The Most Underrated Passage In Scripture - Colossians 2
I pray you have a fruitful and fulfilling walk with the Lord. You are called to follow Jesus as his disciple. It’s pretty simple, a disciple is someone who follows a teacher and applies their teachings. Jesus said following his teachings (yoke) is easy, and his burden is light. Yoke and burden are euphemisms for his teachings and the requirements of those teachings. He said it this way…
I pray you have a fruitful and fulfilling walk with the Lord. You are called to follow Jesus as his disciple. It’s pretty simple, a disciple is someone who follows a teacher and applies their teachings. Jesus said following his teachings (yoke) is easy, and his burden is light. Yoke and burden are euphemisms for his teachings and the requirements of those teachings. He said it this way.
““Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.””
Jesus isn’t speaking of physical burdens, he was correcting the heavy burden of the system of works that the Pharisees laid on the backs of people. Jesus later rebukes the Pharisees for putting heavy burdens on the shoulders of the people in Matthew 23:4.
The “yoke of the Pharisees” is the burdensome yoke of self-righteousness and legalistic law-keeping. The yoke of Jesus is to love God and love people. The way to walk under that yoke is to renew your mind and put on the new man. As you renew your mind, you allow God’s grace to strengthen and transform you. Easy and light.
BUT you MUST renew your mind. You can not follow Jesus in the power of his spirit, walking in true love, without a renewed mind.
Knowing the written word is one of the best resources to use to renew your mind to how God thinks and what he says about you. But just reading the Bible isn’t powerful, engaging it at a heart level is required for real transformation. In these two sermons, I walk you through the process of reading His word until it becomes alive.
You can’t just read it, you have to sit in it and let it sit in you until your heart grasps something and that spark of life happens. Call it a revelation, call it an experience, call it manifestation, it really doesn’t matter, but without it, the Bible is not much more than history, poetry and doctrine.
Watch part one (How to Receive Revelation) if you haven’t already watched, and then come back to prat two. I walk through Colossians 1 and 2 in these two sermons as an example of how to read the Bible in such a way that it becomes a living word for you.
Download the series
You Can Know God’s Ways
MESSAGE TITLES
How to Receive Revelation from God - Colossians 1
The Most Underrated Passage in the Bible - Colossians 2
You Can Know God's Ways
God's Love Delivers Grace to Your Heart
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Inside Out Identity: Learn to Allow God's Love to Deliver Grace to Your Heart
Nothing “outside” of you has the authority to tell you who you are. You have given your life to God, he “owns” you, and he alone has the authority to define what and who you are.
So what does he say?
God says you are at peace with him by faith in Christ, and he says you’re in right-standing with him the same way. He defines the terms, and he enforces the rules. Righteousness is by faith, not works.
Also remember that God has placed his spirit in you, and his kingdom is in you, so essentially God is in you. If God determines your identity, he does it from the inside, not through external circumstances in your life.
Righteousness is not by works, holiness is not by works, and identity is not by works, it’s all given to you in Christ. Your actions do not define you. Nothing anyone does to you, defines you. Not even your DNA defines you.
Unfortunately, we can go through things in this life that are so traumatic we allow them to define us because they’re so overwhelming. What do we do in traumatic situations?
Nothing “outside” of you has the authority to tell you who you are. You have given your life to God, he “owns” you, and he alone has the authority to define what and who you are.
So what does he say?
God says you are at peace with him by faith in Christ, and he says you’re in right-standing with him the same way. He defines the terms, and he enforces the rules. Righteousness is by faith, not works.
Also remember that God has placed his spirit in you, and his kingdom is in you, so essentially God is in you. If God determines your identity, he does it from the inside, not through external circumstances in your life.
Righteousness is not by works, holiness is not by works, and identity is not by works, it’s all given to you in Christ. Your actions do not define you. Nothing anyone does to you, defines you. Not even your DNA defines you.
Unfortunately, we can go through things in this life that are so traumatic we allow them to define us because they’re so overwhelming. What do we do in traumatic situations?
Trauma Based Identity
Trauma can be devastating. We all know what physical trauma is; when the body takes damage. A bruise, open wound, or loss of limb are all considered traumas of varying degrees. Economic, relational, or general emotional traumas are in the world as well.
All of those kinds of traumas are things that happen from the outside. You lose your job, you get a divorce, or someone abuses you; all of those happen to you.
You choose how you respond to those situations. It may not feel like in certain situations but you get to determine how those things affect you long term. Sometimes those events are so overwhelming that you allow them to shape how you see yourself.
