Colossians 1:1-8
From Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy to the saints in Colossae, our faithful brothers in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.
We have never failed to remember you in our prayers and to give thanks for you to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ever since we heard about your faith in Christ and the love that you show towards all the saints because of the hope which is stored up for you in heaven. It is only recently that you heard of this, when it was announced in the message of the truth. The Good News which has reached you is spreading all over the world and producing the same results as it has among you ever since the day when you heard about God’s grace and understood what this really is. Epaphras, who taught you, is one of our closest fellow workers and a faithful deputy for us as Christ’s servant, and it was he who told us all about your love in the Spirit.
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Luke 4:38-44
Leaving the synagogue Jesus went to Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever and they asked him to do something for her. Leaning over her he rebuked the fever and it left her. And she immediately got up and began to wait on them.
At sunset all those who had friends suffering from diseases of one kind or another brought them to him, and laying his hands on each he cured them. Devils too came out of many people, howling, “You are the Son of God.” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ.
When daylight came he left the house and made his way to a lonely place. The crowds went to look for him, and when they had caught up with him they wanted to prevent him leaving them, but he answered, “I must proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is what I was sent to do.” And he continued his preaching in the synagogues of Judaea.
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Jesus is the Truth, and he has come to set the world free. Why does the world need to be set free? And how is it set free by the Truth?
Many of us buy into the lies of our time. Many of us are chasing after dreams or things that we believe will satisfy and fulfil us. Some of us are chasing after better jobs or better pay. Some of us are chasing after that perfect marriage. Some of us are chasing after a better family. Some of us want to be younger than what we are today. Some of us want to be healthier.
Somehow we have been told, and we believe it, that chasing after all these and eventually when we attained it, we will be perfectly happy in life. But this is a lie.
There are rich people who have attained their life’s dream and found it lacking; it doesn’t satisfy. Something is missing. There are people who constantly try to be the best husband or wife, the best father or mother, and found that perfect happiness in the marriage or the family is not to be found. There are people who have longed for plastic surgery to look younger, or to change gender, and while they say that they are now happy, their body language shows otherwise.
All these are lies told to us by the Deceiver. By having us spend our lives chasing after something that does not deliver, the devil is able to distract us from God with promises of perfect happiness. Isn’t it strange, that the devil uses false promises of perfect happiness to keep us from the one person that can actually give us that perfect happiness?
Jesus is the Truth, and he has come to set us free from the lies that we believe in, the slavery that we find ourselves in. But while it is simple to hear, it is not so easy to live out. Living a life in the Truth means that we have to be honest. Honest with God, honest with others, and honest with ourselves. And that’s not easy.
It is never easy to look deep within ourselves and be completely honest with ourselves. This is because it means that we have to look at parts of ourselves that we do not like. It means that we have to face feelings and memories that we have long buried and forgotten. This is because although these feelings and memories are buried and forgotten by us, they continue to have an effect on our lives, and quite possibly may be the reasons why we are so drawn to the false promises of the devil.
Jesus has come to set us free. Are you ready to accept the Truth?
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Prayer:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen.
Give Thanks to the Lord for: Helping us, one day at a time, to embrace the Truth.
Filed under: Addiction, Codependency, Daily Reflections, Truth
