COLOSSIANS 3 I WILL DO WHATEVER I DO FOR JESUS2019 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Colossians 3 I Will Do Whatever I Do For Jesus

Now we're back, continuing our journey through the Foundations for Christian Living.

Looking at the letters of the Apostle Paul, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and now Colossians. And here in Colossians, we've been studying and considering the completeness that we have in Jesus. How he provides for us all that we need. And we've been learning the doctrine of that for the first couple chapters. Now as we head into chapter 3, it turns more to application. Now that we know and understand these things,

there's some things that we need to do and some responsibilities that we have in response to what Christ has done for us. And so let's dive into the passage that God has for us tonight.

Colossians chapter 3, we'll be looking at verses 1 through 17. Let's go ahead and read through that and then we'll jump into the message that God has for us. Verse 1 of Colossians 3 says, If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Therefore, put to death your members which are on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.

But now you yourselves are to put off all these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, and filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him.

Verse 12. Verse 13.

If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body. And be thankful. 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.

And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Here as we look at Colossians chapter 3 this evening, I would begin walking through this passage by asking you the question, how complete do you feel today? I would just invite you to consider that a little bit. How complete do you feel today? If I went to the store and

bought a puzzle and on the puzzle was your picture and you are this puzzle and I open up the puzzle and I begin to put it together. How many pieces would be in the box? That's a thousand piece puzzle. How many pieces would be in the box if I'm putting you together? You're the puzzle. You're the Lego set. Okay, I go and I buy the, you know, Rick Dominguez Lego set, right? I'm putting all Rick together and

How complete would that set be? How complete do you feel? You feel like if, if,

I was to put that puzzle together, all the pieces would be there? Or do you feel like, yeah, there's going to be some, yeah, probably all the edges are gone. They're missing the fine, refined, you know, the clean cut edges, those are gone. I'm missing those. Yeah, some of those colors, some of those parts, some of these scenes, there's going to be some missing parts to my life, to my Christian life, to my family life, to my job life. Like there's going to be some parts that are not all there yet.

We can very often in our lives feel incomplete. And yet this evening, as we consider this passage here in Colossians, I want to remind you and encourage you that although you may feel that way, it's not actually true. That all the pieces are there. That in Christ, all the pieces are there. All the puzzle pieces, all the Lego pieces are there. It's not all put together yet, right? We often talk about ourselves as a work in progress. And that is true, but

But we're a work in progress, not because we're missing pieces, not because we're incomplete. It's just, well, God's taking his time putting the pieces together. In the end,

At the right time, all the pieces will be there and will be in the right place at the right time for the complete picture, for the complete puzzle, for the complete, you know, Lego structure of Rick Dominguez or whoever you are, right? That this is what God promises to us. He will finish the work that he began in us. We are complete in him. That's what Paul has been teaching us for the first couple of chapters here in Colossians.

And now as we head into chapter 3, now is our response to that. Since we have all the pieces, we have everything that we need in Christ, now what? Paul goes on to give us our response. And so I've titled the message tonight, I will do everything I do for Jesus. Our response to what Christ has done for us in making us complete, remember Paul says in Colossians chapter 2,

In Jesus dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in him who is the head of all principality and power. You're complete in him. You have everything that you need. You have everything that God has provided through Jesus Christ. And so now he calls us then to respond to that with action. And that action is to do what we do, to do everything that we do for his name and for his glory.

And so we're going to walk through this a little bit, working our way through these verses, starting out in verses one through four for point number one. And that is because Jesus promises me a future of complete glory. Here's the idea. My response, I will do everything I do for Jesus because Jesus has promised me a future that is complete glory.

That is complete glory. That is full and complete. No pieces missing. Everything in its right place. He's promised me this future glory. Jumping into verse 1 again, it says, If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. And so he starts out saying, If then you were raised with Christ. Were you? Were you raised with Christ? Paul's not actually asking a question here.

