{"id":403,"date":"2010-12-14T11:46:09","date_gmt":"2010-12-14T16:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.fbclafayette.org\/?p=403"},"modified":"2011-12-12T09:28:47","modified_gmt":"2011-12-12T14:28:47","slug":"spend-time-focusing-on-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/spend-time-focusing-on-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"Spend Time Focusing on Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cross\"If you have followed this devotional series<\/a> then it is clear that Jesus is the focus of Colossians \u2013 maybe in some ways that other books do not stress Jesus.\u00a0 This line of thinking continues in Colossians\u00a02:8-15.\u00a0 The solution to being caught by worldly thinking and philosophies is to focus instead on Christ.\u00a0 Here are three things that God did through Jesus at the cross that should drive our thinking and motivate our actions:<\/p>\n

1. <\/strong>God made forgiveness from sin possible through Christ.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Paul is writing to a group of believers and reminding them that it is only through the cross work of Jesus that their sins are removed.\u00a0 This truth alone can reorient an entire life.\u00a0\u00a0 The more one sees the significance of the work of Jesus, the more he or she will forgive others, the more they will give grace to those who do something wrong, the more merciful they will be to those who need it. \u00a0Forgiveness changes everything<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

2. <\/strong>God took our debts and cancelled them through Christ.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I love the imagery, \u201chaving nailed them to the cross.\u201d However, that imagery has another side. \u00a0It is Christ\u2019s hands and feet that were cruelly nailed to the cross. \u00a0My debt is gone, but that debt was paid. \u00a0It was paid through the suffering of my Lord. \u00a0This truth can also reorient some of our thinking. \u00a0It can remind us to give Jesus first place. \u00a0He was our substitute; he paid the penalty for the debts that were rightly mine.<\/strong> Thus, it becomes a joy and privilege to give my life back to him.<\/p>\n

3. <\/strong>God crushed the opposition through Christ.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Verse 15 reminds me of 1 Cor 15:50-58. \u00a0The death of Jesus was the ultimate place of victory. \u00a0God disarmed and triumphed over rulers and authorities at the death of Jesus. \u00a0What a wonderful reminder that we are on the winning side! \u00a0Our world is full of trials and deep hurts, but thankfully we can experience those trials and hurts with the reminder that Jesus crushed the opposition. \u00a0A day is coming when all will be made right<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Friends, life can be a challenge. \u00a0Let\u2019s focus on Jesus and all that was accomplished at his death.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you have followed this devotional series then it is clear that Jesus is the focus of Colossians \u2013 maybe in some ways that other books do not stress Jesus.\u00a0 This line of thinking continues in Colossians\u00a02:8-15.\u00a0 The solution to being caught by worldly thinking and philosophies is to focus instead on Christ.\u00a0 Here are… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[97],"tags":[129,173,192,165,4124],"yoast_head":"\nSpend Time Focusing on Jesus - Faith Church Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/spend-time-focusing-on-jesus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Spend Time Focusing on Jesus - Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you have followed this devotional series then it is clear that Jesus is the focus of Colossians \u2013 maybe in some ways that other books do not stress Jesus.\u00a0 This line of thinking continues in Colossians\u00a02:8-15.\u00a0 The solution to being caught by worldly thinking and philosophies is to focus instead on Christ.\u00a0 Here are... read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/spend-time-focusing-on-jesus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-12-14T16:46:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-12-12T14:28:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/files\/2010\/12\/Cross.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rob Green\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rob Green\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/spend-time-focusing-on-jesus\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/spend-time-focusing-on-jesus\/\",\"name\":\"Spend Time Focusing on Jesus - Faith Church Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-12-14T16:46:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-12-12T14:28:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/044621790bd51280ac2491914cbf2301\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/spend-time-focusing-on-jesus\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/spend-time-focusing-on-jesus\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/spend-time-focusing-on-jesus\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Spend Time Focusing on Jesus\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/\",\"name\":\"Faith Church Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/044621790bd51280ac2491914cbf2301\",\"name\":\"Rob Green\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20200408120942\/GreenRob.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20200408120942\/GreenRob.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Rob Green\"},\"description\":\"Pastor Rob Green oversees Faith Biblical Counseling Ministries. 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