Verse of the Day 7/3

Colossians 3:16  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.   English Standard Version (ESV)

For today's verse we'll return to the same passage from Friday in Colossians 3.  I came to this verse in kind of a round about way.  I read a short article this morning about assurance which lead me to the hymn "Blessed Assurance".  In looking up a verse associated with that hymn, the only one listed was Colossians 3:16.

Read the verse again.  You won't find the word assurance in it.  But when you read about the word of Christ dwelling in you richly you will come to realize that they way it lives in you is from the assurance that He gives you, which resides in your heart, which He has placed there to begin with.  This brings me back to the article which I started with, where Burke Parsons writes, "our assurance of salvation is not based on our  circumstances, our feelings, or our perfection - but on our doctrine.  Our Father is the source of our assurance, Christ is the ground of our assurance, and the Spirit is the sustainer of our assurance.   And our assurance is not established on the strength of our faith but on the object of our faith, Jesus Christ.  Therefore, when we doubt, let us remember that when Abraham counted the stars, he was counting you, me, and all those chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world."

Reading that statement, doesn't it just make you want to sing, sing thanks to God the Father the source, Jesus the ground, and the Spirit the sustainer of our assurance?  How do you feel when you consider that He was counting you as chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world?  Do you have this assurance, blessed assurance?  Fanny Crosby did when she wrote the hymn.

1	Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine; Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
	This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song,   Praising my Savior all the day long.
2	Perfect submission, perfect delight, Visions of rapture now burst on my sight; Angels descending, bring from above Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
3	Perfect submission, all is at rest, I in my Savior am happy and blest; Watching and waiting, looking above, Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

May that describe our life, watching and waiting, looking above, filled with His goodness, lost in His love, dwelling in us "richly".

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Colossians 3:15-20Living Bible (TLB)

¹⁵ Let the peace of heart that comes from Christ be always present in your hearts and lives, for this is your responsibility and privilege as members of his body. And always be thankful.

¹⁶ Remember what Christ taught, and let his words enrich your lives and make you wise; teach them to each other and sing them out in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing to the Lord with thankful hearts.¹⁷ And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, and come with him into the presence of God the Father to give him your thanks.

¹⁸ You wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, for that is what the Lord has planned for you. ¹⁹ And you husbands must be loving and kind to your wives and not bitter against them nor harsh.

²⁰ You children must always obey your fathers and mothers, for that pleases the Lord.