Joey's Journal August 6, 2006

Father in heaven, I thank you for your protection and guiding hand for looking after us while we sleep. Lord, I praise and glorify your name as I begin my day in walking with you. May your awesome and majestic power be always on my lips as I share my spiritual growth to others, most especially to my loved ones. May you Father, soften their hearts as I speak of my experience with you; open their hearts so that they can also see you as I do; and follow your ways as I do. May today be a blessed day for us as we celebrate church service with fellow believers at FCBC; and may the sermon of senior pastor be inspiring to them to live their lives for Jesus. All of these I pray in the Holy Name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

‘Jesus is Lord’, a second part of six series of messages by Senior Pastor Lawrence Khong of FCBC taken from the book of Colossians.

Apostle Paul says in Col 2:24-25, ‘I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am completing what remains of Christ’s sufferings for his body, the church. God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his message in all its fullness to you Gentiles.’

Paul, in speaking to the people of Colosse, further illustrates his passion ‘to minister’ to them about the life of Jesus Christ. For him, it probably felt like ‘a suffering’ because he took on the task of building Christ’s churches after Jesus ascended to be with his Father. I’m sure there were times when Paul’s physical strength was drained and needed God’s help to keep his body going to continue to minister to the new churches and resulting to changing the lives of people in these places. Paul states, he is glad to suffer for the church and thereby, completing Christ’s suffering for His church. He was not talking whether Christ still had to suffer for the church, but takes it to himself that he will continue that suffering in his ministry. Because Christ’s suffering and eventual death has already accomplished our sins to be wiped away. Our redemption has been completed as He said, ‘it is finished!’ while He was dying on the cross. Paul is talking about ministering and changing the lives of the new believers which is what Christ entrusted to His followers.

It is a clear message to us followers and believers of Christ that there is more suffering ahead when we take up the responsibility of affirming that Jesus is Lord of our lives.

Verse 28 says, ‘So everywhere we go, we tell everyone about Christ. We warn them and teach them with all the wisdom God has given us, for we want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ.’

Paul speaks of the biggest responsibility he has taken up in his ministry. Aside from spreading the Good News that Jesus proclaimed when He was on earth, Paul’s greatest commission was ‘to bring everyone perfect in their relationship to Christ’. This is what he is telling us Christians and if we proclaim Jesus is Lord in our lives, we should do the same. What a tall order, this is from Paul! How do we present others PERFECT in their relationship with Jesus? This is quite a task! Spreading the word to others and getting them to embrace it is already tiring, what more making them perfect to Christ? This will be a life long undertaking because we will be dealing with the lives of others. But, this is the Lord’s order! It is not enough to say, I believe that Jesus died for my sins and rose from the dead. But we also proclaim Him as our Lord and Savior!

And, when we truly mean this, we should in all our energy and with Christ’s help try to achieve it. This is true when we pick up the ministry of spreading God’s Good News to all. This ministry is a life long struggle and it is continuous, never ending task. And, it will cost us dearly; maybe our careers, finances, relationships and even our lives. That's probably why Paul calls it 'a suffering'.

Finally, Apostle Paul affirms his role in verse 29 saying, ‘I work very hard at this, as I depend on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.’

My prayer after reading these verses – Sovereign Lord, thank you for opening my heart to Your word! It has touched the very corners of my heart and mind that I now know what Jesus meant when He said, ‘pick up your cross andfollow me!’ It is with satisfaction that as I read these verses, my heart leaps for joy! Yes, Lord, I will continue what you have started and follow Your way to minister to people. I know that the road will be rough and challenging; will cost me dearly; and will be an endless struggle and suffering to change peoples lives so that I can present them to You, perfect in their relationship to Jesus. But, I know, that with You by my side every step of the way, I will not tire because the thought of You, refreshes me; I will not complain about physical pain, because You will heal me and restore my strength; and I will not turn my back on this ministry, because You are at its head and I long to be with You to finish the race. I ask all this in Jesus’ Mighty Name. Amen.

Important things to remember about taking up this ministry of Jesus and proclaiming Him as Lord.

1. It will cost us dearly, i.e., careers, finances, assets, relationships, lives etc.
2. It will change the lives of other people, presenting them perfect to Christ.
3. It will be a never ending struggle or suffering of a continuous ministry.

So, with all these, I ask ‘Is Jesus still the Lord of your lives?’

by : Joey B