Good morning, all!
Father, Your love for us transcends time because it existed before creation. You said, You created us to be holy and without blame and without fault. Open our eyes so we would see all that You made us to be so we can walk in the fullness of Your love, Amen. Can you imagine living in a world without any blame? Almost seems impossible, right? It would appear rule number one in this world is assign blame and ask questions later, thank God we live by a different set of rules…Heaven.
Colossians 1
20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, [I say], whether [they be] things in earth, or things in heaven.
The power of Jesus sacrifice made peace & delivered reconciliation to ALL, whether they believe or not…have faith or none at all…His work was complete.
21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in [your] mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.
And YOU, were sometimes separated and became enemies in your MIND by wicked works…thinking poorly of others but NOW reconciled.
22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Jesus entire life was a sacrifice including His death and for this purpose to present YOU holy and without BLAME and without FAULT in His sight.
23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and [be] not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, [and] which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
IF you CONTINUE in faith…believe in the power of the cross and NOT think otherwise regarding the gospel, which you know and has been given for EVERY person under heaven…those you can see; of which I Paul do serve.
Bottom line
Have you ever “MOVED AWAY from the hope of the gospel”? The very first Psalm which should be the 1st song we sing tells us to be a tree PLANTED (not sure if you noticed but trees DON’T move) by a river bringing forth FRUIT (it’s called love and forgiveness). Who moves away from the river? The only source of life? It says the ungodly, those alienated and enemies of the cross, those that say you’re to BLAME because after all it’s your FAULT. They are NOT continuing in the faith, they are NOT grounded…faith is NOT the only principle in which they live life, they are NOT settled…they think they control the outcome of their life and God’s NOT sovereign He’s an afterthought instead of the only thought. Forgive me for being so naïve but I don’t know how we can look at this passage any other way for those that choose to BELIEVE in the power of the cross. It clearly tells us the purpose of the cross was to bring PEACE and reconcile…bring the body of Christ TOGETHER not separate. What divides us? The way we THINK about one another. So why does that matter? Well it comes down to what has more POWER in your life, the cross or how you think about others? If in the sight of God He doesn’t assign blame or find fault, is He now wrong when we choose to blame others? Or perhaps God sees the power of what the cross accomplished, BUT if we choose to blame or find fault in each other which has more power in our life? The Cross or the actions of others? If we choose to blame others we become alienated from the power of the cross and the blame has more power in our life than God, you can’t serve both. And did you notice WHO God covers in His vision? We are to preach…live our life…to EVERY creature…ALL. Now the only way we’ll do this we have to be a minister just like Paul states in this passage. You know why he states his name as a minister of the gospel in the MIDDLE of this passage (you might open or close a letter with your name but NOT in the middle)? His name means “to be small”, can we make ourselves small for the power of the cross? For peace? For our enemies? Can we make ourselves so small that the world can only bear witness to our faith? Our love? Our forgiveness? Call me crazy but maybe we’re so small they can only see the Christ that dwells in us. Small people don’t blame others, they don’t look for fault, they look to Calvary and see the power of the cross.
Point to Ponder
Remember Paul’s first name was Saul (one who persecutes others), when did God change His name? [Act 13:9 KJV] Then Saul, (who also [is called] Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him. God will change your name when you SET your eyes on Him and not your circumstances.
Let’s all be small today, In Him Phil
Faith – Family – Friends