Father God, I am so excited to hear what you have to say to us today. I thank you for your peace and your provision and your hope. I thank you that you are already answering our prayers. I thank you for the confirmation you bring and for the signs you send to point us toward your plans for us. I know that the truth you are going to share with us today and in the coming days will profoundly change our hearts and renew our minds. I thank you for this opportunity to grow together with you. ~Amen.
2:1 "I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally."
Once again, this word "struggling" gives me pause. I have read this many times in the last year, and I am never sure what it means to struggle. At different stages of my walk I've felt that this meant different things. I used to read this and think I had to contend...work hard in prayer and petition to God for what He was trying to do in others. Now, I'm so focused on learning to rest from my toil and my labor. I think the verses before where he talks about how he struggles in God's power must be the key for us. Verse 29 says he struggles with God's power. I'm pretty sure I've only just begun to understand the difference between suffering under my own power and struggling under God's power.
Aha!!! I didn't look this up before, but I just looked up verses 1:29 and 2:1 in the NAS Bible. It uses the word "labor." That must be it. Travailing...productive. Like I said when I talked about verse 29, I really believe that when I view all pain and all difficulty as the means to an end, then I have a different view of it. I know it will be as temporary as labor if God is in control. If the enemy is oppressing me, then I know God is working on behalf to free me and to the extent that I can allow Him to work in my heart, I know the suffering will come to an end. He is the God who heals. He is the God who provides. He is the God who does not hide His plans from His people. He will reveal to us His greater works and He will reveal to us the lies of the enemy that keep us shrouded in darkness. There is a big difference for me between a shroud of darkness and a shroud of mystery. God does hide things from us, but only for us to search and seek them out. He does not hide things to keep us from making progress in our lives. If we are stuck, it is by the hand of the enemy.
Jesus, I pray that you will reveal the truth about every place where we feel trapped, stuck, oppressed, or depressed. If there are changes we need to make, I pray that you would give us courage to fight against the lies and push into the truth. I pray that you would reveal the solutions and the keys to our struggle and that we would be eager to push against the lies and false fronts the enemy has placed in front of us to define who we are. Thank you for the power of your word and your Holy Spirit, who reveals to us all truth!
2:2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ..."
Looks like I got ahead of myself a bit in my last paragraph. The mystery of God...Christ. Encouraged in heart. We both need a lot of that right now. Unity in love, too. I used to think that unity meant we would all agree and get along perfectly with no struggles. Now I understand that it's a different unity Paul was after. He was after a unity in pursuing Jesus; a unity in loving the way Jesus loves. When we love the way Jesus loves, without judgment and without condition, we become unified in a far deeper way than when we agree. We create a space for everyone...those who are different, those who are on the outside, those who are believers and those who have yet to believe. When I love other people from the love of Christ, I see them...I see their potential instead of their lack. I see what they are capable instead of what they have yet to accomplish. This is a unity that defies the world; a counterculture that defines true Christianity and destroys the works of Satan.
And this type of love can only manifest itself through us when we have complete understanding of God's love for us, which He demonstrated in Jesus. Jesus was always saying that He was a perfect representation of the Father. He was always saying that He only did what He saw His Father doing. There seems to be a subtle, yet insidious doctrine out there that says Jesus loves us, but if it weren't for Him, God would burn our butts just like He did Sodom and Gomorrah. I don't see Him that way anymore. Our Father in heaven loves us with a passionate, undying love. He gave a part of Himself to us in a way that we may never truly understand, but if we can begin to understand even just a little bit of the Love that He has had for us from the moment He conceived of us, we will never see anyone else through our own stained lenses again. I have tasted a bit of this confidence, this understanding that Paul speaks of, and I can't get enough. He loves me. He loves me. He likes me. His affections are always for me. I can always approach Him, and He will act on my behalf the minute I ask. As I understand His affection, I realize that I can never make a mistake that He can't help me overcome. I can't go wrong. As I understand that I can't go wrong, the worst doesn't happen. I don't just go out and make more of a mess of my life because of my freedom. I begin to see other people through that same lens. I begin to see that other people are caught in their sins and their cycles just like I am. I begin to see that all they really need is a taste of Daddy's love. I begin to see that I can offer them that taste because I've tasted it too. I don't have to worry about whether they receive it or not. I don't have to worry about whether I know how to disciple them all the way. I know that all I need to do is love them the way He loves me, and He will take care of the rest!
