The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.

The FOOL hath said in his heart THERE IS NO GOD.


Psa 14:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psa 14:2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
Psa 14:3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.


Hebrew word - Fool--

H5036
???
na^ba^l
naw-bawl'
From H5034; stupid; wicked (especially impious): - fool (-ish, -ish man, -ish woman), vile person.


The stupid person.
The wicked person (especially impious)


Dictionary… Impious--

im·pi·ous
[im-pee-uhs, im-pahy-]

Show IPA
–adjective
1.
not pious or religious; lacking reverence for god, religious practices, etc.; irreligious; ungodly.
2.
disrespectful.

Pasted from



The fool.


When we think of a fool we immediately can substitute that word for stupid, or we combine them to say stupid fool. We don't immediately think wicked when we think of fool, or impious, and fools in our minds are always considered vile people. Yet here we have this verse--


The FOOL hath said in his heart THERE IS NO GOD.


-- and this word fool goes beyond the way we normally interpret it. The wicked person, the vile person is more like it. The ungodly, the irreligious person will say in their hearts there is no God.


Do you know anyone that says there is no God? Do you know anyone that doesn't believe in God? Or maybe you know people who believe in God but just not the fact that He has any power at all. Some treat God as a huge joke. In our world anything goes. The rich and powerful, those considered highly intelligent, genius even, these people men and women alike, all fools.


Believing in their hearts that there is no God. Could this also include those who pretend to love God? There are a lot of people who say they believe in God but they don't, not really, not with a living faith. How many pretenders are there? More than we probably care to think about. Jesus will say to many that He never knew them. Why wouldn't He know them? Because they don't have a real faith, a real belief in God. Jesus will never say He never knew one that believes in Him fully in all faith, in all hope, trusting in Him for Salvation. The liar He won't admit to knowing, the fool He won't admit to knowing.


Could it be true that there might be some who say they don't believe in God, yet in their hearts they do?


Saying something in our hearts doesn't mean we always reveal it to others.


This verse goes on to say-- They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.


Whether blatantly or secretly- people can be corrupt, they can have works that are abominable, they can do no good. Some people don't hide their evil works, others hide them completely. God knows our hearts. God knows how we believe. God knows our faith, nothing is hidden from God, nothing.


God is alive!
God is real!
God is a living faith!
God is more real than any other!


If we live our lives believing God is far away and not aware of all our goings on, God is not real to us. If we live our lives believing God only sees us when we want Him to, God is not real. If God exists in our lives ONLY when we worship Him for an hour a week, or a day a week, or when we say grace before a meal or before sleeping… He's not real. God is always with us, always knowing. God is REAL.


Even the brightest person can be a fool. Even the kindest person can be a fool. We can't judge who is and isn't a fool- not always. Some are outright fools boasting there is no God, yet in the end we can't know even their hearts. May God bless us and keep us in Him, may we NEVER be fools, may we always believe that God is real with a very living faith and belief in His reality. Even at our darkest, even IN our darkest hours may our faith hold firm and unwavering.


By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, now and forever!!! In His righteousness! In His LOVE always!


Amen.

Secret Faults

Psa 19:12 Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.


Secret faults.

If something is a secret then it's hidden. Our secret faults are hidden from who? Certainly not God. Could it be that some of our faults are hidden from ourselves? People fool themselves all the time don't they? You wouldn't think a person could deceive themselves but they do it all the time. We do it ALL the time. Sometimes we're not aware of our negative traits until another points them out to us and then we often go on the defensive when we're made aware of them. We don't like to have faults, why would we, and we certainly don't like people noting our faults. Before God nothing is hidden, nothing is secret. God knows every single fault we have.


Can we understand our errors? We have them, lots of them. We need to realize that we have errors in our lives, that we have secret faults and we need cleansing from those faults. We are not perfect. We will never be faultless, only Christ is faultless. We need to be cleansed from not only faults we are aware of, but faults we are not aware of. We need to ask God to cleanse us because ONLY God can cleanse us from faults we aren't even aware of. It sounds as if that's a bit too much, but it's not if you really think about it. People aren't blameless just because they are unaware. We like to think we are blameless if we 'just didn't know' something. We feel helpless and confused if we are called out on something because of our lack of knowledge. I can't count the number of times I've used the excuse myself, saying, I didn't know. How can we be accountable for not knowing? Perhaps because there is or was an opportunity for us to know and we missed it? I'm not sure, but we are accountable for missed opportunities, aren't we?


