Powell Paraphrase Col. 3: 10-15

Colossians 3: 10-15 POWELL PARAPHRASED

...You have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power & authority. When you were dead in your sins, ... God made you ALIVE with Christ! He forgave all your sins. ... He took it away and nailed it to the Cross. He DISARMED the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the Cross. This was not done by the hands of men, but by Christ. Christ who lives IN you!

God's Kindess = Repentance

Its Gods Kindness that leads people to repentance, Romans 2:4! 

And it's Holy Spirits job to bring about conviction...
Remember that the next time you want to "call out" someones "bad choices" "in love". The position of Judge and Jury has already been filled...and HE does so with Mercy, Grace and Genuine Love...God does not bash people over the head with their sins. So when we feel compelled to do so...we are not acting as proper agents of God. We are not doing so with His power...and if thats true, then we must ask ourselves, who do I really represent here? Don't let the enemy use you to bring condemnation to others. don't act as an agent of darkness. Be Christlike. Be love. Lead people to the Truth by using KINDNESS. 

Thanks for the reminder Linda Lauritzen and friend...

The Word of the Lord came to me...

As I turned on my tele this a.m. to TBN so I could listen to some preaching as part of my devo's the first thing out of the preachers mouth was "God is going to descend on you tonight with restoration. Restoration physically, restoration spiritually, restoration emotionally, restoration in relationships and restoration financially. I am taking this from the very word of Gods mouth and God does not lie!"

I pondered what he was saying and thought, "Wow I could really use some restoration in my life right now, it feels like everything is falling apart."

Then I got curious and so I looked up the meaning of the word Restoration:

Merriam Webster says:

res·to·ra·tion

 noun \ˌres-tə-ˈrā-shən\

: the act or process of returning something to its original condition by repairing it, cleaning it, etc...

: the act of bringing back something that existed before

: the act of returning something that was stolen or taken

This got me thinking about my current situation and all the trials I am experiencing. My life and various aspects of it, need to be cleansed, returned to its original design and I do feel like something major has been stolen from me!

The next part of my devo's consisted of "Our Daily Bread" reading... wouldn't you know it, but of course today's Scripture reading for "Through the Bible in 1 year" was Jer. 33 the title of which is

Promise of Restoration

Jeremiah 33: 6-9

Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peaceand security. 7 I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity[e] and will rebuild them as they were before. 8 I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me. 9 Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it.’

This is what I mean when I say God's word is relevant. This is how the Lord speaks to us. He uses people and scripture and various confirmations so that we know it is from Him. Just as when Jeremiah uses the phrase "The word of the Lord came to me" this is how God can and still does speak to us today! This gives me Holy Ghost goosebumps and I feel privileged that God would want to be in relationship with me and communicate with me. And I am SO thankful that HE is so FAITHFUL that the RIGHT words came to me this morning... I am going to rest in the knowledge that God's "Restoration" for all things that are broken in my life will descend on me as He has promised! Hallelujah.