If someone has taken advantage of you and you feel powerless, the emotion may linger. If your parents told you that you are stupid, that might be a belief that still carries weight in your life today. Your identity might be so connected to your job performance that you feel less valuable when you don’t do a good job.
All of those situations can create emotional trauma from the outside in.
Inside Out Identity
We must allow God to inform our self-worth and our identity. We are who God says we are and nothing else. We may behave in certain ways or hold specific positions, but those things are temporary and do not have the authority to tell you what kind of being you are and who you are in God’s sight.
God’s opinion is the ultimate reality in our lives. How God sees things are the truth of any situation. How he sees it is unchangeable.
We must learn to see ourselves through his eyes. It’s a bit challenging since he’s invisible, but we can know his perspective through the person of Jesus. Jesus is the most evident understanding we have of who God is.
How to Live In the Power of Your Identity In Christ
It’s easier than you think, but there’s an element of trust involved. Recently at church, my wife shared a story about going to the grocery store. She saw several people wearing masks and trying their best to keep their distance in the crowd. There were limitations on certain items, and all the employees were exhausted from working so many hours. Sara just didn’t feel like dealing with it.
I used that as an object lesson in my sermon above. The object lesson I’ll share here is the key to living in the power of your identity.
First, let me say again; there’s an element of trust involved. You have to trust that God’s spirit is giving you wisdom and actual strength, and it’s up to you to choose it.
Here’s the simple lesson, in this case, before you go into the store, remember who you are. You may do this before you get out of bed, go to work, interact with your family, whatever it may be. Before you proceed into whatever you’re doing, take a couple of minutes to remember who God is and who you are in him.
Before you go into the grocery store, you might say something like this; there are people in there who don’t know you, God, I may be the one to show them love and open their hearts to you. I am a child of God. Everywhere I go, I have your peace. I will not react, I will stand in your strength, and I will be open to your power in my life, in this store, whatever that may be. I choose to allow you to give me strength.
Expect strength to arise (trust) and then proceed.
VERY SIMPLE! What you’re doing is putting on the new man, you’re intentionally renewing your mind to who you are in him; therefore, you are positioned for the will of God to work through you.
That’s where the trust comes in, remembering God is present, and he will empower you to walk in love. If you’re going to work, or the doctor or whatever, do the same thing, yield your heart to his love and powerful grace before you go in.
Try it, don’t dismiss it because it’s too simple. Trust that God is giving you strength in a real way; it’s not just a nice idea. Go! Try it! Watch him work in your life!
Download the series
You Can Know God’s Ways
MESSAGE TITLES
How to Receive Revelation from God - Colossians 1
The Most Underrated Passage in the Bible - Colossians 2
You Can Know God's Ways
God's Love Delivers Grace to Your Heart
You Can Know God’s Ways, You Don’t Have To Be Confused
Have you ever heard the idea that you can't know God's ways because they're higher than our ways? It's usually applied when a difficult or confusing thing happens. Well, you don't have to be confused, you can know His ways.
God was actually angry at the Israelites in the wilderness for not knowing His ways. God expects you to know His ways. God has shown us His ways, and His spirit continually teaches you His ways. Click for more.
After their deliverance from Egypt, many of the Israelites complained about their accommodations, which led to unthankfulness, which led to a hardness of heart, which led to them not being able to enter into the land God promised their ancestors.
God was angry with the Israelites in the wilderness for two reasons; their hearts were hard toward Him, and they didn't know His ways. Think about that. He was angry because they didn't know His ways. Most pastors teach people that you can't know God's ways because they're higher than our ways. Confusion is encouraged. "Just accept that you can't understand God's ways and accept what's happening to you because we just don't know what God is doing." This is a lie from hell.
1 Corinthians 2:9 However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him— 10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
Back to the Israelites in the wilderness, He expected them to know His ways! How? They were to remember His faithfulness. He delivered them from Egypt and reminded them of His original promises to their father Abraham and began leading them, but they still wondered if He would follow through.
Hebrews 3:7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice, 8 do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness, 9 where your fathers tested and tried Me, and for forty years saw My works. 10 Therefore I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known My ways.’ 11 So I swore on oath in My anger, ‘They shall never enter My rest.’” 12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God.
Imagine this, God shows up and brings you out of slavery, gives you a bunch of gold, splits a sea for you, feeds you every day, speaks to you audibly, reminds you that you're headed for a beautiful land, and then you say, I'm not sure I can trust you. That's where they were.
Hebrews 3:19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
What were they not believing?
That He would do what He said he would do, even though they just saw Him do amazing things.