Accountability is something we all have. We will account to God for our lives. We will be judged for our lives. It's no wonder we should ask God to cleanse us of our secret faults. Cleanse us. Make us clean through the blood of the Lamb. Cleanse us Lord we are filthy in ways we know and ways we don't know.


By Your grace and mercy Lord be our all in all, may Your righteousness be ours through your sacrifice.


In You now and forever!


Amen.

Ever Learning- Never Knowing

2Ti 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.


2Ti 3:7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.


Ever learning.
Never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Imagine it. It'd be like running a race never to see the finish line. Like searching and never finding.


How can someone be ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of truth? People study all the time on subjects that they find fascinating. There are many subjects that contain such a wealth of knowledge it'd be impossible to learn it all and yet people study. If you had a goal in mind when you were studying, something particular you want to learn, you study until you've exhausted every possible means of finding your answer. If I want to bake the best possible cake in the world I might study recipes and techniques of famous cake bakers. If I want to plant the best rose garden I possibly can I might study gardening and famous gardeners and their techniques. If I want to learn of the truth as it is in Jesus I will study His word and I will find that truth. The Bible speaks plainly enough, it's not crouched in some cryptic message that needs deciphering by the most famous Hebrew and Greek scholars. So how is it that someone can learn and continue to learn but never come to know what they are trying to learn? Is their desire sincere? That has to be the first question asked. People study for all sorts of reasons and not all of them reasons conducive to learning the truth. Another question might be is the one professing to want to learn really seeking truth or are they learning for other purposes? Is the truth to them all fact with no spirit? How can one be ever learning and read this…

'Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. '


…and not realize that Jesus is the truth? They might have a head knowledge, but not a heart knowledge and they might learn but never fully comprehend, never fully discern what those words mean.


In the last day there will be many who are 'ever learning' but 'never able to come to the knowledge of truth.'


Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Joh 1:15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
Joh 1:16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
Joh 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.


Grace and truth come by Jesus Christ. The law revealed the need for a Savior and Jesus is that Savior. Grace come through Jesus, the truth comes through Jesus.


Joh 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Joh 3:20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
Joh 3:21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.


Ever learning… yet they live in darkness, preferring darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil… everyone that doeth evil hateth light…never able to come to the knowledge of truth.


Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth


We must worship God in spirit and in truth. God cannot be worshipped by those who have no knowledge of the truth. God cannot be worshipped by those who will not worship Him in spirit.


Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.


We are made free through the truth and that truth is in Jesus' word. You can learn all you want of the Bible, learn all you want of the factual existence of Jesus but if you don't continue in Jesus' word, if you don't follow and believe in the words of Jesus you will never know the truth, never. You may be learned, but lost.


Joh 8:42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Joh 8:45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
Joh 8:46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?
Joh 8:47 He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.



They could physically HEAR Jesus' words, but they couldn't comprehend what they were hearing, they couldn't understand His speech. Why? Why is it we can be learners and never know the truth? Because we can be of the devil. It's a hard fact, a true fact. Satan is the father of lies and there is NO truth in satan, none!


We can only know the truth if we are God's. If we cannot understand the truth of Jesus and His love it's because we are not of God, we are of the Devil. Make no mistake. There is no candy-coated truth here, just plain unadulterated truth. If you don't have the truth you are of Satan. You might not believe you are of Satan because you are a good person and don't worship Satan as one caught up in Devil worshipping, but you are of Satan just the same without all the pomp and circumstance of being a Devil worshipper. It's a fact that many don't want to consider, yet Jesus had NO trouble telling the truth of the matter to those that needed to hear it.


We cannot ever know the truth no matter how much we learn if we are not God's. We have to be God's and we can know the truth and that truth will set us free in Christ.


Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Joh 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
Joh 14:19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.


The Spirit of truth.


The world will NOT receive the Spirit of truth.


Joh 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Joh 16:14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
Joh 16:15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
Joh 16:16 A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.


We will be guided into ALL truth by the Spirit of truth.


Joh 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh 17:18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
Joh 17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.


Sanctified through the truth!


Ever learning and never knowing the truth- the god-less! Those that God's are sanctified through the truth!


May we be God's fully, wholly God's! May we learn of the truth through the Spirit of truth. May we ever grow in knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ now and forever by His amazing love, through His righteousness, through His grace.


