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[expand title=”Devotion Text”]Colossians 1:1-6
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people–the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world–just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace.
There are some things you never want to hear. For instance, you never want to hear a surgeon say, “Whoops!” during surgery. With your mouth propped wide open, you never want to hear a dentist say, “Now which molar was I supposed to pull?” You never want to hear the person who set up the blind date say, “You are going to love their personality.” You never want to hear the coach of a college basketball team that won one game and lost twenty-nine say, “Yeah, but the good news is that next year we have everybody back!” But here is the worst. You never want to hear a person who professes to be a Christian say, “Really, there has been no change in my life.”
The gospel of Jesus Christ is more than truth. It is a dynamic power that changes a person from the inside out. I love the way William Wilberforce – the primary person behind the abolition of the slave trade in Great Britain – described his coming to Christ. He called it the “Great Change.” The gospel changes things!
Paul says to the believers in Colossae, “We have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people.” Paul did not hear of this because the Colossian Christians believed their faith was “a private matter.” Paul heard of their faith and love because they were demonstrating visible acts of faith and love. Their invisible inward change resulted in visible outward action. Paul wrote that all over the world the dynamic power of the gospel was “bearing fruit!” Are you bearing spiritual fruit? Is anyone talking about your faith and love?
Father, may we be those who demonstrate Your power in our lives. May our family and friends see our faith lived out in real life. May all in our lives see a “Great Change.” In Jesus’ name. Amen.
[/expand]Read through the Bible this year:
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