Colossians 1:3-14

Verses 3-6a:
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 the saints�the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you...

     The love we have for others and the faith we have in Christ is something that grows when we read the gospel, God's glorious plan of salvation for all mankind. The Bible isn't something that we read once and then we're done' it's something that we read over and over again because it fuels our hopes for heaven, and causes our faith to mature and our hearts to abound with love for our Christian brothers and sisters. Studying the Bible is a life-long journey into the heart of our loving God.

Verse 6b:
All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth.

     When our hearts are opened by the Spirit of God to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, it is then that we will understand God�s grace in all its truth. Without the Holy Spirit, however, our minds and hearts cannot comprehend the things of God. God is spirit, and we are flesh; the things of the flesh cannot understand the things of the spirit.
     And when we receive Jesus, the gospel�that is, the good news of Jesus paying for our sin and giving us eternal life�will begin to bear fruit. Good things will come out of our commitment to Christ, and the wonderful plan of God�s salvation will spread throughout the world.

Verses 7-8:
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.

     As Christians, we should be sharing our faith with others around us, telling them about the great work God did for us when Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Jesus Himself commissioned us to go out and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19).

Verses 9-10a:
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way...

     We should pray for God to give us knowledge of His will, and not through human wisdom, trying to figure out God�s will through our own contemplations and planning (if that were possible!). It is by spiritual wisdom and understanding that we can attain knowledge of God�s will. His ways are high above our ways; we can only know what He has planned by His revealing it to us!

Verses 10b-12
...Bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of the light.

     A life that is pleasing to God includes good works that bear the fruit of the Spirit, and growing in the knowledge of God (which comes by reading and studying His word, and by prayer). He wants to equip us with His power and might so that we might endure with patience. It is God�s desire that we praise Him joyfully and thankfully for granting us a part of the glorious inheritance given to the saints, those that love and follow Christ.

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws