Tag: Devotion

Loving my Brother…Part 3

On By Ben JenningsIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Colossians 1:9
9For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

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One of the most important things that I can do in my life, and that I can teach other people to do, is to ask the right questions.  So many times in life the difference between success and failure is asking the right questions.  When the right question is asked it leads to the best answers.  Finding answers leads to direction for our lives and that’s a great thing to have, as long as it’s the right direction.

As we said yesterday, Paul prays for his fellow believers, and in this way he is showing them love.  Part of loving our brother and sister in Christ is praying for them.  But what did Paul pray for them…

Paul prayed that the Colossians “might be filled with the knowledge of his will…”  That means that he was praying that the Colossians would know what God wants for them.  What a great thing to pray for the people we should love.   “God would you help __________ to know what direction they need to take.  Help them understand what you want for their marriage/job/future/morality/kids etc etc?”  
Part of knowing God’s will is asking that question in the first place!  God what do you want?  What is your will?!  Of course, God’s will is revealed in his Word.  

To pray that prayer for someone else, you have to be praying it for yourself too!  What does God want for you to do?

Loving my Brother… Part 1

On By Ben JenningsIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Colossians 1:1-4
 1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother, 2To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints,

tumblr l8qpofgsik1qd8s9iIf you had a sibling growing up, then you learned about a life-long struggle early on.  The struggle that I’m talking about is consistently loving those around you.  One thing that I’ll be willing to admit about my relationship with Shad (my brother) is that I wasn’t always lovable.

The problem with that fact was that I was around my brother.  A lot.  We were in the same family, same school, same youth group, shared a room, went on the same vacations, and my mom even bought us the same clothes (different sizes obviously 🙂 ).  

Being part of a family doesn’t mean that you’ll automatically love each other.  It takes work.  With my brother it took a lot of work because we were around each other so much.  This meant more opportunities to hurt each other, and a lot of opportunities to make some great memories.  I love my brother!  We get along great now, and he’s one of my best friends.  That wasn’t always the case.

If we were all honest we would admit that we aren’t always loveable, and neither are our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We’re not always worthy of love, Jesus said that they will know we are his followers by our love for each other. In this passage, Paul commends the Colossian church of their “love for all the saints.”  These people loved the family of God, so much so that Paul had heard of it where he was.

Today I want to start a series of posts that I’ll do ‘til Friday, specifically on loving other Christians.  Come on back for more!

Do you love other believers?  Your church? Your Sunday School class? How do you show it?