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God's Will Toward You Is Good
11 Plays8 months ago
Vernon shares how the "knowledge of His will" in Colossians 1:9 is NOT about our marching orders to better behave or perform, but about God's good intentions to you and I in Christ. Vernon shares Paul's prayer for the Colossians, and he closes with a prayer for you. Vernon encourages you to walk worthy and invites you to partner with his team at Grace Ministries International to help others walk free. Join with us to make a huge difference in the mental health crisis that is so evident in society today. Help us raise up counselors, mentors, and influencers all across this country and around the world through prayer and your financial support. https://secure.lglforms.com/form_engine/s/g2lyjqQ9rheEYpO44dZAfw
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Transcript
Introduction to Walking Free
00:00:02
Speaker
This is your host, Vernon Terrell with Grace Ministries International and it's time for Walking Free. And welcome back.
Journey of Self-Discovery
00:00:23
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This is Vernon and today as I was reading in Colossians
00:00:30
Speaker
some things were just jumping out. And it's probably just all that the Lord is working in my own life and going through this journey of life and learning and experiencing a cycle that sometimes we think, oh, you know, I'm older, more mature, I've learned so much, and this idea of brokenness and growing, well, I've done all that, right?
Breaking Dependencies Through God
00:01:00
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Well, no, it continues as I think as one of our counselors uses the illustration of the onion and that's Ed and Ed will say, yeah, God's always just peeling the onion a little bit more and revealing new things. And I'm and I see it. I experience it.
00:01:24
Speaker
and that God's been doing it and just showing me some new things, it can be painful. And again, when we use this idea of brokenness, not that God wants to come out and break you, but you know, he wants to break our dependency on things where we're trying to suck life instead of experiencing life in him when we're, he wants to break things, the lies that we hold on to,
00:01:54
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He wants to break through some old patterns of thinking and behaving so we can, for the purpose of us experiencing him and experiencing life.
Believers as Saints in Paul's Letters
00:02:07
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And I know God's been at work in me and as I read Colossians and reread it and reread it and I'm sure I'll see new things the next time I reread it.
00:02:22
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I'm sure you experienced that as well. But as Paul is writing to this church in Colossae, to these faithful saints, and I love how he does that in most of his epistles. He says to the saints, to the haggis, to the holy ones. He never describes to the sinners in Colossae, no.
00:02:52
Speaker
He describes them as who they are, even the Corinthians, and they were a mess. And yet he says to the saints, and that's you and I as believers in Jesus Christ. We are saints. And as Paul, and as I'm reading this, and I'm looking at this letter,
00:03:18
Speaker
it says that he was praying for these folks. He says in verse nine, he goes, look, for this reason, and describing, you know, they're going through some hard times, but he's just declaring they heard the truth, they received the truth, and they have been expressing
00:03:46
Speaker
the truth and the love of God as they understood God's grace. And he says, I have not ceased to pray for you. And as I was thinking about that, I said, you know, I'm gonna pray for those who are listening to this podcast.
Connecting Through Prayer
00:04:01
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So if you're listening, well, obviously you are. I was praying for you. Well, you don't even know who I am. Well, that's true. God does. If you reach out, I'll know who you are.
00:04:15
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and I can pray for you more specifically. I always encourage you to reach out. You can just send an email to web, like websites, just web, W-E-B, at gmet.org, G-M-I-N-T dot O-R-G. And tell me you're listening, tell me what's on your heart. I'd love to pray for you specifically, but I have been and today was praying for you.
00:04:45
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And here's the prayer, and this really is the whole purpose of the podcast and what we do at Grace Ministries. It's what we're all about.
Mission of Grace Ministries
00:04:55
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That's why we created the Life Untangled app and why we counsel and why we have our encounter discipleship group and are equipping the discipleship counselor. It's really phase two of encounter, if you will, for those who want to pursue Christian counseling with the exchange life model.
00:05:17
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We have not ceased to pray for you, Paul says, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will. And the cool thing about this is it's not the knowledge of what he wants you to do. Every time we think of God's will, what does God want me to do? That's not what is being communicated right here.
Understanding God's Will
00:05:43
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It's that you may be filled
00:05:46
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up to the brim with the knowledge of his will. And this word, which is so interesting, and I love how Spyros Zodiates, the Greek scholar, defines this thelama, thelama. In the suffix ma,
00:06:14
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when you put the suffix ma on here, it's the result of his will. As Dr. Zoriati says, will, not to be conceived as a demand, but as an expression or inclination of pleasure toward that or who which is liked, that which pleases and creates joy,
00:06:40
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it signifies his gracious disposition towards something. That something is you and me. So let's read it with that understanding. As Paul is saying, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge, the real knowledge,
00:07:08
Speaker
this epinosis, this full experiential knowledge of his good pleasure, his will, that good pleasure toward you, his desire of what he wants, what he has done, what he is doing, what he is going to do in you and through you. All of it, his good intentions toward you,
00:07:40
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that you may be filled to knowing and experiencing that in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Wow. God's intentions toward you are good. He demonstrated that on the cross. God's not demanding that you do something to get him to like you. He wants you to understand how much
00:08:07
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He actually likes you and loves you and has given you all things in Christ. And that's the beauty. Paul is saying, I need you to know this. So you're not trying to please him. He's pleased with you because of Christ.
