Contemplative Bible Reading

Colossians 3:11 (New Living Translation) 11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. The writer is writing about life and how to live. Prior to this sentence, […]

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Colossians 1:6 (New Living Translation) 6 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It 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. The Good News that Jesus of […]

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Colossians 1:22 (New Living Translation) 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. The writer is contrasting life before […]

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Colossians 3:5 (English Standard Version) Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Watch out for the last phrase of this verse: covetousness which is idolatry. I sure like that fellas’ car. I sure like that fellas’ vacation plans. Innocent enough, right? Perhaps. […]

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Colossians 2:6 (English Standard Version) Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him Walk in Him. Wade in Him. Live in Him. There is an all-too-popular phrase bouncing about “make room for God.” I strongly disagree. I believe this verse strongly disagrees. We walk in Jesus. We live in him all […]

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Colossians 1:15a (New Living Translation) Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. This is the first line of what many believe is one of the oldest Christian songs. What an opening line. This is one of those “No duh” statements that I overlook, often. The creator God has not been seen, as we […]

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Colossians 3:1 (New Living Translation) Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Allow me to paraphrase this. Jesus of Nazareth, the one anointed to take away the sins of the world, rose […]

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Colossians 2:20-23 (New Living Translation) 20 You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, 21 “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? 22 Such rules are mere human teachings about things that […]

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Colossians 1:19-20 (New Living Translation) 19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. Here it is. This is the good news of Jesus […]

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Colossians 4:5 (New Living Translation) Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. I follow God and His son Jesus of Nazareth. Most people who live about me do not. They don’t believe. Do I live according to the admonition of this verse? Well, uh, … God, help […]

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