Make no mistake, the last days will be very perilous and Satan will stop at NOTHING to deceive all the people he can. We have to cling to Christ, our living Savior ever learning of Him in all truth, in the spirit by the Spirit of truth!


In Christ now and forever!

Amen.

Ye think not

Mat 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.


Be ready.


We are taught as children to be ready to act in cases of emergency. Our schools have fire drills, and we're asked to go back to our homes and together with our family prepare an emergency plan should something happen. In hospitals they have fire drills, in many buildings they have emergency exercises and they conduct these drills and exercises to prepare people to on how they should react during an emergency-- they are taught how to be ready for the unexpected.


Christ's return for us isn't unexpected BUT… 'in such an hour as ye think NOT… the Son of man cometh.'


I don't know about you but I've heard more than once that the Bible is a bunch of nonsense and people who are waiting for Christ to return are delusional fools looking for a way to escape real life because they can't handle the pressure. Are those people who believe that way towards Christians (because ALL who are Christians are expecting Christ to return- other wise they're NOT Christians at all) are those people thinking about Christ's return? No. Christians have to be expecting Christ to return. To be a follower of Christ you have to believe in Him and all He said and He told us He would return someday. If you have any contact with any professed Christians who don't believe in Christ's return then you have to conclude they aren't really followers of Christ.


As followers of Christ we are waiting for Christ to return. Our thoughts are constantly on the fact our Savior will return to wipe evil away. We live among evil, it surrounds us. However, there are a lot of people who do this…


Isa 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!


Those who call evil good don't necessarily believe the world is all that bad and in need of a Savior. As Christians we KNOW that the world is evil and in desperate need of a Savior and our Savior's return to do away with evil forever. We are expecting Christ to return, hoping for His second coming. Yet the Bible tells us that… ' in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh'.


We have to watch for Him always! We have to never believe there is a time He won't come to take us home with Him. I'm not talking we have to be ready for some secret rapture. The Bible tells us EVERY eye shall see Him, that He'll come as lightening shining from East to West, so obviously His return for us will be very visible. We have to watch, but even for those watching, even for those who are ready Christ's return will be at a time when we aren't expecting. Seems kind of contradictory doesn't it? Be expecting Him always and yet He will return ' in an hour as ye think not'. All will be asleep yet some wake up and are ready because they've prepared for Him before sleeping. Remember that parable? Matthew 25:1-13. All sleep. The difference is in the preparation. We won't expect Christ to come when He does, even if we are expecting His return. We need to be ready though, yes, we need to be ready at ALL times. Even if we're sleeping we need to be ready. Just as emergency plans are taught to us so we're ready at any time, we must be ready for Christ's return at any time. If a fire breaks out in your house in the middle of the night and you wake up to the smoke alarm- because you've planned what to do ahead of time you can spring into action. When we are woken up from our slumber when Christ returns we will go to meet Him with oil in our lamps, our lamps burning brightly because we know to have them ready, we know to be prepared for His return.


No, we can't know the hour of Christ's return, and when we might be lulled into believing His return is not just yet, we can still be ready for Him, ever ready for Him.


By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, by His love and through His righteousness now and forever!


Amen.

Love Grows Cold

Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.


Just to touch on something more concerning the last days let's really examine this verse.


And BECAUSE…. We have a cause here.
And because iniquity… another word for sin.
And because iniquity shall abound…


Dictionary definition for 'abound'

a·bound
[uh-bound]

Show IPA
–verb (used without object)
1.
to occur or exist in great quantities or numbers: a stream in which trout abound.
2.
to be rich or well supplied (usually fol. by in ): The region abounds in coal.
3.
to be filled; teem (usually fol. by with ): The ship abounds with rats.

Pasted from


And because iniquity shall abound… be found in GREAT quantities.
And because iniquity shall abound, the love… the genuine source of true caring for the welfare of others.
And because iniquity shall abound the love of many… many as compared to few.
And because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax… shall grow.
And because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold…


COLD - Dictionary Definition--

4.
lacking in passion, emotion, enthusiasm, ardor, etc.; dispassionate: cold reason.
5.
not affectionate, cordial, or friendly; unresponsive: a cold reply; a cold reception.

Pasted from


And because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall….be passionless, unfriendly.


