Colossians 2:5 - Prayer Tents



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Colossians 2
The Message Help
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.G1063G2309G5209G1492G2245G73G2192G4012G5216G2532G1722G2993G2532G3745G3708G3756G3708G3450G4383G1722G4561 2I 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.G2443G846G2588G3870G4822G1722G26G2532G1519G3956G4149G4136G4907G1519G1922G3466G2316G2532G3962G2532G5547 3All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge are embedded in that mystery and nowhere else. And we've been shown the mystery!G1722G3739G1526G614G3956G2344G4678G2532G1108 4I'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."G1161G5124G3004G3363G5100G3884G5209G1722G4086 5I'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.G5613G3880G3767G3880G5547G2424G2962G4043G1722G846 7You'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.G4492G2532G2026G1722G846G2532G950G1722G4102G2531G1321G4052G1722G846G1722G2169 8Watch 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.G991G3361G5100G2071G4812G5209G1223G5385G2532G2756G539G2596G3862G444G2596G4747G2889G2532G3756G2596G5547 9Everything 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.G3754G1722G846G2730G3956G4138G2320G4985 10When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything.G2532G2075G4137G1722G846G3739G2076G2776G3956G746G2532G1849 11Entering 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.G1722G3739G2532G4059G4061G886G1722G555G4983G266G4561G1722G4061G5547 12If 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.G4916G846G1722G908G1722G3739G2532G4891G1223G4102G1753G2316G3588G1453G846G1537G3498 13When 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,G2532G5209G5607G3498G1722G3900G2532G203G5216G4561G4806G4862G846G5483G5213G3956G3900 14the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ's Cross.G1813G5498G1378G2596G2257G3739G2258G5227G2254G2532G142G846G1537G3319G4338G846G4716 15He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.G554G746G2532G1849G1165G1722G3954G2358G846G1722G846 16So don't put up with anyone pressuring you in details of diet, worship services, or holy days.G2919G3361G5100G3767G2919G5209G1722G1035G2228G1722G4213G2228G1722G3313G1859G2228G3561G2228G4521 17All those things are mere shadows cast before what was to come; the substance is Christ.G3739G2076G4639G3195G1161G4983G5547 18Don'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.G2603G3367G2603G5209G2603G1722G2309G5012G2532G2356G32G1687G3739G3708G3361G3708G1500G5448G5259G846G4561G3563 19They'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.G2532G3756G2902G2776G1537G3739G3956G4983G1223G860G2532G4886G2023G2532G4822G837G838G2316 20So, then, if with Christ you've put all that pretentious and infantile religion behind you, why do you let yourselves be bullied by it?G3767G1487G599G4862G5547G575G4747G2889G5101G5613G2198G1722G2889G1379 21"Don't touch this! Don't taste that! Don't go near this!"G680G3361G1089G3366G2345G3366 22Do you think things that are here today and gone tomorrow are worth that kind of attention?G3739G3956G2076G1519G5356G671G2596G1778G2532G1319G444 23Such 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


The Message (MSG). All Scripture quotations are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries. More details.
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