He's using the word if, but not in the sense of a question. He's saying, since you were raised with Christ. He's saying, you have been raised with Christ. This is a work that God has done in you and for you when you believed in Jesus Christ. It's really pointing back to Colossians 2, verse 13 and 14.

Paul says, And so if you believe in Jesus and his work that he has done for you upon the cross, and you believe in him,

The handwriting of requirements has been wiped away. It's been nailed to the cross. And you, although you were dead in your trespasses, you were dead in your sin, by believing in Jesus, he's made you alive together with Jesus. That's the doctrine. That's the truth. And so Paul is saying, since that's the truth, seek those things which are above where Christ is. This is what's true of you. This is what's true of what God has done in your life.

So your response then, my response is to seek the things which are above where Christ is. Because, well, I've been raised with him. That's where I am. I'm with him. That's where my future is. It's with him. And he is there sitting at the right hand of God. And Paul's saying, if you really believe that, if you've really been born again, if you have been raised with Christ, he's not talking about, you know, well, there is some Christians who have not been raised with Christ. And so, you know, that's, you're not able to do this.

No, he's saying every Christian, everyone who has believed in Jesus, everyone who's been born again, you have been raised with Christ. Since that's the truth, seek the things which are above. How do you do that? Well, he goes on to say in verse two, set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Set your mind on things above. Focus your mind on,

Make the things above the thing that your mind occupies and is paying attention to and is concerned about. Think about, meditate on, consider, contemplate the things above. And again, he attaches it to the doctrine. For you died. You died with Christ. That's part of the doctrine. You believe in Jesus and so you're included with him in the death as well as the resurrection.

So you're dead, but you're also alive in Christ. And he says your life is hidden with Christ in God. And think about that for a minute. Your life is hidden. Now, you might look at your life and maybe you don't feel like your life is hidden. But Paul is saying here, your real life is not what you can see. You might think about your life and you might think about your work, your home, your vehicles, your family. You could...

Think about your life and the context of all that you see every day. And Paul is saying, look, your real life is not what you can see. Your real life is hidden with Christ in God. Your real life is not visible. What you're walking through and what you're experiencing, this isn't the end. This isn't your real life. This is part of your life, but it's not your real life. Your real life is hidden with Christ in

in God. Pastor Warren Wiersbe says, our exalted position in Christ is not a hypothetical thing or a goal for which we strive. It is an accomplished fact. It's an accomplished fact. This is not something you work towards. Work to hide your life in Christ. Your life is hidden with Christ in God. Your victory is hidden with Christ in God. Maybe it'd be good for you to think about it that way. It's not quite visible yet.

You look at your life and you don't see victory. And you say, where's the victory? Where's my victory? I thought I would have victory. Victorious Christian life. Everybody talks about that. Like, where's the victory? Your victory is hidden with Christ in God. And you may see elements of that victory, but it's not quite visible yet because it's in that completed work in Christ. The defeats that we have, the failures that we have, that's not the whole story, right?

It's only a piece of the story. Your success is hidden with Christ in God. Your healing is hidden with Christ in God. Your redemption is hidden with Christ in God. Your fulfillment is hidden with Christ in God. You could think, oh, I thought, you know, knowing Jesus and walking with Jesus and, you know, I'd have all fulfillment and I would never thirst for anything or lack for anything or, you know, long for anything. I don't see that. It's hidden.

The whole story is there. All the pieces are there, but you can't see them all yet. Some of those pieces are hidden. It is there. And the reality will be manifested in the right time, in due time. But you have to trust God at his word and believe him. You will have victory. You will have success. You will have healing. You will have fulfillment. And you may experience some of that in this life, but ultimately your real life is hidden with Christ in God.

And that's the final story. That's what we need to be focused on. The apostle Paul going through great times of difficulty and pressure and pain in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 had this perspective. He says,

but the things which are not seen are eternal. Paul says, I'm going through stuff. It's painful. It's difficult, but I'm not looking at that because I know it's working in eternal and exceeding weight of glory. This isn't the full story here. This isn't the whole story of my life. No, my real life is hidden with Christ in God. And there's a weight of glory that's exceeding that I cannot see right now. And so I'm focused on the things that are not seen.

