Ps. 145:18 "The Lord
is close to all who call on Him."
Prov. 30:5 "Every
word of God proves true. He defends all who come to him for protection." NLT
THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE.
REJOICE.
February 2007 Devotionals
March
1 Colossians 1:1-2
This letter is from Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus,
and from our brother Timothy. It is written 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.
GRACE
I pray that you are accepting the full measure of grace that Jesus has for
you today. It is adequate to deal with the life you are living. It will
equip you with the ability to accomplish what the Lord has called you to
do. Grace upon grace is our claim. Grace upon grace is the gift that we
are receiving today.
March
2 Colossians 1:3-4
We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, for we have heard that you trust in Christ Jesus and that you
love all of God's people.
PRAY
I am praying for you. Not by name necessarily but for you as a brother or
sister in Christ. We are to be constantly in prayer and we are to pray that
Jesus be glorified by our lives and the lives of each one of His children.
We sometimes get so caught up in the reality of life that we forget to pray
for the brethren and to pray for their victory in Jesus this day. I am
praying for you.
March
3 Colossians 1:5
You do this because you are looking forward to the joys of heaven as you
have been ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.
HEAVEN
We now live in eternity. As the children of God saved by His grace as a
result of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ and our confession of His
salvation we are now living in eternity. Our relationship with each other
will be different in heaven but no truer than it is this moment. Think
about the reality of seeing Him face to face. Think of the joy of seeing
loved ones and lost friends again. Heaven is going to be a great place that
we begin realizing now.
March
4 Colossians 1:6
This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It
is changing lives everywhere, just as it changed yours that very first day
you heard and understood the truth about God's great kindness to sinners.
GOOD
NEWS
Jesus came to pay the price for our sin. Jesus gives us a relationship with
God if we simply ask. Sin is so devastating and it affects all of mankind.
The Good News is that people can be freed from sin. We are partners
together with the Lord Jesus in sharing His good news.
March
5 Colossians 1:7-8
Epaphras, our much loved co-worker, was the one who brought you the Good
News. He is Christ's faithful servant, and he is helping us in your place.
He is the one who told us about the great love for others that the Holy
Spirit has given you.
FRIENDS
Friends and co-workers are special. A friend shared the Gospel with us. We
are to tell everyone we meet about the confidence we have in Jesus. We are
also called to be wise in well doing. I want to make sure that I am like
Epaphras. I want to be found faithful every day.
March
6 Colossians 1:9
So we have continued praying for you ever since we first heard about you.
We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in
your lives, and we ask him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom.
WISDOM
Wisdom is the application of truth
from the Lord to our lives. I can know many things and yet still be dead in
my sin. It is wise to know Jesus as Lord and savior. It takes wisdom to
come to grips with sin in our lives. A Christian life well lived and
growing in Christ is a tough journey of grappling with the powers and
principalities of the air and our own habits of sin. It takes wisdom from
the Father for us to accomplish this. Pray for wisdom.
March 7
Colossians 1:10
Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and you will
continually do good, kind things for others. All the while, you will learn
to know God better and better.
WISDOM
When we listen to Jesus, do what He says we will always walk in the right
way. The Holy Spirit will protect us from sin and foolishness and will
equip us to stand in the hour of testing. We never know ahead of time when
this will be but we will always be ready in time to face the challenges of
life. Take time to grow in Christ today. Spend time in the Word of God and
let Jesus have your attention.
March 8
Colossians 1:11-12
We also pray that you will be strengthened with his glorious power so
that you will have all the patience and endurance you need. May you be
filled with joy, always thanking the Father, who has enabled you to share
the inheritance that belongs to God's holy people, who live in the light.
POWER
The Gospel message is that God is searching for lost mankind and He has come
in the flesh to reclaim the lost. When Jesus reclaims us He offers us
eternal power. We are weak because we want to do things our way. Our
prayer for one another is that we will spend time with Jesus, live life His
way and thereby we will live by His power and strength and not ours.
March 9
Colossians 1:13
For he has rescued us from the one who rules in the kingdom of darkness,
and he has brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son.
SALVATION
God cares for us. He is concerned about mankind’s lostness. The Father
would that no one be lost. Jesus came to find us and take us to the
Father. You and I are partners’ together with Christ in His search for the
lost. We spread the Gospel through our words, actions and prayers. Pray
for the lost.
March 10
Colossians 1:14
God has purchased our freedom with his blood and has forgiven all our
sins.
FORGIVENESS
We cannot work our way to the Father. Jesus provided access to the Father
by shedding his blood and paying the price of our sin. We are burdened by
our sin. The accuser is always pointing at our sin and laughing at us. We
are to recognize our sin and ask the Father to forgive us of our sin. Even
after salvation we continue to need daily forgiveness. God loves you and
me. He forgives us of our sin when we confess with our mouths and stop
sinning. Jesus gives us the strength to live a Holy life dependent upon
Him.
