SUE O'DONNELL. 05.04.21
“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God…and is supreme over all creation…and He holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is His body…He is first in everything. For God in all His fullness was pleased to live in Christ…” (Colossians 1 v 15-20 NLT)
Christ Jesus is risen, Alleluia!
Sin is driven from us.
Here made available to us
Is our deepest longing, for holiness,
For belonging to our Forever Saviour.
If it were not for our Father’s mercy,
Good Friday with the crucifixion of Jesus
Could not, would not have happened.
But as it was, the Lord God Almighty,
Out of nothing but love and steadfast kindness of mercy,
Acted as He had promised He would.
Now it is up to us to respond to the †.
It is by living in Christ Jesus,
Calling at all times on the Holy Spirit,
We together win the battle over sin.
Our sin washed away by the blood and water,
Which Christ Jesus shed for us at the †.
“…through Him God reconciled everything to Himself.” (Colossians 1 v 20)
We are a chosen people, selected by merciful kindness,
Anointed and appointed to belong to the living Word.
Christ Jesus is to be heard, honoured by obedience.
Reverence is found in the Presence of the Saviour,
Who is our Brother, but Lord and Master too.
All the Father accomplished at the † of Christ Jesus
Was for me and you, to make us holy,
To pave the way for us to belong to the Saviour
In body, mind and in all conscience and willpower.
Our hope is in sharing Christ Jesus’ holiness.
This is what will make the world a better place.
Better in justice, peace, fairness and compassion.
Brighter in hope, true love’s scope and outreach.
Holier because we belong entirely to the Master,
Making us a family belonging to the result of mercy.
To God be all the glory.
Christ Jesus is risen. Alleluia!
“This same Good News that came to you is going out over all the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the first day you heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.” (Colossians 1 v 6 NLT)
“Ask God to give You complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and
understanding. Then the way you live will always honour and please the Lord, and Your lives will produce every kind of good fruit.” (Colossians 1 v 9, 10 NLT)
Dearest Father, we are told “All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.”
(Colossians 1 v 10 NLT) Thank You for making this possible through our salvation as Christ Jesus died for us.
The brightest light of holy love and forgiveness now shines upon us, the glorious outcome of the victory over sin and death the Lord Jesus has won for us.
It is this which, with our co-operation fully given from a wholehearted, loving respect and an honouring of holy authority, will see godly results.
The Lord Jesus, the fulfilment of Your every promise to us, He is our hope for the wellbeing of mankind. He is our best Friend and Companion for the journey home to You, Father God, as well as being Saviour and Master. And He will send the Holy Spirit when we request this.
Come Holy Spirit: “Enlighten, guide, strengthen and command us; tell us what we ought to do and command us to do it…” (Cardinal Mercier, the invocation made plural) and please help us to do it.
May we be Holy Spirit inspired by the love and mercy our Father has shown us and by Your incredible sacrifice at the †, Lord Jesus, Saviour and Redeemer.
Thank You that Your holy life and sacrificial death reveal to us our Father’s will for our salvation and sanctification and this You make possible.
We can readily identify with You. As High Priest You understand our weaknesses for You faced the same testing as us, especially at the trial and the †. Yet You did not sin. You are our highest ideal and You mentor us.
We are so grateful to be the recipients of Your Sacred Heart, Your precious blood poured out for us and re-presented to us in the most holy sacrament of the altar. You are our Forever Saviour.
It is Your holiness which sets us free from satan’s clutches, and keeps us free by means of Your purifying Spirit acting in accordance with our Father’s will for our redemption.
What a truly masterful plan! Prophecy can now come true. “The government will rest on Your shoulders,” (based on Isaiah 9 v 4 NLT) for You are the Saviour of the world, born to save us from sin and final condemnation.
“Your government and its peace will never end.” (based on v 7) In You we hope for our future. “You will rule with fairness and justice…” (Cont) changing the world by Your loving kindness.
“Open for us the gates where the righteous enter, and I will go in and thank You LORD. These gates lead to Your presence and the godly enter there.” (based on Psalm 118 v 19, 20) What a privilege!
It is such an honour to take You as our Saviour Brother, the eternal High Priest, the Paschal Lamb, the beloved Son who is the Word of Life and offer of holy love and merciful forgiveness.
“Lord Jesus, we are lost without this” (v 21) I thank You for answering my prayer and giving me the victory over sin and death. I live with hope for our blessed future.
You are the stone which the builders rejected, which has become the chief cornerstone of our faith, our trust, our dependency, our hope. Thank You for who You are and all that You accomplish.
“This is the LORD’s doing and it is wonderful to see. This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” (v 22, 23, 24) as can now happen on many a day.
