Wednesday 4 December, 2013

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father. 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 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 6 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. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant,[c] who is a faithful minister of Christ on our[d] behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit. 9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Good news stories. Paul loves telling them. Whenever he writes to the believers he tells them stories of how God is changing lives in other places – and he also tells stories of what God is doing in the readers lives. In this case – good news stories from Colosse! His good news stories serve several purposes. It is first and foremost the calling of all believers to extend God’s kingdom. When it happens – it’s good news to be told! But Paul also uses these stories to remind the believers about the amazing changes that the gospel has brought to their own lives. He also reminds them that the message is carried through people – and Epaphras makes an appearance in this letter as their gospel messenger.

payday loans kent wa

I love hearing stories about what God is doing in people’s lives.

Lord I want to tell more good news stories. I want to live more good news stories. I want to be like Epaphras and be a good news messenger. Help me be changed more by your good news today and tell someone.

Written by Ps. Linda Quinn