(WED) OUR DAILY BREAD : STAND FIRM

[cimi]

July 10
Wednesday


STAND FIRM

READ:
Colossians 1:19-27
_________________________________________________________________________

Be steadfast,
immovable, always
abounding in the work
of the Lord, knowing
that your labor is not
in vain in the Lord.
__1 Corinthians 15:58
___________________________________________________________________________

As our final project for a high school earth science class, a friend and I built a steam table. with extensive help from my father, we built a long plywood box with a hinge in the middle. Then we lined it with plastic and filled it with sand. At one end we attached a hose. at the other end was a drainage hole. After assembling all of it, we raised one end of the stream table, turned on the water, and watched as it created a path directly to the hole at the other end. The next part of the experiment was to place a rock in the stream and watch how it changed the path of the water.

This project taught me as much about life as it did about science. I learned that I can't change the direction things are going if I'm on the bank of the river. I have to step into the stream of life and stand there to divert the flow. That's what Jesus did. The Bible refers to salvation as a rock (2 Sam. 22:47; Ps. 62:2,6-7), and the apostle Paul clarifies that Christ is that Rock (1 Cor. 10:4). God placed Jesus in the stream of history to change its course.

When we remain steadfast in Christ, abounding in the work of the Lord, God uses us to change the course of history through acts of obedience that turn others to Him. __Julie Ackerman Link

``````````````````The Master is seeking a harvest```````````````````
```````````````In lives He's redeemed by His blood;``````````````````
````````````````He seeks for the fruit of the Spirit``````````````````
````````````And works that will glorify God. __Lehman``````````````
_________________________________________________________________________________
Be sure to put your feet in the right place,
then stand firm. __Abraham Lincoln

*******************Today's Bible Reading __ Colossians 1:19-27*********************

19 For it pleased the Father
that in Him all the fullness
should dwell, 20 and by Him
to reconcile all things to
Himself, by Him, whether
things on earth or things in
heaven, having made peace
through the blood of His
cross.

21 And you, who once were
alienated and enemies in
your mind by wicked works,
yet now He has reconciled

22 in the body of His flesh
through death, to present
you holy, and blameless, and
above reproach in His
sight__ 23 if indeed you
continue in the faith,
grounded and steadfast, and
are not moved away from
the hope of the gospel which
you heard, which was
preached to every creature
under heaven, of which I,
Paul, became a minister.

24 I now rejoice in my
sufferings for you, and fill
up in my flesh what is
lacking in the afflictions of
Christ, for the sake of His
body, which is the church,

25 of which I became a
minister according to the
stewardship from God
which was given to me for
you, to fulfill the word of
God, 26 the mystery which
has been hidden from ages
and from generations, but
now has been revealed to
His saints. 27 To them God
willed to make known what
are the riches of the glory of
this mystery among the
Gentiles: which is Christ in
you, the hope of glory.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Today's text is a beautiful statement of the reason for our Lord's
incarnation. Jesus came so that all things, "on earth or things in
heaven," may be reconciled to God (v.20). "Things on earth and in
heaven" helps clarify God's love for the "World" in John 3:16.