March 1 Colossians 1:1-2
This letter is from Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy. It is written to God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. May God our Father give you grace and peace.
GRACE
I pray that you are accepting the full measure of grace that Jesus has for you today. It is adequate to deal with the life you are living. It will equip you with the ability to accomplish what the Lord has called you to do. Grace upon grace is our claim. Grace upon grace is the gift that we are receiving today.
March 2 Colossians 1:3-4
We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for we have heard that you trust in Christ Jesus and that you love all of God’s people.
PRAY
I am praying for you. Not by name necessarily but for you as a brother or sister in Christ. We are to be constantly in prayer and we are to pray that Jesus be glorified by our lives and the lives of each one of His children. We sometimes get so caught up in the reality of life that we forget to pray for the brethren and to pray for their victory in Jesus this day. I am praying for you.
March 3 Colossians 1:5
You do this because you are looking forward to the joys of heaven as you have been ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.
HEAVEN
We now live in eternity. As the children of God saved by His grace as a result of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ and our confession of His salvation we are now living in eternity. Our relationship with each other will be different in heaven but no truer than it is this moment. Think about the reality of seeing Him face to face. Think of the joy of seeing loved ones and lost friends again. Heaven is going to be a great place that we begin realizing now.
March 4 Colossians 1:6
This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is changing lives everywhere, just as it changed yours that very first day you heard and understood the truth about God’s great kindness to sinners.
GOOD NEWS
Jesus came to pay the price for our sin. Jesus gives us a relationship with God if we simply ask. Sin is so devastating and it affects all of mankind. The Good News is that people can be freed from sin. We are partners together with the Lord Jesus in sharing His good news.
March 5 Colossians 1:7-8
Epaphras, our much loved co-worker, was the one who brought you the Good News. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us in your place. He is the one who told us about the great love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.
FRIENDS
Friends and co-workers are special. A friend shared the Gospel with us. We are to tell everyone we meet about the confidence we have in Jesus. We are also called to be wise in well doing. I want to make sure that I am like Epaphras. I want to be found faithful every day.
March 6 Colossians 1:9
So we have continued praying for you ever since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in your lives, and we ask him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom.
WISDOM
Wisdom is the application of truth from the Lord to our lives. I can know many things and yet still be dead in my sin. It is wise to know Jesus as Lord and savior. It takes wisdom to come to grips with sin in our lives. A Christian life well lived and growing in Christ is a tough journey of grappling with the powers and principalities of the air and our own habits of sin. It takes wisdom from the Father for us to accomplish this. Pray for wisdom.
March 7 Colossians 1:10
Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and you will continually do good, kind things for others. All the while, you will learn to know God better and better.
WISDOM
When we listen to Jesus, do what He says we will always walk in the right way. The Holy Spirit will protect us from sin and foolishness and will equip us to stand in the hour of testing. We never know ahead of time when this will be but we will always be ready in time to face the challenges of life. Take time to grow in Christ today. Spend time in the Word of God and let Jesus have your attention.
March 8 Colossians 1:11-12
We also pray that you will be strengthened with his glorious power so that you will have all the patience and endurance you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father, who has enabled you to share the inheritance that belongs to God’s holy people, who live in the light.
POWER
The Gospel message is that God is searching for lost mankind and He has come in the flesh to reclaim the lost. When Jesus reclaims us He offers us eternal power. We are weak because we want to do things our way. Our prayer for one another is that we will spend time with Jesus, live life His way and thereby we will live by His power and strength and not ours.
March 9 Colossians 1:13
For he has rescued us from the one who rules in the kingdom of darkness, and he has brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son.
SALVATION
God cares for us. He is concerned about mankind’s lostness. The Father would that no one be lost. Jesus came to find us and take us to the Father. You and I are partners’ together with Christ in His search for the lost. We spread the Gospel through our words, actions and prayers. Pray for the lost.
March 10 Colossians 1:14
God has purchased our freedom with his blood and has forgiven all our sins.
