I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. Colossians 1:24-29 NKJV
Jesus taught us in Matthew 5:11-12 that we would be persecuted for His sake: "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." While persecution is not pleasant or easy, in once sense it is
good. Being reviled for His sake, indicates that you are living "Christ-like" and that should be a blessing knowing you're on the right track.
Two things speak to me about "I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God," that Paul spoke. One is he didn't assume the position of minister. He was given the job by God. Romans 11:29 "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." Some might say it was his "calling". However you refer to it, it is something God ordained and it compels you to comply. For me, writing is like that. I simply must write. I am obedient to get to the computer, but it is God speaking the words through my fingers as I type.
The second thing that spoke to me is the reason the position of minister is given. It's not given for selfish reasons. It's given to benefit of others and to fulfill the word of God. Every good and perfect gift comes from God (James 1:17). In His wisdom, he gave people gifts, talents and abilities for the purpose of fulfilling His word. 1 Corinthians 12 has a lot to say about these God given gifts. These gifts are to be used to build up the body of Christ and so doing will fulfill the word of God.
When Paul said the mystery would be revealed to His saints, he was referring to the Holy Spirit in us. Look at what Jesus said in John 15:26 "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me." Jesus further explained in John 16:13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He
will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come." The Spirit of Christ living in us does the revealing of God's mysteries. Little by little as these mysteries are made known to us, the hope of glory we have increases, bring with it an overflowing joy.
Paul says "Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." Remember, that God's word is good for correction, teaching, rebuking and training man in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." Therefore, we need to stay in God's word to continue being equipped for His work.
Lastly, Paul says his labor and striving is God's working in him. Paul recognized God's work and allowed God to bring it about in Paul's life. It's like that for us. Some times it's hard to step aside and simply allow God to work through us. We so easily want to handle it on our own, or think we know the best way to accomplish something. But God works differently. Our job is to listen for His prompting and then follow through with it. We do, we see the amazing things He does through us and we can easily give all the glory to God because we know we never could have caused the thing to come about with His might working in us. Let us go on to find out what Zechariah learned in Zechariah 4:6 "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, Says the LORD of hosts."
Are you letting God's Spirit work in you?
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