or weak, one may have any of a number of excuses. Perhaps you were not born into priviledge or maybe you were- those things no longer count and all advantage or disavantage can not help or hinder us. We are reborn into the very family of God and our heritage is new. Our inheritance is new. But all my family were failures- no- you have a new faimily and your bloodline flows from the very throne of heaven.

Col 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Col 3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
Col 3:14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
Col 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
Let us indeed focus our hearts and minds on the things that flow from Christ in our lives. We need no longer look up the the sky because the Living One now resides within us and out of our innermost beings shall flow rivers of living waters. It is the very nature of this new man to be like Christ and as we have faith to believe we will manifest His nature. When we find ourselves in Christ we are that man who's words express the very heart of our Lord. Love, compassion, humility, patience, forgiveness- these are natural extensions of our lives. We abide in the very Vine of Christ and His very life flows thru us . The natural result is life, growth, flowering in the radiant beauty of our lord and bearing fruit for His kingdom. Out of every creature in God's creation we as abiders in Christ have the priviledge of being the fruit bearing part of the vine. Hallelujah!
We are now becoming these living expressions- this is and was the message Jesus gave us with His life. He is God yet He walked as a man to show us what a man could do when He was a yielded vessel- this is the very place of " greater works than these" that Jesus Himself prophesied over His beloved bride- prophesied over you and me. We are now full of His love and power, walking in faith we are becoming His very hands touching lives for His kingdom. We are now made perfect in love and His peace rules in evry area of our lives. Like Moses carrying the glow when he came down from the mount of meeting, like the shadow of Peter so saturated with God's holy presence we bring life, light and change were ever we go and all we meet are touched for His glory.
Col 3:16 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.
Col 3:17 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.
We are filled with the very Holy One, we have renewed our minds and our bodies follow our thoughts- this is sanctifaction. God's Word now so fills our hearts that it seasons every word we speak. It is all we can do to contain ourselves from praising Him continually. The mention of His Name makes our very heart leap for joy. Lives full of such love must overflow with grattitude and it is expressed by excellance in all we put our hands to. All we touch is now blessed. He is free to give us the desires of our heart as those desires have become one and the same with His desires.

BreathOfGod

Your passage about putting off the old things, and embracing the news reminded me of something I watched the other night in The Biggest Loser. I'll share the illustration because I think it fits well. (I am a visual person, so I like to visualize things.)

I never watch the show, btw. I only watched it because it was one of those times where you just want something on, and nothing else is.

The show was down to the final 5 contestants, and they were doing a game/ competition to win 10,000 dollars. Each contestant had to drag a scale all the way to one end of the course and back. As they went along, they had to add back on the scale all the weight that they had lost so far in the show. So, when they got all the way to one end, they had all their weight and then had to turn around and drag it back down the course. When they reached the finish line, they threw it in a pit and buried the weight.

At the end of the race, the contestants were saying how difficult it was and how they couldn't believe that they used to carry all that weight every day of their life. They were relieved to finally bury the weight and move on as a lighter person.

This is what the verses that Larry posted are about.

Like on The Biggest Loser, the weight is gone..... we need to stop carrying it around! When we become a new creation in Christ, we put off all the anger, wrath, etc. So, it is time to quit carrying it around. It is time to throw it in the hole and bury it with our old self.

Dusty

Are you sure you are not a preacher ? For sure , you will never go wrong..... Just dare to beilieve.

He is all sufficient to carry us through any trial anything put in our paths to try to cause us to stumble.

He is all we need. Jesus Christ our only hope.of eternal security.

__________________

Trials prove a Christian

Love confirms a Christian

But death crowns a Christian