And the things that I can see and feel and those things that are immediately in front of me, they're temporary. But what Christ promises is a full and complete future where the final story is revealed. In verse 4, he says, When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. When Christ, who is our life, Christ is our life.

He's the one who gives us life. He's the one who sustains our life, but also he is our life. We are alive in Christ. And when he appears, then we will appear with him in glory. And I would encourage you to think about that idea of appearing with him in glory.

And typically when I read through this passage, I think about appearing with him in glory and thinking about, you know, the prophetic future of Jesus returning and, you know, that cloud that is with him, the heavenly host, right? The saints in white that are returning with the Lord, right? And you can think about returning with Jesus when he comes back again. We will appear with him in glory, right? But as I was looking over this in preparation for tonight, I was...

beginning to realize and consider that we're not talking about geographically appearing with him. It's not so much that, you know, positionally, like, here's where you're going to be next to him. Although that's true, right? Like, you will be with Jesus. Appearing with him in glory is more than just where you will be geographically. Here, Paul is saying, look, the fullness of all that God has done for us in Christ will be fully revealed when Jesus appears.

That that's when we will see the whole story. That's when we will get to experience the full picture. That's when we will. Well, here's what the apostle John says in first John three, two beloved. Now we are children of God and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. Why hasn't it been revealed what we shall be? Well, cause our life is hidden with Christ in God, but we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is.

And so there's this temporary obscuring of the reality that we are, that we have in Christ. And we must walk by faith and not by sight and believe who God says that we are and what he has done for us. Believe that all the pieces of the puzzle are in the box. They're all there. We're not missing any pieces in Christ and they are all going to be put together. He will have them in the right place at the right time so that when he appears,

We'll appear with him in glory. The picture will be complete. The story will be full and whole and good. I will do everything I do for Jesus because Jesus promises me a future of complete glory. No matter how many pieces I feel like I'm missing, when I live for Christ,

I'm headed towards a future of guaranteed complete wholeness and fulfillment and victory and healing, complete glory. When you consider these things, you should ask yourself the question, what better future could I accomplish for myself? You think about what Christ has done for you, what he has promised to do for you. You will appear with him in glory. What better future could you accomplish for yourself?

There is no better future that you could do, that you could accomplish, that you could even imagine. The future that God has in store for us, well, it's more than we could ever ask or think, the Bible says. The complete glory that has been promised to us is great reason for us to do everything that we do for Jesus. And so I need to set my mind on the things above. That's where I really am. That's where real life is taking place.

That's where the real story is happening. As we head into these final weeks before Christmas, right? The exchanging of gifts, the giving of presents. And sometimes presents are amazing. And sometimes you say things like, well, it's the thought that counts, right? And that's true. It's definitely true. It's also true of the Christian life. It's the thought that counts. You might not see the victory.

You might not see the fulfillment of all that you hope for or want or desire. You might not see the realities of your life hidden in Christ, but it's the thought that counts. Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth. Don't occupy your mind with the things of this life. Don't let that be what consumes your mind and occupies all of the things that you think about and consider and contemplate and work for and desire things.

seek the things which are above that's where real life is taking place pastor warren wiersbe says in christ you have died to the old life and been raised to a new life so make the new life the focus of your attention set your mind on it seek to experience all that you have in christ and i like that encouragement at the end seek to experience everything that you have seek it out search it out

Find out all that you have and all that you are in Christ. The pieces are all there. You can't see them all, but they're there. And he's going to complete that work as you walk with him. Well, moving on to verses five through 11, I will do everything I do for Jesus because Jesus provided a complete deliverance for me. There's an exhortation. There's an encouragement for me to live my life for him, not just because of my future, but

The promised glory that he's given, but I can consider and contemplate where he's brought me from and the deliverance that he has accomplished. Verse five says, therefore, put to death your members, which are on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.

