Colossians Study pt.2

Colossians 2 spoke to me in so many different ways and to so many different situations that I am personally working through as well as situations that those close to me are going through as well. It was so hard to decide which verses to dive into for this blog. If you haven't ever read Colossians 2 from start to finish you are missing out and I highly encourage you to go read it and receive every word with an open heart and mind.

Verses 1-5 are Paul writing about his deep love for the Colossians. When we get to verses 6 to15 Paul talks about the new life that we have been gifted with through Christ. Verse 7 says "Your spiritual roots go deeply into his life as you are continually infused with strength, encouraged in every way. For you are established in the faith you have absorbed and enriched by your devotion to him!" This verse encouraged me and I think that it is because we can always use more strength and this just shows us clearly that as long as we remain in Him and stay devoted to Him in anything and everything we do we are going to be filled to overflowing each day. This is the kind of encouragement we need to hold tight to as the school year rolls back around and as we are faced with new challenges.

Continuing to verse 13 it reads "This “realm of death” describes our former state, for we were held in sin’s grasp. But now, we’ve been resurrected out of that “realm of death” never to return, for we are forever alive and forgiven of all our sins!" I want to focus on only three words in this verse because they are so incredibly powerful and yet so simple. "NEVER TO RETURN". We are never going to be the same person in the morning as we were the morning before. Each day we grow and we learn and become more and more of who we were created to be. The sin that we woke up with yesterday is never going to return to us because it is a new day. With every drop of blood that dripped from the palm of Jesus as He hung on the cross was one more sin, mistake, burden, regret, that we will never have to hold onto again. Our Father in heaven sent His one and only son to that cross to die for us because He never wanted to see His children hurt. He would rather feel every single pain and emotions that every single person go through throughout their entire life at once than make us suffer any longer. Can you believe that?! None of our past will EVER return because we have been made completely and fully new through the love that our Heavenly Father has for us. We are completely and fully set free from every trace of sin by the power of the blood of Jesus Christ.

The last part of Colossians 2 is something that I am going to hold onto and live out this school year. Verses 16-23 is where Paul wrote about the liberty we have in Christ. So often we all allow social media and the world and even those around us to control what we say, what we do, what we enjoy, what we think we are worthy of, and so many other things. Verse 18 reminds us that we can not lose sight of what our own Father says about us by saying, "Don’t let anyone disqualify you from your prize! Don’t let their pretended sincerity fool you as they deliberately lead you into their initiation of angel worship. For they take pleasure in pretending to be experts of something they know nothing about. Their reasoning is meaningless and comes only from their own opinions." The only opinion that matters is the opinion that Christ has of us. The only view of us that matters is the way God views us. The more we choose to focus on the world and the way that the world views our situation or who we are the worse we will feel about our selves and the farther we will step away from the path of truth that our Father has cleared for us. Verse 20 says "For you were included in the death of Christ and have died with him to the religious system and powers of this world. Don’t retreat back to being bullied by the standards and opinions of religion." YOU! YES, YOU were included in the death! Before He took His last breath He thought of you and knew that despite every sin that YOU were worth it! The lies that you have heard and believed about yourself and your life and the choices that you make or even the path that you choose to follow and pursue are "actually nothing more than empty rules rooted in religious rituals" as it says in verse 23 which is the last verse of Colossians 2.

Prayer:

Jesus. I want to lift each person in every school up to you as we get closer and closer to the start of a new year. I pray that you bring them peace and give them the strength to make this the best year that they have ever had. Remind them each morning as they walk into their schools that you are covering them in the strength and peace that they need to face that day head-on. I ask that you remind them when doubt creeps into their mind that you died for them and that we will never have to go back to who we were before Christ. Continually remind them that they are worth it and that your opinion of them is the only one that matters. I pray that each person finds the strength to lean on you and get their strength to face each day from you and only you. You are such an amazing father and we are all so grateful for who you are and what you do every day for us. We are so expectant for everything you have in store for us in the future. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We love you so much. Amen