Colossians [Day 6]
Have They Heard?
I'm really growing to love these devotionals, because each time I read another verse and prepare to write about it, Truth just floods into my heart. Even if it's not a supernatural feeling encounter each time, I know the Lord is working in my heart by planting, watering, and growing seeds for harvest.
Something I'm sensing the Lord speak about in this time is for us as Christians to plant and water seeds; so that the Lord can grow and then harvest them. And this question came up as I was reading the verse of today's devotional:
Has anyone else around you, strangers or loved ones or even fellow Christians, heard about your faith in Christ Jesus; and about the love you have for others?
Let's get into the verse of the day today. to see what the Lord has in store:
'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 ' Colossians 1:4-5 NIV
'since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, ' Colossians 1:4-5 CSB
'For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, 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. ' Colossians 1:4-5 NLT
'since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, ' Colossians 1:4-5 NKJV
'for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus [how you lean on Him with absolute confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness], and of the [unselfish] love which you have for all the saints (God’s people); because of the [confident] hope [of experiencing that] which is reserved and waiting for you in heaven. You previously heard of this hope in the message of truth, the gospel [regarding salvation] ' Colossians 1:4-5 AMP
In this context, Paul is writing to the Colossians, but he's never actually met them (he's writing to them from prison). He's writing about how often they pray for the Colossians because they heard of their beautiful faith in Christ Jesus and of the love they have for God's people.
It gets me thinking, what is my impact on those around me? What am I doing in my life that is demonstrating a difference between me, as someone who loves Jesus, and those who don't know Him yet? How am I standing out as a Christian? And when I give an account for what I did with my time here on earth, what am I going to say?
Without conviction, there won't be any change. There needs to be a push from the Holy Spirit, from the Word, from those in our lives to promote growth so that we don't become and remain stagnant as Christians. And this Word, put some fire in my heart, to share what I'm learning with those around me.
This Word is kicking up some Holy Spirit fire to be more than just a professing Christian, because let's be honest, most people don't ask. We're called to be the light of the WORLD, and we can start with those around us every day. And this is terrifying if we've never tried it before, it's a huge step out of our comfort zone, but we have the promise of Jesus being right there with us.
- Challenge -
The previous challenges have been internal, but this challenge is external (which I'm also setting for myself, like all the others ones):
This week:
Share the gospel with at least one person in your life, that is not a Christian.
Ask to pray with and for at least one stranger that you see that is in need, regardless of the need.
Nervous? Me too haha, but let's use tonight's closing prayer to ask for courage, boldness, confidence, encouragement, and grace to be able to get over our fears and get this ball moving.
- Closing Prayer -
Father God, I thank You for Your unfailing love. I thank You for all that was done for us so that we can be made in right standing with You Lord God. And not so that we can toil and labor and work to earn and payback Your affections, but so that we can be free! We were made free in Christ Jesus, through His sacrifice of His life; and I thank You Lord Jesus for the salvation of our souls.
I pray for us to have our identities rooted and deeply intertwined in Christ Jesus so that we are always aware of the love You have for us and our value to You, Lord God. In this, we will be able to become more like You and be the vessels for Your will Lord God. I pray for fresh revelation of our identities, I pray for fresh wisdom and understanding of Your will for our lives, Lord God. I pray for courage and boldness to share the gospel and share the goodness of what has been done for us; the freedom that we have. I pray for encouragement and an extra dose of faith in the unseen things, Lord God. I pray for your abounding grace to be poured out over us as we step out in faith and proclaim the Good News.
I thank You, Father God, for all of this in advance, for it has already been done.
In Jesus' mighty name. Amen!