Colossians Chapter 4 Verses 5 – 6

•What does it mean to walk in wisdom? To walk in wisdom quite practically is to walk in the constant consciousness of God and (so important!) the power and truth of His Word! The Bible says that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom…notice it’s not the knowledge of God, it’s the reverence, the surrender, the properity (yes new word) of giving God the lead and not just saying, “Here You lead,” but coming to a heart/head handshake that God is, oh my good gollie (oh my lanta!) He is God ALMIGHTY!

•The fear of God is not to tremble at the thought of Him because you are afraid but to contemplate and digest His awesomeness…that He was in the before and will be in the after…in fact He is already there…that He designed all of this…understands intricately all of this and He Himself defines and is the only Truth that ever was…then you realize what has happened…how man has fallen and turned from Him who walked with us in the cool of the day in the early dawn of creation…and yet because not only is He Truth but He also is Love, He paid an unfathomable and precious price to shut the accusing mouth of sin that stands continually against each one of us…

•And you lean back in your chair completely undone and fall to your knees in worship of the One True King…you have arrived at the fear of the Lord! And now you cannot entertain the idea of any lifestyle or life decision outside of the boundaries of His Word and worship towards His name. Two reasons. First, that’s just unintelligent! He is truth! What He has said WILL come to pass. It’s like the ultimate cliff notes, the foolproof and perfect cheat sheet (literally) on life…It’s like Greys Sports Almanac! HA! So it absolutely should violate your mental warning system to go against His Word..but second, He loves me!

•The idea of a life lived outside of fellowship with God is heart pain, man! Why? Because not only is He Truth, He is Love! So not only am I just foolish in terms of brain activity to not follow Him, I’m foolish in terms of heart activity as well! These two concepts, this head/heart handshake…that is the fear of God man…and then I learn. I study the Pentateuch, the prophets, the psalms the proverbs and my mind is blown! Knowledge builds!

•And then I study the Gospels and walk with Jesus and get to know God Himself (John 17 – Jesus shares the glory yet Isaiah 42 and Isaiah 48 are so clear that God will not share His glory and so we MUST conclude that Jesus is God) and see His heart and hear His words I am brought into such clarity and simplicity of love for Him. Then the letters from the disciples and the prophecy of what is and is to come and man I am just, well now I have the cliff notes in my heart…knowledge beyond human capacity as the Holy Spirit within me teaches me all things moment to moment…

•And yet, knowledge on its own is quite lacking. You can know lots of things and be unwise…having knowledge and using knowledge are very different. The fear of God is there so wisdom has Knowledge has surged so wisdom is enabled. And yet Paul says…Walk. It. Out. You can tell me all about fruit but do you got any??

• It. Out. Quit living every day frustrated with not being who you want to be. Be as you ought to be! Lest those outside never come inside. That is how you redeem the time and let me tell you, that is not the norm in today’s Christianity…but it is the norm in Christianity!

•Salt adds It adds richness. It preserves. It makes others thirsty! Does what you say do this? Does it make others thirsty for more or just ready to get away from you? Paul says that if you walk in wisdom…this will be your natural condition. I had an interesting thought the other day…if there were two of you, would you friend yourself on Facebook? HA! Of course EVERYONE in here says yes! Of course! I’m my fav!

•But the idea is to not see you as you see you but see you as others do…what would that be like? Do you know what your words, your comments, your constantly trying to prove yourself, the way you greet folks, your facial tendencies…do you know…does that make people thirsty for more or ready to run! HA! Whatever you’re thinking right now, if you haven’t studied this in your life…you’re wrong! HA!

•If you’re not aware of this…it’s called self-awareness…not aware that you’re here but aware of what you are doing to them…and look people are nice and accommodating, you can’t go off of how they respond…you’ve got to seek the Lord on this…

•The other night I was praying with Link. My five year old. And I always tuck him in to bed and kinda just put my arm over him and we pray for a few minutes before saying our goodnights. Well the other night we were praying and man he was into it…like grunting and making these approval type sounds when I would finish a sentence and I was like, “Wow, he’s really feeling this. Praise God!” Then he interrupted me after about his fifth grunt…, “Dad, you’re crushing me!” HA! I wonder, who are you crushing without knowing it…Paul says walk in wisdom man…fill your speech with grace and season it with the salt of a real love for God and a real walk with Him…that is how we ought to be!

Colossians Chapter 4 Verses 7 – 9

•These were most likely the letter carriers for Paul and it was probably Onesimus that came to Paul and told him what was going on in Collasse. You know, Paul was a soul winner, but man he was also a lover of people. Throughout his letters, over 100 people are greeted by Paul…

Colossians Chapter 4 Verses 10 – 11

•One person should stick out here and that is Mark. Remember the story from Acts 13? Mark had turned back during Paul’s first missionary journey…then at the second, Barnabas wanted to bring him again and Paul said no… Now, years later, Paul salutes him. Mark grew up and Paul forgave…great pattern.

Colossians Chapter 4 Verses 12 – 14

•Now tragically, right before Paul dies he pens in 2 Timothy 4:10 that Demas had forsaken him, having loved this present world…How interesting for the Holy Spirit to insert this dichotomy between Mark and Demas…Mark started poorly, finished strong…Demas the opposite…what happened? Mark learned. He came to a place of humility, man…ever read his gospel…where is he mentioned in there? Nowhere…he speaks of himself as a young lad. Demas had all he wanted, knew it all…why else go back to the world? I see many Christians do this and they end up burning out…our walk is like a fire to be fed and when it stops being fed, it begins to die down to the point where it can be just left in ashes…

Colossians Chapter 4 Verses 15 – 17

•Nymphas was surging forward in his home church ministry while Archippus needed a little kick start…

Colossians Chapter 4 Verses 18

•Paul asks them to remember his authority…that he is not ministering to them to get their money or their approval but in chains…and in that, the most important thought, grace be with you…In other words…let the Gospel be the reason and the reminder of everything!

•It’s a beautiful book…from Christology, to apologetics…to practical Christian life and pointed application, this book leaves us with what we began with…