Colossians 2:1-7 ESV
“For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. “I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”
Tears are Streaming
I am sitting here with tears streaming down my face. Why?
Because I have this same struggle for you my fellow Christians, for you my
readers, and for you my family members as Paul had for the people to whom he
was addressing these words. For, I see so much wickedness, not just in the
world, but going on inside the church. So many are being deceived and are being
led astray to false gospels, and it just breaks my heart.
So many people professing faith in Jesus Christ are deceived.
They are following after lies instead of the truth and they are holding on to
those lies and will not let them go, as though the lies are sacred when they
are not. These professers of Christianity are locked into their traditions and
their religious practices as though God himself initiated them, but he did not.
And so many of them are not willing to examine the Scriptures to find the
truth.
There are so many Christians who have become so worldly and
who have adopted the ways of the world in place of the ways of godliness and
holiness. There is not much of a distinction at all between the church and the
world these days, at least here in America. Christians are not living much
different at all from non-Christians, and that breaks my heart, too. Jesus is
not central to their lives at all, and he is not the one directing their lives.
Sin abounds in the church. So many of those professing faith
in Jesus Christ are still addicted to sin, to sexual immorality, to drunkenness,
to addictive drugs, to lying, to cheating, to stealing, to gossiping, and to
living worldly and immoral lives. They are filling their minds with the things
of this world and not much at all with the things of heaven and of God. Even many
pastors of churches are addicted to (or regularly view) pornography.
Marriages are falling apart due to spousal unfaithfulness,
adultery, and abuse. Families are breaking up, too, and children are getting
involved in sexual addictive practices, as well. Morals are being forsaken
instead of sin being forsaken, and many people are refusing to bow to Jesus and
to repent of their sins and to walk with him in obedience, even though they may
profess faith in him and believe that heaven is their eternal destiny.
Look At Where We Are
And then look at the world we live in right now. If you can’t
see the beast rising, then open your eyes and look again. Look at how so many
nations have joined forces together to bring about world domination, for that
is where this is all headed. There is a united front coming against
Christianity and the gospel of our salvation, too. Look at how so many
denominations joined forces and all agreed to teach the same marketing 101 to
their people instead of the Scriptures and in place of the leading of the Holy
Spirit.
Look at how many people across denominational boundaries
have adopted some type of diluted and adulterated gospel which appeals to human
flesh and is of man, not of God. Look at how many people professing to be
Christians believe that faith in Jesus is just some decision they made once and
then nothing really changed in their hearts and lives because they never truly
died with Christ to sin, so they were not reborn of the Spirit of God.
I hear this all the time from people professing faith in
Jesus Christ, that they don’t have to do anything, for Jesus does it all. They
don’t have to repent of their sins. They don’t have to obey Jesus. And they don’t
have to submit to his Lordship or surrender their lives to following his will
for their lives. And they even believe that God can’t even see when they sin
and that all he sees is Jesus when he looks at them, so they feel the freedom
to keep sinning.
And this is because they aren’t studying the Scriptures, at
least not in context, for the Scriptures certainly do not teach that! The
people are listening to wolves in sheep’s clothing who are “whispering sweet
nothings in their ears” (an expression), and who are smooth talkers and
charmers who know just what to say and how to say it to deceive the people into
believing their lies. So many preachers are no longer preaching the pure word
of God but they are turning into clowns and motivational speakers, instead.
So, this is why I am crying! This is why I have a great struggle
for you my family, and for you my readers, and for you my fellow believers in
Jesus Christ (or professers of faith in Jesus). So many of you have deserted
your creator and you are chasing after the gods of this world instead. So many
of you are still living in sinful addiction, and although you may claim to be
free in Christ, you are not free, for you are still under sin’s dominion.
My Prayers for You
For those of you who are following the lies, I pray that
your eyes will be opened to the truth. I pray that you will see the lies you
have been believing and following, and that you will forsake your sins to
follow Jesus in obedience to his ways before he comes back to judge the people
of the world. I pray that you will not be deceived by these clever enchanters
who are tricking you into rejecting the truth and into believing the lies,
instead.
I pray for marriages to be healed and family units to be restored
and that husbands, fathers, wives, mothers, and children will be delivered from
sinful addictions which are destroying their lives and their relationships with
other people and which are killing the possibility of true fellowship with God
and true salvation from sin and eternal life with God. So, I pray for a spiritual
revival to take place in the church in America to bring her back to God.
And I pray for believers in Jesus Christ to walk in purity
of devotion to the Lord Jesus in honesty, integrity, faithfulness, moral purity,
uprightness, godliness, holiness, and righteousness in the power of God. And
for those who are walking in faithfulness to the Lord, I pray for your
encouragement, and for steadfastness of spirit, and for courage to keep
speaking and living the truth, and that the Lord will use you to reach others
for Jesus.
I pray that we would all walk in holiness and righteousness,
that we will listen to our Lord, and that we will follow him wherever he leads
us, and that we will go with him wherever he sends us and say whatever he gives
us to say. For we live in troubled times and many people need to know Jesus. I
pray we would all be strong and courageous and that we will never cave to the
oppression of the enemy, but we will remain faithful to our Lord.
The Prayer
Written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager,
Alberto Testa and Tony Renis
I pray you'll be our eyes
And watch us where we go
And help us to be wise
In times when we don't know
Let this be our prayer
When we lose our way
Lead us to a place
Guide us with your grace
To a place where we'll be safe.
I pray we'll find your light
And hold it in our hearts
When the stars go out each night
Remind us where you are.
Let this be our prayer
When shadows fill our day
Lead us to a place
Guide us with your grace
To a place where we'll be safe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqFCbtRz1Z0
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