2:3 "...in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
In Jesus! In Jesus all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, which is prized higher than rubies, which I know are sometimes even more valuable than diamonds in our worldly system of value. In Jesus. We are in Jesus. He said this. That we are in Him. Our lives are hidden in Him. Our souls are hidden in Him. This means that our souls are hidden in the same place as the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Is it possible that we are the repositories of His wisdom and knowledge? That we are the vessels He has chosen to hide His wisdom and knowledge within? He has definitely chosen to reveal Himself through us, and He is wisdom! He is knowledge. He is everything that is ever worth experiencing, knowing, understanding. And He is in us. We have the wisdom and knowledge of the ages at our fingertips. I pray that we will begin to grasp just a little bit of the big things that He wants to reveal to us in our lifetime. I pray that the mystery of Christ will sink so deeply into our souls that we will see this wisdom and knowledge springing up in the most unlikely places...solutions to problems in our families, ideas for our cities and governments, creative ideas for bringing in provision for our families, solutions to world hunger and disease. These ideas could very well rest inside you and me. One of us may be harboring the key to the AIDS epidemic, or the child sex trafficking industry issues, or the perhaps the starving orphans in other countries. I'm so excited to see what He is waiting to unleash from within each of us.
2:4 "I tell you this so no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments."
Somehow I think I have been deceived in my life by fine-sounding arguments. They go something like this...you are wicked, you are depraved, the promises of God are for you but not until you die and go to heaven. They go something like this: God is upset with you because you never get it right. He can't use you because you're so broken and He doesn't even know how to fix you. There's no cure except for Him to wait for you to die so He can start over without your soul. These are harsh statements that I've culled down from fine-sounding arguments over the years. I have been truly looking at the things I have believed about God over the years...like that He's always mad at me, waiting to smack me upside the head whenever I do something wrong; like that He wishes I would just finally surrender my addiction to food and sugar and get on with my life...get skinny so I can be a better witness for Him. And there is the real deception...that God loves me only for what I can do for Him. I was taught this! I was taught that if I'm not ministering for Him, then I'm not living up to my full potential. That I'm only valuable to Him when I'm mature, fully serving Him and finally giving back. He's put so much into me and He's just waiting and waiting for me to finally get it so I can give it all back to Him with abandon.
I don't buy this deception any longer. God loves me just like I love my son. Am I eager for him to grow and be able to contribute to the family? Yes, but not because I want a slave. I'm eager for that because I know how proud he's going to feel when he can finally feel the position he has grown into in our home. I love Orion because he is Orion...nothing more and nothing less, and that will never change. Can Orion disappoint me? Yes. Can he let me down? Yes. Do we let God down? I don't know. I don't think he worries over us the way we worry over our children. He is not afraid for us. He knows what is inside of us, and especially those of us who have already chosen His Son. The burden is not on us to remain. Jesus says that it is God who kept the disciples in safety. God is responsible for our well being. I could go on and on, but I think I've made my point. This doctrine of God being angry with us makes me really angry, if you didn't notice. Hehe.
2:5 "For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is."
I am comforted to know that even though we are separated in body, you and eye are together in spirit, Tina. I am delighted to hear your heart as you share your thoughts on God's word in these blog entries. I have so longed to have this connection with you again. I am amazed that we are united in our pursuit of Jesus once again in a way that will have tangible results for both of us; we will see Him move and work within us and we will also get to delight in each others' faith and actions as we walk this leg of our journeys together.
Father, I thank you for Tina. I thank you that you have comforted her with the reminder of the dreams you gave to her for her girls. I thank you that deep down you can encourage her with trust in You to take care of Kiah and Echo. I thank you that that's what those dreams really meant to convey to her...that she is powerless, but you are not. Nothing is going to snatch Kiah out of Your hands. I thank you for the opportunity you gave me the other day to speak into Kiah's life on Facebook, and I thank you for the angels you are posting around her to help her and protect her. I thank you for the inspiration and the ideas that you are going to give Mark and Tina to navigate these next few months with her, and I thank you that Tina is reading the acting out correctly...that Kiah is just crying out for attention. I thank you that Tina will follow your leading on how to reach out to her and let her know that she is loved, accepted, and appreciated for who she is and not what she does or does not do right/wrong. I thank you for this family. I thank you that the obstacles they see right now in front of them are nothing compared to the love and plans you have for them. I see them standing strong, holding hands, united in their differences and their purposes because they love you. I see the differences creating an unbreakable circle from which will flow streams of living water. I see them jumping up for joy and celebrating together, holding hands and celebrating your goodness, which you are just about to unleash from heaven over them. I thank you for the joy that will begin to well up from within as you begin to unload them from all their burdens. I thank you for my friends and am so glad that you've given me such a hope for them that I can pray from. ~Amen.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Colassians 2:1-5 Tina
Dear God, Thank you for your word. Fill us up today on your word and truth. We wait patiently until the day we can look upon your Son's face and worship you in your kingdom. Amen
2:1 I want you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for many other friends who have never known me personally.
Paul is working for the church and for believers he has never met. I am struck by the fact that he continuously, tirelessly works with all his might for people he does not know. He knows them through their communion with Christ and the good news. We indeed are brothers and sisters through Christ.
2:2 My goal is that they will be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have full confidence because they have complete understanding of God’s secret plan, which is Christ himself.
