Takeaway Verse: Colossians 1:13
For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son
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Transcription:
Narrator: [00:00:00] Purposely. Your life God’s purpose. Listen at onpurposely.com.
Erica Parkerson: Welcome to The Bible for Busy People. I’m Erica Parkerson. This is the place where we meet up to read half a chapter of God’s word together, and remember how loved we are. Jesus extends an amazing invitation to us in the Bible. He says, come to me and I WILL give you rest. This is us RSVPing, yes!! to that invitation. So take a deep breath and let’s get started.
Today’s episode is called, “Coming Out of the Dark”, just like the Gloria Estefan song from back in the day. Once again, the apostle Paul is writing to us, specifically to the church of Colossi from jail. Now, unlike the Philippians, when he wrote to the church in Philippi, he knew them, they loved one another. Paul didn’t know the [00:01:00] Colossians. So I wanted you to kind of know that before we dive into the first chapter of Colossians, the first half, know that he didn’t know these people, but still he was writing to encourage them. This is especially meaningful to me because he didn’t know us either. Right. We have a couple of thousand of years separating us. So as we read Paul’s words today in the Bible, take them as if he’s writing to you, because he is. This is the inspired word of God.
Join me in prayer as we kick off our time together. Father, we just come to you in the mighty name of Jesus. Your word is alive and it’s for us today. Please open our hearts and our eyes to what you want us to understand and see in your word today, in Jesus name. Amen.
All right, so once again, Paul is writing from jail to encourage the Colossians and to encourage you and I, here we go. Colossians [00:02:00] chapter one, kind of near the end of your Bible here. “This letter is from Paul chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.” By the way, the word apostle just means “sent” in Greek. I love that. “And from our brother, Timothy. We are writing to God’s holy people in this city of Colossi who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. May God, our father give you grace and peace.” Soak that up today, that’s for you. “We always pray for you and we give thanks to God the father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and your love for all of God’s people, which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in Heaven.
” You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the good news. This same good news that came to you is going out all over the world. It [00:03:00] is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace. You learned about the good news from a Epaphras, our beloved coworker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf. He has told us about the love for others that the holy spirit has given you.” Oh, holy spirit. Give us love for others. “So we have not stopped praying for you. Since we first heard about you, we ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
“We also pray [00:04:00] that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power, so you will have all the endurance and patience you need.” Who doesn’t need endurance and patience today, right? “May you be filled with joy, always thanking the father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people who live in the light.”
Here comes our takeaway verse: “For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness. And transferred us into the kingdom of his dear son who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.” He has rescued you, he has rescued me from the kingdom of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of his dear son, Jesus.
I don’t know if you remember the story of baby Jessica. This happened many years ago here in our country. There was a little girl. She was 18 months old [00:05:00] and she fell into a well in her aunt’s backyard and rescue workers worked for, I think it was 56 hours to rescue Jessica from the darkness in that well. They heard her singing a Winnie the Pooh song, and I always thought, man, there must have been an angel down there just making smiles at her and maybe singing along with her. They, asked people for help. Experts who drilled wells, mining experts. And everybody came together to rescue baby Jessica from the darkness. This is how God rescued you and I. He sent his son into the well quote unquote “of our sin” and brought us out of there, saved us by dying on the cross and brought us into the kingdom of light. Isn’t that incredible?
Okay. So there you have it. It’s the first half of Colossians chapter one. Tomorrow, you and I will dive into the second [00:06:00] half of Colossians chapter one. It’s gonna be awesome, already looking forward to it.
Thank you so much for listening to the Bible for Busy People. If you need prayer or you’re ready to go a little deeper in your faith, we’ve posted some resources for you in our show notes. We’d love for you to share this podcast with a friend and leave us a review. It helps us reach even more people with the hope of Jesus. This podcast is part of Purposely, a podcast network designed with practical podcasts to help you find and live in God’s purpose for your life. Find more podcasts that will recharge you at onpurposely.com.
