"With or Within"

"Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved." (Psalms 80:3) We don't necessarily start over; that's not what is being implied. There are lessons learned in every journey, some of which are very costly; and when I say costly, I mean that they were at the expense of others, not so much ourselves. If we are redeemed to God, I don't think that there is anything that we can go through that will matter in the long run; at least not to our eternal life we have in Christ. What does matter is what happens to those we influence with our testimonies; those that get strengthened and those that get shaken. Again, this is really not speaking about God's ability to brighten or for Him to make His face shine; this is all about man's ability to see God's face shine upon them. Turn away from your idols, and you will see His face shine! And I don't even think it's a matter of being saved or not saved; it's a matter of knowing that you are, by the relationship you know that you have with God. Whether you realize it or not, God really does love you! No matter what you might be going through, if you are already saved, you're safe and secure in Christ, and you are His for eternity. Now what you are, you are a Living Stone; a testimony of God's grace on display to the world, and to those whom God put's in your life. What I believe Paul was getting across in Colossians 3, is that even though we are still living in this human form and we can still be slaves to sin, it's not something we need to be subject to, because we have Christ living in us. The point is one of turning to Jesus Christ, fully and completely! We need to remove all doubt, which requires that we be taken out of the picture. The more we focus upon our own life, the more discouraged we can become; even to the point of doubting our own salvation as to whether or not we are even saved. I'm not that man anymore, I have Christ living in me, and because He lives in me, I can live out Christ in my life...
"Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 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 and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father." (Colossians 3:12-17) NLT