MAY YOU LIVE WORTHY AND GROW IN HIS KNOWLEDGE AND POWER

Proclamation:

"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you.  We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all wisdom and understanding that The Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of The Lord and 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 giving joyful thanks to The Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of His holy people in the kingdom of light." Colossians 1:9-12 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by the Apostle Paul to the Christians in Colossae.  Paul was letting them know that he was praying for them.  He told them that he appreciates the good work that they have done and prays that they will continue, and grow in knowledge, and bear good fruit, and be strengthened with His power to endure that which is ahead.

Application:
We need to understand that it is not just the preachers that work for The Lord, but every believer has a job to do for God.  He has to prepare us before He can use us to work for His glory.  That preparation can sometimes be painful and unpleasant, but it is for our benefit.  No matter how much we know, or think that we know, we all need to grow in spiritual knowledge and holiness.  The only way we can do that is by reading and studying The Word of God.  We need to be strengthened with His power to produce good fruit and to withstand the storms of life that are to come.  According to Bible scholar John MacArthur, the good fruit we need to produce includes leading people to Christ (1 Corinthians 16:15), praising God (Hebrews 13:15), giving money (Romans 15:26-28), living a Godly life (Hebrews 12:11), and displaying holy attitudes. (Galatians 5:22-23)  Bible scholar Thomas Nelson states that “endurance and patience are necessary for our perseverance through the storms, problems, trials, and tribulations that are to come, along with forbearance of the faults and offences of others.”  We not only need God’s help to deal with our present situation, we need Him in order to deal with the things which are to come in the future.

Reading And Studying The Bible Is Good For Us

"For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."  Romans 15:4 (NIV)

Here the Apostle Paul states that all of the divinely inspired previous writings were written for the benefit of man.  By reading the scriptures man would learn how to endure, and be encouraged to continue to endure with the hope of better things to come.

The Bible is not just a book, or just a collection of books or stories.  The Bible is the divinely inspired written Word of God.  It can be used for divine guidance and instruction, the development of sound doctrine, and the reproof of wrong behavior or belief.  (2 Timothy 3:16)  The Bible teaches us what God expects us to do.  It also gives us a means to test what we hear so that we can recognize false prophets and false doctrine.   The Bible also inspires and encourages us to persevere in bad times and to keep the faith in light of the good things yet to come because the victory is already ours. 

May You Live Worthy And Gorw In His Knowledge And Power

"For 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." Colossians 1:9-12 (NIV)

The Apostle Paul is letting the Christians in Colossae know that he is praying for them. He appreciates the good work that they have done and prays that they will continue, and grow in knowledge, and bear good fruit, and be strengthened with His power to endure what is ahead.

It is not just the preachers that work for The Lord, but every beliver has a job to do for God. He has to prepare us before He can use us to work for His glory. That preparation can sometimes be painful and unpleasant, but it is for our benefit. No matter how much we know, or think that we know, we all need to grow in spiritual knowledge and holiness. We need to be strengthened with His power to produce good fruit and to withstand the storms of life that are to come. According to John MacArthur, the good fruit we need to produce includes leading people to Christ (1 Cor 16:15), praising God (Heb 13:15), giving money (Rom 15:26-28), living a Godly life (Heb 12:11), and displaying holy attitudes (Gal 5:22-23). Thomas Nelson states that endurance and patience are necessary for our persevering through the storms, problems, trials, and tribulations that are to come, along with forebearing the faults and offences of others.