Chapter 1
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. Colossians 1:21-22 – If it was up to us to get ourselves with God, all God would ever see is our evil and sin. We’d never have a chance to be with a holy God because of those “evil deeds” the passage spoke of. Yet it says we are now able to be presented to God blameless and good. How can there be such a change? Only because Jesus made that change. That’s the heartbeat of this passage. Jesus is before all, over all, and in all. It’s Him that make it possible for us to be with the Father. It’s all Him. Today remember how little this life with God relies on you and how much it relies on Jesus. Center your thanks today on all that Jesus did for your sake. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 547
For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. Colossians 1:29 – Paul is sharing here how deeply he was giving into the work that he had been called by God to do. That his serving was a toil, something that took effort and energy to see a produce come about from it. He was sharing the gospel to the Gentiles and revealing the truth that God’s love and salvation was being offered to even them. While amazing and beautiful, this calling was exhausting for Paul and caused him to depend deeply on the energy that God provided for him. I was for sure feeing this yesterday while at camp. We have been going hard serving these students, and while a great work, it’s exhausting work. Even in last night’s worship, while my heart was full, my tank was on empty and I just stood there listening to the singing rather than being able to join in the praise. Know though in that space, God provides what we need to continue serving. There is no promise that it will be easy and no promise that we won’t find ourselves exhausted in the process, but we are told God will supply what we need as we serve Him. So be ready when the words, “Here I am, send me,” exit your mouth, for He is ready to send. Have confidence your God will provide in every step He leads you down. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2406
Chapter 2
These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Colossians 2:17 – Have you ever seen a scary looking shadow? Maybe it was through a window or down a hall. Yet you realize the shadow isn’t anything to worry about because while it may seem to have substance, it really is just something trying to appear scary. Our passage today talks about the law and all the doing and don’t-ing people do to justify themselves with God. Paul wants them to know all their following the law is just a shadow that appears to have substance. While it may look like holiness, it’s just the shadow and has no actual way of helping you reach holiness. God wants us to stop living in the shadow and begin living in Christ. All that we do outside of Jesus to make ourselves good with God is like chasing a shadow. Seems worthwhile, but even if we step on the shadow we still haven’t grasped anything. Stop chasing after the shadow and chase the one who the shadow is of. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 548
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. Colossians 2:8 – While this verse uses terms like “philosophy” and “empty deceit” and that may make us confused at what exactly Paul is getting at here, the message is simple. You know the truths of Scripture, stick with that and don’t let the words of the world cloud those truths. For we will have very smart, very head-knowledge people who begin from a worldly standpoint speak into our lives and condemn our faith in Jesus. We will have culture lying to us about the pleasures and freedom that come with sinful behavior. We’ll even have our spiritual enemy working his words and ways into our story seeking to stray us away from the truth of Jesus. So then as Paul begins this verse, “see to it that no one takes you captive.” See to it that no one finds themselves as a bigger voice in your story than Jesus. See to it that no truth of this world trumps the truth of scripture. See to it that the enemy doesn’t find victory over your mind and the ways you choose to live. Is this sort of “choosing” going to be a one-and-done sort of thing, where you just have to make that choice one time to listen to only Jesus and you’ll be golden for the rest of your days? I wish that were so, but choosing to listen and follow the words of our Savior is going to be a daily, even multiple times daily, sort of thing. For if our enemy is speaking lies into our story multiple times a day, then we’ll have to choose Jesus’ truths multiple times a day too. Thankfully we have God’s word to stand on every time a deception comes our way and we can have confidence staying true to His word is best for our lives. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2407
Chapter 3
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:23-24 – As a Christian, what this passage talks about is of the utmost importance. Realize that what you do has a higher reason than just earthly accomplishment and a paycheck. You are serving God each day and have the opportunity to share His love each day while you do “whatever you do.” So shift your mind away from the course that the world has when it comes to work and careers. Wherever you are at job, school, family wise, give it your all because you have a new reason to pour everything you got out. Not for earthly acknowledgement, not a bonus, but because you are serving God with whatever you do. Realize you can worship God by doing your best at where God has placed you in this season of your life. So whatever you do, whether this season of life seems pointless, whether it’s simple, whether or not you think anyone is going to notice, do you best for God. Let God be the one you seek acknowledgment from and blessing from. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 549
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Colossians 3:2-5 – At camp this past week, one nugget I learned was what the word “decide” truly means when broken down to its origin. It means to kill. To make a choice and to eliminate all the others. Not make a choice and still be reaching for and thinking about the other decisions. A complete murder of the other options and settling fully in the choice you have made. As Christ followers, we have decided to follow Jesus. Which means all other choices of what we could follow needs to be eliminated. Now, that doesn’t mean we need to go around killing everything, but like our passage speaks on, anything that is not of God in our story needs to be put to death and left out of our life. All our lustful thoughts, the anger-filled behaviors, the sinful ways we speak and live, all need to be put to death. We have decided to follow Jesus which means the sin in our story needs an execution. I know even for my own self I needed to take in this message this morning, so I hope this message can settle within your story to. God has saved us and brought us close to Himself. Let’s put away the sinful things in our story, deciding to follow Jesus and only Jesus. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2408
Chapter 4
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. Colossians 4:2 – I get the idea of continuing in prayer, that means to just keep praying. But what does it meant to be watchful in prayer? The encouragement is twofold. One, to watch for opportunities where you can pray and take advantage of those times. Two, to be watchful that you are in the right mindset when you pray. Not distracted but focused. So the lesson we’re being taught is pray always, seek more times when you can pray, and be there when you pray. Prayer must have a lot of value huh? Today be watchful for a time when you can set down the distractions and pray instead. Seek out a little more time with God today in prayer. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 550
Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Colossians 4:5-6 – As Paul concludes this last chapter of Colossians, he speaks to the attitude and lifestyle believers in Jesus should have around non-believers in Jesus. That we should be wise with our time with them, not wasteful, for tomorrow is not promised for anyone. We also should let our words be spoken kindly to non-believers and have a desire to guide them to the answer of Jesus. Our life should be about other lives coming to know Jesus. As I finished reading the chapter, I noticed a note I wrote in my Bible at some point in the past. It said, “If God answered your prayers would you have lots of stuff or would your neighbors know Christ?” Truly this question and this passage purposes a heart check for us today. Is our greatest desire people knowing Jesus? My prayer is this is the case for me and that it’s the case for you as well. One way we can see this be true is changing our prayer habits. How often are we praying for individuals in our life to come to know Jesus? Let’s begin to pray over specific names each day that we know are people that don’t have a relationship with Jesus. They can be people you know, people from your past, even celebrities are fine to pray for. Let’s though seek to have a posture of prayer that is more about lives coming to know Jesus than just stuff being added to our life. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2409
Daily DEVO 