Colossians 1: Part 5 — A ‘Time With God’ Audio Devotion

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All this week, John North says what the Bible teaches us guards us against false “truths”. The apostle Paul wrote a letter to the church in Colossae, highlighting the true message that came to them through Jesus.

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 truly understood God’s grace. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Colossians 1:3-8

Transcript

Good morning. Here we go into the last work day of the week, and as we do so, let’s do it with purpose in our hearts to live lives that are pleasing to God. If you are a Christian and you know God, this is the great goal of life, that in every thing in our lives we should be pleasing to the one who has done so much for us.

Do you really understand that your only qualification for being in relationship with God, for God’s blessing in your life, for being rescued from an eternity of judgment and spending eternity with God is because Jesus died and rose from the dead, for you.

He didn’t have to do that. There was nothing in us that demanded it. It was His love for us that caused Him to do that.

You know, we sing songs about that and we pay lip service to it, but do we really have heartfelt gratitude for what He’s done for us? And you know, thankfulness to God should be so much a part of our lives. We’ve been looking this week at this great beginning to Paul’s letter to the Colossians in the Bible.

And he talks so much about his thankfulness to God for what God has done in their lives and how much they’ve become loving people and reaching out and representing God in the world.

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He comes down to his prayer for them, and he says, for this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and ask that you be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. To please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the real knowledge of God, strengthened with all power according to His glorious might for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience.

Then listen to the end – joyously giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

Well, thankfulness regardless of what’s going on in our lives – we need to learn to be thankful to God. And for the apostle Paul, thankfulness to God was so much an important part of his attitude to God that it shaped his life even in the tough times.

Someone has said any one can sing in the sunshine. You and I should sing on when the sun has gone down or when clouds pour out their rain, for Christ is with us through it all.

Never forget this in your life, that no matter what is going on, Christ is with you.

Where the times are great. And you can thank him for that blessing in your life, or times are tough. He’s been through tough times too, and he’s there ready to walk with you, ready to enable you and encourage you and give you inner strength to face those times, ready to help you keep from becoming inward focused and all about yourself when times get tough, and to keep you focused outward, encouraging, ministering to others, even when you yourself need ministering too as well.

So never forget to keep your eyes focused on what God has done for you.

And to be thankful, focused on his goodness in your life.

I’m John North.

To go deeper in your faith, visit AFCI.com.au.

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