Daily Devotional

My wife has a place where she keeps her necklaces. Some of them are made of precious metals and stones. Most, however, are inexpensive but have precious memories. One of her favorites has a pendant shaped like a cupcake with tiny candles. It reminds her of her first birthday as my wife when out of our “newlywed poverty” all I could afford for a cake was a single cupcake with twenty-three candles. It melted into a globby mess before I could finish singing “Happy Birthday” to my new bride. I was devastated; she was touched. I have often seen her place a necklace around her neck and give it a familiar tap, as if to say, “Thanks for the memories!”

Read with me the apostle Paul's special prayer in Colossians 1:9–14  
 
“For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

         What a string of life-changing truths as each phrase hangs on the other like a beautiful garland pf pearls. Let me explain.

The apostle Paul prays that we will be filled with the knowledge of His will so we will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.
 

• For when we walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, we will please Him in all respects.
  
  
• And when we please Him in all respects, we will bear fruit in every good work.
  
  
• And when we bear fruit in every good work, we will increase in the knowledge of God.
  
  
• And when we increase in the knowledge of God, we will be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might.
  
  
• And as we are being strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, it results in the attaining of all steadfastness and patience.
  
  
• And when all that happens, we can engage in a time of joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
  
  
• And all of that results in a string of doctrinal declarations we can rehearse daily:
  • “He delivered us from the domain of darkness…”
  • “He transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son…”
  • “In His beloved Son we have redemption and the forgiveness of sins.”

May we daily take to heart each of these precious pearls and join with others in thanking God for the memories of His faithfulness in our lives. In the words of Proverbs 6:21, “Bind them continually on your heart; tie them around your neck”

New American Standard Bible (NASB)
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