Paul’s purpose if for the people to have a full understanding of Christ and be united with each other as brothers and sisters in Christ’s plan. Paul wanted each Christian to be mature (1:28). But he also wanted each church to be mature. In 1:4, Paul had already praised the Christians at Colossae because they loved other Christians. This united them. They also needed to know and to believe the complete truth about Christ. They did not need the secret knowledge and wisdom that the false teachers had. Christ gives to Christians all that they need. This should encourage them, as they trust Christ.
2:3 In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
In Christ lie everything that we needed to know, all the wisdom, knowledge and power. I wish sometimes that I could have been one of the believers back then to sit and look upon Christ’s face. I know that someday I will look upon his face and see all of that wisdom and knowledge; we will truly know our savior one day. This is an amazing thing to hope and wait for!!! I can’t wait to have all those questions answered and completely understand the mystery of this world and humanity.
2:4 I am telling you this so that no one will be able to deceive you with persuasive arguments.
When a person knows the truth, he will recognize lies. And he will recognize anything that is false. The false teachers were clever in the way that they discussed things. They could reason well. They wanted to persuade people. They wanted people to believe them. Therefore, the Christians at Colossae had to know more truth about Christ. Then they could recognize what was false.
2:5 For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I am very happy because you are living as you should and because of your strong faith in Christ.
What a encouragement from Paul. He loves them and his heart is with them. And the people in Colossae were standing firm in their strong faith. Paul’s letter is like a pep talk for this church, a gentle reminder of the truth while all around them false teachers were preaching false doctrine, trying to lead them astray.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Colossians 1:26-29 Angela
Jesus, thank you for this opportunity to read the written expression of your work and words to us. Thank you that you are so eager for us to know your plans and understand your ways. I thank you that each day we draw closer to you and that our faith and wisdom increase. ~Amen
1:26 "...the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints."
The word of God in its fullness--Jesus, the mystery kept hidden for ages and generations. The truth of Jesus has been revealed...the word of the God...the beginning of all things and the end of all things...we have the mystery of God living in us in fullness.
1:27 "To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."
I am so grateful that I am privy to this mystery...that the One who created me and the entire world has chosen to make His home in me. This indeed is hope. That everything I need...His power, His peace, and every other gift of His Spirit has taken up residence within me. I really don't know what more I can say. I am nearly speechless at this simple and outstanding truth!
1:28 "We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ."
I want to teach with all wisdom! Paul says EVERYONE! This is God's heart. God wants that no one will be separated from Him. And isn't it interesting that Paul says he will present them perfect in Christ. Does this mean he presents them to God? to Jesus? This is like what they say about Jesus interceding on our behalf...presenting us to God through the blood.
1:29 "To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me."
I love that Paul struggles with all of God's energy. I never want to struggle again outside of God's energy! I am eager to see how God works in me in the coming months, as I know He is honing and giving more clarity about the destiny I will walk in, the ministry I will do in days to come, and the ministry I'm already doing. I pray that I will never forget to lean into Him and gather my strength and courage only from Him. I've suffered enough by struggling in my own power, and I'm seriously so done with that!
Father God, I ask that you would reveal to us the true mystery of Christ dwelling within us. I pray that we would both receive revelation of what it means to have the hope of glory dwelling within us, empowering us and encouraging us in every moment of our lives. I pray that you would continue to increase our discernment in hearing the difference between our voice, your voice, and the voice of the accuser. I pray that you would cement within us a certainty of your favor and affection toward us, that we would begin to experience what it means to admonish and teach with all wisdom! I thank you for Paul's example and for the clear and true message of your sovereignty, your hope, and your great gift of salvation and all that it entails for each of us.
I continue to lift up Tina and Mark and their family. I pray that with each day would come greater clarity about priorities, work, and destiny. I pray for a breakthrough in Mark, that he would begin to hear your gentle voice of encouragement that would be calling him out of depression into certainty of your love for him and your call on his life. Break through the lies and the fears and the disappointments and discouragements. Bring your balm of comfort and peace to the wounds in his heart and give him your perspective on the events that took place at his last church. Wherever he is agreeing with someone or something other than you, I ask that you would bring moments of clarity and truth to diffuse the lies. Wherever he is hearing your truth, but is doubting it I ask that you would speak louder and bring more confirmation of your truth to his heart. Bring people who will encourage him in unlikely places. Give him the hope and trust and faith to begin to dream once again. And seal the promises you've given Tina in the dreams she had just before they moved to Florida.
In your Name, Amen.
1:26 "...the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints."
The word of God in its fullness--Jesus, the mystery kept hidden for ages and generations. The truth of Jesus has been revealed...the word of the God...the beginning of all things and the end of all things...we have the mystery of God living in us in fullness.
1:27 "To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."
