The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Colossians 1:24-29 (day six)

Paul expresses the mission of the church when he wrote, “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, the church.” Of course, we know there is no lack in the Cross (Jesus’ death) to forgive sinners, but there is lack in the spread of its message. Paul was fulfilling what Jesus had commissioned him to do from the beginning, to extend the message of Christ’s afflictions beyond Jerusalem into the rest of the world.

And yet, there is still more to be done.

Just like Paul, we have been commissioned to finish the task. We must extend the message of the Cross far and wide regardless of cost, until every tribe and tongue has had a chance to glory in the power of the Cross.

What part does FBCSA play in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions? What part do you play?

Re:Verse passage – Colossians 1:24-29 (day five) “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.”  Paul’s goal for his ministry is that every believer would be complete (mature) in Christ. So for Paul’s part, this will require proclaiming Christ, admonishing and teaching believers.  What about the believers’ part?  To become mature in the faith, believers must be willing to do their part. If there is effective admonishing, there must be believers who are humble and moldable. If there is effective teaching, there must be believers who are eager and willing to learn.  Praise God for pastors and leaders who do their part (proclaim, admonish, teach)!  Will we be faithful to do our part, so that we may be complete and mature in Christ?

Re:Verse passage – Colossians 1:24-29 (day four)

How do you define discipleship?  Is it a set of rules or a checklist of actions to perform?  (Older Baptists remember the Broadman 8-point checklist on our offering envelopes as a child.)  For Paul, discipleship was a relationship.  His ministry was to make Christ known to all people…Gentiles as well as Jews.  To be complete in Christ is to allow Christ to live His life through you.  It is not living the Christian life…it is Jesus living through you by the power of the Holy Spirit.

What do people see when they observe your life?  Do they see a devoted person living a disciplined, well-ordered life, based on Godly principles?  Or, do they see the power of Christ shining through a surrendered life?  When we accept Christ as our Savior, God places in us the means to accomplish everything He asks us to do.  The Holy Spirit empowers us and lives through us.  There is a difference!

Re:Verse passage – Colossians 1:24-29 (day three)

“I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake.”

When we read Paul, we’re reading someone who had become intimately familiar with the vast, unseen side of reality that many people—most, it seems—don’t see, don’t understand, aren’t aware of, or aren’t convinced exists. If one of those descriptions fits you, you’re certainly not alone. If you find yourself doubtful but wanting to know more, skeptical but willing to investigate further, then Paul writes for you. He imagines you as one who grows in your understanding of this unseen realm, coming to know more and more firmly the God who is at the center of it all. If that sounds like something worth turning your life towards, then you know why Paul thought his sufferings were worth it. Good news costs an awful lot to deliver into this world. Read on.

Re:Verse passage – Colossians 1:24-29 (day two) To whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. vs. 27

Let us proclaim the mystery of faith – thus begins an ancient prayer that is still used in many churches today. There are mysteries of faith that we will spend our earthly lives pondering about. The “why would God leave his throne to become a man” mysteries that we will not fully understand until we reach heaven. There are others, however, that we simply need to seek an answer to find. Christ in us is a matter of curiosity to non-believers. That cannot understand where our hope springs from. They may notice our worldview is radically different from the prevailing thoughts of the day, and we remain a puzzle. But this mystery is completely knowable. Christ in us is available to all. What is curiosity to some, can become reality when they truly seek Jesus. Aren’t you glad that he has revealed himself for us to know, even if there are things that still confound us?

Re:Verse passage – Colossians 1:20-23 (day seven)

And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death... v.21-22a

When God offers reconciliation and peace it is an all-encompassing offer.  Upon surrender to Jesus Christ we are not treated as POWs or enemy combatants or even foreigners now under a new rule, we are treated as family.  It would be fairer for us to be considered traitors, but the grace of God guarantees that we are full heirs with Jesus Christ in a new kingdom.

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,  and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. (Romans 8:16-17)

Re:Verse passage – Colossians 1:20-23 (day six)

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,…Colossians 1:21

The contrast is stunning and clear. Jesus is God of very God (v. 15-19), and we are hostiles with an appetite for evil deeds. Paul seems to have three objectives for this contrast. Portray the deep chasm left in the wake of our sin and rebellion, draw attention to our desperate need, and most significantly, illustrate that Jesus alone is capable of meeting that need and bridging the chasm.

Why go to anyone  else? He is the image of the invisible God who takes away the sins of the world, yours included, not to mention He alone can get you where you want to go.

Paul would remind us to stick with Jesus.

Re:Verse passage – Colossians 1:20-23 (day five) “For it was the Father’s good pleasure through Him to reconcile all things to Himself”.  Last week’s Re:Verse text ended in mid sentence.  Wanted to make sure we had the right motive for God’s work of reconciliation- God’s pleasure. The work of redemption is one-sided. God does all the work. He sacrifices.  He makes the way. He invites. He calls. He takes the initiative. And in and through all His work and activity, He is “pleased”.  Salvation is God’s JOYFUL work and activity.  That’s a terrific invitation to a lost soul. The opportunity for salvation comes to us with joy and gladness.   Remember, God has seen creation as it could and should be. All of it. And the work of reconciliation of all things brings Him great joy and pleasure because it also brings Him glory.

Re:Verse passage – Colossians 1:20-23 (day four)

Alienated and hostile in mind…engaged in evil deeds…our lives were in confusion and rebellion against God.  Our passage says that God initiated reconciliation and Jesus Christ enabled it through His obedience and death on the cross.  Through Christ’s blood, the chaos and sin of our lives was reconciled to God.  And to what end?  Verse 22 says, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.  When we walk, reconciled before God, we bring glory to Him.  Our lives proclaim the Gospel along with all the creation.

As a believer, our lives should proclaim the Gospel just as God has proclaimed.  Do our lives reveal God’s Gospel or do we present a strange gospel that will not lead anyone to Christ?  It is easy to get slightly off the rails in our lives and then as we persevere in our confusion, we get further and further away from the true Gospel.  Take stock of the focus of your life to make sure some repentance is not in order!