Colossians 4:9 (KJV) Think You Understand the Bible?

Colossians 4:9 (KJV)

With Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They shall make known unto you all things which are done here.

Our passage helps demonstrate the interconnectivity not only of the people involved in the Word of God, but also of the various books of the Bible. Onesimus is the subject of the book of Philemon. He was a runaway slave, owned by Philemon, who was converted to Christ under the Apostle Paul while Paul was a prisoner in Rome.

After a period of discipleship and training, Onesimus was returned to Philemon, partnered with Tychicus and carrying letters to Philemon, the church in Colosse, and, I assume, also the church in Laodicea.

These letters, then, were not written in a vacuum—isolated and unrelated. It would have been obvious to everyone involved which letters were inspired by the Holy Ghost and which were not. The letter to Laodicea was apparently shared, but no one thought to preserve it. That indicates they recognized it as the work of Paul, but not as the work of the Holy Ghost through Paul. The fact that Paul recommended sharing the letter does not mean he viewed it as something more than it was. Many helpful things can be shared that are less than Scripture. An endorsement is not the same as a declaration of inspiration.

All of this is to say: if the Word of God was not written in a vacuum, neither should it be read that way. Context means more than just the verses before and after. It even means more than the context of the letter as a whole. All of the Bible must be studied in light of all of the Bible.

It is a big task—not suited for the casual or the unconcerned.

Biblical truth is for those who know the Holy Spirit, are engaged with the Word of God, and are in it for the long term.

#FaithfulBrother #BibleContextMatters #OnesimusStory #ScriptureInterconnected #RightlyDividingTruth

Think You Understand the Bible? Why Reading One Passage Alone Can Lead You Wrong

What stood out to you most in Onesimus’ story? Drop a comment below—I’d enjoy hearing your thoughts and how this challenged your Bible study.

For more clear, Bible-centered teaching that helps you go deeper than the surface, visit marvinmckenzie.org and explore additional resources designed to strengthen your walk with the Lord.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7000 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Colossians 4:9 (KJV) Think You Understand the Bible?

Colossians 3:14 (KJV) The One Thing Your Church Needs Above Everything Else

Colossians 3:14 (KJV)

And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

Barnes writes (forgive the length of this quote), “The bond of all perfection; the thing which will unite all other things, and make them complete; compare the parallel place in Ephesians 4:3. The idea seems to be that love will bind all the other graces fast together, and render the whole system complete. Without love, though there might be other graces and virtues, there would be a want of harmony and compactness in our Christian graces, and this was necessary to unite and complete the whole. There is great beauty in the expression, and it contains most important truth. If it were possible to conceive that the other graces could exist among a Christian people, yet there would be a sad incompleteness, a painful want of harmony and union, if love were not the reigning principle. Nor faith, nor zeal, nor prophecy, nor the power of speaking with the tongue of angels, would answer the purpose.”

I refer you to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia for its definition of the word charity. ISBE says the word agape was probably used by Paul for the purpose of expressing the relationship of Christians in community—the local church.

Colossians says of this charity that it is “the bond of perfectness.” It is the thing that unites everything else in the gifts and graces of the Christian life. Without it, everything else becomes meaningless.

Most of us would think of this as belonging to the Christian as an individual, but the Bible is a book of community. Christians exist together. The thing that makes everything else in the local church work is our charity—our unique love one for another.

And this is the very thing I think we too often ignore and miss. It is the thing the devil has stolen from us through the idea of the invisible church. We do not cultivate and guard charity in the church as we ought. The result is a church filled with individualists. They might all claim to have love for mankind, love for the faith, and love for Christ, yet they often lack the kind of love for their church that brings unity, maturity, and complete “perfection” into it.

It is charity—fervent love for our church—that we need above all else.

#BondOfPerfectness #BiblicalCharity #LoveBuildsTheChurch #LocalChurchTruth #ChristianUnity

The One Thing Your Church Needs Above Everything Else: Is This the Missing Piece in Many Churches Today?

What do you think—has charity been overlooked in today’s churches?
Drop a comment below and share your thoughts or experiences.

For more Bible teaching, resources, and practical studies to strengthen your walk and your church, visit:
👉 marvinmckenzie.org

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7000 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Colossians 3:14 (KJV) The One Thing Your Church Needs Above Everything Else

Colossians 2:6 (KJV) Growing—or Drifting?

Colossians 2:6 (KJV)

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:

“As ye have” is a precise expression. Paul encouraged these believers to continue their walk in Christ in the same manner as they had begun. Spiritual growth does not mean a change in doctrine, a departure from what we were first taught, or a coming to some “new light.” Spiritual growth is a deepening of those early teachings. It is, if you will, coming to grasp why we were taught them. It is not determining that we do not understand, and therefore choosing no longer to comply, but rather a decision to dig deep and become rooted in these things until we understand their value, meaning, and purpose.

Spiritual growth is a growing thanksgiving for the things we have been taught from the Word of God. It is an abounding in them—practicing them more faithfully and more consistently.