Paul begins this section with the word, therefore. Again, he's tying all of these things. These are commands that were given, but they're tied to the realities of the truths that he's been presenting. Therefore, you are complete in Jesus. Therefore, put to death your members which are on the earth. You are circumcised and baptized in Jesus. Therefore, put to death your members which are on the earth.

You're alive in Christ and forgiven by Christ. Therefore, put to death your members which are on the earth. Jesus has done so much for you. You also have a part to play. Paul says, set your mind on the things above. And now, put the sin to death.

The members which are on the earth. That is, he goes on to list some things. And this is not meant to be every possible member of the earth or sinful practice, but a sampling of it, an example of it. Fornication, that's sexual immorality, along with uncleanness and passion and evil desires. These are the pursuits of things that are not good, that are not of God. Covetousness, that's greed and not being satisfied with what God has already provided for us.

Paul says, here's what I want you to do. Commit first degree murder of your sinful nature. You know what first degree murder is? It's when murder is thought out and intentional. You know, sometimes there's accidental death, right? Manslaughter. Sometimes there's second degree murder that's not pre-planned, completely wrong, not really an accident, but it wasn't planned out ahead of time. And here Paul is saying, here's what you need to do. You need to commit first degree murder.

Put to death your members which are on the earth. These sinful practices in your life, these areas of sin in your life, don't just like kind of work around them or put up with them or, you know, think out, conspire against, and intentionally put a stop. Paul's not talking about inflicting harm on yourself physically. He's talking about putting a stop to sinful practices in your life.

And he goes on to explain why. Verse 6, because of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. And he says, you used to walk in these. You lived in these things. You were stuck in these things. And you were, well, on track to be a recipient of the wrath of God. But Christ has delivered you. We walked in these things and had no escape from the wrath of God that was to come. We were storing up for ourselves wrath. But we've been forgiven in Christ. Therefore,

Put to death. These are the things that stir up the wrath of God. Therefore, put to death these things. Don't allow those things to continue. He says we are to put off, in verse 8, all of these. Anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language. We're to make deliberate, intentional moves to remove these things from our life.

anger, wrath. These are outbursts of wrath. Malice, this is wishing evil upon others, hatred towards others, blasphemy, speaking against God, filthy language. He's saying you need to take some steps. You need to remove these things from your life. Don't just expect to wake up and all these things are gone. Ultimately, we don't have what we need. We can't of our own strength remove these things.

But at the same time, we're not to just lay there like, you know, lazy lumps and not do anything. We are to be looking to God, seeking the things which are above and removing these things and allowing God to do the work of victory in these areas in our lives. He's not saying we will never struggle in these things, but he's saying as we struggle, as these occur, as we see these patterns in our life, we need to then take steps to remove them.

Verse 9, Paul here walks through the idea of putting off and putting on. And it's language that, well, is used of clothing.

Take off the old garments of the flesh, the old pattern of behavior that was sinful and put on, he says in verse 10, the new man. Again, all the pieces are there. Put on the new man. You have what you need in Christ. The new man is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him. You have everything that you need in Christ.

And it doesn't matter if you're Greek or Jew or circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian or Scythian, you can substitute, you know, those names for whatever it is that you wrestle with, right? Well, I'm this or I'm that, or I have this background or that background, or, you know, I have this identity or that identity. And Paul is saying, no, it doesn't matter where you come from. It doesn't matter what your cultural heritage is. It doesn't matter what your upbringing was. It doesn't matter, you know, your background, right?

Christ is all and in all. In Christ, we have the opportunity to be a new man, to be a new person, to be in the likeness of him. He's delivered. He set me free from my background. He set me free from my history. He set me free from my heritage that was of destruction and leading towards the wrath of God. He's delivered me from those things and now given me the opportunity to put on the new man.

Commentator F.B. Meyer says, See, there's the potential for us to be a new creation in Christ, but not live that way and still walk around in our grave clothes that were still rotten and stinky forever.

