Day 70: Colossians 1:11

“May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy”



Power is one of the biggest idols in our world today. If you’re honest with yourself, deep down most of us crave power.


Power is one of those things that we can easily be consumed with, and when we are, we do all sorts of terrible things to gain power and keep it. We step on people. We cheat, we lie, we steal, and we turn our backs on God.


Funny thing is, God wants to give us power. Let me put it another way. God wants to exercise power through us. He doesn’t want some egotistical alpha-dog brat running around abusing power. He wants a humble servant that allows God to do amazing things through him and then turns around and gives God all the credit.


Paul prays that the Colossians are strengthened with all power. Think about that. Paul wants the Colossians to experience strength based on all of God’s power. That’s a lot of strength, and it’s available to those that will accept it for the glory of God rather than for their own empire-building.


Notice something else really cool here. Most people assume that power is used to overcome, to win, to destroy, and to lead. Paul is praying power for a different reason: endurance and patience.


Weird, right? Paul wants the Colossians to have power so they can be patient and endure what they are going through. Not to overcome it, not to destroy evil, not even to defend themselves, but to endure the hardship at hand and to be patient for God’s working.


The Christian leader does not crave power. They rely on God’s power, which He gives us freely in the Holy Spirit. We use this power not for our gain, but to strengthen us in godliness.


Christian Leadership Principle: Power is not something that we should want or use in our discretion. God exercises His power through us as He sees fit, and we are to glorify Him in it’s use.


Here’s a set of verses to meditate on today: Ephesians 3:14-21


Prayer: Father, help me not to crave power. Help me to recognize Your power and to glorify You for it. Give me your power to strengthen me for patience and endurance. In Christ’s name, amen.

Day 55: Colossians 1:10

“so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”



So many of us try so hard to please God. Many of us have been trying from the beginning, not understanding that apart from Christ, we can’t be pleasing to Him. It’s not that just our sins are bad, but even our goodness is like “filthy rags” in front of God.


It shouldn’t come as a surprise. We have nothing to offer God that can put us in His good graces. Only by believing in the death, burial and resurrection of His Son can we be made right with God. Once we are right with God, we can begin to please Him.


This is where today’s passage comes in. Once we are Christians, our life can begin to mean something for the Kingdom of God. Until we believed, we were still fighting for the other side, even if we didn’t know it. Scary, huh?


Once we are believers, our lives can begin to advance the Kingdom of God. What pleases God in these circumstances? Paul says there are two things, and we need to be very careful about both of them, because at the core of who and what we are, they show us what we are to be doing with our time and resources.


First, we are to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. In other words, do what you know is right according to the way God commands it. Walk in a way that Jesus would have. Do the things that Jesus would have. When you do this you will be fully pleasing to God and bear fruit in all of your good works.


Stay there for a minute. Bearing fruit in your good works is what happens when you walk in a manner worthy of Jesus. It is a direct result. God brings about those results.


Here’s the second thing. God wants us to increase in the knowledge of God. Knowledge of God comes from two places. Learning about Him through His word, and Learning about Him through experiencing Him in your life. And that leads back to walking in a manner worthy of the Lord.


So, if you want to please God, walk like Jesus walked, and learn soak up the experience of God like a sponge.


CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE: A Christian leader will seek to please God by living like Jesus and learning about God all they can.


Here’s a set of verses to meditate on today: Proverbs 1


Prayer: Father, help me to walk in a way that is pleasing to you. Make me more like Jesus, and help me to stay in Your word. In Christ’s name, amen.

Day 41: Colossians 1:9b

“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,”



Many of us go through life wanting to know God’s will for us. I have known people who will read books, go to conferences, and join groups in the hope that somehow God will speak some new revelation to them.


Maybe you are that person today. Maybe you are just completely tied up trying to figure out what God wants for you. If you are, then I have good news.


In this verse, Paul is telling the Colossians that he is praying for them constantly that they would have knowledge of God’s will. Then, with uncanny precision, Paul lays out what part of God’s will for them he wants for them: spiritual wisdom and understanding.


Here’s the good news for those of you who are searching for God’s will: God isn’t a God of secrets. He wants you to know His will for you. In fact, He wrote it down for you. That’s right. His word, the Bible, is a detailed plan of His will for you. Now, God may get even more detailed with you, and in that case, I promise you that He will let you know. He is not playing games with you, or keeping things from you. This is the God that set a bush on fire and then spoke out of it to get Moses attention. He can do the same thing for you.


Now, let’s get to this particular bit of God’s will for your life: God wants us to have spiritual wisdom and understanding. Remember way back when we started this devotion what we decided wisdom was: knowledge plus application. God is giving us both sides of this equation right here. This is what Paul is saying. He is praying that the Colossians are given spiritual understanding and wisdom. Remember that they have to have spiritual understanding before they can have wisdom. Paul is praying that God would give the Colossians knowledge plus application.


God wants you to have the same thing. Part of God’s will for your life is that you would understand spiritual things, and then apply them to your life. How do you do that? Read the Bible, and then go and do it.


CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE: The Christian leader knows God’s word and applies it to their life. They understand that God’s Will is found in the Bible, not hidden from anybody.


Here’s a set of verses for you to meditate on today: Exodus Chapter 3 and 4


Prayer: Father, make me content to know Your word and apply it to my life. Give me spiritual knowledge and wisdom to live my life according to Your ways. In Christ’s name, amen.

Day 26: Colossians 1:3-5a

“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.”



What are you thankful for?


I know that at thanksgiving dinner you probably sit around a dinner table with your family and list a few things that you’re thankful for. They probably include things that have to do with the people sitting around you, don’t they? “your family, your friends, your house, your food, your significant other.” I know this list. I’ve played this game.


Christians should be thankful people. We have lots to be thankful for. We have all those things I just listed, and then some. Paul picks up a couple of things that he is thankful for that sometimes I think we take for granted and shouldn’t.


Paul is thankful to God for the Colossians because of their faith and love. Paul goes on to say that their love and faith emanates from the hope that those people have in Jesus Christ.


It’s very easy to be thankful for our own things; they’re ours. It’s harder to be thankful for other people based on their stuff. That just seems weird. Paul is thankful for these other people because of what they have and how it benefits them. That’s a completely different view on things, isn’t it?


In essence, Paul is thankful that the Colossians are believers. He is thankful that they will spend eternity with Jesus. Paul is also thankful that these believers are showing faith and love because they believe.


Paul is thankful for somebody else’s situation in life. He could be jealous of it. He could be threatened by it. Instead, he is thankful for it.


Do you thank God for the belief and Christian attributes of others, even if they don’t somehow affect you? Christians should be thankful, even when it doesn’t benefit them.


Leaders know that being truly thankful is a sign that you love those whom you’re thankful for. This is the ultimate goal, of course; To love those who you lead and to appreciate them for what God has made them.


CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE: Christians should be thankful not only of those things that benefit them but for people and what God has made them.


Here’s a set of verse for you to meditate on today: I Corinthians 1:4


Prayer: Father, make me thankful. Take the selfishness out of being thankful, and help me to be thankful of other people just for being what you have made them. Thank you, Father, Amen.