Bible League: Living His Word And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.Paul's prayer for the church at Colossae was that they would have spiritual wisdom and understanding of God's will for their lives. God's will is revealed in a number of ways. It is revealed through the Bible, through Bible-based preaching, through our consciences, through circumstances, and any of a number of other ways. In order to recognize and know what is being revealed is God's will, however, our mental faculties must be "spiritual." That is, they must be empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit. Without the work of the Holy Spirit we would not recognize or know God's will for our lives. Instead of having spiritual wisdom and understanding, we would only have the spiritual blindness and ignorance that comes from Satan (II Corinthians 4:4). That's why Paul prayed for the church. He knew that preaching and teaching would not be sufficient in and of themselves to do the job. The Holy Spirit had to open up the minds of the individual members of the church. If the Holy Spirit opens up their minds, then Paul says several things will happen: First, they will be able walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and pleasing to Him. Spiritually blind and ignorant people cannot walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and pleasing to Him. They do not acknowledge or respect His will, so how could they? Second, they will be able to bear fruit in every good work. Spiritually blind and ignorant people cannot bear fruit. Apart from the Spirit of Christ Jesus, they can do nothing (John 15:5). What they do may seem high and mighty, but it will not advance or enhance the Kingdom of God. Finally, they will be able to increase in the knowledge of God. Spiritually enlightened people will not only know God's will for their lives, they will also come to know God Himself. Their knowledge of the divine person will increase. They will come to know God personally. Paul's prayer is a powerful prayer. Why not pray it for yourself and your loved ones on a regular basis? Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingPsalm 79, 80, 81 Psalm 79 -- They have defiled your holy temple. They have laid Jerusalem in heaps. NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 80 -- Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 81 -- Sing aloud to God, our strength! Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob! NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Romans 8:1-18 Romans 8 -- No Condemnation for those in Christ Jesus; We Are More than Conquerors NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion “And anyone who believes in God's Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn't obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God's angry judgment.”Insight Jesus says that those who believe in him have (not will have) everlasting life. Challenge To receive eternal life is to join in God's life, which by nature is eternal. Thus, eternal life begins at the moment of spiritual rebirth. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Songs 1:4 The upright love theeBelievers love Jesus with a deeper affection than they dare to give to any other being. They would sooner lose father and mother than part with Christ. They hold all earthly comforts with a loose hand, but they carry him fast locked in their bosoms. They voluntarily deny themselves for his sake, but they are not to be driven to deny him. It is scant love which the fire of persecution can dry up; the true believer's love is a deeper stream than this. Men have labored to divide the faithful from their Master, but their attempts have been fruitless in every age. Neither crowns of honor, nor frowns of anger, have untied this more than Gordian knot. This is no every-day attachment which the world's power may at length dissolve. Neither man nor devil have found a key which opens this lock. Never has the craft of Satan been more at fault than when he has exercised it in seeking to rend in sunder this union of two divinely welded hearts. It is written, and nothing can blot out the sentence, "The upright love thee." The intensity of the love of the upright, however, is not so much to be judged by what it appears as by what the upright long for. It is our daily lament that we cannot love enough. Would that our hearts were capable of holding more, and reaching further. Like Samuel Rutherford, we sigh and cry, "Oh, for as much love as would go round about the earth, and over heaven--yea, the heaven of heavens, and ten thousand worlds--that I might let all out upon fair, fair, only fair Christ." Alas! our longest reach is but a span of love, and our affection is but as a drop of a bucket compared with his deserts. Measure our love by our intentions, and it is high indeed; 'tis thus, we trust, our Lord doth judge of it. Oh, that we could give all the love in all hearts in one great mass, a gathering together of all loves to him who is altogether lovely! Daily Light on the Daily Path John 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.John 4:10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." Luke 11:13 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" John 16:23,24 "In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. • "Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full. James 4:2 You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. John 16:13,14 "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. • "He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. Isaiah 63:10 But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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