Please continue to save and sanctify us. Please continue to send Your Spirit to us as our Father’s love is enduring and we offer our thanks for this. His mercy is life giving, uplifting and encouraging.
To be possessed of You is to become blessed by holiness, Lord Jesus. This does not happen instantly for we are
but Your good works in progress. Please continue with this.
Thank You that You are our Forever Saviour, with us always as You promised You would be. We need this knowledge and experience. Please keep sending the sanctifying Spirit of faith.
May He safeguard us and guide us in all the ways of holiness, for daily we have to fight a spiritual battle. satan must not win for we are now more than conquerors through You, Lord Jesus.
We are told to be strong and courageous, and we can be by asserting continuously that we belong to You and are a new creation, changed by our pursuit to emulate You. We must choose to be strong in You.
This is but one benefit of belonging to You. In our weakness is Your strength and Your purpose of holiness is not then overlooked nor clouded, for we must look at You and victory, not the enemy and our difficulties.
Our confidence is laid upon the reality that You do live within us, amongst us. We see this by loving deeds well done, in faith and trust of godly good results.
May our love for You grow stronger and stronger, be as firm as the foundation of our faith being rock solid. When everything seems to be going wrong, please deepen our trust through an even firmer dependency, for with You all things are possible.
Praying, watching, waiting and hoping, this must be our calling, daily being aware of Your loving Presence seeking to bless us. May we never turn our back on this, Lord and Saviour.
Hope is real because of You. You are always at work for a good reason, the best purpose. You honour us by making us a part of this, Your good intention, Your godly purpose.
Please fill us by Your Spirit of love, for He will help us to reason and discern as to what we are supposed to do when confused or challenged, being compromised or in difficulty.
May He keep us prayerful throughout the long day, for to be in touch with You is to access holy wisdom and the truth we have to live by. We must converse with You readily.
I am sorry when I forget to do this, being too busy about my own agenda, too wrapped up in my ideas or inclinations. I must try harder in this way of stopping to pray.
I do forget to send arrow prayers flying quickly and directly to heaven to help me to do well in Your service, acting in Your name, according to Your loving leading.
Only by us living in You, through You, can we together make the world a better, brighter, holier place to enjoy. Please continue to be Lord over all we think decide, do and say, always but always influenced by prayer. Thank You that all prayer always draws us closer together. Please continue to send us Your Holy Spirit, the Father’s Spirit, to reveal to us what You are, Lord Jesus and who our Father intends we shall become through You.
You are our Easter joy, our hope, our life’s purpose of holiness. Your love is our plan which, by the Holy Spirit, we must put into action. Thank You for being Lord over us and in us.
As the Lord, Saviour and Master, may You always be the longing of our heart, the knowledge of our mind, the cleansing of our conscience, all made possible through You, by Your Holy Spirit.
Lord Jesus, it is our Father at work in You, with You, through You, who ensures that by the Spirit, You meet our deepest desire, highest aim, fulfilling our hope to become holy.
We are Your good works in progress. Defended by Your Spirit in addition to Yourself as we pray, according to the plan and purpose of our Father, we experience the greatest joy in Your service.
Thank You for all that You are as an Almighty Trinity. Thank You for all that You stand for, revealing holy wisdom and truth to invite us to put behind us all the errors of our ways. Thank You for Easter.
Please now take us forwards in holiness, knowing that as we name You and claim You as Saviour, knowing You and the power of Your resurrection, we can “Worship God in the Spirit, rejoicing in You, Lord Jesus.” (based on Philippians 3 v 3)
Let us then “Press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in You” (based on Philippians 3 v 14) knowing that as You never, ever fail us, we must not fail You. May the Holy Spirit fill us with all the qualities we need to lead a holy life.
Let then all thanks and praise be ever to our Father. “For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom which is Yours, Lord Jesus.” (based on Colossians 1 v 13 NLT)
Thank You for purchasing our freedom by the forgiveness of sins, as won for us at the † of Your sacrifice. It is by this “God reconciled everything to Himself.” (v 26) We cannot state this often enough.
You are the peace between our Father and us, for You are our holiness. “He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Your blood shed at the cross.” (based on v 20)
Lord Jesus, You are risen, alleluia! You are our Easter and You are our joy, our hope for a better, brighter, holier future. Thank You for being who You are, our Forever Saviour, redeeming us by God’s mercy.
All praise, all thanks and all glory ever must be to the Holy Trinity, our rescue, safekeeping and hope of heaven. Amen.
Images by Artist Christine Garwood
http://www.christinegarwoodartist.co.uk/
Season
EASTER
Key Themes
UNDERSTANDING
CROSS