Yesterday we briefly touched upon allowing ourselves to become desensitized to the horrors of our world. When we no longer feel the pain of others, when we no longer see the horrors of sin in all their ugliness, when we become immune to the tragedies of life that have made our God weep, we are in grave danger of falling into a trap of Satan's to snare us in such a way we are caught up in His world and lost to God's. Think about it. We may call it growing a hard shell just to protect our own emotional sanity but that hard shell is Satan's doing causing our love to grow cold and if our love grows cold it dies and if we don't have love… we don't have God.


Satan would blind us to His ways. Satan would have us kept in the dark and bound as his. Many will be bound to Satan by UNSEEN ties, they won't even know those ties are there! In fact, many will insist right up to the end that they are with Jesus, but they won't be. In the end they will see all the ties of Satan wrapped around them to their horror all because they aren't followers of the one, true Savior.


A song I like called- 'My Jesus' sung by Todd Agnew, talks about 'His' Jesus and how he perceives 'His' Jesus to be- unlike the Jesus many others imagine- this song really touches my heart because it's raw truth. Satan has taken Jesus and impersonated Him, making Him out to be something He is not for many to believe in and many do believe in the impersonated Jesus, unsuspectingly. The Bible tells us about Jesus and how He lived His life and it wasn't with ANY self-righteousness at all and frankly that's where a lot of us are caught up- believing in a Jesus that would approve of our patting ourselves on the backs for our good works, for our charity, for our ability to rise above sin that easily besets others. Jesus' love was pure and He revealed His love to us in all its amazing glory. Jesus didn't set up a 'New' temple for people to worship in after He prophesized of the earthly temple being destroyed.


Mat 24:2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.


Jesus did tell us not to forsake gathering ourselves together, Jesus did tell us to help one another and to help others. People have tried for many, many years to put Jesus into a box and label that box their 'religion'. We've hundreds of religions but all Jesus asks of us is to believe in Him, follow Him and His ways. Simply belonging to a 'religion', joining a 'denomination', will never make one a true follower of our true God, Jesus. Finding a group of followers in a world that has waxed cold because of sin won't be easy and we are to seek Jesus first, not fellow believers. Satan has his snares everywhere, we just need to place our hope fully in Christ revealed in His word and nothing else. We need to be dressed in the armor He provides and pray always. May God keep us from being deceived , may God open our hearts and minds and keep our love on fire in Him. As sin abounds and love grows cold all around us, please Lord let us cling to You and find a burning love and all that entails even if it makes us strangers to this world and its ways. Bless and keep us loving Savior, by Your mercy, through Your grace, in Your righteousness now and FOREVER!


Amen.

In the day's before Christ's return...

Mat 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Mat 24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
Mat 24:39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.


In the days before Christ returns we will be…


Eating
Drinking
Marrying
Giving in marriage


It's safe to say we'll also be…


Watching television
Going to work
Playing golf
Using a computer
Talking on a cellphone
Attending school


Life will be going on as normal.


Now let's catch a picture of all this. Noah was building an ark. The ark wasn't built overnight. The Bible isn't specific on how long it took to build the ark but we know it was after Noah was 500 years old and before 600. Given the tools of the time and the size of the job it's a fair assumption that it took a long time to build the ark, right? So here we are, Noah begins working on the ark and that garners some attention from people. At first they're curious and as time goes on and this ark keeps getting bigger again it's a fair assumption that he became something of a laughing stock. Today if someone were building something on the same scale-- let's say they're building another ark but this one is for time travel-- it's huge, it's being built because this guy thinks that in time the power will come from somewhere that will enable this huge time machine to work. At first we'd see this guy and his work in progress on the news, and on our computers, there would be talk of him on twitter and pictures of him on cellphones. People would visit him out of curiosity and for the fun of it and yes, he'd be made fun of and probably called a lunatic. As time passed we'd keep an eye on Him, the crowds wouldn't be as thick any longer but there would still be visitors and maybe a weekly update on his progress on the Tonight Show. You understand what I'm trying to do here, I'm trying to make a comparison to Noah's day and Our day-- but I'm also trying to create the image of Noah's day and how things might have been. People would go about their day to day business after the novelty of the Noah's building an ark had worn off.


Jesus is going to return-- that's a fact.


People go about their every day lives and will continue to do so until Jesus returns.