I am so grateful that I am privy to this mystery...that the One who created me and the entire world has chosen to make His home in me. This indeed is hope. That everything I need...His power, His peace, and every other gift of His Spirit has taken up residence within me. I really don't know what more I can say. I am nearly speechless at this simple and outstanding truth!
1:28 "We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ."
I want to teach with all wisdom! Paul says EVERYONE! This is God's heart. God wants that no one will be separated from Him. And isn't it interesting that Paul says he will present them perfect in Christ. Does this mean he presents them to God? to Jesus? This is like what they say about Jesus interceding on our behalf...presenting us to God through the blood.
1:29 "To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me."
I love that Paul struggles with all of God's energy. I never want to struggle again outside of God's energy! I am eager to see how God works in me in the coming months, as I know He is honing and giving more clarity about the destiny I will walk in, the ministry I will do in days to come, and the ministry I'm already doing. I pray that I will never forget to lean into Him and gather my strength and courage only from Him. I've suffered enough by struggling in my own power, and I'm seriously so done with that!
Father God, I ask that you would reveal to us the true mystery of Christ dwelling within us. I pray that we would both receive revelation of what it means to have the hope of glory dwelling within us, empowering us and encouraging us in every moment of our lives. I pray that you would continue to increase our discernment in hearing the difference between our voice, your voice, and the voice of the accuser. I pray that you would cement within us a certainty of your favor and affection toward us, that we would begin to experience what it means to admonish and teach with all wisdom! I thank you for Paul's example and for the clear and true message of your sovereignty, your hope, and your great gift of salvation and all that it entails for each of us.
I continue to lift up Tina and Mark and their family. I pray that with each day would come greater clarity about priorities, work, and destiny. I pray for a breakthrough in Mark, that he would begin to hear your gentle voice of encouragement that would be calling him out of depression into certainty of your love for him and your call on his life. Break through the lies and the fears and the disappointments and discouragements. Bring your balm of comfort and peace to the wounds in his heart and give him your perspective on the events that took place at his last church. Wherever he is agreeing with someone or something other than you, I ask that you would bring moments of clarity and truth to diffuse the lies. Wherever he is hearing your truth, but is doubting it I ask that you would speak louder and bring more confirmation of your truth to his heart. Bring people who will encourage him in unlikely places. Give him the hope and trust and faith to begin to dream once again. And seal the promises you've given Tina in the dreams she had just before they moved to Florida.
In your Name, Amen.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Prayer Request
Hi there,
I've spent my whole day looking at rentals and talking with our friends in Redding. I won't have time to complete our study today, so you can take a break for the day and I'll catch up tomorrow. I put the following in a message to my intercessor friends on Facebook today and would love you to pray for us, too. This is good news, but there are a few issues that need to be resolved before we can go for it:
Eric got a job offer today in Redding! We have carefully researched all the areas we've been considering, particularly the job markets/rental markets in them, and we've weighed them against our baseline expenses to discern how much we can say yes to.
Redding has the lowest horticulture wages of all the areas we've considered, and that bears out in the offer he received today. However, there are many things about the Redding area that cannot be valued in terms of economics. The offer he got today sounds great aside from the wage being a tad lower than our "bottom line" wage. Also, there would be the added expense of getting Eric down there for an interview in the next couple of weeks, which they really are pressing for.
We need wisdom, clarity of direction, and peace about this offer. The woman he spoke with (Ellen) is checking with the owner to see how high he would be willing to pay Eric after a probationary period. We're hoping for at least $10/hour, preferably $10.50 OR $11. According to Ellen that is a tall order, but she said, "nothing is impossible." If we can find a rental place for less than our forecasted amounts, that will take the burden off of me a bit.
I welcome your prayers and any words you receive in your prayers.
I also wanted to make sure you read my comments on your post from yesterday. I made several comments and a prayer at the end and didn't want you to miss those. Love you, Angela
I've spent my whole day looking at rentals and talking with our friends in Redding. I won't have time to complete our study today, so you can take a break for the day and I'll catch up tomorrow. I put the following in a message to my intercessor friends on Facebook today and would love you to pray for us, too. This is good news, but there are a few issues that need to be resolved before we can go for it:
Eric got a job offer today in Redding! We have carefully researched all the areas we've been considering, particularly the job markets/rental markets in them, and we've weighed them against our baseline expenses to discern how much we can say yes to.
Redding has the lowest horticulture wages of all the areas we've considered, and that bears out in the offer he received today. However, there are many things about the Redding area that cannot be valued in terms of economics. The offer he got today sounds great aside from the wage being a tad lower than our "bottom line" wage. Also, there would be the added expense of getting Eric down there for an interview in the next couple of weeks, which they really are pressing for.
