April 4, 2018
Colossians 1:3-6 (NIV)
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.
April 11, 2018
God's Love Overcomes and Transforms:
So he got up and came to his [own] father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity and tenderness [for him]; and he ran and embraced him and kissed him [fervently]. Luke 15:20
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Any person can be completely transformed by regular, persistent doses of God's love. It doesn't matter what they have done in life or how good or bad we might consider them, God's love can warm even the coldest heart. Religion often gives people rules to follow and laws to keep. It leads them to believe they must earn God's love and favor through good works. That is the exact opposite of true biblical teaching. God's Word says that "mercy triumphs over judgment" (James 2:13 NKJV). It is the goodness of God that leads men to repentance (Romans 2:4), not the keeping of laws and rules. Jesus came to give us something better than religion---He came to give us a close, personal love relationship with the Father through Him. God's unconditional love does not allow people to remain the same; instead, it loves them while they are changing. Jesus said that He did not come for the well, but for the sick (Matthew 9:12). Much of our world today is sick, and there is no answer for what ails it except Jesus Christ and all that He stands for.
Unconditional love will overcome evil and transform lives.
~ Joyce Meyer's, Closer to God Each Day Devotional, 9 November 2015
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April 18, 2018
Colossians 1:9-14 (AMP)
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about it, we have not stopped praying for you, asking [specifically] that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom [with insight into His purposes], and in understanding [of spiritual things], 10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord [displaying admirable character, moral courage, and personal integrity], to [fully] please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing in the knowledge of God [with deeper faith, clearer insight and fervent love for His precepts]; 11 [we pray that you may be] strengthened and invigorated with all power, according to His glorious might, to attain every kind of endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints (God's people) in the Light. 13 For He has rescued us and has drawn us to Himself from the dominion of darkness, and has transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption [because of His sacrifice, resulting in] the forgiveness of our sins [and the cancellation of sins' penalty].
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April 25, 2018
Psalms 119:114 (NLT)
114 You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my source of hope.
1 Peter 2:19-20 (AMP)
19 For this finds favor, if a person endures the sorrow of suffering unjustly because of an awareness of [the will of] God. 20 After all, what kind of credit is there if, when you do wrong and are punished for it, you endure it patiently? But if when you do what is right and patiently bear [undeserved] suffering, this finds favor with God.