Bible Studies for Life
Growing in Christ
Colossians 1: 9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Paul had never met the Colossians, but he prayed often that they would be studying God's word. In doing this the Holy Spirit would teach them God's Will and His ways. The Holy Spirit teaches about Jesus, His grace, love, mercy, and power to do all things. Jesus teaches us to grow closer to God so we can live a life pleasing to Him. The Holy Spirit gives us the desire and power to love and pray for each other through all the trials we suffer. As God's children we care for the widows and orphans, the sick and disabled, the rich and the poor. We help each other to praise and glorify God. Jesus is light and He wants us to reflect that light to the world. Jesus saved us from Satan and his ways and turned us to God's Kingdom. We are washed white as snow by the blood of Jesus when He saves us from our sins.
Colossians 1: 21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Every person is born in sin. As Sinners, we do not know God as our Lord. We are far from Him and actually are His enemy because we believe Satan's lies. This causes us to live evil lives in the sight of God. Even if you are a good moral person that does everything right according to society and the law, you are still a sinner. Someone who is separated from God. But Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Everyone that believes in Him and accepts Him as Lord and Savior is saved and reconciled to God. God sees us covered by the righteousness of Jesus. This means that God has adopted us as His children and deliberately put our sins out of His memory forever. He will never remind you of a wrong or ask you why you did something wrong. We are to live as Jesus. He set the example. We must be faithful to God. God helps us with that by giving us the Holy Spirit to teach us, guide, and direct us, and seal our Salvation.
Colossians 1: 24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, 26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. 27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. 29 To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.
God called Paul to be an Apostle to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. The Jews had the word of God first, but when Jesus came salvation was made available through Him for everyone Jew and Gentile alike. God is Perfect, so His Plan for Salvation is perfect. God gave the Bible and Law through Moses to the Jewish people so they could serve Him. The nation of Israel had Priests to help them with their sacrifices and to live a righteous life. This was temporary. When the time was right, God sent His Son, Jesus, to live a sinless life, die on the cross for our sins, be buried, rise again on the third day to defeat death, sin, and Satan. All who believed in Jesus and called on His Name will be saved. The Jews’ believed salvation was just for them. The mystery Paul taught that was hidden, was salvation was for everyone, Jew, and Gentile alike. It began to be revealed in Jesus's life, death, and resurrection. Paul's Mission from God was to preach the Gospel to everybody, especially the Gentiles. Paul had suffered being stoned, enduring beatings, and shipwrecked. Paul even survived a snake bite while preaching the Gospel. He identified with the sufferings of Jesus. Paul always gave God the credit for what he did because God gave him the strength. God also healed Paul from the physical damage inflicted by his persecutors. Jesus told His followers the world would persecute them if they accepted Him as Lord and Savior. Paul taught that to preach salvation you must preach a warning to the ones who rejected Jesus and to preach the joy of God's Assurance of eternal life to those that accepted Jesus. People who reject Jesus will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. Paul suffered in many ways to preach the Gospel of Jesus, but his reward in Heaven will be great. If you want to learn more about Paul, Jesus, or God come to church, and we will help you anyway we can.
Explore the Bible
Dreamer
Genesis 37: 5 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. 6 So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: 7 There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright; and indeed, your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So, they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words 5 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. 6 So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: 7 There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright; and indeed, your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So, they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
Jacob did not try to hide the fact that Joseph was his favorite son, he even gave him a special coat. The brothers were already jealous of Joseph, and this made it worse. Joseph had a dream and shared it with his brothers. It made them hate him even more. Joseph was young and probably did not make the best choice when he shared his dreams. We all make mistakes and do things that hurt other people. We need to pray to God before we share the Gospel, so we will not offend someone.
Genesis 37: 18 Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. 19 Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! 20 Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!” 21 But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.” 22 And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.
Joseph's brothers saw him coming in the distance. They began to plan how they could eliminate him. They agreed to kill him and throw him throw his body in a pit. Then they would tell their father an evil beast had devoured him. Reuben heard them talking and convinced them not to shed any blood but just throw Joseph in a pit. Reuben planned to rescue Joseph and return him to his father. Ruben had transgressed against his father by sleeping with one of his concubines and did not want to cause his father any more pain. The brothers wanted to get rid of Joseph because of their jealousy. They also wanted to make sure they did not have to serve or bow down to Joseph. Satan was at work to destroy this Godly family much like he does today. Believers must keep studying God's word and praying for God's help to live a life pleasing to him. The devil is doing all he can to make us fail.
Genesis 37: 23 So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. 24 Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it. 25 And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. 26 So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened. 28 Then Midianite traders passed by; so, the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
When Joseph came to his brothers, they grabbed him, removed his coat then threw him into a pit. The pit was dry. After putting Joseph into the pit, they sat down and ate bread. Since they left Joseph to die, they did not share their bread. They had no way of knowing that one day they would travel to another country to buy grain from Joseph. While eating they saw some traveling merchants coming and decided not to kill Joseph but to sell him instead. This way they did not shed the blood of their brother, but they would be rid of him. So, they sold their brother for twenty pieces of silver, the going price for a slave. The action of the brothers was wrong, but God used it for His purpose. God helped Joseph through many tribulations. This is an example of God using bad for the good of one of His children. If you do not know this story, come to church and worship with us to learn about Joseph and other great men of the Bible.