We need wisdom, clarity of direction, and peace about this offer. The woman he spoke with (Ellen) is checking with the owner to see how high he would be willing to pay Eric after a probationary period. We're hoping for at least $10/hour, preferably $10.50 OR $11. According to Ellen that is a tall order, but she said, "nothing is impossible." If we can find a rental place for less than our forecasted amounts, that will take the burden off of me a bit.
I welcome your prayers and any words you receive in your prayers.
I also wanted to make sure you read my comments on your post from yesterday. I made several comments and a prayer at the end and didn't want you to miss those. Love you, Angela
Colossians 1: 26-29 Tina
Dear God open up your word to me today; send your Spirit to minister to me. I feel my physical body is standing in the way of my spirit and heart. I need your divine intervention. Amen
1:26 This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to his own holy people.
The secret was kept from man and angels and demons. God secret agent! Again I am reminded that he is author of life, he doesn’t need to give up any secrets or plot details until he is ready. Some translations use the word mystery instead of secret and I looked it up to see what if anything it would inspire.
μυστήριον greek for mystery : hidden thing, secret, mystery
- generally mysteries, religious secrets, confided only to the initiated and not to ordinary mortals
- a hidden or secret thing, not obvious to the understanding
- a hidden purpose or counsel
- secret will 1c
- of men 1c
- of God: the secret counsels which govern God in dealing with the righteous, which are hidden from ungodly and wicked men but plain to the godly.
I like the last one and think it defines the verse. We know that God’s plan was written out in the Old Testament, people read it and misunderstood the messages God was sending. The message was hidden from the Jews. Only now when we have the benefit of the New Testament and the image of Jesus that we can look back and see that the messages were there all along, Jesus revealed the message to all people.
1:27 For it has pleased God to tell his people that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. For this is the secret: Christ lives in you, and this is your assurance that you will share in his glory.
Christ in you, the hope of glory: This is the Christian's hope of glory. It isn't our own hard work or devotion to God, or the power of our own spirituality. Instead, it is the abiding presence of Jesus: Christ in you. Once we were separated from God through our own sin, Jesus paid for the sin; we are reconciled to Christ and best of all God lives inside of us. I love the picture of Christ inside me, if you believe this one truth then you can’t doubt your faith because Christ is always with you. I use to share this truth a lot with kids that I ministered with, they believed if they did something wrong or made bad choices, thought bad thoughts that Jesus would leave them. I would explain to them that when we accept Christ and ask him into our hearts that once inside our hearts just lock and Jesus never leaves us. He doesn’t like us to sin but he always loves us and takes care of our heart. To the mind of a 3 and 4 year old they understood this.
1:28 So everywhere we go, we tell everyone about Christ. We warn them and teach them with all the wisdom God has given us, for we want to present them to God perfect in their relationship to Christ.
Paul preaches, he does not preach his views or ideas he preaches about Christ. He instructs and teaches about God, through God. Paul’s desire is to mature Christians who are able to stand on their own as believers; he did not want them to lean on him for spiritual strengthening. He wants them to lean on Christ. He wants us to know Christ, understand Christ, Love Christ, and Live for Christ, and have an intimate perfect relationship with Christ.
1:29 I work very hard at this, as I depend on Christ’s might power that works within me.
Paul's work was empowered by God's mighty strength. But God's strength in his life didn't mean that Paul did nothing. He worked hard and depended entirely on God for the strength needed to continue. This is something I fear some church leaders and ministers do not do. They acquire their own agenda, use their own will and strength to get moving and then lead others. It is a sad fact of human life, then everyone is following a man’s idea or a man’s vision of where the church should be instead of working hard for Christ doing Christ like things. There is a difference. We are so prideful and want to do everything on our own. We keep striving and pushing and conniving to get what we want. Paul ultimately depended on God for everything from food, shelter, life and strength, lives like his are portraits of faith in action.
I am finding it funny how when I read back over this the subject of strength and wisdom comes up over which we are both needing right now. I feel a little like the folks in the last verse. I keep striving, pushing, straining just to keep up the "normal" aspects of our home. I am struggling with what needs to be done (chores, working at school, cooking, mothering) and whether or not I really can do it. I try not to complain, not to ask for help. I don't want to be the mother who was always hurting, always popping pills or laying down so I keep pushing and staying silent about it. I am not sure if that is a good thing or just a stupid thing.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Colossians 1:21-25 Angela
Father, I thank you that I can run to you in times of discouragement and times of hope. I thank you that today was a day filled with hope and that even with discouraging news I am hopeful that it just means an open door awaits me elsewhere. (Tina, my brother was paying me $800 a month to do some work for him, but it takes me a lot less time than he anticipated, so he cut my pay to $400.) I thank you that I have been following your lead in preparing my resume and getting ready to launch my freelance writing/editing business. I thank you for your encouragement, your courage, and your strength to face each challenge as it comes. Today, I ask that you would boost us both up as we stretch for what is next. I ask specifically right now that Tina's pain would begin to ease, and that she would feel physical strength returning. I pray for a lightness and a joy to fill her in the next couple of days, incrementally as she begins to notice a change in her physical stamina. I thank you for this opportunity to be in your word regularly. Speak to our souls and our spirits. ~Amen.
