Dear Saint,
I was reading Colossians 1:9-12, and
I was just thinking how it is such a great prayer, a prayer to pray for your
own life, the lives of others and the church. You read how we are to pray that
we know God’s will, God’s plans for our lives this day, this year. We are to be
"filled with the knowledge of His will”. We read how that will enable us to
please God, to honor Him. We read how that will enable us to be fruitful,
carrying out the specific work that God has for us each day. We see that
knowing God’s will is in harmony with and conjunction with knowing God. We can
only know and carry out God’s will as we know God. And indeed this is always
what is most important – that we experientially know God and grow in knowing
Him. Indeed, might this be on your heart this year. Philippians 3:10, 1 John
2:14, 2 Peter 1:2-3. And of course we all get spiritually, emotionally and
physically tired – and so we need to be "strengthened with all power” so we can
persevere and be steadfast, and can be and do all that God wants. And finally,
might we also be always giving thanks to the Father, for He has already done so
much for us, and "qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in
light.”
I think too of how you need to "work
out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in
you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Think here of the means
of grace – of your prayer life, of your time reading God’s Word, of meditating
on God’s Word, of reading good books, of getting quality times of fellowship
with other believers, of going to the church meetings we have scheduled. God
will bless you and use you as you see that He is daily at work in your life,
and as you then work out your salvation.
Make sure you have promises, verses,
passages, that encourage you, that stir you, that fire you up. Here are some of
mine: Psalm 23:6, Psalm 31:19, Philippians 1:6, 2 Chronicles 15:7, Psalm 86:13,
Romans 8:28, Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 27:13-14, Psalm 18:1, 1 Peter 5:10,
Ephesians 6:10-12, 1 John 2:14, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Job 23:10-12, Joshua
1:6-8, Deuteronomy 10:13, 2 Chronicles 31:21. Use these here or get your own
list – verses that you love, verses that lead you to love the Lord and serve
Him all the more.
As you know, I love the subject of
our Lord’s return. I just spent a number of hours working on a glossary of
prophecy terms – and plan to pass that out tomorrow night, January 4, as well
as finish Revelation 17, and of course talk about what is going on in the world
regarding the end times. Indeed, God is working, in the world, in our church,
and in our own lives. Remember too to be inviting people to hear
Marv Rosenthal for January 22nd– we are so
blessed that he wants to be with us and share his heart. I will plan to get you
a flyer for you to use to invite people.
Well, on Sunday mornings we are
finishing up the series on the gospel in a few weeks – knowing what God has
done for us is vital if we are to live strong for the Lord and for others. And
then in February we’ll begin the great epistle of Philippians. Gary and I are so blessed and
thankful to be with each one of you. May God continue to bless you in 2012,
protect you, encourage you, and use you for His purposes and glory.
"Now to Him who is able
to do far
more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according
to the power that works within us,
to
Him be the glory in the church
and in
Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever.”
Ephesians
3:20-21
United with you for our Lord,
Steve
