GRINDIT podcast

How many people have prayed and got nothing from God but crickets? They prayed with no response or get the response they didn’t want? They get discouraged and quit praying, reading their bibles, they no longer show up for services, and the next thing you know, they don’t want anything to do with God at all. Why does God not answer our every beckoning call? Doesn’t He know we are in trouble? In a pinch? Desperate?!?! Yes! Yes He does and He hears every prayer you have prayed and He does care. I don’t know why God chooses to answer and not to answer prayers...but this I do know...He is sovereign and without Him, we don’t have any hope! Hang on, keep grinding, DO NOT GIVE UP!

Paul says that Jesus was the exact image of the invisible God. We can't see God, which is why many people choose not to believe in Him. They want someone, something they can see. It goes all the way back to the golden calf Aaron made while Moses was hanging out with God on Mount Sinai. When the angel told Mary she was going to become pregnant miraculously, and that the child would be God's Son, he said He will be called "Emmanuel" which means "God with us." Just as Jesus was the image of God, we are to be the image of Jesus in our every day lives!

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Carnivals have games to play and they put out the biggest prizes that catch your attention only to get your money, have the game rigged where it’s hard to win, and if you do win, you get a much smaller prize than the ones they show. You have to play and win many times to get that big prize! But not with God! God paid the price for you to play the game, He makes winning easy, and you get the best prize ever—Jesus, and everything that comes with him, all the blessings, and eternal life in heaven! Step right up and play is the invitation and it’s a game you cannot lose because God has taken care of everything!

Mary Gamboa Music:

When you tell someone you’re going to pray for them...DO IT! Right then and there...Don’t wait until later because you may forget! My own daughter who is in high school has told me how people would say to her they would pray for her but she knew they wouldn’t, that they were just being nice. Epaphras was a prayer warrior, he was an intercessor on behalf of the church at Colosse as well as other churches. Paul says he literally wrestled with the enemy when he prayed. I want someone like that praying on my behalf! That’s how we should be as the body of Christ! Wrestling with the enemy, fighting for one another, pushing back darkness so we can have victory!

Did you know Paul didn’t start the church in Colosse? In fact, as far as we know, he never even visited them! So how did they hear the gospel? How did a congregation start filled with Gentiles who love Jesus? More than likely it started with a man named Epaphras who was a coworker of Paul. He had learned from the best and at some point, he went on a mission himself preaching the gospel in Colosse and the Holy Spirit did a mighty work through him! We only have a few verses about Epaphras but what we do have shows us what a man of God he was and how he inspires us to be like him!

Most people completely shut down when the preacher starts talking about needing money or when a missionary asks for support but even Paul knew how important money was to his ministry! He supported himself by selling tents as he traveled around the known world at that time but it wasn’t always enough to make ends meet because he talks about being content, even when he was starving! He points out the generosity of the church at Philippi and how they supported his work by sending money to him. He tells ten that the same God that supplied his needs will supply theirs. The reality is, it takes money to do ministry and God promises blessings on us if we help supply those financial needs!

Paul says he has learned to be content in any situation he finds himself in? What does that mean? The dictionary defines it as being happy and having peace no matter what but is that what Paul means? Not hardly...Happiness depends on outside circumstances. If the outside circumstances are good, then I’m happy but if not, well then, I’m either mad, sad, worried, or some other emotion. Interestingly enough, God is not concerned about our “Happiness” but He is concerned about us and he knows that outside circumstances will affect us and make us like a rollercoaster. But...that doesn’t have to be the case! We can be, like Paul, to learn to be “content”! No matter what the outside circumstances are, we can be at peace because we have Jesus.

Be anxious for nothing, but pray about everything and tell God what you need. But doesn’t God already know what we need before we ask? That’s what Jesus said! So why pray? Because we can verbalize what we need, which is admitting, “God, I can’t do this (fill in the blank) on my own and I need you.” When we try to take control of things, we make a huge mess of it and it can cause all kinds of anxiety. We think it must be done yesterday and we have to have it NOW! But God doesn’t work on our time table, He isn’t bound by any time frame, but He does care about our needs and He wants to supply those needs and be glorified in our lives. God creates something from nothing so I’m sure He can provide whatever we need so quit worrying and put your faith in God!

One of Paul’s big themes in all his letters is unity. He knows if the enemy gets the smallest chance to cause division and break the unity, he will take it and blow it up into something ginormous! There were two women who had some issues between one another and Paul tells them to work it out and get to work for Jesus! He said they worked very hard in the past to spread the gospel with him and others, but since there is this riff, the work isn’t getting done. It has caused a problem within the church and there needs to be peace. So he urges the church to help these two ladies work it out and find peace. Do you need peace? What do you need to work out in your life and who do you need to make peace with for the sake of the gospel advancing?

People today online who have a following online are called “Influencers.” They have posted some kind of video, pictures, music, etc online and it has gone viral. They pick up followers who “Like” their content and these followers sometimes send money to support the “Influencer” and they are getting rich! Even if people don’t send money, they tell others about the content they watch and how others can see it too. What are these “Influencers” doing? What are they teaching? Is it Jesus? More than likely, the answer is no. Paul says we should follow his example because he leads people to Jesus. Can you say that?