Colossians - Week 1, Friday

Colossians 1:13-14

¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

This scripture is one of the smaller ones we have read throughout this study, but don't let that keep you from digging into it and understanding what this is saying to us. In verse 13 we read that he (God) has rescued us from the dominion of darkness. I don't know about you, but that would never have to be in scripture for me to know that! Before I met God I was living in a very dark place, I know there are some of you who have been through worse things than I. This scripture is a reminder to me that this new life that I have now hasn't always been the life I had.

Going even further than that, the darkness that we were rescued from is our sinful nature. God hates sin. That is why they used to do sacrifices back in the day (b.c.), to be an atonement for their sins. Until Jesus came, He came so that we might have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10). By the sacrifice, Jesus dying on the cross, that was made we were brought to the kingdom of the Son, in whom we have redemption. Redemption is defined as deliverance or rescue, repurchase, as of something sold. Our lives were bought at a cost. Think about how guilty, heavy and burdened you feel when there is sin in your life that you are struggling with. Now imagine that at its worst and multiplied by ALL of the people who ever have lived and ever will live. That, if our human minds can even fathom it all, is what our savior bore for us.

So today as you are going about your day, keep in mind how loved you really are. Do everything that you do with purpose, because it is on purpose that you are here!

~Awaken Us~
Brenna Stanford

Colossians - Week 1, Thursday

Catching up... :) I hope you are all enjoying this!! Feel free to leave comments!!

Colossians 1:11-12

¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, ¹² and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.

In these verses we gain the understanding that we need to gain endurance and patience. If you notice Paul says "being strengthened" so that we might have them. To be strengthened means to make stronger; to give strength to. How do we become stronger?

If you are looking to become stronger in an area of your body what do you do? You go to the gym and work out. This is tough, it takes time and a lot of effort. You start to lift things that are heavier than you've ever lifted. You are putting more pressure on those area than they are used to. Well it is the same way spiritually. If we want to grow in patience and endurance than we have to become stronger, we have to work them out. If you don't want your patience to be tested, don't ask God for more of it. You see our faith is another muscle that we must work out. It may be that in order for growth to take place in those areas we have to go through things we have never gone through before. We may have to face trials and pressures that we've never experienced before. But we serve a faithful God! Deuteronomy 31:8 ⁸ The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

The second verse is that scripture says to joyfully give thanks, because we are qualified for the inheritance of his kingdom of light! No matter what we may go through we should praise God! Psalm 74:21 says "Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace; may the poor and needy praise your name." If we are strengthening our patience and endurance, I can bet ya that we're needy. In our time of need, when all we have is our faith, praise God!

Here's the deal,  God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthains 5:21). For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). God's son, Jesus went through so much torture for he cried out “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will” (Mark 14:36). Later, at noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.  And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) (Mark 15:33-34). You see this is what had to happen in order for us to qualified. Sometimes, actually a lot of the time, we take this for granted. In the message version, Hebrews 12:1-3 reminds us,  Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

When we can comprehend and understand what has already happened for us then it makes every other trial we go through seem quite small. This passage has challenged me to take each day and treasure it. The challenge for us today is to take time ever day and simply praise God for what He has already done in our lives!

This is my list. Don't over complicate or try to be "super spiritual", God just wants us to be real! So be real with God, and see what starts to awaken within you!

~Awaken Us~
Brenna Stanford

Colossians - Week 1, Wednesday

Okay ladies and gentlemen, I do apologize for the absence of my blog over the past couple of days. If you read my previous post you know that we are in the middle of a transition season! Hopefully we will be going through this in more than one way also, but that will come in a later post!

As you know I have been trying to figure out how often I will blog. The whole sporadic thing leaves me feeling chaotic and without structure. I feel like too many things happen to only blog once a week. (If you are a blogger and blog in either of those manners, please know that I am not saying there is anything wrong with that. Those are my own opinions based on my individual life.) So, today I will play catch-up with you guys!

Week 1, Wednesday
Colossians 1:9-10

⁹ For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, ¹⁰ so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,

Notice here what Paul is praying for these people to receive, knowledge, wisdom and understanding. Here are a couple things the Bible says about the importance of wisdom, knowledge and understanding:
Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 2:12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse,
Ecclesiastes 2:13 I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.

Wisdom and understanding are important for us to have. But we don't just acquire them, we have to put in the work and effort to learn, to understand. Psalm 51:6 says "Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place." It is in our secret place with God that he reveals himself to us in the most undeniable ways! It is there that we find our answers. Proverbs 20:18 says "Plans succeed through good counsel; don’t go to war without wise advice." Often times we take this and run with it, I can be the worst at doing this! We will go to everyone we know with our problems and ask their advice and their opinions instead of going to God. If we do go to our Lord, than that time is spent with us complaining or pleading. When we should be simply in that secret place with God. Yes, lift up your needs and concerns to Him, but be willing to be quiet and wait on his answer. In the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan, he points out the significance of shutting up and letting God speak.

Psalm 46:10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; So today I challenge you, get to that secret place where it is just you and God. Meet with Him and listen. Our God has the entire world in His hands, there is plenty of room for you and your life situations. Let Him awaken something inside of you! See what happens...

~Awaken Us~
Brenna Stanford

Hello World!

