Tues July 19 Devotion

[Pastor Joelle]

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live
your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the
faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it
that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit,
according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of
the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole
fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in
him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. In him also you
were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the
body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; when you were buried
with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in
the power of God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were
dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made
you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses,
erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He
set this aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and
authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in
it.
Colossians 2:6-15

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live
your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the
faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” There
were those in Colossi who were trying to make the Gospel more
complicated than it really was. The Gospel is this—Jesus lived, died
and was raised for you and me. Faith is trusting that Jesus died
for you. It really is that simple. We fight it, we try to make it
more complicated. We invent elaborate philosophical doctrines, we
concoct standards and rules and hoops to follow. We do this because
we are sinners. The good news is that Jesus died for sinners. “And
when you were dead in trespasses, God made you alive together with
him, when he forgave us all our trespasses” Trust that good news. It
really is that simple.

Gracious loving God, increase our faith and trust in you so that we
may continue to live our lives in you, rooted and built up in Christ,
just as we were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Amen.