DAY 14: "Padayon" (Keep Going)

DAY 14

Reflections on Ephesians: DAY 1/ DAY 2 / DAY 3 / DAY 4 / DAY 5 / DAY 6

Reflections on Philippians: DAY 7 / DAY 8 / DAY 9 / DAY 10

Reflections on Colossians: DAY 11, DAY 12, DAY 13

Worship Meditation: I Have Decided to Follow Jesus by Kathryn Scott, Here in Your Presence by New Life Worship, and Refiner's Fire 

Reading: Colossians 4 ~ The Last Chapter, and the last of my #DailyDevotions Project

And say to Archippus, "Be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord  gave you." - Colossians  4:17

There are currently 16 sticky notes on the wall of my "War Room" and two of them contain messages that are going to be significant in today's devotion. 

16 Sticky Notes

Do you believe that our loved ones who have gone ahead of us have a way of communicating with us? And I don't mean communicating by means of mediums, calling of the dead, and whatever rituals that I personally do not subscribe to. I meant ~ communicating by means of the Holy Spirit, by an impression on your heart, or even though some of God's prophets. 

On April 2, 2021, ~ a day before my first birthday without dad, one of our Church members who I believe is a prophet went to me and said. "Your dad has a message for you." And then she showed me a scripture passage from her tiny blue Gideons' Bible that led to Colossians 4:17. 

Her actual Bible which I took a photo of

The first thought in my head was, "Who is Archippus?!"

She advised me that I pray about it and meditate on the scripture so that I would receive the message. So I wrote it on a sticky note and put it up in my War Room. I did some reading about Archippus, what his ministry was, but I did not really find out much about him, 

I did receive the rest of the message ~ Be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you. 

Noted, Dad. 

At the time that this message was given to me, I was just starting in the Digital Ministry of the church. (We are, as of writing, still in the first year of the ministry so it is still very new.) I knew the significance of that message for me. My dad took up Mass Communications, just like me. He started the Media Ministry in the church. And when the pandemic hit, he ~ together with the help of my brother and other members of the church, started the Pandemic Digital Ministry. 

When he died, the ministry was then passed on to me. For me to continue. 

Be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you. 

On June 4, 2021, four days before dad's first birthday in heaven, our entire family received a message from my dad. This time, from a family friend who was a seer ~ someone who is often taken into the spiritual realm to see visions and supernatural things take place. 

I knew it was true because she passed on messages that only dad and the specific family member would understand. To the messenger, the messages felt like riddles. But for us, the recipients, we simply understood. 

I received two messages. One was "Mannitz, OBS - Oh Be Still." I laughed hard at this because at this time, I was still learning OBS to do our church live stream. I was incredibly stressed out about it because I felt that it was sooo complicated at that time. I would call friends from other churches to walk me through the process, and as we were just starting, we encountered so many challenges. So for me to receive that message was truly perfect ~ and in true corny dad joke form, OBS - Oh Be Still. Hahaha I WILL NEVER FORGET. (I have since gotten the hang of OBS and am very chill operating it now even when I make mistakes. Thanks, dad!) 

The next message was truly special. "Continue Papa Do Preach." The messenger was actually a bit confused with this message at first. She could not even articulate the message properly. But I immediately understood. I created this blog to honor him when he was still alive. Honoring him did not mean that I would write about him all the time. It simply meant that I would live like him by falling in love with the word and not be afraid to share it on a public space. 

An excerpt of our message thread. 

I have not been writing consistently on the blog but it sure did have its moments especially in 2018. For dad to send me that message from heaven probably meant that this blog was important to God too. 

Ito na po. 😅

But guess what? From the time I received that message in April 2021, I only started writing from the heart on this blog again this January 2022 -9 months later, for this Daily Devotions project.

Which brings me to today's devotion. (Is it all coming together for you too?? I hope I'm articulating this well.) 

Today, February 2, 2022, the last day of my #DailyDevotions project, everything finally gets tied together. 

