Colossians 2:12 - Prayer Tents

2I want you to realize that I continue to work as hard as I know how for you, and also for the Christians over at Laodicea. Not many of you have met me face-to-face, but that doesn't make any difference. Know that I'm on your side, right alongside you. You're not in this alone.G1063G2309G5209G1492G2245G73G2192G4012G5216G2532G1722G2993G2532G3745G3708G3756G3708G3450G4383G1722G45612I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God's great mystery.G2443G846G2588G3870G4822G1722G26G2532G1519G3956G4149G4136G4907G1519G1922G3466G2316G2532G3962G2532G55473All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge are embedded in that mystery and nowhere else. And we've been shown the mystery!G1722G3739G1526G614G3956G2344G4678G2532G11084I'm telling you this because I don't want anyone leading you off on some wild-goose chase, after other so-called mysteries, or "the Secret."G1161G5124G3004G3363G5100G3884G5209G1722G40865I'm a long way off, true, and you may never lay eyes on me, but believe me, I'm on your side, right beside you. I am delighted to hear of the careful and orderly ways you conduct your affairs, and impressed with the solid substance of your faith in Christ.G1063G1499G548G4561G235G1510G4862G5213G4151G5463G2532G991G5216G5010G2532G4733G5216G4102G1519G5547

From the Shadows to the Substance

6My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you've been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him.G5613G3880G3767G3880G5547G2424G2962G4043G1722G8467You're deeply rooted in him. You're well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you've been taught. School's out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.G4492G2532G2026G1722G846G2532G950G1722G4102G2531G1321G4052G1722G846G1722G21698Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything. They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. But that's not the way of Christ.G991G3361G5100G2071G4812G5209G1223G5385G2532G2756G539G2596G3862G444G2596G4747G2889G2532G3756G2596G55479Everything of God gets expressed in him, so you can see and hear him clearly. You don't need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him.G3754G1722G846G2730G3956G4138G2320G498510When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything.G2532G2075G4137G1722G846G3739G2076G2776G3956G746G2532G184911Entering into this fullness is not something you figure out or achieve. It's not a matter of being circumcised or keeping a long list of laws. No, you're already in—insiders—not through some secretive initiation rite but rather through what Christ has already gone through for you, destroying the power of sin.G1722G3739G2532G4059G4061G886G1722G555G4983G266G4561G1722G4061G554712If it's an initiation ritual you're after, you've already been through it by submitting to baptism. Going under the water was a burial of your old life; coming up out of it was a resurrection, God raising you from the dead as he did Christ.G4916G846G1722G908G1722G3739G2532G4891G1223G4102G1753G2316G3588G1453G846G1537G349813When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven,G2532G5209G5607G3498G1722G3900G2532G203G5216G4561G4806G4862G846G5483G5213G3956G390014the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ's Cross.G1813G5498G1378G2596G2257G3739G2258G5227G2254G2532G142G846G1537G3319G4338G846G471615He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.G554G746G2532G1849G1165G1722G3954G2358G846G1722G84616So don't put up with anyone pressuring you in details of diet, worship services, or holy days.G2919G3361G5100G3767G2919G5209G1722G1035G2228G1722G4213G2228G1722G3313G1859G2228G3561G2228G452117All those things are mere shadows cast before what was to come; the substance is Christ.G3739G2076G4639G3195G1161G4983G554718Don't tolerate people who try to run your life, ordering you to bow and scrape, insisting that you join their obsession with angels and that you seek out visions. They're a lot of hot air, that's all they are.G2603G3367G2603G5209G2603G1722G2309G5012G2532G2356G32G1687G3739G3708G3361G3708G1500G5448G5259G846G4561G356319They're completely out of touch with the source of life, Christ, who puts us together in one piece, whose very breath and blood flow through us. He is the Head and we are the body. We can grow up healthy in God only as he nourishes us.G2532G3756G2902G2776G1537G3739G3956G4983G1223G860G2532G4886G2023G2532G4822G837G838G231620So, then, if with Christ you've put all that pretentious and infantile religion behind you, why do you let yourselves be bullied by it?G3767G1487G599G4862G5547G575G4747G2889G5101G5613G2198G1722G2889G137921"Don't touch this! Don't taste that! Don't go near this!"G680G3361G1089G3366G2345G336622Do you think things that are here today and gone tomorrow are worth that kind of attention?G3739G3956G2076G1519G5356G671G2596G1778G2532G1319G44423Such things sound impressive if said in a deep enough voice. They even give the illusion of being pious and humble and ascetic. But they're just another way of showing off, making yourselves look important.G3748G2192G3303G2076G3056G4678G1722G1479G2532G5012G2532G857G4983G3756G1722G5100G5092G4314G4140G4561