Walking Worthy of the Lord
00:08:30
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And when you know that, that's when you please him.
00:08:37
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And he says, I want you to know this in all spiritual wisdom and understanding in Colossians 1.10, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. You know how you walk in a manner worthy of the Lord? When you realize the worth that you have in the Lord. When you know how worthy you are in Christ. When you know He has created you as a brand new creation that Paul calls a holy one, a saint.
00:09:08
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so that you walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. Because you understand His good pleasure toward you. So then you please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. What knowledge? The knowledge
00:09:28
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that he loves you, that you're brand new, that he's made you worthy. You can hold your head up high and walk worthy yet humble in him. How about that? That's what the podcast is all about. Walking free, walking free from shame, walking free from guilt, walking free from condemnation, walking free, throwing off
00:09:55
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all of the old lies you believed, all the things you have to do to make God happy. He's happy. So you can just put that aside. He's happy with you. You can put that aside. You're forgiven. You don't have to do penance to get any more forgiveness. And you're alive in Him.
00:10:19
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For this reason, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask because we get distracted. We need to be reminded. And Paul is asking the Father that those in Colossae may be filled with the knowledge, the real experiential knowledge
00:10:44
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of God's will, God's power and direction and intention and good pleasure toward them. They can understand God is for them, not against them.
Strengthened by God's Power
00:10:58
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In all spiritual wisdom and understanding so they can breathe and just walk as who they are in a manner worthy of the Lord
00:11:10
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to please Him in all respects because they're walking as the worthy saints that He created them to be. And they're bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in this knowledge, this epinosis, this experience of God. God wants us to experience the reality of God, the reality of Christ in us.
00:11:37
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strengthened with all power. And that strengthen is passive voice. It's not you getting stronger. I love working out, I love exercise, that's awesome. But it's receiving God's strength with his power according to his glorious might.
00:12:06
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It's tapping in to God's glorious might. For what? For the attaining of all steadfastness and patience. That idea of steadfastness, of perseverance, of bearing up under
00:12:36
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trials and circumstances. Patience is that forbearance underneath all of the trials that are coming on top of you. And he says joyously. He's not saying God's going to take away all of the pressure. All of the trials certainly didn't in the first century.
00:13:06
Speaker
He says, I want you to understand God's good pleasure toward you. He's not a burden. One other thing that's on your list to make happy and to do. He says, I want you to receive my good pleasure. Tap into my unfathomed power so you can walk with your head up high in a humble manner. This is what's crazy. He wants us to walk worthy of the Lord.
00:13:37
Speaker
Not as this, oh, I'm just a poor rotten person. No, walk as who you are and you are a saint, you're a holy one. Walk in that way. And when you walk in confident in holiness, you can walk in humility because you don't have to one up anybody. You don't have to push to get ahead. You're already ahead. So now you can humble yourself as Jesus did.
00:14:07
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bearing fruit in every good work, strengthened by his power, by his incredible might, to be steadfast and patient with joy, because life comes hard at us at times. Relationships are challenging, and you're not gonna do it right every time. I don't. Oh my gosh, I don't. But we can come back in humility
00:14:37
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and repair. And we have all of this to attain this steadfastness and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, and I love this next word, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance the lot of all the holy ones in light.
00:15:07
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Do you know God has qualified you? God has made you competent. You're qualified. You're qualified to share in the inheritance with all the saints, all of the saints, every one of them. You're qualified to share in the inheritance, the same inheritance that Billy Graham has got, the same inheritance that all the great saints of old
00:15:37
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has, you're qualified. You, you're competent, you're made worthy. The cross leveled the playing field. The issue isn't all the things you do and we're not to compare about who's doing more. No, he's already qualified us. Now go and be you.
00:16:05
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Go and encourage those in your sphere of influence. Go and make a difference to that one person that no one else can touch except you because you're competent. You're made worthy in Christ. And yes, life comes, but he's given us all his power, made us brand new. He has leaned in to us.
00:16:35
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to say I'm doing all this for you, in you, and through you. You're qualified. I'm with you when the pressure comes so you can be patient. I'm with you when the trials come so you can be steadfast and continue on with joy.
00:17:01
Speaker
I want you to receive the joy of God. Life is hard at times. I don't want to diminish the hardness of it. I want to magnify the joy of Christ who is with you in it. Receive the joy now. Express to God your thankfulness for his life in you, for his power in you.
00:17:30
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Did your circumstance change? Nope, it might, don't know. Did the trials change? Probably not. But He is in you, with you, always, never leaving you. And He has qualified you to share in the inheritance of all the saints in light.
Redemption and Forgiveness
00:17:56
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Why in light? What is this?
00:17:59
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in light, well he continues, he rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son. That's the light. We're sharing in this inheritance which has no boundaries. So we're sharing in this unlimited inheritance in light in Christ.
00:18:26
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because he rescued, the word is he snatched us from the domain of darkness. And we have been transferred, the transaction is complete. You are in light, I am in light. And in whom, in him, we have this redemption. This is, a ransom was paid, it was through his death, barren resurrection.
