Reconciled to Him - At peace with Him

 Colossians 1:19-23

19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Point to ponder:  

While we were once separated, alienated from Him and therefore His enemy, He has now changed all that by reconciling us with Him and making peace with us and He presents us holy and blameless in His sight.  How awesome is this thought?  What does this mean to you?  What was it like for you to be alienated from God and how did that change for you?  Are you convinced that you are reconciled to Him and that you are blameless before Him?  Are you at peace with God?  

Peace be still - Hope Darst

He Is

Colossians 1:15-18

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. 

Point to ponder:  

I really just feel at a loss of any words to discuss this piece of scripture - just read it slowly and carefully and let it sink in.... and celebrate who He Is.

He Is - by Eric Ludy

Do not cease to pray

Colossians 1:9-14

9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Do you sometimes feel that you want to pray for someone in a difficult situation, but do not really know what to pray?  I think that Colossians 1:9-14 is an ideal scripture to pray for any person in any situation.  Let's break it down in smaller parts:

• That you may be filled with knowledge of the will of God in all wisdom and understanding
• That you may walk worthy of the Lord
• Fully pleasing Him
• Being fruitful in every good work
• Increasing in the knowledge of God
• Strengthened with all might according to His glorious power
• Having patience and longsuffering with joy
• Giving thanks to the Father who qualified us to be His heirs 
• Delivered by Jesus from the power of darkness and moved into th kingdom of the Son of His love
• In whom we have redemption through His blood and forgiveness of sins.  

So imagine if we pray this for each other every time the Holy Spirit reminds us to?  Imagine if we pray this for our church leadership, imagine if we pray this for our government, every day?  You think maybe there will be a mountain or three that will be moved?  

Point to ponder challenge:

Think of the person you know that you would want to pray for the least, and for the next three weeks, every time there is load shedding where you are at work or at home, pray this prayer for that person and speak the Name of Jesus over that person.  I am sure some mountains are going to move.  

Speak the Name of Jesus - Charity Gayle

Leaning on Him

Colossians 1:4

4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus [the leaning of your entire human personality on Him in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness] and of the love which you [have and show] for all the saints (God’s consecrated ones),

😄 Yes I am aware that I am writing this week's Monday devotions about the same scripture than a few weeks ago. However, it is from a different translation. This time it is from the Amplified Translation, thus the words in brackets are an explanation of what the words mean in the original language. So re-reading verse 4 this week, but this time in the Amplified version, made me realize that the verse says so much more than what I commented on in the previous post.  Faith in Jesus is explained in the Amplified as the leaning of your entire human personality on Him in absolute trust and confidence in His POWER, WISDOM AND GOODNESS  

Imagine that our faith in Jesus is defined here as leaning our ENTIRE human personality on Him in ABSOLUTE trust and confidence in HIS POWER, HIS WISDOM, HIS GOODNESS.  Need I say more?  

Point to ponder

How much of my ENTIRE personality relies in ABSOLUTE trust and confidence in HIS power, wisdom and goodness? I think I am going to need a month pondering this one, how about you?  

Christy Nockels - Leaning on Jesus