From The Mud Puddle

Jon Courson, A Calvary Chapel pastor from Oregon and now Costa Mesa is one of my favorite pastors to listen to (online). I wanted to share his devotional from today with you, along with his . Web Page . You can listen from there as well as take a look at the artistic photography his wife does.


September 19

And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.
Colossians 2:4-5

In the days of the Roman Empire, a certain wealthy senator became estranged from his son. When he died unexpectedly, his will was opened. ‘Because my son does not appreciate what I’ve done, I leave all of my worldly possessions to my loyal slave, Marcellus,’ the will read. ‘However, because I am a man of grace, I bequeath to my son one of my possessions of his choosing.’‘Sorry,’ said the testator to the son. ‘You can only take one of your dad’s possessions. Which will it be?’‘I take Marcellus,’ said the son.Brilliant! That’s the idea. When you take Jesus Christ, you get all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. When you open your heart to Him, you find everything you need. It’s all in Him.Why is this understanding so important? - because it is the only way to keep from being sucked into ‘enticing words’, cults and other dead-end pursuits of pseudo-spirituality. That’s what was happening in Colossae. People were coming on the scene saying, ‘Hey, what Paul is preaching is fine, but there’s much more.’‘No,’ Paul says, ‘Be steadfast in your faith in Christ. All of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid in Him.’

posted by Muddy at 8:42 PM