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colossians 1

3/31/2017

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Colossians 1:11-12  

 "We also pray that you will be strengthened with all His glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to His people, who live in the light.”

Really look at this prayer from Paul to the church in Colosse, he always wants more from the people who are called the church. We should desire the same, nothing less than what God has promised us through Jesus. I love what Paul says in verse 10, “Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.” The way we live matters because our walk is for helping others not just ourselves.

If we seek Him in His word we will find Him and the way we live will be pleasing to Him not the world. It is alright to think differently than the world and to love differently than the world. All our standards shouldn't be coming from our feelings they should be coming from the word of God and when we let God transform us we start to shine and become fruitful. See Paul's prayer is important because it plants seeds of wisdom and knowledge, verse 9,  “So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.” This is our process for all people; we pray and believe that God will change them and we come alongside them and grow together to change from the inside out. It says at the end of verse 12, "... He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to His people, who live in the light.” We should see that there is a change in us when we accept Jesus and believe in our hearts; we live in the light. In John chapter 10 verse 27 Jesus tells us “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” Following is a part that we want to ignore but that is huge.  Jesus also said in John chapter 14 verse 15 “If you love me, obey my commandments.” And in chapter 14 verse 23 “Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.”

Living in the light does not mean perfection, it means surrender and understanding that we are fruitful when we please Him.  Many think we are good by just saying some words, but Jesus is showing us that there is more than our words, there is believing in our hearts. When we do that our hearts soften and we grow or mature,  then we "...understand as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is." and good fruit goes out of us. We should be praying like this for ourselves, for other believers and for our church so we are using His power not our own.  Amen



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1 Timothy 1

3/9/2017

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1 Timothy 1:19 NLT

“Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked.”

As I read this it kept speaking to me and challenging me to share so here I go.  "Cling to your faith in Christ..." we must realize how important our faith is, that is what makes us shine in this dark world.  When we hear about Jesus and we start to believe we must cling to Him because He is our strength. Look at Philippians chapter 4 verse 13 which says, “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” When we cling to this we are not tossed by every thing that happens in life, we step through all situations with hope and people see Christ in us.

When our conscience is clear we can hear the Holy Spirit guiding us to all truth and we don't think of ways to live for ourselves. Faith can grow and as it does we transform into His image, the way we are suppose to be, in surrender to His will. When we don't fully surrender we want things to matter that don't matter and we deliberately try and push our agenda instead of Jesus as Lord. Paul's letter to Timothy is stating, and it is good for us to remember as well, don't stray off the Good News about Christ. If we let other things cloud our knowledge about Jesus then those things become our focus, and that's not what it is about. Look at what Paul says in 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 4 it says, "Don’t let them waste their time in endless discussion of myths and spiritual pedigrees. These things only lead to meaningless speculations, which don’t help people live a life of faith in God.” It is better when we seek Jesus and share who He is.

I love what it says in Colossians chapter 2 verse 7,  “Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.” Our roots will grow into Him and our faith will grow and all the things we want to debate will not be essentials that keep us fighting.  We will see Jesus and what He did, and that will drive us to be like Him. Then our love will grow as well and we can truly make an impact in this world. Let's keep our conscience clear and love like Jesus loved and truly be fully devoted followers of Jesus. Amen 


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Galatians 2

3/1/2017

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Galatians 2:20 NLT

“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” 

This scripture always makes me think and be thankful for God's love for us. This is because we were all born sinners thanks to Adam. We all fall short of His glory but because of His love for us, His creations, we are made new in Christ. Our old lives are gone, we don't have to do or think like we used to. We instead open God's word and we start to see who Jesus is and we begin to act like Him. This is because we, with enthusiasm, want to learn and change to be different.

When we surrender to our new lives, we grow and the Holy Spirit who lives in us helps us through the trials and hard times that will come.  These trial are proof that the ruler of this world, Satan, is working to keep us believing the lie that our old selves deserve to feel good and follow our flesh. This is far from the truth and only leads us to death in our walk. Paul understood this and lived differently knowing God was with Him even in the weakness of his flesh. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 9 which says, “Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”

When we study His word we need to let it transform us from the inside out and we need to live it out believing that it is true and our fleshly desires are not. Open up and know that we are made complete because of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection and His sacrifice has set us free to live our new lives in Him. Amen 


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