6)
As ye have therefore
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
7)
Rooted and built up in
him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been
taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
8)
Beware lest any man spoil
you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the
rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
9)
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the
Godhead bodily.
10)
And ye are complete in
him, which is the head of all principality and power:
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ll of us would agree that it is unusual
for most individuals to settle for the mediocre. Particularly puzzling is the
fact that this is true of the saints though the Word of God teaches us that we
can abound in those things pertinent to Him. With such a promise, one would
expect the saints of God to have the most and the best.
How can the saint of God, redeemed from
sin by the One who created the heavens and the earth; healed by the One who raised Himself from the dead, be content to simply
“make it”? The old familiar song, “If I can just make
it in” sends the wrong message about what one’s attitude should be.
Unfortunately, it is all too common an attitude. Obviously, one will be unable
to abound unless he expects to be able to.
So, in that we know what we are
supposed to do (that is, abound with thanksgiving), how are we to make this a
reality in our individual lives? The answer is simple: we must keep in the
forefront of our minds what God has done. Only then can we “abound with thanksgiving.”
It is no secret that the devil wants us
to focus on anything but abounding with thanksgiving. He literally “loves” what
we don’t “like.” Therefore, when we complain about what it is we don’t like, as
opposed to giving thanks, we are “sounding an alarm” for him. He becomes
alerted to exactly what we do not like and how we do not like it.
Why is understanding this so important?
Because in that the devil cannot read minds and does not have all knowledge, it
is us who limit him. We are
responsible for how much knowledge he gains of us.
Though the word “abounding” is, in
itself, pleasant sounding, it is neither a word to be applied
or a state of being to be enjoyed only under pleasant circumstances. The
extent of our abounding will be determined by the extent we can overlook the
present to see what has already been done and look to the future to what will
be done.
Too many of the people of God either
seem to have forgotten or never have learned that an obligation of salvation is
to be usable by God to win others.
Many of us believe that verbal witnessing is the key to drawing souls and
therefore, our true conversation (our manner of living) is neglected. There is
no substitute for the belief that comes through seeing, and no excuse for any life which brings shame to the name
of Jesus.
The World has not been won for a least
one very obvious reason: too many who are supposed to be saved are not much of
a drawing card for the Lord. If the attitude we exhibit is no better than that
of someone unsaved, what is there to entice one to be saved? We must be able to
show the World and its inhabitants that we are having a “better” time.
From somewhere and somehow we have
arrived at the erroneous conclusion that we have a right to complain and have
problems. Until we come to understand and accept that the solution to all we
face is steadfastness and immovability, we will be useless in offering
solutions to anyone else.
When one is duly and properly thankful
to the Lord, he is better able to understand and appreciate the “hang-ups” from
which we are liberated. Anger is something everyone
should live without, but few can. Nothing can be allowed to hinder the praise
we offer to the Lord. Venting our feelings as we are instructed to do by the
World (and some apostolic churches) does nothing but erect barriers between the
“ventor” and the Lord. Needless to say, the devil is
shrewd. He seems to understand better than us that one who praises God cannot
also be mad.
All that the Lord has done for us, mankind
and the world should move us to the acceptance of abundance and thanksgiving.
The Lord is guilty of nothing for which we blame Him. He is the personification
of good. If He could be “guilty,” He could be blamed for loving us. Loving
anyone means that you want only the best for that person and will work to
get that for them no matter what!
In point of fact, this is what the Lord has done and still does. Wanting us
to be saved and make it into His Kingdom, He is willing to do whatever it
takes. He allows our trials and tests with full consideration for us—but none
for Himself. Meaning what? That His interest is in developing
us into the best that we can be as opposed to worrying whether we will be
made “upset” at Him. Intellectually, we can know this, but until we
believe that He has not come to hurt us, but rather to bless
us and give us a testimony, it is unlikely that we will accept it.