Colossians 2:13-15 Triumph!
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: October 6, 2020 Colossians 2:13-15
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
(Understanding the Text / Revelation of God) Here is the gospel through and through. We were the walking dead because of our worldly rebellion. We focused on force and selfishness and bitterness. We lived a life separated from God. But God changed all that. He made the first move to resurrect us and pull us out of the muck. He forgave us personally for being selfish fools before the official forgiveness took place. Why can I say that? Because He determined to go through the necessary process to gain our lives before He actually did it. He knew of a solution that would cost Him more than we can ever imagine, and He chose to do it anyway. He took every accusation against us and every guilt that we could have and answered our accusers in a most unexpected way. On the cross, Jesus took the ammunition away from the accuser. He took this world away from the devil and his confederates. He opened up their shameful characters for the world to see. On the cross, Jesus won by refusing to be selfish. He won by refusing to leave. He won by becoming nothing.
The Colossians were looking to combine their knowledge of Jesus with the world. For them, the world consisted of spiritual forces that interacted with humans. Paul is making a point that they shouldn’t combine their faith in Jesus with faith in other spiritual forces because they were at odds with each other and Jesus was superior. They were already on the side of the winner. He was the winner because He was the most powerful of all, but even more of a winner because He descended to our level and below on the cross. Jesus had already defeated all those spiritual forces that the Colossians were considering adding on to their worship. Jesus is enough by Himself, and we don’t need to try to add on to Him with supplemental stuff. We just need to cling to Him more and more fully in every aspect of our lives.
These verses are very significant in a lot of ways. It tells us that this world has spiritual powers that ruled it and that they were at war with God. It says that the Father gained victory over these forces through Jesus’ actions. Thus, they were at war with both the Father and the Son. Jesus took this world away from them. The cross was a choice for Jesus, not because He liked it but because we needed it. We needed to see that He valued us so much that He would go into our muck to be with us. We needed to see that God was trustworthy to love us even when we were at our most unlovable.
(Application / Prayer) My application for myself is that I need to focus on the victory and defeat of the cross. I need to realize that there is a lot going on that I don’t know about. I don’t understand all the reasons why the cross was necessary. I don’t understand the behind the scenes maneuvering that my accuser has done. I don’t need to understand all of the maneuvering that is still happening today. What I need to understand is that You can be trusted and that You are personally involved in my life even while You are doing Your mighty works elsewhere. I need to trust that You want the best for me personally and that You know me through and through, so You are not trying to force me into a mold that I don’t fit into. Instead, You are working with me to be the best that I am, not that someone else is. I need to trust that You love me as I was, as I am, and as I will be.