March 11
Colossians 1:15
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God
made anything at all and is supreme over all creation.
LOVE
Jesus loved us before anything was created. He continues to love us and His
love is constantly seeking us. We declare the injustice of the current
situation and Jesus still loves us. We make the wrong choice and Jesus
still loves us. We look at ourselves and really have a hard time believing
we can be forgiven and Jesus still loves us. Jesus loves you and me.
March 12
Colossians 1:16
Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and
earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see kings,
kingdoms, rulers, and authorities. Everything has been created through him
and for him.
CREATION
All that is was created by Christ. All that will ever be is created by
Jesus. We live in His world. His rules are in control. Those that violate
His rules suffer the consequences. When we come to Jesus for salvation we
are submitting to the One who is in fact our Lord. Life in Christ is life.
March 13
Colossians 1:17
He existed before everything else began, and he holds all creation
together.
HELD
We are held in the hand of Jesus. Sometimes we may think no one is thinking
about us or that no one cares about us but Jesus always cares. He is with
us, he is thinking about us and our welfare is always uppermost in His mind
and heart. You are valuable. You are loved. Jesus cares for you.
March 14
Colossians 1:18
Christ is the head of the church, which is his body. He is the first of
all who will rise from the dead, so he is first in everything.
FIRST
Jesus is number one. His focus is on you and me. We are His number one.
What you are doing day by day matters. You and the people you know are
important to the Lord. Stop for a moment and think about what you are
doing. Does it seem important to you? It does to Jesus.
March 15
Colossians 1:19-20
For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and by him God
reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven
and on earth by means of his blood on the cross.
PEACE
The world has no peace. So often we get caught up in our fears and we have
no peace. Do not be fooled by the world. In Jesus we have peace. In
Christ we have access to the Father. He loves us and He is focused on our
life. Our journey is a straight line toward the day when we will stand face
to face with Jesus. Claim His peace today.
March 16
Colossians 1:21-22
This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his
enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, yet now he
has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death on
the cross in his own human body. As a result, he has brought you into the
very presence of God, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him
without a single fault.
FRIENDSHIP
Jesus is our friend. He is closer than a brother or sister. He knows us
and sees all we do and yet He is still our friend. He has paid the price
for our friendship. Because of His death, burial and resurrection we can
come to the Father as beloved children because our friend has prepaid the
price of our friendship.
March 17
Colossians 1:23
But you must continue to believe this truth and stand in it firmly. Don't
drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The
Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been
appointed by God to proclaim it.
STAND
Truth is from God. Science, math and every other field of higher learning
are always dealing with what they know the truth to be and it is always
changing. New things are discovered, and the world is changing. Jesus
never changes. Jesus knows the end from the beginning. He is the truth and
we can build our life on Christ. When we know Jesus we know the truth.
March 18
Colossians 1:24
I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am completing what
remains of Christ's sufferings for his body, the church.
SUFFERING
Suffering is not something we seek out. Suffering is never pleasant.
Suffering will come. When we live for Jesus we will experience suffering.
Suffering without Christ has no value. Suffering for Christ has eternal
implications. We learn truth in our suffering. We will experience the
presence of the Lord when we suffer. We belong to Jesus and He is belongs
to us.
March 19
Colossians 1:25-26
God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming
his message in all its fullness to you Gentiles. This message was kept
secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to
his own holy people.
SECRET
Today we know the secret. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is our resource. One of
the things we can teach ourselves to do is to remember what problem we were
faced with and how it was resolved. Often times when we got to the problem
is wasn’t a problem. If we begin to see His activity in our everyday life
we can begin to get a sense of the magnitude of His love for us. The
proclamation of the Gospel is simply our telling others about our
relationship with Jesus. Ask Him for a word to share and then remember to
share it.
March 20
Colossians 1:27
For it has pleased God to tell his people that the riches and glory of
Christ are for you Gentiles, too. For this is the secret: Christ lives in
you, and this is your assurance that you will share in his glory.
ALIVE
Jesus is alive today. He is with us and instructing us. He will change our
hearts to hearts of joy and give us wise counsel. Talk with Him. Listen as
He talks. Do not condemn yourself for He has forgiven you. Change the way
you see yourself and your life. Your life and all of its moments are
important to Jesus.
March 21
Colossians 1:28-29
So everywhere we go, we tell everyone about Christ. We warn them and
teach them with all the wisdom God has given us, for we want to present them
to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. I work very hard at this,
as I depend on Christ's mighty power that works within me.
POWER
We must ask Jesus for His power. It is readily available. Living life
should be a life in Christ. His Word is important. Read the Bible as
though your life depended on it because it does. We will not lose our
salvation by not reading the Bible but we will lose the personal victory in
daily living that is empowered by reading and knowing His Word.
