No Nudist In The Kingdom: Part Seven

In parts 1-6 we looked at items in 1 Peter 2:1-3 and Colossians 3:8-9 that we are to “put off” or better translated as “take off” as in taking off a coat and laying it aside. And we discussed how the Lord always gives us something better to put on when He has us take something off. Therefore not leaving us Spiritually naked. Now in Eph. 4:31-32 I would like to show you the final two items that we need to shed before being able to put-on what the Lord has for us.

"Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking,

be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another,

tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Ephesians 4:31-32 KJV

Bitterness, just the sound of the word tells us that it is bad. It’s the attitude that we have to a person or an event in our lives that leaves a bitter taste in everything we do or say. One of the best tricks of our enemy is to make us bitter. There may not be a worst testimony for Christ than a bitter Christian. Second, we see clamour as another ill fitted garment for a Christian. Do you know someone in your Church or workplace that is constantly stirring up trouble? And they love it. They seem unable to function without doing it. Well that person wears the cloak of clamour. Take it off.

We have already gone through the others in this verse: wrath (Col. 3:8), anger (Col. 3:8), evil speaking (1 Peter 2:1), and malice (1 Peter 2:1 and Col. 3:8). Also; guile, hypocrisy, envy (1 Peter 2:1) along with blasphemy and filthy language (Col. 3:8). In conclusion to the “Put Off” section on this series I plan on sharing the “Put On” part. Unless I come across more put-offs like before.

Please notice the last part of this verse, ”And be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Being kind to others and tenderhearted (opposite of hard-hearted) is the tool used to take off the garments of bitterness and clamour and place it into the fire, like a leper’s garment that is defiled and unable to be used for anything else.

Prayer: Lord, help us to take off all actions and attributes that do not bring Glory to Your name and Kingdom like bitterness and clamour. Give us the right attitude to live and the right words to speak. Amen

No Nudist In The Kingdom: Part Six Colossians 3:8-9

In parts 1-5 we looked at items in 1 Peter 2:1-3 that we are to "put off" or better translated as "take off" as in taking off a coat and laying it aside. And we discussed how the Lord always gives us something better to put on when He has us take something off. Therefore not leaving us Spiritually naked.
In the last part (part 5) I mentioned I would share on the Armor of God, but I've decided to continue the line of items to take off before doing so.
Going to Colossians 3:8-9 we read, "But now you must also put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds." NKJV
Paul is telling believers that since we are Christ's and not belonging to the world anymore we are to do away with the things that mark us as worldly. We have already covered malice so I will touch on the rest of the items in these verses.
Anger in this verse is a noun. It is that thing in you that causes hatred. We may not act on it, but it preoccupies our thoughts. We cannot look at anything else without it tainting the way we believe or feel about it. This will lead to wrath, which is the anger acted out. Anger full-blown. Vengeance that is pent-up and then loosed. It is a horrible thing for a Christian to have on him or her.
Blasphemy is speaking of something or someone with intent to injure. Blasphemy has been understood as relating to the divine. We are to put off any speaking that would injure the Lord or the Kingdom of God. One example is that of calling something holy that is not and calling something unholy that is. That is blasphemy!
Filthy Language is the thoughts that we put into words that are filthy in nature. A Christian has not excuse to use this type of speech. The use of foul words that show, not only a lack of respect for the one being spoken to but also a lack of proper manners and intelligence. Three things Christians should excel in. We are to put it out of our mouths or speech.
And we must not lie to each other. Christians need to be truthful with each other. Now this is a touchy one. Some Christians pride themselves in being up-front and brutally honest. We need to use a little common sense in our truth telling. If we cannot tell the truth and leave a fellow Christian corrected and uplifted, then we need to just keep quite.
Prayer: Lord, help us to take off all actions and attributes that do not bring Glory to Your name and Kingdom. Give us the right attitude to live and the right words to speak. Amen