Anglican Devotional 16 October 2023

The Daily Fountain Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 15 October 2023 – A Pleasant Report

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TOPIC: A Pleasant Report

READ: Colossians 1:1-21 (NKJV)

  1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
  2. To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ [who are] in Colosse: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
  3. We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
  4. since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints;
  5. because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel,
  6. which has come to you, as [it has] also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as [it is] also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth;
  7. as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,
  8. who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
  9. For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
  10. that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing [Him,] being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
  11. strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;
  12. giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
  13. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed [us] into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
  14. in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
  15. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
  16. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
  17. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
  18. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
  19. For it pleased [the Father that] in Him all the fullness should dwell,
  20. and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
  21. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled

THE MESSAGE:

Apostle Paul was always in the business of reaching out to Churches- those he founded and those he had sent teachers to were always in his thoughts and prayers. The letters of the Apostle were not written to seek for prosperity in the things of the world; his letters sought to commend, judge, rebuke and correct, where and when necessary. From the introduction of this letter, we can clearly see the comfort and joy the Apostle was having from the report given concerning the Church at Colossae. These were neither sugar-coated reports nor were they exaggerated. The relationship of Epaphras with Apostle Paul in verse 7 was the ground on which the testimony of the Colossian Church stood.

Any Church that must produce a joyful and Christ-like report must have or learn about Christ from a man that has met Christ or from a man that has met a man that has met Christ. The power and grace of the Gospel are transferable. That is, the grace and the blessings that follow can be transferable from one man to the other. For Apostle Paul says, “When I am not available in the flesh, I have men of like mind that can plant, grow and mature men for the Lord.” Is this the same of ministers in the Church of God today? What are we handing over to men today: cars, lands, buildings, fat bank accounts and the likes? Where is faith in Christ and love for the saints in the Church today? (Colossians 1:3-4). Dear Saints, if your Bishop or Pastor is to call for a report about your faith at home, work or on the road, will you be bold to send it? To the fathers of faith, the concerns of Apostle Paul should be our concern for the Churches under our care. As we meditate on the Colossian report today, let us strive to leave a healthy testimony for generations to come.

PRAYER: Dear Father, help us to focus on the Gospel of Christ and leave a good report, Amen.