Because we still have these things of the flesh that don't belong anymore, but we haven't put them off. Paul here is saying, put them, he's delivered you. You're not bound by the grave clothes any longer. You used to be, but you're not bound by them. Why are you carrying them with you and being stinky all day long everywhere you go, right? Why are you doing, no, no, no, put that off and put on the new garments. You got a fresh pair of clothes there. You got a whole new, brilliant, beautiful garment.

clean life that God has prepared for you. Put it on. You've been delivered. You're not captive to sin. You're not bound to sin any longer. Christ is all and in all. You have everything you need. All the pieces are there. And so I will do everything that I do for Jesus because he set me free. He has delivered me and it's a complete deliverance. And again, I would ask you to consider, could you be delivered any more completely? Could you be delivered any more completely?

Are you lacking in the deliverance that Christ has provided? No. You might feel like it, and you might continue to walk around with a lack of deliverance, but he has delivered you from the wrath that is to come. Again, that doesn't mean that we won't have issues with sin. It doesn't mean we won't have struggles or battles with sin. That deliverance will come later, but we've been delivered from the wrath that will come because of sin. And so we already have the victory because we have been delivered.

We will not experience the wrath of God because we have believed in Jesus and have been forgiven. And so I will live for him because he has provided a complete deliverance for me. Jesus has done so much for you, but you have a part to play too. Set your mind on things above. Put the sin and the sinful behavior of your life to death. Put off the old life, the old things.

And then moving into verses 12 through 17, we get the third and final point for tonight. And that is, I will do everything I do for Jesus because Jesus loves me completely. Verse 12 says, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.

Notice what he starts out with here in verse 12. Therefore, again, going back to you're complete in Christ. You've been circumcised and baptized in Christ. You've been made alive and forgiven in Christ. You have received so much from him. And he goes on and attaches that to a couple more things. He says, you are the elect of God, the chosen of God. He selected you.

Therefore, as the chosen of God, the selected of God, but not only that, he says holy. He says you're holy. You're set apart unto the Lord. He's claimed you for his own. You're his. You belong to him. You are set apart for him. He chose you. He set you apart and you're beloved. Maybe you have a

This time of year, you're decorating your Christmas tree and perhaps you have those special ornaments. Right? You have the regular ones that, you know, they just get thrown in the box and you buy the ones that aren't, you know, glass so that, you know, you can just kind of throw them all in at the end. But then you have those other ones that, no, no, that's special. You keep the box, right? You keep the original, you know, packaging so it's all protected in the box. And then every year you pull it out and it's special. Oh, this one has great meaning. It's very valuable.

This is what the Lord is describing for you. You are the chosen. He picked you out. He said, oh, I want that one. That one's special. That one's beautiful. And it's going to be set apart. You're set apart. Oh, yeah, you have this special place. And he keeps you in the box. And you're well-protected, selected, chosen, and beloved. He said, oh, this is one of my favorites. God doesn't have favorites, but he has one of the favorites, right? We're one of his favorites. We're special. We're beloved. We're beloved.

And again, I would ask you, can I be any more complete right now? When God chose me and set me apart and poured out his love upon me and I am beloved and special to him, is there anything else that I need? Is there anything, any way more that I could be complete? And again, you can look at these things and look at the future, the past, and the present. And again, I would ask you, can I be any more complete right now?

You look at the future, the glory that he's promised. You look at the past and the deliverance that he's accomplished. You look at the present and right now I am elect and chosen, holy and beloved. That's who you are. That's who I am. This is what Jesus has provided. And so Paul says, because of that, therefore put on, and he's going to go on and list some characteristics. Now,

Similar to the things of the flesh that he talked about earlier. We're not going to go through every detail of these, but this is an example of what's available, what God has provided. You can put on tender mercies. You can put on kindness and humility and meekness and long-suffering. I think long-suffering, that's one of those that we all need to put on. But it's there. It's provided for you. Again, all the pieces are in the box. Put on bearing with one another. You ever have anybody bug you?

people annoy you and irritate you and get you grumpy, put on bearing with one another and forgiving one another. And he kind of elaborates on this a little bit. If anyone has a complaint against another, forgiving even of complaints, you have issues, you have something that you could say about somebody and you could complain, you know, just give me a name and I'll complain about them. You know, that's not hard. You have those complaints. He says, look, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. You can forgive. Put on forgiveness.