1:21 "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior."
Wow! This struck me hard today. The truth is that I still sometimes believe I'm alienated from God. There has been a pervasive thought pattern in my mind that keeps me afraid to get on His bad side. This has been changing, and I think this is the reason it is ringing so clearly to me right now. I am really coming out of the place where I believe that I can even get on God's bad side. There would have been a time that this particular verse would have made me tremble, really. I would have questioned my salvation because I still participate in "evil behavior," at least according to my own definition. My thought life and actions still seem to resemble the "bad" lists in the Bible more than the "good" ones. I know now, though, that I can't change my behavior on my own. I need Him to reveal it to me, and in confidence I need to boldly confess to Him and ask Him to help me get to the roots of it so I can pull them out with His help. I am so excited about the possibility that there is an end to my "evil" behavior in site. And the guilt and shame have truly been wiped out by His neverending, unfailing, eternal love for me, his daughter.
1:22-23a "But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation, if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel."
He--God. My Father God has reconciled me. This is profound to me, too. For so many years I identified fully with Christ, but I was afraid of Father God. Despite the fact that I had read the Bible many times through and been through countless studies, I still believed that if it hadn't been for Jesus, God wouldn't have even wanted to save me. Now, I understand what this verse so clearly illuminates...God chose me, and He gave His Son for me. His Son, in human form, agreed with God about this arrangement, and it was the co-laboring of Jesus with God that brought about my redemption, and now I have the privilege of also stepping into agreement with God to further that redemption upon the earth in my circle of friends and family.
The last part is awesome! This last week I have been wrestling with some accusations a leader made against me a couple of weeks ago. I have been asking God to reveal to me whether what she said had any truth, and He keeps telling me over and over again that He does not accuse me. He does not bring my sin to light in a threatening, shaming way. He does not compare me to another person, and He does not motivate me by fear, guilt, or shame. I am walking in firm faith that His love for me is complete. This last part about our faith hinges upon the first part...that HE reconciled us to HIMSELF. He is the author and perfecter of our faith. He is the beginning and end of each one of us. It is all on Him. I have a part to play, but my faith is in His character, which never changes. It is by His character that I can now way every word spoken to or against me. This means that I can dismiss what she said in accusation, because this is not how God works in my heart. Phew!
1:23b "This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Once again, Paul just summed up the gospel in a few verses. I love this! Passage after passage is reaffirming in every way possible that we are God's chosen children. And I like the part about the gospel being proclaimed to every creature under heaven! Angels, demons, animals, plants, humans. Every Creature!! I have been reading and learning about St. Francis of Assissi, and I have been longing to have an effect in the natural realm...to pray for animals and plants and see them flourish and be at peace with men on the earth...to see the dominion that God promised to mankind restored in all its fullness.
1:24 "Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church."
This is a mystery to me. Ahhh...reading it in the NLT makes a little more sense to me: "I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church."
This is part of Paul's gifting as an apostle and martyr for Christ. I understand now that he is saying the Jesus still suffers on behalf of his church, and that as we come into unity with His heart and mind we also will ache and suffer for the ones who are deceived and lost in the world still, even some who profess His name are still in fear of God rather than in awe and intimacy with Him. It is my prayer that all will come to understand His deep and abiding love and how it washes away shame and guilt. That we can come to Him in our filthy rags day after day, and He helps us in our humility and weakness to overcome and conquer the things that have always overcome and conquered us.
1:25 (Continuing in NLT) "God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you."
This is Paul's mission statement. Many times I read that this is everyone's mission statement, but I know we are not all going to do it just like Paul. I think we can have his heart and operate out of our different gift mixes and see the same type of results...lives changed, souls saved, diseases healed, demons cast out, and the creation responding to the release of the glory of God in His sons upon the earth.
Thank you Jesus, for your sacrifice and for the call on our lives to live as you lived and do the works you did and even greater works. Prepare our hearts, reveal the lies and root out the foundations of "evil" behavior in our lives. Remove the footholds that the enemy stands upon to retain ground in our lives. Remove every veil and bring restoration of lost vision, lost ambition, lost dreams, and lost momentum. I pray for restoration of the love of our first encounters with you and the hope that was once a fire igniting our hearts. I pray for a revelation of all that has gone on since then and how some of our experiences and the teachings we have taken into our hearts has turned us aside from the pure love of God and clarion call of the gospel in its simplest and clearest message. Thank you for all you have done! ~Amen.
Tina, we are in need of prayer for our move. We are weighing many different options, and it is very hard for us to decide. Each city seems to have a different mix of positives and negatives, and each day we learn a little more but it is a slow and steady progress. We need direction, clarity, and clear objectives in what we're looking for and what we can afford to do. Thank you so much for these daily visits! I love you.
