READ THE BIBLE SLOWLY AND STRATEGICALLY
And through him God reconciled everything to
himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of
Christ’s blood
on the cross. This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his
enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has
reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As
a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and
blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. But you must continue
to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you
heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I,
Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.
COLOSSIANS 1:20-23 NLT
EXTRACT GOD’S MAIN THOUGHT OR POINT
Jesus makes his enemies
into his friends.
And through him God reconciled
everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by
means of Christ’s blood on the cross. This includes you who were once far away from
God. COLOSSIANS 1:20-21 NLT
You are my friends if you do what
I command. JOHN 15:14 NLT
Being reconciled to
God includes being reconciled to one another
“So if you are presenting a
sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has
something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be
reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.
MATTHEW 5:23-24 NLT
Jesus knows his
friends are prone to drift away.
Don’t drift away from the assurance
you received when you heard the Good News. COLOSSIANS 1:23 NLT
At this point many of his
disciples turned away and deserted him. Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and
asked, “Are you also going to leave?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would
we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you
are the Holy One of God.” JOHN 6:66-69 NLT
Jesus helps us to endure through life’s struggles.
But you must continue to believe
this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance
you received when you heard the Good News. COLOSSIANS 1:23 NLT
And endurance develops strength of
character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this
hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us,
because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
ROMANS 5:4-5 NLT
APPLY IT TO MY LIFE
What relationships in your life need to be reconciled?
“If you forgive those who sin
against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to
forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. MATTHEW 6:14-15 NLT
What in your life causes you to drift from God?
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of
this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you
think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and
pleasing and perfect. ROMANS 12:2 NLT
And now, dear brothers and
sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and
right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are
excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and
received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of
peace will be with you. PHILIPPIANS 4:8-9 NLT
How will you endure?
We do this by keeping our eyes on
Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy
awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in
the place of honor beside God’s throne. HEBREWS 12:2 NLT
LET IT OUT