11.05.05

Colossians 1:9-12For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.


Life has been challenging. VERY CHALLENGING for me. Lots of up and downs recently. I really have been struggling so much more than I would have thought with the passing of my dad. I shared with a friend that I have even avoiding journaling or writing my thoughts anyway because I think a floodgate of feelings would come out. But I know that God is amazing. I just sometimes really struggling with how distant my relationship with God is. DISTANT because of the time between my meaningful fellowship times with Him. By meaningful times I mean so much more than the quick, little, fast food bites of "devotional" thoughts I pick up on the run. By meaningful times I mean those times when I genuinely take the time to "sit at the feet of Jesus." You may know what I mean. Everything else in this busy world fades away. It is just you and God.
You know you have spent time with the Creator because when you are done you feel refreshed and strengthened in God's power.
You also know you have spent time with God because when you are done you immediate feel the press of this sinful world.
The verses from Colossians 1 have been a real blessing to me during the last couple of weeks. One of Emmanuel's missionaries actually included this passage in one of her prayer letters. I have shared it with my ABF class and my Bible classes at Emmanuel but I need to share it again because it has been such a blessing.
I WANT TO GROW IN MY KNOWLEDGE OF GOD SO THAY I MAY HAVE:-AMAZING ENDURANCE-PATIENCE-THE AWESOME ABILITY TO PRAISE GOD WITH REAL JOY NO MATTER WHAT THE CIRCUMSTANCES.