Don't just, you know, lay there like a lazy lump and expect it to just happen one day. No, put on forgiveness. Put on tender mercies. Put on long-suffering. He says in verse 14, but above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. Over all of these things, or what joins all these things together is love. And similar to the love that God has for you, now he calls you to extend that.

to others. We've talked about that a little bit on Sunday. And so you can kind of refer back to those things in your mind and consider the love that God has for us and the love that he calls us to have for him and for one another. Verse 15, let the peace of God rule in your hearts to which also you were called in one body and be thankful. You ever lack peace? Paul says, let the peace of God rule in your hearts. In other words, the peace is already there.

The opportunity for peace is already there, but you have to allow the peace of God. You have to let the peace of God rule in your hearts. You've got to let that rule. It's not going to rule automatically. It's not going to rule by default. You need to give God permission to rule and to have peace and be thankful, he says. Again, these are things that are there that God has provided in Christ.

He goes on in verse 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. Let God's word dwell in you richly. And he says in your interactions, when you're teaching and admonishing one another, let God's word dwell

Fill those conversations and interactions with riches. Let your conversations, let your interactions, let your corrections and your wrestling and your discussions and, you know, let those things be filled with the richness of the word of God and let your worship, not just be emotional, not just, you know, be fluffy on the surface, but let it be filled with richness of the word of God, of the doctrine of who God is, of the truth and the realities of who we are in Christ.

And then finally, verse 17, which kind of wraps it all together. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. And this is where I get the title for the message tonight. I will do everything that I do for Jesus because in Christ, I have all the pieces. I have everything that I need. And so whatever I do, whether it's in word or in deed, I have the opportunity to do it in the name of the Lord Jesus.

I have the opportunity to do it for him, to do it with his nature, with his character, and for his glory. And I can do it with thankfulness to God the Father through him. Jesus has done so much for me, but I have a part to play too. I need to set my mind on things above.

and put the sinful behavior to death, put off the old nature and put on the new nature and do everything, live my entire life and make every decision and have every conversation and every action and every turn and every stop and everything that I do to be done for Jesus. How complete do you feel today? You might feel incomplete and you don't see the whole picture.

But listen, your life is hidden with Christ in God. Set your mind on the things above. You have everything that you need and all the pieces are there. He will put them together in his time. Your future is taken care of. Your past is taken care of. Your present is taken care of. He's done it all. And so your response, my response is to then put into practice the things that he has given me and called me to. Finishing up with one last quote from F.B. Meyer.

He says, we stand between two worlds. Each solicits us. Let us yield to the influence or the influences that pull us upward and not those that anchor us to the sinful and vain world. Here's the reality. We're being pulled in two directions. And here we are standing between them. Heaven beckons you. Christ calls you. He says, look up.

Your redemption draws nigh. Set your mind on things above. And the world screams at you to be focused on the things of this life and this moment and this day and the flesh. And the choice is ours. Will we put off the old life and put on the new? Or will we keep on our grave clothes and walk around all stinky? Let's not do that. No. I will do everything that I do for Jesus because he promises me a complete redemption.

future of glory. And he's provided a complete deliverance for me. And right now he loves me completely. I'm his chosen, set apart, special, beloved child. So I will live for him. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your goodness towards us. We thank you for your work in our lives. We thank you, Lord, that we have the promise that all the pieces are there because we can't see them all.

But Lord, you can. And you know how it's all working out and you know how you are able to work it all together for good. And so Lord, help us to trust you and to live our lives for you. Set our minds, Lord, on the things above. Fix our eyes on eternity, I pray. Lord, that we would work out our real life with you and not be distracted by the things that are right in front of us, but that keep us from where we need to be. That keep us, Lord, in the grave clothes that we need to put off.

Help us, Lord, to recognize the realities, to put on your nature, and to live lives for your glory. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.