Being fruitful for God’s kingdom also means strength. The deliverance bought for us through Christ’s redemption is the foundation for a new beginning.
It’s like starting over, where our past has been written over with His powerful presence that is not only glorious but can endure for the long haul.
Look at Paul’s life (who wrote this letter to the church at Colossae). He was able to endure through mind-boggling hardships for the joy of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord. Not to mention it was also for the goal of bringing many to glory who would have otherwise missed their life’s purpose.
After all, being a religious Jew was not what the Lord had in mind for Paul. Instead, he was converted on the road to Damascus from radical zealousness for the Pharisaic traditions to no longer persecuting Christ Jesus, the head of the church.
When God’s glory left the temple, it allowed a new way for God to be represented to the world John 1:14. How impactful was the early church on the Roman world? Beyond a doubt, it went way beyond Jerusalem and Judea even to the outer limits of civilization at that time.
Why should we be surprised when God continues to show up in every nation and people group where lives are being transformed, bearing good fruit by the power of the gospel?
Fruit is not hidden but is witnessed in a life whose sins are forgiven, living in way that is pleasing to God. -Teresa #lightson
Colossians 1: 9-14 (ESV)
9 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, 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; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks[d] to the Father, who has qualified you[e]to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Reconnection 