So many people are expecting a period of time to get ready. So many people are expecting a warning that they cannot ignore- such as an end of the world scenario. They want there to be such a crisis that it can't be anything but the end of the world and of course Jesus comes before the end of the world sooooo…. I mean during our natural disasters you hear of people talking about thinking the world was coming to an end because that's what it felt like to them. Has the world ended…no. Also, the trouble today is we're being conditioned with every earthquake, every destructive hurricane, every season of raging wild fires, tornados, floods, etc. to think of them more and more as commonplace and less and less as warnings of any sort. Wars, natural disasters, countries in peril, local, state, providence murders, thefts, criminal activity of all kinds, we are becoming desensitized to it all. Is it no wonder at all that when Jesus returns people will be going about their business as usual, that the warnings will not be heeded?


We have to live with the expectation of Jesus returning at any time! We cannot rely on any great flash of a warning sign showing up in our heads driving us crazy until we pay attention. We cannot wait until we're done sowing our oats of sin. We cannot wait to get *things* out of our system before expecting our Savior.


We NEED to live every day expecting Jesus to return.
We NEED to live every day with that hope in our hearts.
We NEED to live ready to spend eternity with our loving Savior at every moment.


May God bless us and help us to live in expectation of our Savior's return now and always. As we live our lives in what we deem a normal way let Him forever be before us in our spirit, our thoughts, our hearts. It's too easy to become desensitized to life's tragedies but rather than be desensitized may the Holy Spirit convict our hearts to feel the pain of all the horrors we live with so that we may never be accepting of the sin that caused it all. Let our tears be shed now knowing some day they will be all wiped away.


By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior now and forever in HIS righteousness through His love.


Amen.

Teaching and Admonishing

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.


Teaching.
Admonishing.


When we think of teaching we don't necessarily think of harshness, not that some teachers don't use harsh teaching methods to instruct their students. When we think of admonishing someone we almost definitely think of harshness. If I'm admonished by someone what comes to mind is a certain sternness. Yes, you can admonish someone nicely, it's done all the time, but a lot of time most admonishing results in hurt feelings. We take offense over a lot of admonishing because it makes us feel stupid. Don't tell me that! I know that already, what do you think I am, stupid? Sound familiar? Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. Maybe the thoughts against being admonished are silent ones.


ad·mon·ish
[ad-mon-ish]

Show IPA
–verb (used with object)
1.
to caution, advise, or counsel against something.
2.
to reprove or scold, esp. in a mild and good-willed manner: The teacher admonished him about excessive noise.
3.
to urge to a duty; remind: to admonish them about their obligations.

Pasted from


Bottom line most people I know do not like to be admonished, I'm one of them.


I read this verse…


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.


…and I have to take a second to really think about what it is saying. Is the word of God really telling us to TEACH and ADMONISH each other in POETRY and SINGING????


Uhn?


We don't exist in a 'musical'. I really like musicals, a lot of them actually and I'm a singing type person. I'll sing at the drop of a hat. I've often found myself singing low even in stores, or at family functions as I'm cleaning up etc (this comes to mind because my niece grinned at me at a recent family function and said, "I remember that song." I wasn't singing loudly, or even in my normal tone of voice, just a low humming singing but that's me. The kids will say something and their words will jog a memory of a song and there I go singing that part o the song. I'm mentioning all this because I have asked the question a time or two to my children, 'Wouldn't it be nice to live life as a musical?' Of course that brought snickers even though both my children do enjoy musicals.


This verse tells us to teach and admonish in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Just think of what that might be like.


Clears throat gently… hums a few notes… looks at my daughter and breaks out into song…."Youuuuuuu need to fold those clothessssss or wrinkly they will beeeeeee....not only that....they look so messsssssssyyyyyy."


Yes, I'm being silly, but seriously, think about it.


The word of God tells us …


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.


Do you think that maybe, just maybe if we had to admonish someone in a song we'd take time to think about what we were going to sing to them? Would having to sing, or write a psalm, or a hymn give us cause to really think about what we were going to say giving us less of a chance to just go off half-cocked spouting out things we might regret? Especially if we are to teach and admonish with GRACE in our hearts to the Lord.


It's something to really think about. Not that I believe we are suddenly going to start singing out what we want to teach and most assuredly we are not going to sing out our admonishing to one another, but…. what if we kept this in mind and seriously considered what we would sing to someone. Let's try to do this just to see what life might be like. The next time you go to admonish someone try to imagine doing it in song with grace in your heart to the Lord.


May the word of Christ dwell in us richly in all wisdom! May we teach and admonish one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs…singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord!


By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, in His amazing miraculous love and righteousness now and forever!



Amen.