FORGIVENESS
We cannot work our way to the Father. Jesus provided access to the Father by shedding his blood and paying the price of our sin. We are burdened by our sin. The accuser is always pointing at our sin and laughing at us. We are to recognize our sin and ask the Father to forgive us of our sin. Even after salvation we continue to need daily forgiveness. God loves you and me. He forgives us of our sin when we confess with our mouths and stop sinning. Jesus gives us the strength to live a Holy life dependent upon Him.
March 11 Colossians 1:15
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God made anything at all and is supreme over all creation.
LOVE
Jesus loved us before anything was created. He continues to love us and His love is constantly seeking us. We declare the injustice of the current situation and Jesus still loves us. We make the wrong choice and Jesus still loves us. We look at ourselves and really have a hard time believing we can be forgiven and Jesus still loves us. Jesus loves you and me.
March 12 Colossians 1:16
Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see kings, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities. Everything has been created through him and for him.
CREATION
All that is was created by Christ. All that will ever be is created by Jesus. We live in His world. His rules are in control. Those that violate His rules suffer the consequences. When we come to Jesus for salvation we are submitting to the One who is in fact our Lord. Life in Christ is life.
March 13 Colossians 1:17
He existed before everything else began, and he holds all creation together.
HELD
We are held in the hand of Jesus. Sometimes we may think no one is thinking about us or that no one cares about us but Jesus always cares. He is with us, he is thinking about us and our welfare is always uppermost in His mind and heart. You are valuable. You are loved. Jesus cares for you.
March 14 Colossians 1:18
Christ is the head of the church, which is his body. He is the first of all who will rise from the dead, so he is first in everything.
FIRST
Jesus is number one. His focus is on you and me. We are His number one. What you are doing day by day matters. You and the people you know are important to the Lord. Stop for a moment and think about what you are doing. Does it seem important to you? It does to Jesus.
March 15 Colossians 1:19-20
For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and by him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of his blood on the cross.
PEACE
The world has no peace. So often we get caught up in our fears and we have no peace. Do not be fooled by the world. In Jesus we have peace. In Christ we have access to the Father. He loves us and He is focused on our life. Our journey is a straight line toward the day when we will stand face to face with Jesus. Claim His peace today.
March 16 Colossians 1:21-22
This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, yet now he has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death on the cross in his own human body. As a result, he has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
FRIENDSHIP
Jesus is our friend. He is closer than a brother or sister. He knows us and sees all we do and yet He is still our friend. He has paid the price for our friendship. Because of His death, burial and resurrection we can come to the Father as beloved children because our friend has prepaid the price of our friendship.
March 17 Colossians 1:23
But you must continue to believe this truth and stand in it firmly. 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 by God to proclaim it.
STAND
Truth is from God. Science, math and every other field of higher learning are always dealing with what they know the truth to be and it is always changing. New things are discovered, and the world is changing. Jesus never changes. Jesus knows the end from the beginning. He is the truth and we can build our life on Christ. When we know Jesus we know the truth.
March 18 Colossians 1:24
I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am completing what remains of Christ’s sufferings for his body, the church.
SUFFERING
Suffering is not something we seek out. Suffering is never pleasant. Suffering will come. When we live for Jesus we will experience suffering. Suffering without Christ has no value. Suffering for Christ has eternal implications. We learn truth in our suffering. We will experience the presence of the Lord when we suffer. We belong to Jesus and He is belongs to us.
March 19 Colossians 1:25-26
God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his message in all its fullness to you Gentiles. This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to his own holy people.
SECRET
Today we know the secret. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is our resource. One of the things we can teach ourselves to do is to remember what problem we were faced with and how it was resolved. Often times when we got to the problem is wasn’t a problem. If we begin to see His activity in our everyday life we can begin to get a sense of the magnitude of His love for us. The proclamation of the Gospel is simply our telling others about our relationship with Jesus. Ask Him for a word to share and then remember to share it.
March 20 Colossians 1:27
For it has pleased God to tell his people that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. For this is the secret: Christ lives in you, and this is your assurance that you will share in his glory.
ALIVE
Jesus is alive today. He is with us and instructing us. He will change our hearts to hearts of joy and give us wise counsel. Talk with Him. Listen as He talks. Do not condemn yourself for He has forgiven you. Change the way you see yourself and your life. Your life and all of its moments are important to Jesus.
