Wednesday – April 20, 2016
It is hump day, please receive my greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior and may Grace and peace be multiplied unto each of us as we chose to increase in the knowledge of God and of Jesus as our Lord.
2 Peter 1:2 (KJV)
2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
Our Lord is not hiding stuff from us and giggling as we blindly search for the Truth, no He has put it in plain sight. If you or I are wondering how to have more Grace and more peace in our lives the Lord plainly tells us through the Apostle Peter that it comes through our knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord. As we have been discovering through our primary text in Colossians, thanksgiving to God is necessary for the natural and supernatural outflow of our faith in God.
Colossians 2:6-7 (KJV)
6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
We received Jesus as Lord by faith and our journey to be just like Him is governed by faith. The rooted in Him has to do with what cannot be seen, it is what is really going on in our mind, what our core beliefs are. The built up in Him has to do with how much we look like and act like Him not just in words but in deeds. The text in Colossians 2:7 expresses the Truth that without true thanksgiving springing from unwavering faith and love we cannot abound in the building of our root system or in becoming an expression, a representation, or a revelation of Jesus.
Romans 8:36-39 (KJV)
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We are not called to die for Jesus, Jesus was called to die for us. The desire of our enemies (spiritual) are to kill, at a minimum steal and destroy in our lives (John 10:10). Just as Jesus walked away unscathed when they wanted to kill Him so can we in the perfect will of God. The Apostle Paul in Romans 8:37 tells us that in spite of the hatred and intents of the world we are “more than conquerors through him that loved us.” This is not ‘loved us’ past tense but loves us independent of time. Then he goes on to point out that nothing can come between us and the love of God so long as we are in Christ Jesus. Remember that Bible ‘love’ is adherence to The Blood Covenant, selflessness, and obedience to the Word of God. This applies to us and it applies to God. No matter our circumstances there is no way that God will not do exactly what He said so long as we remain in faith and love. We are to give thanks for all and in all things because we know God will perform His Word as we walk out His will. Now, if we are in our own will or reasoning, good luck so to speak, otherwise we are more than conquerors and filled with thanksgiving.
Ephesians 5:20 (KJV)
20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Colossians 3:17 (KJV)
17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
As we end our study for today contemplate the following passages and we will pick up with them next Monday.
1 Corinthians 15:57-58 (KJV)
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
2 Corinthians 2:14 (KJV)
14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
By Pastor David R. Wood
