{"id":28586,"date":"2015-11-12T00:20:27","date_gmt":"2015-11-12T05:20:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=28586"},"modified":"2015-11-10T23:55:57","modified_gmt":"2015-11-11T04:55:57","slug":"thankful-representatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2015\/11\/12\/thankful-representatives\/","title":{"rendered":"Thankful Representatives"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"seekingHimthanksgivinggraphic\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. <\/span>
\n For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. <\/span>
\n And always be thankful. <\/span>
\n Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. <\/span>
\n Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom He gives. <\/span>
\n Sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. <\/span>
\n And whatever you do or say,
\ndo it as a representative of the Lord Jesus,<\/span>
\n giving thanks through Him to God the Father. <\/span>
\n Colossians 3:15-17 NLT<\/span><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 \u00a0\u271e \u00a0 \u00a0~ \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 *<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Google.com, a representative<\/span> is \u201ca person chosen or appointed to act or speak for another or others.\u201d \u00a0And at Dictionary.com it is also defined as \u201ca typical example or specimen of a group, quality, or kind.\u201d<\/p>\n

This passage of Scripture gives us a lot to consider. \u00a0As one chosen by God, we, as Christians, are to represent<\/em> <\/strong><\/span>Christ Jesus to those around us. \u00a0We are to be a \u201ctypical example of His quality.\u201d \u00a0And how<\/span><\/em> do we do that? \u00a0\u201cLet the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives\u201d (verse 16).<\/p>\n

What is \u201cthe message about Christ?\u201d \u00a0It is the message that God loves us so much that \u201cHe gave His Son, His one and only Son. \u00a0And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in Him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life\u201d (John 3:16 MSG). \u00a0Does that good news fill your heart with thankfulness and joy to the point of singing? \u00a0It does mine!<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIf thankfulness becomes a way of life, it will make it much easier to maintain a state of peace. \u00a0It helps us look on the bright side instead of focusing upon the events which can disturb our calm [our inner peace.]\u201d<\/p>\n

quote taken from The Complete Biblical Library,
\nThe New Testament Study Bible Galatians through Philemon<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

God\u2019s quality and quantity of love is beyond measure. \u00a0God is not asking us to \u201cbe Him\u201d [which we know is impossible<\/strong>], but He is asking us to live and love \u201clike Him.\u201d When we choose to be the representative <\/span><\/em>He wants us to be and in the place He wants us to be, we will have His peace.<\/p>\n

In Philippians 4:1-9<\/a>, Paul told Euodia and Syntyche to settle their disagreements, and he told the church to help them. \u00a0Paul wanted them to experience the joy and peace that God desires for His people, and to be the representatives<\/span> <\/em>God wanted them to be. When we live in peace, joy, thankfulness, and God\u2019s wisdom, we will be representatives<\/span> <\/em>that show the world around us our God of love. With thankful hearts, we can sing, speak, and do that which draws others to Christ, and that also strengthens our sisters (and brothers) in Christ.<\/p>\n

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,
\nwill guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
\nPhilippians 4:7<\/p>\n

\n

“A life that is full of Christ\u2019s peace and His Word
\nis a life that is thankful, and rich and wise.
\nIt will enrich everyone around you. Thank You, Lord.<\/span>“<\/p>\n

(Many years ago I wrote this note in the margin of my Bible; I still believe it today.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

* \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 \u00a0\u271e \u00a0 \u00a0~ \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 *<\/span><\/p>\n

Dear Lord Jesus, we come to You with thankful hearts. \u00a0Your Word—Your Good News—fills our lives with wisdom, peace, and joy. \u00a0Those are qualities people around us are looking for in their lives. \u00a0Lord, please help us to be Your representatives so that others will be drawn to You. \u00a0May our thanksgiving during this season of the year (and everyday) make people curious enough to ask why so we can share You with them. \u00a0In Jesus\u2019 Name we pray, Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom He gives. Sing psalms, hymns […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":22736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3020],"tags":[2060,3660,9632,425,566,577,620,682,746,9664,1717,9662,9661,3174,9660,1058,9663,1128],"class_list":["post-28586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-devotions","tag-christ-jesus","tag-clella-gilbert-fox","tag-colossians-315-17","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-john-316","tag-joy","tag-love","tag-message","tag-peace","tag-philippians-41-9","tag-philippians-47","tag-quality","tag-represent","tag-seeking-him-devotional","tag-thankful-representatives","tag-thankfulness","tag-the-complete-biblical-library","tag-wisdom","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/seekingHimthanksgivinggraphic.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-7r4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28586"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28593,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28586\/revisions\/28593"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}