Colossians

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Living worthy every day

Col 1:10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

As I was reading scripture this morning, I began to think how little Paul talked about being caught up to be with the Lord, commonly called the rapture.
He mentions it in 1 Thessalonians and brushes against it in 1 Corinthians.
He does not write about it to the Galatians, the Philippians, the Ephesians, or the Romans.
He did not pound the situation over and over and over.
What he does write about more than anything else is living in this present life.
This is the most important thing.
The rapture will come and fulfill its purpose but will you fulfill yours until it happens?
When you read the Gospels you see Jesus also more concerned about daily living than after-life living.
Our influence in the lives of others is purposed here and now not hereafter.
It is okay to talk and teach about those mysteries but consider reading God’s word and living worthy of it every day.

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Apologetics – Part 5

Paul’s entire set of epistles seem to be nothing but Christian apologetics – he defends the faith.

Each letter is written to a group, region, or church that seems to be going through problems, questions, or false teachings.

For instance to the Corinthians Paul defended the resurrection, spiritual gifts, Communion, marriage and divorce, hair length, and law suits just to name a few.

To the Galatians, Paul had to defend against Judaizers that came with a different gospel of following the Law.

In Ephesians he defended the family.

And I could go on but you can read each for yourself and experience what Paul was saying.

Probably one of the best lines from Paul on apologetics is given in Colossians –

Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. Col 4:5-6

Apologetics demands wisdom and patience. It demands grace in what you say and how you say it so that the answers you give will be received.

Abba, I want grace and salt in my speech today. In Jesus name, YES&AMEN