March 22
Colossians 2: 1-2
I want you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at
Laodicea, and for many other friends who have never known me personally. My
goal is that they will be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of
love. I want them to have full confidence because they have complete
understanding of God's secret plan, which is Christ himself.
PRAYER
We are encouragers. We are prayer warriors. When we encourage someone we
are giving them a view from the Lord’s perspective. They are His and their
life is His and our encouragement will remind them that the Lord is
intensely interested in them. When we pray for others before the Father we
are partnering together with Jesus to be active in their life. Encourage
someone and pray for those around you today.
March 23
Colossians 2:3
In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
WISDOM
Wisdom is so critical in each one of our lives. Jesus will give us the
wisdom we need to capitalize on the knowledge He gives us for living. When
your focus is on Christ you will do the right thing and the next right
thing. We can live in victory and the world cannot destroy us. Jesus loves
you.
March 24
Colossians 2:4-5
I am telling you this so that no one will be able to deceive you with
persuasive arguments. For though I am far away from you, my heart is with
you. And I am very happy because you are living as you should and because of
your strong faith in Christ.
DOUBT
Do not let the world overwhelm you. Do not look to the events in your life
and conclude that you are not important. Do not let the circumstances
surrounding you today suggest that He is not listening. He is and He cares
for you. Victory is a choice. When we choose to become like Jesus and
focus on His activity in our life we are living in victory.
March 25
Colossians 2:6
And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must
continue to live in obedience to him.
OBEDIENCE
God loves our obedience. He knows that when we obey we will have victory.
Obedience is always our responsibility and choice. When I obey His power in
me grows. When I disobey I become weak in living a Christian life.
March 26
Colossians 2:7
Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so
you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught.
Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done.
GRATITUDE
Thanksgiving destroys a godless attitude. When we thank Jesus for the life
He gives us we are empowering His activity in our life. An attitude of
gratitude disarms the world’s attempts to abuse us and misuse us. Our
gratitude is one of the foundations for walking in a Christ like manner.
Thank you for partnering with me in sharing an encouraging word. Pray for
me and this ministry.
March 27
Colossians 2:8
Don't let anyone lead you astray with empty philosophy and high-sounding
nonsense that come from human thinking and from the evil powers of this
world, and not from Christ.
BIBLE
The Word of God, the Bible, was given to us for direction, wisdom,
encouragement, promises and all of the other things that equip us to combat
the evil powers of this world. We must read the Bible and be diligent in
remembering what it says.
March 28
Colossians 2:9-10
For in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body, and you are
complete through your union with Christ. He is the Lord over every ruler and
authority in the universe.
VALUE
America is overwhelmed with fear and worry. When Jesus is Lord he equips us
to deal with whatever we face in life. We are no longed in bondage to sin.
We are not helpless. The world cannot destroy us. Be of good cheer because
Jesus is here.
March 29
Colossians 2:11-12
When you came to Christ, you were "circumcised," but not by a physical
procedure. It was a spiritual procedure the cutting away of your sinful
nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with
him you were raised to a new life because you trusted the mighty power of
God, who raised Christ from the dead.
LIFE
We have new life in Christ. We have exchanged the defeatism that dogs the
steps of the lost. We pray for the lost. We rejoice in our new life and
that rejoicing spills over into everything we do. Our salvation does not
make us better that others but it does make us part of the family of God.
Our rejoicing is what we share with the lost. We have a testimony and
witness to our new life. Share what you have with everyone you meet.
March 30
Colossians 2:13
You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not
yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all our sins.
FORGIVEN
We are forgiven. This releases us from the bonds that have so tightly held
us to genetic replication. We do no have to act like a lost parent. We are
not controlled by the things that the lost are controlled by. We are
members of the Lord’s family. We are His and He is ours.
March 31
Colossians 2:14
He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it
and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ's cross.
FORGIVEN
Jesus
has disposed of the record of our lostness. He removes our sin for eternity
and here and now. Do you remember when you were defeated? Jesus doesn’t.
Do you still suffer from secret sin carried from the old life into your new
life? You shouldn’t be and don’t have to be-confess your sin. What you did
do He has forgotten. What you are doing He will forgive. Change and obey.
February 2007 Devotionals
contact Clay:
clay@lifesongs.com
ARCHIVES
Christian Poetry
Rememberme
Scripture quotations are
taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright© 1996. Used by permission of
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
NASB Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New American
Standard Bible, copyright 1975. All rights
reserved by the Lockman Foundation.
Today'sGoodNewsArchives
Israel Pilgrimage Poems
TODAY'S GOOD NEWS by CLAY
CORVIN
©2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
todaysgoodnews.com
A Lifesongs® Ministry
|
