Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

THURSDAY APRIL 30


IMAGE CONSULTANTS

READ:
Colossians 3:10
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[You] have put
on the new man
who is renewed
in knowledge
according to the
image of Him who
created him.
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In our media-saturated age, image consultants have become indispensable. Entertainers, athletes, politicians and business leaders seem desperate to manage the way they are perceived in the eyes of the world. These high-priced consultants work to shape how their clients are viewed-even if sometimes there is a stark contrast between the public image and the real person inside.

In reality, what people need-what all of us need-is not an external makeover but an inner transformation. Our deepest flaws cannot be corrected cosmetically. They are directly related to who we are in heart and mind, and they reveal how far we have fallen from the image of God in which we were created. But such transformation is beyond any human ability to accomplish.

Only Christ offers us true transformation-not just a facelift or an outward adjustment. Paul said that those who have been raised to eternal life in Christ "have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him" (COL. 3:10).

New! What a tremendous word full of hope! Christ transforms us into new people in Him-people with a new heart,
not just fixed up to look good on the outside. __Bill Crowder

** If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away;
behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17. ________________________________________
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The Spirit develops in us the clear image of Christ.

****************************Today's Bible Reading __ Colossians 3:1-11****************************
1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things
which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand
of God. 2 set your mind on things above, not on things
on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with
Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you
also will appear with Him in glory.

5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the
earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and
covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the
wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in
which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.

6 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath,
malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 9 Do
not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with
his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed
in knowledge according to the image of Him who created
him, 11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor
uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ
is all and in all.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
The letter to the Colossians is one of four
epistles referred to as Paul's "prison letters." Written during his
first imprisonment (or house arrest) in Rome, these letters also
include Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon. All of the letters
were written to churches except for the one written to Philemon,
who was apparently a dear friend of Paul (PHILEM 1:1,7). Paul
founded the Ephesian and Philippian churches, but there is no
record in the New Testament that Paul was ever in Colosse.