00:18:55
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and you made a choice to receive that. You said, Lord, rescue me. Lord, I believe, and he took and snatched you right out of that darkness in an instant and put you in the kingdom of his sun and light, and you have been redeemed, ransomed, rescued, and in him.
00:19:22
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Not only do you have redemption, but forgiveness of sins. You have all the forgiveness you're ever gonna get.
00:19:31
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You can't beg him for any more. You can't barter him with him for any more. The fact is you are forgiven because you are in Christ. You are in his kingdom. You are in light. There is no more darkness. You are in light. Isn't that amazing? That is what
00:19:59
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Grace, ministry does. In verse 10, I want you to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. I want you to walk free, the name of the podcast Walking Free. And to do that, you need to know what is God's will toward you, its goodness, its power, its light.
00:20:26
Speaker
It's holiness, it's righteousness. He's made you worthy and competent. That's his desire that he has accomplished and he is accomplishing in you. He wants you to experience it, to know it, that Ebino-sis, he wants you to know it in your experience. Do you? That's what we do. That's the podcast.
00:20:55
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the Ministry of Grace Ministries, where we help people walk free. That's the mission. That's the mission.
Supporting the Mission
00:21:08
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And you know, we want to see. And I invite you to join with me and with my entire team to help men and women and families here and around the world
00:21:24
Speaker
Walk free and experience God's rest. To walk free and experience that rest in the midst of trials, in the midst of challenging relationships, to learn how to walk free and experience God's rest. You don't have to labor hard and work hard and perform hard. You can rest. That is our ministry.
00:21:54
Speaker
And if you're looking for something to invest in, to pray for, to financially support, absolutely, I want you to join with me because that's what we are all about. That's what I'm excited about every day, every moment. That is my heart's desire, is for people to see Christ, to understand the knowledge of his will,
00:22:22
Speaker
bent in desire toward them what he has accomplished on the cross with our new identity and our forgiveness wrapped up in the person of Jesus Christ, he has made you new and made you worthy to walk free. So I boldly
00:22:45
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and unashamedly encourage you if you want to support and get on our team so we can go and reach more people through counseling, through training, through our app, through our podcast. We've got new programs we are building right now to reach new environments, new, I'll even use the word markets, new places with this good news of God's grace.
00:23:13
Speaker
I want to see a discipleship counselor in every state. We are already in multiple states. I want us to grow and train more counselors. And to do that, yes, I need help and partners to help me do that. I want you to be one of those to come. And if you don't want to be a counselor, come in and take advantage of our Life Entangled app. Take advantage and join the encounter.
00:23:41
Speaker
join any of the webinars that we put on so you can be equipped to be an influencer. I want influencers, I want counselors, I want mentors in every state and in other countries. We've got folks right now, we've got one of our staff persons who was in Columbia, has over 15 years built a ministry in Columbia. They're now their own independent, they're joined with us.
00:24:11
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15 or more counselors who are serving those in South America, in Colombia, in Bogota specifically. She's now moving to Argentina. She's in Argentina right now, helping to build and equip a ministry there, going to Brazil. We have a pastor that we love to partner with in Ghana right now.
00:24:38
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working with school children, building a school, has a school, and building more. There's so much. So am I excited? Yes. Do I want you to walk free? Yes. Do I want you to experience the joy of partnering with an organization that is doing exactly what Paul was doing in writing to those in Colossae? Yes.
Becoming Influencers of Grace
00:25:06
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That's what we're about.
00:25:10
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I guess you can tell I'm excited. I would love to meet with you personally, face to face to, so you can see my eyeballs, whether over Zoom or over lunch or over coffee. I would love to do that, to share what we're doing. I want you to come and partner with me and with Grace Ministries. Because we've been doing it for 40 years, but we are taking it to the next level
00:25:39
Speaker
and we wanna impact this country and the mental health crisis that is just rampant. I know and am convinced that it's the love of God, the grace of God, and the power of God that will make the difference all through Jesus Christ. I want you to be an influencer.
00:26:08
Speaker
And if you don't support us, still go be an influencer. If you can't right now, still go be an influencer. I want you to pray for us, pray for God to open the doors, and I want you to go out and walk. Free. I want you to go out and experience rest. Don't let the enemy win in your life. He wants to steal and to kill and to destroy. He wants to disrupt.
00:26:38
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Don't let him. Don't let him. I pray, and I'll end this podcast with this prayer, that you will be filled with the knowledge of his will.
Prayer for Knowledge of God's Will
00:27:03
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his good intentions toward you in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, free to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened
00:27:31
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with all power according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience, joyously giving thanks to the Father
00:27:45
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who has qualified us, who's qualified me, who's qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light, because he rescued you and me from the domain of darkness and he transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son in whom we have
00:28:15
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Redemption, the forgiveness of sin. Ask God what he wants you to do with this and don't just talk about it. Start walking.
Podcast Sign-off
00:28:30
Speaker
You've been listening to Walking Free, a production of Grace Ministries International in Marietta, Georgia. For more information, go to our website at gment.org. That's gminc.org.