Believing isn't hard if you're willing to let go of the emotion of your current circumstances and your opinions of why those circumstances are in your life. But confusion sets in when you try to filter God's ways through your circumstances.
We know God's ways based on who He says He is and what He has done, specifically what He has done in and through Christ. Christ is God's ways; Jesus is THE way. He's not just the path to Heaven, He's the living example of how God operates. We can know God's ways because we can know Jesus.
Today's World
Some of your friends and family members are hardening their hearts toward the Lord right now. The state of the world is uncertain, and lots of people are wondering how God fits into their "new normal." They're a little bit afraid, and they're not sure what the future looks like.
If they don't hold onto the Lord as their anchor, they will begin to astray in their hearts. When people stray away from God in their hearts for too long, they begin to build a life view without Him. It's not intentional, they're just trying to survive. People don't know how to depend on God and include Him in their decision-making processes when life gets hard.
Your job is to love them. Remind them that God loves them and still has good plans for them. Life may be hard, but don't forget to turn to the Lord. Help them know God's love for them and help them learn how to depend on God in real-life situations.
We don't have to be confused. We know God, and we know His ways because we know Jesus.
How Are You Doing?
If you feel like you're drifting and don't understand life right now, don't worry, you can turn it around. Turn to the Lord. Let Him out of the box of your current understanding you have Him in and let Him into the rest of your life.
God is smart. He knows what to do. You can trust Him. His spirit WILL tell you what to do and how to do it. It may sound and look different than what you're used to, but He WILL teach you because He said He would.
Watch my message "How To Receive Revelation from God" and put the steps into practice. You can and will hear from God if you soften your heart toward Him and allow Him to be God in your life.
Download the series
You Can Know God’s Ways
MESSAGE TITLES
How to Receive Revelation from God - Colossians 1
The Most Underrated Passage in the Bible - Colossians 2
You Can Know God's Ways
God's Love Delivers Grace to Your Heart
How to Receive Revelation from God
Did you know you can hear from God anytime you want? God is never silent! We may be more focused on the physical world’s circumstances and ignore His voice, but he is without a doubt speaking. If you can’t hear him in your heart in prayer, you can go to his written word and listen to Him. Whether He said it 3000 years ago or 3 seconds ago, His logos can give you life.
In this message, I walk you through the first chapter of Colossians and show you how to read in such a way that His word will come alive in you. The key is this, can you look at His written logos and appreciate what’s there.
“Revelation is not when God decides to tell you something you didn’t know, revelation happens when your heart sees what’s already true.”
Did you know you can hear from God anytime you want? God is never silent! We may be more focused on life’s circumstances and ignore His voice, but he is without a doubt speaking. If you can’t hear him in your heart in prayer, you can go to his written word and listen to Him. Whether He said it 3000 years ago or 3 seconds ago, His logos can give you life at any moment.
In this message, I walk you through the first chapter of Colossians and show you how to read in such a way that His word comes alive in you. The question is this, can you look at His written logos and appreciate what’s there?
Art Appreciation
Do you enjoy art or music? Have you ever gazed at a sculpture or painting notice more and more the longer you stare? You end up getting more out of the art than it holds at face value. A true work of art will evoke an emotional response. Art can be transcendent, opening your heart and mind to different layers and even move you at a deep level.
The written logos of God is the same way. You can look at it at face value, but you can gaze a little deeper and allow it to speak to you. If you appreciate what’s written at face value, you can relax your eyes a little and look with your heart. In fact, you WANT to look at the written word with the eyes of your heart.
Two Sets of Eyes
When you look at the written logos of God with the eyes of your heart, you see the unlimited potentials behind what’s written. Look at it with a spiritual lens, knowing that anything is possible. If you’re reading a miraculous story, see yourself in the image. Dream a little, allow it to inspire an emotional response. Use your imagination.
Once you see the potentials and allow a little hope to arise, make sure you don’t immediately look at your life to see the same things. In other words, allow the experience to build in your heart. Give it time to grow. You are not going to receive revelation with the eyes of your heart and then immediately see it with the eyes in your head in your life.
The eyes of your heart see spiritual seeds and promises. The eyes of your head see the evidence. But the evidence can take time.
It’s your job to sow the logos before you need it, so you can reap the harvest of the promises and provision in God’s word when you need it.
Homework
Step 1: Watch the full sermon
Step 2: Read through the book of Colossians for yourself and apply the reading method I teach you in the sermon.
Step 3: Write down the revelation you receive while reading
Step 4: DO IT!!! Put it in to practice.