8/5 - Colossians 2, Part 1

Good morning everyone. Quick confession - got up a little late this morning so this post may be a bit short. Sleep 1, Ryan 0.

I was able to study Colossians 2 and again, this morning I have been convinced that God's word is alive & moving. I've read this before but this morning it was as if I read it for the first time. It's a refreshing feeling to know that God is always speaking, that He is His word (John 1:1) and each moment you spend in it is time spent with Him. It doesn't always happen for me like this but this morning was like the "Ahhhh" feeling after sipping a Coke on a hot day. So I thank God for it and I'll enjoy it for a little while.

Paul's desire for the Colossian church was that

"that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (v. 2-3).

The part that jumped out to me was the "riches of the full assurance of understanding."Having the full assurance or complete confidence in anything is a great feeling. It gives us the ability to move or act decisively and in full expectation of a positive outcome. Isn't that what we want in our lives as Christians? I can remember taking Calculus 1 in college and I had a full assurance of anything related to limits, derivatives, integrals, trigonometry, etc (this is going to sound like bragging, but I'm going somewhere with this). There wasn't much you could do to convince me that my knowledge of the subject matter wasn't genuine. You couldn't sneak any false calculus doctrine past me because I was built up in knowledge and had come to understand they mystery of Calculus. I was steadfast, immovable. My confidence had reached the point where I was willing & able to boldly teach others that they, too, might receive the benefits (passing Calc 1) of the hidden treasures found in Calculus.

Imagine where you (myself included here) could be if you applied yourself to diligent study of the Word, longing for it's understanding & growing in wisdom. Wouldn't you be more sensitive to false doctrine? Wouldn't you be more confident witnessing to others? Wouldn't others seek you out for guidance? Who could shake your confidence in God's word? I know that's a place I want to be. It all goes back to Bible study doesn't it? Man, Pastor Reggie (my pastor in Tallahassee) was so right. I used to think he went a little overboard b/c everything he talked about came back to "you need to study the Bible more." We could be talking about football and somehow it would come back to that. I'm starting to realize more & more how right he was.

Trust God + Reading His Word - Pride = Confidence = Assurance = Understanding * X (where X is the number of repititions of studying Bible).

It's all mathematics.