~Angela
1:21 "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior."
Wow! This struck me hard today. The truth is that I still sometimes believe I'm alienated from God. There has been a pervasive thought pattern in my mind that keeps me afraid to get on His bad side. This has been changing, and I think this is the reason it is ringing so clearly to me right now. I am really coming out of the place where I believe that I can even get on God's bad side. There would have been a time that this particular verse would have made me tremble, really. I would have questioned my salvation because I still participate in "evil behavior," at least according to my own definition. My thought life and actions still seem to resemble the "bad" lists in the Bible more than the "good" ones. I know now, though, that I can't change my behavior on my own. I need Him to reveal it to me, and in confidence I need to boldly confess to Him and ask Him to help me get to the roots of it so I can pull them out with His help. I am so excited about the possibility that there is an end to my "evil" behavior in site. And the guilt and shame have truly been wiped out by His neverending, unfailing, eternal love for me, his daughter.
1:22-23a "But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation, if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel."
He--God. My Father God has reconciled me. This is profound to me, too. For so many years I identified fully with Christ, but I was afraid of Father God. Despite the fact that I had read the Bible many times through and been through countless studies, I still believed that if it hadn't been for Jesus, God wouldn't have even wanted to save me. Now, I understand what this verse so clearly illuminates...God chose me, and He gave His Son for me. His Son, in human form, agreed with God about this arrangement, and it was the co-laboring of Jesus with God that brought about my redemption, and now I have the privilege of also stepping into agreement with God to further that redemption upon the earth in my circle of friends and family.
The last part is awesome! This last week I have been wrestling with some accusations a leader made against me a couple of weeks ago. I have been asking God to reveal to me whether what she said had any truth, and He keeps telling me over and over again that He does not accuse me. He does not bring my sin to light in a threatening, shaming way. He does not compare me to another person, and He does not motivate me by fear, guilt, or shame. I am walking in firm faith that His love for me is complete. This last part about our faith hinges upon the first part...that HE reconciled us to HIMSELF. He is the author and perfecter of our faith. He is the beginning and end of each one of us. It is all on Him. I have a part to play, but my faith is in His character, which never changes. It is by His character that I can now way every word spoken to or against me. This means that I can dismiss what she said in accusation, because this is not how God works in my heart. Phew!
1:23b "This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Once again, Paul just summed up the gospel in a few verses. I love this! Passage after passage is reaffirming in every way possible that we are God's chosen children. And I like the part about the gospel being proclaimed to every creature under heaven! Angels, demons, animals, plants, humans. Every Creature!! I have been reading and learning about St. Francis of Assissi, and I have been longing to have an effect in the natural realm...to pray for animals and plants and see them flourish and be at peace with men on the earth...to see the dominion that God promised to mankind restored in all its fullness.
1:24 "Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church."
This is a mystery to me. Ahhh...reading it in the NLT makes a little more sense to me: "I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church."
This is part of Paul's gifting as an apostle and martyr for Christ. I understand now that he is saying the Jesus still suffers on behalf of his church, and that as we come into unity with His heart and mind we also will ache and suffer for the ones who are deceived and lost in the world still, even some who profess His name are still in fear of God rather than in awe and intimacy with Him. It is my prayer that all will come to understand His deep and abiding love and how it washes away shame and guilt. That we can come to Him in our filthy rags day after day, and He helps us in our humility and weakness to overcome and conquer the things that have always overcome and conquered us.
1:25 (Continuing in NLT) "God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you."
This is Paul's mission statement. Many times I read that this is everyone's mission statement, but I know we are not all going to do it just like Paul. I think we can have his heart and operate out of our different gift mixes and see the same type of results...lives changed, souls saved, diseases healed, demons cast out, and the creation responding to the release of the glory of God in His sons upon the earth.
Thank you Jesus, for your sacrifice and for the call on our lives to live as you lived and do the works you did and even greater works. Prepare our hearts, reveal the lies and root out the foundations of "evil" behavior in our lives. Remove the footholds that the enemy stands upon to retain ground in our lives. Remove every veil and bring restoration of lost vision, lost ambition, lost dreams, and lost momentum. I pray for restoration of the love of our first encounters with you and the hope that was once a fire igniting our hearts. I pray for a revelation of all that has gone on since then and how some of our experiences and the teachings we have taken into our hearts has turned us aside from the pure love of God and clarion call of the gospel in its simplest and clearest message. Thank you for all you have done! ~Amen.
Tina, we are in need of prayer for our move. We are weighing many different options, and it is very hard for us to decide. Each city seems to have a different mix of positives and negatives, and each day we learn a little more but it is a slow and steady progress. We need direction, clarity, and clear objectives in what we're looking for and what we can afford to do. Thank you so much for these daily visits! I love you.
