Category: Colossians Devotionals

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Colossians Devotionals

Guarding our hearts

Prayer

Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving. (Colossians 4:2)

As I mentioned in my last blog post, it’s easy for my heart to get stirred up by all the bad news I see on the internet and SNS.

But God was reminding me to stay alert to my own heart. To be aware of what’s going on there. And to constantly bring it to him in prayer.

And just as importantly, to lead my heart towards thanksgiving, choosing to rejoice in Him.

I was also reading Psalm 17 today, and it really confirmed what God was telling me.

You have tested my heart;
you have examined me at night.

You have tried me and found nothing evil;
I have determined that my mouth will not sin…

I will see your face in righteousness;
when I awake, I will be satisfied with your presence. (Psalm 17:3, 15)

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Colossians Devotionals

A prayer in troubled times

Prayer for the city

Father, I look at the news now, I look at social media, and I see so much evil in this world.

It’s so easy to be troubled.

But you have chosen your church, and we are holy and deeply loved in your sight. (Colossians 3:12)

Help us to remember who we are.

And as we do, help us to put away the anger and wrath that marks this world, and to be renewed according to your image. (8, 10)

Help us to put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, wrapping it all with your love. (12-14)

And let your peace rule in our hearts. (15)

Let your Word dwell among us richly, as we in all wisdom teach and admonish one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to you with gratitude in our hearts. (16)

And in whatever we do, whether in word or deed, let us do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, ever marked by a grateful heart for all you’ve done for us. (17)

In this troubled world, let us not be ruled by anger or fear, but by your joy, love, and peace. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Colossians Devotionals

Hold on to Jesus

Cross

They don’t hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with growth from God. (Colossians 2:19)

“They don’t hold on to the head.”

Those words struck me this morning.

I want to hold on to Jesus.

I don’t hold on to Jesus by merely trying to keep a bunch of rules, as if I have somehow need to earn his acceptance. (20-23)

I am already accepted. My certificate of debt was canceled at the cross. (14)

I hold on to Jesus by reminding myself:

  • He is good
  • He already loves and accepts me.
  • He knows and desires my best.

And so with a heart filled with gratitude, I choose to live moment to moment, day to day, believing and following my Lord.

So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him, being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude. (Colossians 2:6-7)

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Colossians Devotionals

Joy, not just “gaman”

Worship

We are asking that…you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. (Colossians 1:9, 11-12)

In Japan, we have a word people seem to love, “gaman,” which can roughly be translated “endurance.”

When things are hard, we are often told here to “gaman.”

But what struck me is that Paul didn’t want the Colossian Christians to simply “gaman.”

He wanted them to be filled with the joy of God.

The joy of God is what gives us the strength to stand in the hard times.

Without it, “gaman” eventually becomes an impossible burden.

I don’t want to just “gaman” in this Christian life. I want to live in the joy of all God has done for me.

He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14)

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Colossians Devotionals

Letting Christ’s word dwell in us

Worship

Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. (Colossians 3:16)

I’ve always loved the words, “Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you.”

But today I noticed how it was to dwell richly among us. Not just through Bible reading and Sunday messages, though that’s important. But Paul specifically says through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

And it just made me think how much songs have shaped my Christian life. Not just worship songs. But other Christian songs as well.

Some songs came straight from scripture so that I was singing (and praying) things like Psalm 121, Romans 12:1, Romans 8:14-21, and Matthew 11:28.

Some songs didn’t quote scripture, but were scripture-based.

They taught me what it means that God is my Father. They taught me how God sees me.

They challenged me not to let my heart be hardened, but to keep a soft heart towards God.

They taught me to praise God in the midst of trial.

They taught me that worship is not just singing songs, but that our whole lives are to be praise to God.

Songs are powerful tools to let God’s word richly dwell in you.

Do you listen to music? If so, what kind of music are you listening to? Do you pay attention to what those lyrics are really saying?

If you want to let Christ’s word richly dwell in you, start looking for songs centered on Scripture. Not just “love songs” to God. But songs that communicate God’s truth.

They can be songs from church. They can be songs from Christian artists.

But sing them. Pray them. And let those words encourage, challenge, and admonish you. Pass those words on to others.

And Christ’s word will richly dwell in you.

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Colossians Devotionals

Overflowing with gratitude

Heart of Gratitude

So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him…overflowing with gratitude. (Colossians 2:6-7)

For some reason, those last words really grabbed my heart.