March 21 Colossians 1:28-29
So everywhere we go, we tell everyone about Christ. We warn them and teach them with all the wisdom God has given us, for we want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. I work very hard at this, as I depend on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.
POWER
We must ask Jesus for His power. It is readily available. Living life should be a life in Christ. His Word is important. Read the Bible as though your life depended on it because it does. We will not lose our salvation by not reading the Bible but we will lose the personal victory in daily living that is empowered by reading and knowing His Word.
March 22 Colossians 2: 1-2
I want you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for many other friends who have never known me personally. My goal is that they will be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have full confidence because they have complete understanding of God’s secret plan, which is Christ himself.
PRAYER
We are encouragers. We are prayer warriors. When we encourage someone we are giving them a view from the Lord’s perspective. They are His and their life is His and our encouragement will remind them that the Lord is intensely interested in them. When we pray for others before the Father we are partnering together with Jesus to be active in their life. Encourage someone and pray for those around you today.
March 23 Colossians 2:3
In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
WISDOM
Wisdom is so critical in each one of our lives. Jesus will give us the wisdom we need to capitalize on the knowledge He gives us for living. When your focus is on Christ you will do the right thing and the next right thing. We can live in victory and the world cannot destroy us. Jesus loves you.
March 24 Colossians 2:4-5
I am telling you this so that no one will be able to deceive you with persuasive arguments. For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I am very happy because you are living as you should and because of your strong faith in Christ.
DOUBT
Do not let the world overwhelm you. Do not look to the events in your life and conclude that you are not important. Do not let the circumstances surrounding you today suggest that He is not listening. He is and He cares for you. Victory is a choice. When we choose to become like Jesus and focus on His activity in our life we are living in victory.
March 25 Colossians 2:6
And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to live in obedience to him.
OBEDIENCE
God loves our obedience. He knows that when we obey we will have victory. Obedience is always our responsibility and choice. When I obey His power in me grows. When I disobey I become weak in living a Christian life.
March 26 Colossians 2:7
Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done.
GRATITUDE
Thanksgiving destroys a godless attitude. When we thank Jesus for the life He gives us we are empowering His activity in our life. An attitude of gratitude disarms the world’s attempts to abuse us and misuse us. Our gratitude is one of the foundations for walking in a Christ like manner. Thank you for partnering with me in sharing an encouraging word. Pray for me and this ministry.
March 27 Colossians 2:8
Don’t let anyone lead you astray with empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world, and not from Christ.
BIBLE
The Word of God, the Bible, was given to us for direction, wisdom, encouragement, promises and all of the other things that equip us to combat the evil powers of this world. We must read the Bible and be diligent in remembering what it says.
March 28 Colossians 2:9-10
For in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body, and you are complete through your union with Christ. He is the Lord over every ruler and authority in the universe.
VALUE
America is overwhelmed with fear and worry. When Jesus is Lord he equips us to deal with whatever we face in life. We are no longed in bondage to sin. We are not helpless. The world cannot destroy us. Be of good cheer because Jesus is here.
March 29 Colossians 2:11-12
When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. It was a spiritual procedure the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to a new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.
LIFE
We have new life in Christ. We have exchanged the defeatism that dogs the steps of the lost. We pray for the lost. We rejoice in our new life and that rejoicing spills over into everything we do. Our salvation does not make us better that others but it does make us part of the family of God. Our rejoicing is what we share with the lost. We have a testimony and witness to our new life. Share what you have with everyone you meet.
March 30 Colossians 2:13
You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all our sins.
FORGIVEN
We are forgiven. This releases us from the bonds that have so tightly held us to genetic replication. We do no have to act like a lost parent. We are not controlled by the things that the lost are controlled by. We are members of the Lord’s family. We are His and He is ours.
March 31 Colossians 2:14
He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross.
FORGIVEN
Jesus has disposed of the record of our lostness. He removes our sin for eternity and here and now. Do you remember when you were defeated? Jesus doesn’t. Do you still suffer from secret sin carried from the old life into your new life? You shouldn’t be and don’t have to be-confess your sin. What you did do He has forgotten. What you are doing He will forgive. Change and obey.