~Angela
Colassian 1:21-25 Tina
Dear God,
Thank you for this time to spend in your word together. Thank you for the free gift of your salvation, help us to stand firm upon your promises. Lord bless our days, give us faith and peace that comes from you. -Amen
1:20And by him God reconciled every to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of his blood on the cross.
1:21 This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions,
In Genesis Adam and Eve brought sin into this perfect world that Christ had made for us to enjoy. We were his friends in the Garden of Eden. God would come down and talk with Adam and Eve and they were blessed by his presence. Once sin came into the picture we could no longer be friends of God, the sin separated us from God. God who is holy and just and sinless could not be friends to us who were so consumed by sin, God sent Adam and Eve out of the Garden and we were apart from him. By Jesus we are reconciled with God, through him we are no longer enemies, because of his blood we are made clean.
1:22 yet now he has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death on the cross in his own human body. As a result, he has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
This verse is underlined in my bible because I think this is a point that we somehow miss as Christians. This is the definition of salvation, true salvation. I have known so many “good” Christians who feared there deaths because they believed that they would be severely judged for their sins on earth. Doug Glein did a sermon once that illustrated this verse perfectly, he said when we stand before God we are covered in Christ, in his blood, that when the Father looks on us he will see only his Son. That doesn’t mean we can trample on it and do what ever we want, it simply means that we are free from condemnation. We will mess up, we will sin but Christ completely covers us. Once the gift is accepted we have to learn to forgive ourselves and move forward, move towards God move towards becoming more like Christ.
1:23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand in it firmly. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed by God to proclaim it.
The problem with a gift is it is given freely. We don’t do anything to deserve it, to pay for it. The motto you can’t get anything for free is something we as savvy Americans believe. The fact is salvation is free for us, it is a gift freely given. The true measure of faith is to hold on to the truth that Christ has already paid for the gift, he has already taken the punishment for our misdoings, and then wrapped it around us to mark us as his own family. If you were to believe one thing in the bible just one truth it should be the Christ died for our sins, took our punishment and was raised to life on the 3rd day. God wanted to set us free from sin!!
1:24 I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am completing what remains of Christ’s suffering for his body, the church.
Ok Paul you are a little crazy here. I wish I could rejoice while in suffering pain mode, I can’t. This is a weird verse for me, after all Christ did say it is finished on the cross. No more was needed or added to his crucifixion exit from humanity. Ok so Paul isn’t saying anymore needs to be added but I think what he is saying is I will suffer through because I am doing God’s work to grow his body here on earth, the church. That his suffering is a constant reminder of what Jesus went through on the cross. He might have needed this painful reminder since he was such a Jesus hater while Christ was living on earth. Paul knew that Christ loved the church and his way of loving Christ was to give up his life, his health, his vocation, to give up as much as he could for the church just as Jesus would have done if he had been here.
1:25 God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his message in all its fullness to you Gentiles.
In the past, God had not told people the complete message; I love this about God he is a secret and yet revealed.He is the wonderful author of life. The Jews could read about some of God’s plan. They thought that his plan was only for Jews and they were completely messed up when it came to the messiah prophecy and redemption aspects. But God showed his complete plan when Christ came, Jesus came as the embodiment of God the Father. He came to show us who God is and what he loves like, how he cares, what makes his cry. Once Jesus was raised to heaven and the Holy Spirit was sent to live in us Jesus lived with Jews and Gentiles or anyone else who accepted his gift. When Christ returns to earth, every Christian will live with him. The Bible promises that Christians will share Christ’s glory. I also think that Christ has a sense of humor here, we can look back and see Saul (Paul) and know that he thought he was just a good upstanding Jewish man, he hated Christians and he hated Gentiles. Jesus completely turned him around, poor Saul did a 360’ degree turn about. He ate with Gentiles, slept in their homes, preached to them, and loved them. God can do amazing things. Paul was the man for the job, we have the evidence throughout the New Testament but I find it funny to watch throughout the bible who he chooses to use.
Angela,
Please pray about some things. I pulled Ioni out of public school today and she is going to do home school. She is miserable and she feels really unsafe at school, there is constant barrage of obscene comments, out of control kids in class and peer pressure. Would you believe her friends were shocked to to hear she was a virgin! In 8th grade! She was so bold and even told them that she has never kissed a boy either. Since we started talking about pulling Ioni out the other girls are expressing a desire to come home too, they have similar problems and issues. I would love to be able to home school the 3 younger kids but I work, and I am struggling through a lot of pain with RA. Kiah and Ruby would need a real teacher present, Ioni is a self studying fool. I am praying for God to give me an answer about this, I know he is capable of anything. I am also looking into the idea of going on disability, I contacted my doctor by mail this week to see if it is a possibility. Great changes are coming here and I just pray for wisdom and composure through it.
Love you,
Tina
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