“Overflowing with gratitude.”

Does that describe me?

Not living my Christian life out of obligation.

But living my Christian life out of sheer gratitude for what Jesus did for me.

Gratitude will keep me rooted in Jesus. I’ll want to be built up in him. I’ll want my faith in him to be firmly established.

Father, let me never get blasé about my relationship with you. Let my Christian life never become a drudgery. But let me always walk with you each day overflowing with gratitude. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Colossians Devotionals

That you might be first

Surrender to God

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.

He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. (Colossians 1:15-18)

Lord Jesus, I was created by you. I was created through you. I was created for you. Have first place in my life. You are worthy to be first in my life.

Fill me with the knowledge of your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding so that I may walk worthy of you, fully pleasing to you, bearing fruit in every good work, and growing in my knowledge of you.

Strengthen me with all power so that I may have great endurance and patience, filled with joy and thanksgiving.

Your grace to me is incredible. You have given me an inheritance with your people. You rescued me from the domain of darkness and brought me into your kingdom.

By your death on the cross, you present me before the Father holy, faultless, and blameless.

By your grace, let me remain grounded and steadfast in faith, never shifted from the hope I have through your gospel.

In your name I pray, amen.

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Colossians Devotionals

Fight!

He is always wrestling for you in his prayers, so that you can stand mature and fully assured in everything God wills. (Colossians 4:12)

“He’s always wrestling for you in his prayers.”

That word “wrestle” is sometimes translated “fight” in the New Testament, (1 Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy 4:7)

So you could probably translate Paul’s words, “He’s always fighting for you in his prayers.”

That resonates with me.

How often do I fight for people in my prayers?

There are two people in particular that I’m thinking of right now who are really struggling. But there are many more I know who are also having a really hard time.

And I just feel like God is saying to me, “Fight for them in your prayers. Fight! Don’t just give brief, token prayers for them. Fight!”

Who is God putting on your heart right now that he wants you to fight for?

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Colossians Devotionals

Seeing our brothers and sisters as God sees them

Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another.

Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive.

Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful. (Colossians 3:12-15)

Sometimes, our brothers and sisters in Christ can be frustrating.

But God reminded me of something this morning as I read this passage.

Yes, I am chosen by God, holy, and dearly loved by him.

But so are my brothers and sisters in Christ.

And that’s why he calls me to put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience when dealing with them.

That’s why he asks me to bear with them and forgive them. To love them. And to let his peace rule in our relationships.

When we forget how God sees our brothers and sisters, it’s easy to slander them in our hearts.

In doing so, we indirectly blaspheme God, because we slander someone made in his image. (The word translated “slander” is generally translated “blaspheme” when used in reference to God).

And so God reminded me this morning, especially when I look at my wife and daughter, to remember that all his children are chosen, holy, and dearly loved by him. And I am to treat them that way.

How do you see your brothers and sisters in Christ?

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Colossians Devotionals

Fully pleasing, fully accepted

We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God…(Colossians 1:9-10)

“Fully pleasing.”

Those words struck me this morning. I want to be fully pleasing to God. And yet there are many times I fall short. Times when I don’t walk worthy of the Lord.

And yet, Paul also says these words:

But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him… (22)

No, I don’t always walk worthy of the Lord. No, I’m not always fully pleasing to him.

And yet because of what Jesus did on the cross, I’m holy, faultless, and blameless before him.

In short, I’m accepted.

Fully accepted.

How about you?

Do you walk with Jesus each day with that assurance?

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Colossians Devotionals

Why pray?

Colossians

Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving. (Colossians 4:2)

Why pray?

I think we see several reasons in Paul’s instructions on how to pray.

“Stay alert in it.”

Those words remind me of Jesus’ words to his disciples.

Stay awake and pray, so that you won’t enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. (Matthew 26:41)

We pray so that we can be aware of how Satan is trying to attack us during the day.

We pray because we are weak. And we need God’s strength as we face Satan’s attacks and the trials we face each day.

But just as importantly, we pray so that we can see what God is doing around us and join in with what he’s doing, making the most of every opportunity he gives us. (5)

There’s one more reason to pray, though. To remember God’s goodness. To remember his grace and toward us. And as we remember and rest in those things, we start to live each day with gratefulness and joy.

So let us pray each day, staying alert in it, full of thanksgiving.

