2 We are writing to God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ.
May God our Father give you grace and peace.
3 We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, 5 which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.
6 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.
7 You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf. 8 He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.
9 So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, 12 always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. 13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.
Tori's Comments:
Where does our love and faith come from? Our confidence in what Christ has done for us and the promises of God!
COMPLETE knowledge of His will? Kind of a scary prospect, no?
"you will grow as you learn to know God better and better." Our walk with Christ doesn't immediately stop once we become saved. Or once we've read the entire bible. We should be constantly be digging deeper, growing spiritually, learning more, and become always closer to God.
Terrie's Comments:
I feel like if I wanted to rev up my prayer life that Paul would be a great teacher. In each of his letters there are several prayers that he prayed for believers and unbelievers alike. Colossians is no different. I will show you what I mean. From the first 14 verses of Colossians I could learn to pray the following prayer regularly for my brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ:
When you hear of a brother or sister that is faithful and extending love to God's people you can pray like this:
"I give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For I have heard of _____ faith in Christ Jesus and ____ love for all of God’s people, 5 which come from ____ confident hope of what God has reserved for ___ in heaven. ____ have had this expectation ever since ___ first heard the truth of the Good News."
For all of our brothers and sisters in Christ you can pray like this:
"I ask God to give ___ complete knowledge of his will and to give ___ spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 Then the way ___ live will always honor and please the Lord, and ____ lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, ___ will grow as ____ learn to know God better and better."
and like this:
"I also pray that ______ will be strengthened with all his glorious power so ____ will have all the endurance and patience ___ need. May ____ be filled with joy, 12 always thanking the Father. He has enabled ___ to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. 13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins."
As we pray for other brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ Biblically I believe that we will also go deeper in our understanding of God's grace toward us and how great His love is!
Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please keep all comments respectful. We want to remember that each of us is at a different place in our walk with God. This is a place for us to share openly about what has been revealed to us as we open up Gods word and to learn from others. Please take every opportunity possible to build each other up in love :-)