The message in April 2, 2021 - Be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you. 

The message in June 4, 2021 - Continue Papa Do Preach.

The scripture reading to cap the end of my #DailyDevotions project includes Colossians 4:17 (Be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you) which I am now writing about on my blog, Papa Do Preach (Continue Papa Do Preach.)

Do you see it too? I did not know I was going to do this Daily Devo project. I only received the instructions in January. I did not know that it was going to be about Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. I only followed what Mike Thompson said in that video I shared to you on the Day 1 blog. 

More importantly, I did not know that the last chapter of Colossians was going to include Colossians 4:17 (I have honestly kind of forgotten about it) which I would be writing about on my blog.

And so today, in my reflection, I really asked God to enlighten my heart and understand clearly what the significance of Colossians 4:17 is to my life, specifically. This time He told me a bit more about Archippus ~ information I couldn't find back then in April 2021, but I have now, February 2, 2022. 

Here's what we know:

1. Archippus is believed to be the son of Philemon and Apphia, close friends of Paul. You will see that the three of them are mentioned side by side in Philemon 1:2-2. (Source) He is considered a fellow soldier. The church of Colossae met in their home. (Was he a minister's kid like me too???) 

2. According to tradition, Archippus was the first bishop of Laodicea - 15km away from Colossae. (Source) So it is possible that when this letter was written, and this special message was given to him, he was just starting a church in Laodicea. 

3. Finally, this is what ties up everything. This commentary right here that goes: "It is more likely, therefore, that the words of the apostle convey no censure, but are rather intended to stir him up to further diligence, and to encourage him in the work, seeing he had so much false doctrine and so many false teachers to contend with. - Adam Clarke (Source)

4. Further in Revelations 3, later on we will see that there is special mention to the Church of Laodicea as a lukewarm church who wavered in their commitment to the Christian faith. (Source)

Here then is my conclusion, which could still further evolve as the Holy Spirit continues to guide me into all truth.

Personally: I am to continue learning about God's word. I am to continue writing about it on my blog. I am to continue doing my work in the Digital Ministry. The purpose for this is to reach as many people as possible with sound teaching and interpretation of the word of God in the midst of a generation that is surrounded by counterfeit messages, sleepy Christianity, and lukewarmness. 

Corporately: We are to fulfill the ministries that God has given unto us. We all have different gifts and different tasks. And we are called not just to do it "for compliance" or to simply tick of a box from our daily to-do list. We are to do it with zeal, with passion, with excellence, because we are also contending with dark forces that are planning to destroy God's work with zeal, with passion, and with excellence. Of course we will win. Of course the victory has already been guaranteed because we are fighting a defeated foe. But it doesn't mean that we can just swing through our ministries and get away with mediocre work. God spits out from His mouth those who are lukewarm.

Be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you. 

Whatever ministry the Lord has given unto you, be grateful for it and take care of it. It means He sees your value. It means He trusts you with this important responsibility. It means He wants to partner with you in ministry. 

God can do great things, but He wants to do great things through us. 

Are you willing? Say yes. Step out in faith.  He is worth it. Heaven is worth it. God's Kingdom is worth it.  

PRAYER: Father God, THANK YOU! Truly You do come near to those who draw near to You. Thank You for the many gems and insights you have given to me through this Daily Devotions project. May I continue to grow in the knowledge of Your word. Father, we lift up unto You our ministries. Help us to take heed of it, treat it with much reverence, and do everything we can do ~ with Your grace and power, to fulfill it. Thank You for choosing to partner with me. Thank You for choosing to do great things through me. I don't know how I will do it. Surely it will never be with my own wisdom, strength, and capabilities. But through You - only through You. Then we will never get the glory, for all the glory belongs to You and You alone. Protect our ministries with Your precious blood, and bless the works of our hands that we may bear much good fruit.  Keep reminding us that You are worth it, BECAUSE YOU ARE! AMEN.