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Colossians Devotionals

Complete in him

Colossians

and you have been filled by (Christ). (Colossians 2:10)

I like the NASB rendering of this verse.

and in Him you have been made complete. (10)

Do you ever feel inadequate? As if you are somehow lacking as a Christian?

You have been filled with Christ.

In him, you have been made complete.

The Father has wiped out your debt of sin, nailing your certificate of debt to the cross.

You are holy, faultless, and blameless before him. (Colossians 1:22)

He has qualified you for a heavenly inheritance. (Colossians 1:12)

You are his child.

So when the devil tries to accuse you, tell him to buzz off.

And when your own heart accuses you, know that God is greater than your heart. (1 John 3:20)

Your feelings of guilt and inadequacy do not nullify his grace and love toward you.

So rest, child of God. Rest.

You are complete in him.

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Colossians Devotionals

A heart of gratitude

Colossians

I know I wrote about having a thankful heart on Monday, but to Paul, this seems to be an important theme. And if he thinks it’s important, so should we.

How important is thankfulness to Paul? So important that he talks about it three times in three verses.

And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:15-17)

If we have grateful hearts, it leads to peace in the church. After all, if our hearts are full of thanksgiving, particularly at the grace we have received from God, there isn’t much room for complaining about others for their failings.

If we have grateful hearts, Christ’s words come naturally flowing out of our lips in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

If we have grateful hearts, it shows not only in our singing, but in every word that we say and everything that we do. Our whole life becomes a sacrifice of praise to God, as we seek to please the one who loved us and saved us.

May our hearts always be characterized by gratitude towards God.

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Colossians Devotionals

Words of grace, seasoned with salt

Colossians

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt. (Colossians 4:6)

I don’t know about you, but those words are hard for me to live out.

“Always gracious.”

When I’m annoyed, are my words still gracious?

When I’m angry, are my words still gracious?

I can’t say they are.

“Seasoned with salt.”

Salt flavors food. Salt preserves food.

Do my words do the same for the people around me? Do they encourage people? Do they challenge them to grow? Do they help prevent the rot of sin from spreading in their lives?

Sometimes my words may be hard to hear. But can people see the grace that lies behind them?

Can my daughter see this in me? My wife? My church?

Because if I’m practicing these things at home and church, it helps me to do the same with the non-Christians I see during the week.

And that’s what Paul is primarily talking about here. When we are dealing with the people of this world, we should be speaking words full of grace, seasoned with salt, and making the most of every opportunity to touch them for Jesus.

Jesus said essentially the same thing.

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. (Matthew 5:13)

Lord Jesus, let my words always be gracious, seasoned with salt.

Let me not lose my saltiness because of the words that come out of my mouth each day. 

Rather, through my words, encourage, admonish, touch, and heal the people around me.

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Colossians Devotionals

A prayer of worship

Colossians

I must admit, I don’t worship nearly enough as I should when I read the Bible. But this time, I couldn’t help myself.

Lord, as I look at this passage, I can’t help but worship you.

Jesus, you are the image of the invisible God. In you, we see Him who is invisible.

Jesus, you are the firstborn, the one who is preeminent over all creation. Why preeminent?

Because you are their creator. You created all things. All things! Visible and invisible. In heaven and on earth. Thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities, all things! Created through you! And created for you!

You were before all things! And in you, all things hold together!

You are the head of the church.

You are the beginning.

You are the firstborn, preeminent among all those who rose from the dead, because you alone never died again. You alone received a resurrection body upon rising from the grave.

More, all the fullness of the Father was pleased to dwell in you.

And through you, the Father reconciles all things through the blood you shed on  the cross. And by your death, you reconciled me to yourself, in order to present me holy, blameless, and above reproach before the Father.

You are the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to the saints. And now you dwell in us. You are the hope of glory.

In you, Jesus, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and I…we have been completely filled in you.

You are the head of all rule and authority.

In you, our hearts have now been circumcised, the power of sin cut off away from us. We have been buried with you in baptism, and raised with you through the powerful working of the Father.

I was dead in my trespasses. But now I have been made alive with you. The Father has raised me with you and forgiven my sins, canceling the record of debt that stood against me.

All the things that came before in the ceremonial law, the food laws, the festivals, the Sabbath, they were the shadow. But you, Jesus, are the substance, the reality that all these things pointed to.

You are the one from whom the whole body, the church, is nourished and knit together, growing with a growth that is from God.

Thank you, Jesus, for who you are. Thank you Jesus for all you’ve done.

Amen.