"Put On" the Lord! / Mrs Janelle Dignan

Mrs Janelle Dignan

Pastor's Wife

Bible Baptist Church

Jefferson City, MO

"Put On" the Lord!

So…… here I was, singing a special in church.  As I sang I noticed the people whispering to each other and snickering and laughing.  Some were even pointing at me and laughing.  Was I singing that poorly??  As I sang, I looked down and realized I was still wearing my pajamas….oh my!!! How did I forget to get dressed?  In my horror, I jumped and my eyes flew open as I woke up.  It was just a dream… 

Have you ever had that dream?  My husband, who is a pastor, has a reoccurring nightmare that he’s preaching without pants.  How strange and funny are some of our dreams. 

Sadly as Christians, how many times have we jumped out of bed and gone about our day without “getting dressed”? As we struggle through the day on our own, Satan is sitting down pointing and laughing at us.  He puts thoughts of fear and bitterness in our minds.  He makes us focus on the negatives in our lives and makes us forget about the many, many blessings we have each and every day.  He gives us a bad spirit, a backbiting tongue, and a critical attitude. And there Satan sits, as he laughs and laughs as we try to make it in our own power.   Rom 13:14  says,  “But put  ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. “  The only way we can have victory over Satan is to “put on” the Lord Jesus Christ.   We can “put on” the Lord Jesus Christ by having the mind of Christ.  The Bible says we need to renew our minds daily in Romans 12:2.  The best way to renew our minds daily is to be in the Word of God each and every day.  Dear lady, if you’ve not established a quiet time with God each and every day, what better time to start than this summer?   I know we’re all so busy, but I also know we make time for whatever is a priority in our lives.  Make God’s Word, meditation, and communicating with God a priority in your life each and every day.  Ask the Holy Spirit to control your thinking.   Practice thinking only thoughts that would please God.  Trust me, it takes practice, especially if you’ve allowed yourself to get into the habit of thinking negative thoughts.  But if you practice, practice, practice with God’s help, you can have the peace and joy that only putting on the Lord Jesus Christ can bring.  

As we grow in Christ, we should hunger for Christ, wanting to become more and more like Him.  I love this passage of what we should “put on” as Christians. 

Col 3:12-17    Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;  

  Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.  

  And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.  

  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the  which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.  

  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.  

  And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.  

You may think that to “put on” all these things is too difficult but there was a man over 2,000 years ago that “put on” some very difficult things. 

John 19:2  And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,  

This Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, died for you and me, and has not just given us eternal victory in heaven someday, but the potential to live a victorious Christian life here on earth. 

  Let’s not try to defeat Satan in our own strength, but let us “put on” the Lord Jesus Christ to give us the victory one more day.