Spiritual growth is a wariness of, and a refusal to accept, those who would attempt to teach us otherwise. Spiritual growth does not embrace the ideas of other doctrines. Spiritual growth withstands them and stands against them.

Spiritual growth clings to the “rudiments of Christ.” It rejects those religious opinions that make less of Christ and more of man-made duties.

Spiritual growth accepts baptism by water into a local church as the proper outward expression of faith after salvation. There is no fleshly expression of that faith, such as circumcision, that is necessary. The Jewish rituals have been fully replaced by faith in Christ.

Spiritual growth ignores the scoffing, mocking, and judgmentalism of religious legalists. Let them say what they will. We know we stand before Christ alone and in full faith.

Spiritual growth holds the Head—Jesus Christ—as the fullness of the Godhead bodily and reckons himself to be complete in Him.

Spiritual growth is not a departure from these things. It is a settling into them.

#WalkInChrist #RootedInTruth #GrowInGrace #CompleteInHim #StandAgainstError

Growing—or Drifting? Don’t Move On—Dig Deeper

Are you walking in Christ the same way you began—or have you been pulled in a different direction?

Drop a comment below and share what has helped you stay rooted in your faith. I’d love to hear your thoughts and how this truth has impacted your walk with the Lord.

For more Bible-centered teaching, resources, and encouragement, visit marvinmckenzie.org and continue growing deeper—not different—in Christ.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7000 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Colossians 2:6 (KJV) Growing—or Drifting?

Colossians 3:6 (KJV) The Hard Truth Before the Hope

Colossians 3:6 (KJV)

For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:

I wanted to focus on the positive statements of this chapter, but this verse must come first—because everything positive follows it. If we refuse to confront sin and its effects on ourselves, our families, churches, communities, and the world, then any “positive” is shallow, surface-level, and fake.

I’ve met many professing Christians, religionists, and so-called “good people” who emphasize their own goodness, yet still face sin’s consequences—broken homes, difficult circumstances, legal troubles, and more.

It all starts here: “the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience.”

No one truly turns to Christ before this.
No one deals with character issues before this.
No one understands God’s plan before this.
No one rightly interprets Scripture before this.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

Those who grasp this are ready to receive Christ.
Those who receive Christ are able to mortify their earthly members.
Those who mortify sin can put off other offenses.

And those who do are ready to “put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him.”

#FearOfTheLord #WrathOfGodIsReal #DealWithSin #PutOnTheNewMan #TrueSalvationStartsHere

The Hard Truth Before the Hope: You Can’t Skip Fear of God

Are you ready to confront the real power of sin in your life and find true freedom in Christ? Share in the comments: What’s one area you need to surrender to God’s authority today?

Take action now—reach out to a trusted pastor or mature believer this week and ask for prayer and guidance to begin mortifying sin in your life. Don’t stop at reading the Bible—live it!

📲 Hungry for more solid, biblical teaching? Visit marvinmckenzie.org for Bible studies, videos, and resources rooted in the King James Bible.

👉 Join our community in studying God’s Word and strengthening your faith.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 6800 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Colossians 3:6 (KJV) The Hard Truth Before the Hope

Colossians 2:4 (KJV) Beware the Words

Colossians 2:4 (KJV)

And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.

I read just recently Philippians 4:6,
“Be careful for nothing…”
And noted that this lack of care is not meant to encourage laziness but rather trust. We are intended to be committed, hard-working, and mindful.

Referring to verse 1 of our chapter, Gill writes, “That he had such a conflict for them, and had told them of his care and fear on their account.” It’s not contradictory to teach people not to worry and, at the same time, to have a “care and fear on their account.”

Our world is indeed filled with beguiling voices. The Word of God calls them in verse 8, “…philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

It further accuses them in verse 18 of, “…intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.”

We are not to be careful, anxious, or filled with worry. We can trust our all-powerful and all-knowing God. But we may be and should be concerned for others. We may be  and should be aware of those beguiling voices. And we ought to, as the apostle did, use our voices to speak truth—speak the Word of God—to encourage, urge, edify, and remind those around us of the “[mysteries] of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

Don’t fret, but do speak up.

#TrustGodSpeakTruth #BewareBeguilingVoices #ChristIsOurWisdom #NotAfterTheWorld #HiddenTreasuresInChrist

Beware the Words: Don’t Fret, But Do Speak Up

🛑 Beware the Words: Don’t Fret, But Do Speak Up 🛑

The world is loud with enticing voices—philosophy, tradition, and vain deceit. But God has called us to trust Him and to speak truth boldly. You don’t have to stay silent when the lies are loud.

✝️ Take action today:
Find one person you can encourage with Scripture this week. Send a verse, share a truth, or start a gospel conversation. Truth isn’t meant to be hidden—it’s meant to be heard.

💬 Question:
What’s one lie the world keeps shouting that God’s Word has already answered?

📲 Hungry for more solid, biblical teaching? Visit marvinmckenzie.org for Bible studies, videos, and resources rooted in the King James Bible.

👉 Join our community in studying God’s Word and strengthening your faith.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 6800 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Colossians 2:4 (KJV) Beware the Words