Colossians Study (part 1)

So a few days ago (1-26-10) I began an in depth study on the book of Colossians. Since that day I have only gotten through the first 14 verses of the first chapter, due to studying each verse word for word, and in such depth. I want to encourage you to, if you are not already, to start reading your Bible everyday. It does not have to be much just a chapter a day or even a few verses, just to get Gods word in your life. If nothing is coming into our lives spiritually, nothing can come out spiritually. It would be like trying to get water from your sink, with the water turned off. So I really hope that you start picking up your Bible once a day and just reading a few verses from the richest and most thirst quenching thing on earth which is God and His Word.

But back to my Colossians study, I just want to share with you a few things that I have picked up on just from studying the first 14 verses of chapter one.

(V. 1-2) Paul designates himself as an apostle, and takes responsibility of the church in Colossae. The interesting thing about that to me is that Paul has never visited Colossae, and never even preached the gospel to the people there, yet he is taking responsibilty for the church there.

(V. 3-8) Paul thanks God for the Colossians and their expressions of faith, hope, and love. An interesting thing that I have picked up on is that Paul never thanks the people of the church at Colossae, he always thanks God Himself. Now Paul is in jail at the time of this letter being written. He has heard that a fellow servant by the name of Epaphras has preached the gospel to the people and that they have believed. One of the biggest thing that has stood out to me in my study of these verses comes in verse 4. Paul mentions the love for the saints. And I began thinking about the connection between loving the saints (fellow believers) and the gospel. I saw a connection between the two, then I began listening to a podcast by Matt Chandler where he was preaching on Colossians and he brough up the same connection. He said this, "Our trust in the Gospel is an inseperable link to loving the saints or body of believers". So if we really believe and trust in the true Gospel, we will also love our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, these two things are inseperable. Paul mentions in theses verses that the true gospel is spreading throughout the world and bearing good fruit.

(V. 9-14) Paul and Timothy (who is with Paul during this time) say that they have never ceased to pray (1 Thess. 5:17) for the people at Colossae after hearing they have received the gospel message. They ask for the Holy Spirit to fill the church at Colossae and guide them in understanding and knowledge of Gods will. Paul asks that God would give them strength in their walk of life and to bear good fruit. Paul again thanks God Himself for the work He is doing in Colossae. Paul mentions as believers, Christ has delievered us from darkness, defeated evil, and it has no dominion over us now. We are now a part of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, and are now living in redemption (deliverance) and forgiveness of our sins.

I will continue posting blogs about Colossians as I continue my study of it. To be continued....

Make Disciples!!!

In the Bible, the word christianity is mentioned 0 times, the word Christian is occurs 3 times in the Bible, the word Disciple (follower of Jesus) occurs 263 times. (I believe God is trying to tell us something through that.)

The Great Commission: Matthew 28:16-20
"Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped Him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. "
Fulfilling the Great Commission is the very mission of our lives as Christians. Here is a breakdown of the word 'Commission': com- means: a prefix meaning "with", "together", "in association" and (with intensive force). mission means: the business with which such a body of persons is charged, or, a special assignment to a person or group.

So Gods will for our lives as Christians is to GO!! (which literally in the greek means "while you are going, or as you are going") and make disciples of all nations by teaching and preaching the one true gospel. Put your faith into action and make Disciples. But we must makes sure that we preach the one true gospel (Galatians 1:6-10). Too often people go out and proclaim a false gospel message. The most common of these false gospels is the "Health, Wealth, and Prosperity gospel" which is completely false and is actually idolatry and not the true gospel.

"The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is not that everything is going to go well. The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that you get HIM and He is enough no matter what circumstance comes, and He sustains us." -Matt Chandler

So how do we go and proclaim the Gospel to all the nations and make disciples??
(Romans 10:12-15):
Christ Sends Preachers.
Preachers tell the Gospel
People Hear the Gospel
Hearers believe the Gospel
Believers call on Christ
Those who call are saved

The breakdown of this cycle is: "Preachers tell the Gospel" That means the weak point of this process is us. If we do not do our job we are hindering the advancement of the gospel and therefore disobeying God. So if you are a true born again believer, you are a disciple, and you are to be spreading the gospel as an image bearer of Christ and as His disciple everyday of your life.

Be a Living Sacrifice

Once I got a hold of the meaning these very words by Matt Papa, my life changed:

"Be a truly living sacrifice, at the, altar it's easy to come and kneel down front, but the altar in the Old Testament is a place where things came to die. Have you died to yourself?, died to your sinful habits?, pride?, jealousy?, envy?, things that keep you from being a living sacrifice? Bring them to the cross in the view of Gods mercy, NOT in the view of His judgement, or damnation, but in the view of His mercy, and His love. Bring it to the altar and sacrifice it upon the cross." -Matt Papa (Impact 08)

Putting God in a Box

As Christians we have a magnificient and mighty God, but often times we put God in a box and do not let Him reveal His glory to and through us. We have our little box filled with God and we only let Him out when we want Him out. Around certain people we are comfortable with opening up our box and letting God shine, but then when we are around other people we close the box and hide it, and try to act like God is not a part of our lives. I want to tell you to destroy your box, destroy anything that you use to keep God from completely using you and shining through you. The same God that allowed a young boy to defeat a giant, or raised someone from the dead, or fed 5,000 people with fish and bread, got beaten, crucified, and rose from the dead, He is still the same God that He was when those events happened. The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). So are you willing to destroy whatever box, or idol you have in your life that is limiting how much you let God use you? Its time to let God fully take over your life and use you for His glory.