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Friday,
January 3,
2025
"Staying
Spiritually
Based"
(Part 2)
Message
summary:
Today
we consider
the importance
of making a
spiritual
impact in the
lives of
others and two
key elements
of being
spiritually
based.
Listen to our message on your audio player.
“For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is. So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness” (Colossians 2:5-7).
When I teach from the Bible, whether speaking or writing such as our online teaching ministry, I like to take the Scripture text and present it phrase by phrase which is an element of the expository method.
Yesterday I shared that my personal anchor verse for 2025 is Colossians 2:6,7. As I was preparing for a series on this text and my teaching on Sunday in our Crossroads ABF class I noticed the selection begins with "So then".
So, much like we are to ask "what's the 'therefore' there for?", I needed to expand my study to see what "so then" was referring to which took me back to the context. In the verse that immediately proceeds "so then" Paul writes, "For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is".
After musing on this I see this itself is another great verse! (not surprisingly)
“For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit” Paul was not physically with the Colossian believers when he wrote this since he was in prison. How grateful we are that he didn't emotionally languish and reason to himself that he was in no mood to write.
Rather, he cast aside thoughts of his imprisonment and joined his brothers and sisters "in spirit" which meant they were foremost on his heart and in his prayers. Consider how this applies to your life. Certainly the ability to stay connected is so much easier now for us than it was in Paul's day! Yesterday I received an email note from a reader in South Africa, likely just seconds after he sent it.
“and delight” Consider those you delight (rejoice) in seeing God’s work in their lives, especially if you have had a personal impact on them. It's one of the greatest joys of ministry!
Last
night as I sat
around a hot
campfire at
the Refreshing
Mountain
Retreat I was
considering
those in my
ministry who
have given us
great joy and
Yvette came to
mind. She came
into our
church in New
England in the
mid-nineties a
broken soul
with a story
suitable for
the radio
program
"Unshackled".
At first she
was very
unstable in
her walk with
the Lord but
after much
prayer support
and godly
counsel over
an extended
period of time
she fully
experienced
God's
redemptive
power and now,
along
with her
husband Wayne,
they direct
the Adult and
Teen Challenge
of
Connecticut. I
had the
privilege of
conducting
their marriage
ceremony in
2006, a few
years after we
moved to
Lancaster
County (photo
on
left).
A link to her
testimony is
below. What
great joy it
brings to see
them staying
faithful and
influencing
others who
desperately
need salvation
and
deliverance
from Satan's
entrapment!
Paul wrote to the Philippians, "Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved" (4:1). John wrote, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth" (3 John v.4).
What was Paul delighted about?
"to see how
disciplined
you are and
how firm your
faith in
Christ is".
Another
version
states, “your
good order and
the firmness
of your faith
in Christ”.
Indeed these
are two vital
characteristics
of a serious
Christian who
is spiritually
based which is
sorely lacking
in many
professed
followers of
Christ today.
The blessing of a life:
1) that is
disciplined
and in good
order
2) that has firmness of faith in Christ
Does
this describe
your life?
What steps are
you taking to
see that it
does?
Be encouraged today! Hebrews 3:13
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer:
Father, we
consider our
brothers and
sisters with
whom we're
unable to have
fellowship due
to distance,
time
limitations,
or poor
health,
nevertheless
they're on our
mind and we
uphold them in
prayer, that
they would
stand firm in
all the will
of God, mature
and fully
assured of
their faith in
Christ. We
also pray that
their walk
would be
steady and
disciplined in
the ways of
godliness so
they grow in
their walk
with You and
influence
others for the
kingdom of
God. Keep us
faithfully in
step with You,
Father, so we
will be a
shining
example and
never a
stumbling
block to those
we love in
Christ. In
Jesus's name
we pray. Amen.
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
Wayne and Yvette determined early on, as they pursued their relationship, they would wait until their wedding ceremony to enjoy their first kiss. They kept their word and at this point of the ceremony Stephen's excitement at being the one to give them permission to enjoy their first kiss was captured on camera. There were a lot of Teen Challenge students present so it was a very emotionally charged congregation who witnessed their vows and verbally celebrated this very special moment. I (Brooksyne) tease that Stephen couldn't open his mouth this wide in Lancaster County without some fly making its way in.
As I consider the Lord's work in Joey's (as we called him) life I recalled a photo of him and my Mom taken in 2001 when he came down to visit us shortly after we moved from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania. Mom had such a love for people and I have no doubt that she prayed for Joey many times as well as many who were burdened for his family. Joey was saved, delivered and called into ministry where he is now being used of God to reach others for Christ such as praying with these two young men we witnessed at a service in his church last spring.
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Stephen & Brooksyne
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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version and a variety of other versions.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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