October 1, 2014 THAT YOU MAY BE FILLED
Colossians 1:10-12: …..that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attainment of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. For He delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.” In Colossians, Paul is expressing thankfulness for spiritual attainments that the believers in Colossae had accomplished. Perhaps we too need to be reminded that that we need to “attain”, or continue to gain greater understanding of the gospel. Without a desire to grow in understanding of the gospel and all of its implications, we remain stagnant and even become disillusioned. We must realize that spiritual maturity is not automatic for the believer and we must realize that we have need to attain. We will in this life never “max out” in our maturity; we are to be continually maturing in the faith. We put a lot of emphasis on how we “feel”, but we must not let feelings dictate how we live or deter us from “pressing on” to know our God more fully. As we see in this verse, “knowledge of His will” should cause us to “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.” Walking worthy is all about bearing fruit, increasing in the knowledge of Him, being strengthened with power, attaining steadfastness and patience and joyfully giving thanks to our Father. Jesus has a kingdom-and we have been transferred from darkness to His kingdom and now we live in the light! When we understand the transfer that has taken place, our life takes on new meaning and purpose. In the light of His kingdom, we live life as an overcomer-overcoming all that is unlike the kingdom of God. In His kingdom we live victoriously. We are told in scripture to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith, that is, living according to our new identity. Let us examine ourselves in light of the above scripture, and determine if we are indeed “attaining” greater understanding of His kingdom and is our understanding leading to expressions of “walking worthy of the Lord.”
Philippians 3:12-14: “Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Blessings,
Buddy
Colossians 1:10-12: …..that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attainment of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. For He delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.” In Colossians, Paul is expressing thankfulness for spiritual attainments that the believers in Colossae had accomplished. Perhaps we too need to be reminded that that we need to “attain”, or continue to gain greater understanding of the gospel. Without a desire to grow in understanding of the gospel and all of its implications, we remain stagnant and even become disillusioned. We must realize that spiritual maturity is not automatic for the believer and we must realize that we have need to attain. We will in this life never “max out” in our maturity; we are to be continually maturing in the faith. We put a lot of emphasis on how we “feel”, but we must not let feelings dictate how we live or deter us from “pressing on” to know our God more fully. As we see in this verse, “knowledge of His will” should cause us to “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.” Walking worthy is all about bearing fruit, increasing in the knowledge of Him, being strengthened with power, attaining steadfastness and patience and joyfully giving thanks to our Father. Jesus has a kingdom-and we have been transferred from darkness to His kingdom and now we live in the light! When we understand the transfer that has taken place, our life takes on new meaning and purpose. In the light of His kingdom, we live life as an overcomer-overcoming all that is unlike the kingdom of God. In His kingdom we live victoriously. We are told in scripture to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith, that is, living according to our new identity. Let us examine ourselves in light of the above scripture, and determine if we are indeed “attaining” greater understanding of His kingdom and is our understanding leading to expressions of “walking worthy of the Lord.”
Philippians 3:12-14: “Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Blessings,
Buddy
RSS Feed