Welcome to Truth Matters Church. I'm Associate Pastor Jeremy with this week's devotional titled, With All His Energy, from our study in Colossians. In Colossians 1 verses 28 to 29, the Apostle Paul wrote, Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. As Paul closes out chapter 1 of his letter to the Colossians, he reminds us of the ongoing effort required to preach the true gospel of salvation. In verse 28, he declares, "...him we proclaim," referring to Jesus Christ. This is a foundational truth of gospel preaching. Christ must always be the focus. It can be tempting to soften the message, offering a watered-down version of the gospel that requires neither repentance nor submission to God's will. But that is not proclaiming Christ. His gospel is one of surrender, trust, faith, love, and obedience. A message that disregards the full scope of His teachings is no gospel at all. Paul goes on to say that in proclaiming Christ, he is warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom. This highlights the necessity of discipleship. It's impossible to communicate every essential aspect of the gospel in a single conversation. Those who show a genuine interest in the faith or have already confessed Jesus must be discipled by mature believers. Without discipleship, new believers may stumble or even become discouraged in their walk. None of us are flawless examples of a model believer, but that should not stop us from mentoring younger Christians and helping them walk in wisdom and truth. Paul explains the goal of his work is that we may present everyone mature in Christ. The word mature here comes from the Greek telios and it means brought to an end or complete. It's the same word translated as perfect that Jesus used in Matthew 5 verse 48. You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. A devoted walk with Christ leads to maturity and to completeness. Now, while we will never reach perfection in this life, we can grow into mature believers, learning to submit to the Lord, exercising self-control, and loving others as ourselves. This transformation certainly doesn't happen overnight, but it must be our goal to continually grow in the faith, keeping our eyes on that ultimate end. Paul concludes with, for this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. Here we see both the hardship and the promise of preaching and teaching God's Word. Paul labored tirelessly to proclaim the gospel and to help believers mature. This word toil means to labor with exhausting effort. Paul wasn't preaching occasionally while enjoying long breaks on the Mediterranean coast. This was his daily and demanding work. Yet, Paul did not rely on his own strength. He says he was struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. This energy was not Paul's own energy, it was Christ's. While our motivation and determination may take us pretty far, they are finite. But when Christ supplies the strength, it is limitless. He works His power within us when we commit ourselves to Him. In every challenge, we must trust that Jesus Christ is able to sustain us when we surrender to Him and His will. When He calls us to toil and endure hardships, it is an opportunity to rely on His strength rather than our own. And as we labor for His purposes, He provides the energy that we need to grow in faith and to fulfill the work that He has set before us. Thank you again for listening to this devotional from Truth Matters Church. You can subscribe to these devotionals as a podcast on YouTube and Apple, or simply look us up on Sermon Audio. Have a blessed day.