Colossians...
In early spring I received several messages from former students...girls asking if I could meet with them over the summer or perhaps mentor them.
With four kids running around and trying to help Jason with the ministry...my time for mentoring was scarce.
But as I prayed about it...I sensed that God was pushing me to teach.
So I rounded up a group of girls - and in early June we began our study on the book of Colossians.
We started with about sixteen and ended up with fourteen consistent, regular, committed girls.
Being that it was summer...I was surprised that they cleared work schedules...got up early...and intentionally set aside every Thursday morning to study God's Word.
It has become a common trend among Bible studies...especially with women...to cater the study around what God is doing in our lives. As females, we usually find it very easy to emote...or to put feelings into our devotional studies. Most of how we respond to the Word is about our feelings. Far too quickly our time spent with the Lord gets centered around what we have learned about ourselves and far too little about what we have learned about GOD Himself.
From the start of this study, we switched out our narcissistic glasses for those with a broader view. Who is God? What did I learn about HIM through this passage? And inevitably, God-discovery led to self-discovery. In light of what we learned about God...our understanding of self began to take a more honest picture.
The knowledge of God and the knowledge of self
go hand in hand. We can only have a right perspective of ourselves when we have
a correct perspective of God.
The book of Colossians is about Christ. The first half being about His supremacy and sufficiency Establishing His authority...His character...and the completeness of His salvation. The second half fleshes out what life in Christ looks like...iin the heart and life of the believer...in the home...in the church...and beyond.
I learned SO much through this study. Yes, I was the teacher...and have studied this book countless times. But it is alive...and was very active in my heart...teaching me and correcting me. My understanding of God broadened. My appreciation for His gospel deepened. And my reliance on Him increased. There were so many weeks when God used this study in my own life personally to reinforce the supremacy He desires and to reassure me of His love.
Week after week, the discussions from our Bible study became the launching pad for encounters all around me. There were many times after our study that the girls would sit around and just...marinate. Talking about the passage. Talking about life. Confessing sin. Bringing the Word we had just learned into a real life situation. It was such a sweet, sweet time of fellowship.
The final study was bittersweet...parting ways as most of them head back to school or college...but anticipating ways that God would use our freshly ignited faith for His glory. I pray that in their hearts they will hear the ringing echo of these amazing truths we have learned:
You are complete in Him.
The Gospel. The Gospel. The GOSPEL.
Jesus plus nothing equals EVERYTHING.
The only way to have a distaste for sin is to have a superior satisfaction in God.
What we are craving is so vast and infinite that
it can only be filled by an immutable and infinite God.
We always need to be surrounded by those that stir our affections for Christ.
Compromise is rooted in the fear that comfort is better than Jesus.
If we would just stop
and remember the gospel, we would realize that God really is what we want most,
even in our worse moments, no matter how strong the temptation we’re battling.
You have an enemy.
PRAYER. When we pray regularly…irregular things start to
happen. You never know when or where or how God will invade the routine of your
life, but you can live in holy anticipation knowing that God is orchestrating
supernatural things. God is always preparing us and positioning us for divine
appointments. The plans of God are only revealed in the presence of God.
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