Tuesday's slice of bread

A weekly post premised on this: Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord (Prov. 16:20)

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Location: Florence, Kentucky, United States

married to my best friend, writer, teacher, avid reader, occasional poet, volunteer

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Prize and Reprise
The 2010-2011 year for the Every Woman's Grace Bible study at church covered four of Paul's letters:  Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. As the year was drawing to an end, we were asked to review those books and the lessons we'd gained which were leading us to greater Christ likeness.  Passages significant to me follow.
Galatians 1:3-5:  "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever.  Amen."  Who did what?  Why?  To what end?  And should we not therefore give Him glory forever?
Read Galatians 3:28-29:  "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise."  This seems to be restated in Colossians 3:11:  "Here there is not Jew and Greek, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all and in all."
Then I saw three other passages connect.
Galatians 5:15 states, "But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are no consumed by one another" which relates to Ephesians 4:29:  "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear it" and to Philippians 2:14:  "Do all things without grumbling and questioning."
What do these have in common?  We are to no longer focus on our human differences but instead on out completeness in Christ.
This part of Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3 has especially stayed with me as only God can bring this about:  "And to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God" (3:19)

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