Today my husband and I went to our very first ob appointment! Yes, we're pregnant! We are so very excited about this little surprise! Shortly after I found out I was sitting in my floor one night praying and journaling when it hit me! This scripture penetrated all that I am:


⁴ The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁵ “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
    before you were born I set you apart;
    I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Jeremiah 1:4-5

Also...

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

At this there was a whole new pressure! I mean "before I formed you in the womb I knew you...set you apart...appointed you.." WOW!! We were totally surprised by this baby, but God wasn't! He knew our baby before we even knew he (or she) existed. 

To think about all of the plans that God has for this little baby is overwhelming! I know that there is a purpose and a motion that is in this world that only our little baby can accomplish.

Not only do we get the amazing honor to live our lives everyday for our God, now we get to be a part of the great plans He has for this baby! There is so much pressure thinking about the responsibilities of being a mother, but I am confident that I am lead by the Father who created every one of us. With the Spirit's guidance and the support of loved ones around us, we can be great parents!

These are our lives, in every circumstance and situation we have the choice to be lead by the Spirit! So let's do and see how it changes our lives!

~Awaken Us~

I Double-Dog Dare You! Colossians, Week 1 - Monday

First, I'd like to preface this post by saying this: if you don't have a certain time that you spend with God then get one! I don't know about you but if I am hungry I am cranky and I do not react to situations very well at all! It is the same way for us spiritually, if I have my spiritual breakfast in the mornings then I'm fueled and ready to go for the day, but it is very evident when I don't because my reactions to people and situations are different. That is just a free little tid-bit for you!

Our staff starting reading the book Greater by Steven Furtick. So far it is fabulous. It's a challenge to God's children to change our mindset form thinking about and dreaming about becoming the greatest, because most of the time we get discouraged by that thought anyway. Instead we need to understand that allowing God to work through us everyday in all the small things that we do, then we can do greatER things! I love this thought. Although this made me uneasy at first, I soon came to the understanding that there will always be a "greater" to achieve.

Just like in our Colossians study, I am challenged to do better and be better. Today is the first day of scripture study and our passage was Colossians 1:1-4
[1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people—]

The first thing I noticed was the introduction to the letter and how elaborate it is. The second thing I noticed was that Paul was writing to them because he "heard of their faith" and of "the love you have for all God's people". It made me think, who has thanked God because they heard of my faith and love? What has my faith and love produced to get people even talking about it?

Do you remember growing up and on the playground someone could dare you to do something, and you just HAD to do it, they DARED you! Then you always had the kid who would Double-Dog Dare you. There was no backing down out of that one! That is what I sensed God was saying to me through this, "I double-dog dare you to live in such a radical obedience to me that it is undeniable to the people around you." I was taken back for a moment. My thoughts were "come on God I obey you, I don't do a lot of things", but it was like He was telling me it's not what I don't do or shouldn't do, it's the things that I should be doing. It's even the little things, self-control to not allow my attitude to get the best of me (and it seems like that was the first thing that was tested this morning too), or not to over indulge in gluttony.

You see we Christians have a tendency to say this sin is greater or worse than that sin. Or it's okay if we over eat but not okay if we drink or get drunk. When in reality both are equally wrong, and who are we to judge a sin as being worse than another?! Sometimes I think we don't realize the audacity we take hold of and act upon.

I believe God is double-dog daring us to quit focussing EVERYTHING on what we can't do and what we shouldn't do, and start doing some of the things He has called us to do. Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying to forget or ignore the things we really shouldn't be doing, God has given us His word to show us and tell us the things in our life that we should not do because they are harmful to us or others. I do however, believe in balance and that some of our focus should also be on the things that we are called to do. If His church is a church that ONLY focusses on what not to do, than we become a church that does nothing, but if we can put some of that focus on the things He is calling us to do, than we become a church of doers. The challenge is right in front of us, will we do nothing or will we do something?!

~Awaken Us~
Brenna Stanford

P.S. If you are wanting to get in on our GMG Colossians study it is not too late! Leave me your email and I can send it to you. I am working on getting it posted on here for you!

What I Love About Sundays

Forget that I work at the church and that I love what I do, because even before I could ever dream about working here Sunday's were my favorite day! Hebrews 10:24-25 "24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

There is just something about getting together with your friends that is attracting and desirable to us! Why do you think we like to get together for tailgate parties or to watch a game or to celebrate any occasion?! So through in on top of that the fact that you're getting together in a place where you are totally accepted, where you can be your complete and total self. A place you and your friends are in unison about what you believe, what you know and think is right and wrong, where you all know that we go through tough and rough things in life and are there to lift up and help one another along.

Life Church has always been a second home to me. Let's face it, in our everyday life out in the world, where we work and live, we are tempted to question what we believe and sometimes we have to stand for and fight for it with everything we've got! So to be able to come in to a place where we can rest and fellowship with each other, where we can serve each other, it is absolutely rejuvenating!

If you are around the McAlester or Wilburton area and do not have a church home we would LOVE to have you! Our McAlester campus has 2 services Sunday mornings at 9am & 10:45am and our Wilburton campus has a service Sunday mornings at 10:45am.

If you do have a church home, go! Enjoy your church family! Love each other, accept each other, do life with each other!

Have a great Sunday!!

~Awaken Us~
Brenna Stanford