DATE POSTED Tuesday, 2023-01-17.
WRITTEN AT: O’Brien, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Colossians 2:11-12
TRANSLATION: New Living Translation (NLT)

BIBLE TEXT: ¹¹ When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. ¹² For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. ¹³ You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.

APPLICATION: Physical Circumcision is the removal of bodily flesh that, if left alone, could harbor germs and possibly spread disease. This ‘flesh’ is therefore removed very early in life for little boys. Paul uses this as an example of what happens when sin is allowed to originate, fester and spread to others. If it’s root cause is not corrected as soon as it is noticed, relationships will be damaged, and innocent lives might be impacted. Sin is the result of one not honoring and obeying the commands and teachings of their Creator, God. Where sin abounds, mankind will adapt to the evil ways of the enemy, Satan, and their sinful deeds go on to destroy the lives of others. I love the illustration of Paul, in helping the born-again Christian to visualize how the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ tears away the sin that has troubled us and caused us so much headache. We buried that old sin as one does in the illustration of baptism, and as cleansed followers of Jesus Christ, we rise up to live holy and noble lives in the presence of the holiest One, Jesus. For the non-believer reading this today, please know that Christians are no better than you are, and they are only holy because of the holiness of Jesus Christ. But the invitation to accept Jesus, is open to all who would believe on the name of Jesus Christ – that includes you, my friend. Jesus died for us all, and so His invitation is open to every child of His that would accept His offer of salvation. Jesus went to be with the Father, so that they might prepare a place for believers when we are removed from this world. If you have chosen to do nothing with the offer from Jesus, then you are destined for Hell and all its fury. Please consider the invitation from Jesus today. Accept Him as Lord of your life. Allow Him to pull back the attraction and the impact of sin on your life, so that you can join hands with all my Christian friends and I as we enter into eternal life around the glorious throne of the Creator of this universe, our Father who art in heaven!

BLESSING(S) NOTED: We’ve all heard of a spiritual transformation, now that we have been reminded of the spiritual circumcision performed on us at the time of accepting Jesus as Lord, let us stand firm in our faith and honor God with our lives each and every day!

PRAYER: Lord, You are good to us. Far greater than anything we could ever expect or deserve. Thank You for loving us like no other can or will – way more than we could expect or deserve. Thank You for forgiving us of our sin and preparing us for the likes of heaven with You and the Father. What a glorious reminder today of how You not only accepted us, but You pulled back the flesh – our sinful earthly self. You cleansed us and made us brand new – acceptable in Your eyes. Please help us to live like Your children so that others will see and believe in our soon coming King. Lord, we life Your name on high and sing praises to the holy One, Jesus our Lord. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog might indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. You may also visit me on Spotify and listen to Nuggets while you’re out and about. I would encourage you to find a church home near by your home, and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God, and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!