Skip to content
Christchurch Miami

5 daily readings · Jay Reynardus

Greater Than Our Circumstances - Colossians 1:1-14

Colossians 1:1-14

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Monday · Monday, July 13, 2026

The Marks of Grace

"since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven."

Colossians 1:4-5 · ESV

Before Paul corrects a single error in Colossae, he gives thanks — because he can see three things in these believers: faith, hope, and love. Jay called them 'the distinguishing characteristics of the saints,' the fingerprints of everyone God has claimed. Not perfect people. Just people in whom God has been at work. So here's the honest question Jay pressed on the church: where is the evidence of God's grace in your life? Look for it. Put your finger on it. A flicker of trust in Christ. A love for people you'd otherwise avoid. A hope that isn't anchored to your circumstances. That's not you being impressive — that's grace leaving marks. Name one mark of grace you can actually see in yourself today, and thank God for it.

Reflect

Which of the three — faith, hope, or love — do you most clearly see God growing in you right now, and where did it come from?

Pray

Father, thank You that faith, hope, and love in me are Your fingerprints, not my achievements. Open my eyes to see the evidence of Your grace today — and let seeing it make me grateful, not proud. In Jesus' name, amen.

Read Romans 1

Tuesday · Tuesday, July 14, 2026

It's All Gift

"which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,"

Colossians 1:6 · ESV

Jay said it plainly: 'If we have faith, it's because of God. If we have love for our brothers and sisters, it's because of God. If we have a living hope, it's because of God.' The gospel of grace, he reminded us, is a gospel of gift. That cuts both ways. It frees you from the exhausting project of manufacturing your own faith by trying harder — you don't produce these things, you receive them. And it steals your bragging rights, because you can't take credit for a gift. The Colossians didn't grow the fruit; they 'understood the grace of God in truth,' and the fruit came. So stop white-knuckling. Where you feel thin on faith, hope, or love today, don't strain harder — ask the Giver for more.

Reflect

Where have you been trying to manufacture something — faith, love, patience, hope — that God is actually waiting to give you as a gift?

Pray

Lord, I confess how often I try to generate faith, love, and hope on my own strength and end up empty. Remind me it's all gift. Where I am running low today, I simply ask You to give. In Jesus' name, amen.

Read Romans 2

Wednesday · Wednesday, July 15, 2026

He Reached Into the Dark

"He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,"

Colossians 1:13 · ESV

This was the line that landed hardest on Sunday. God, Jay said, 'reached into the darkness where you lived and pulled you out when you were His enemy.' Notice who did the moving. You were not searching the dark for a way out — you lived there. God reached in. And look at the verbs: delivered, transferred. Past tense. Done. You have already been rescued from a power you could never escape and carried into the kingdom of His beloved Son. This matters when your circumstances still feel dark, because your address changed the day Christ claimed you, even on the days your feelings haven't caught up. You are not a prisoner hoping for parole. You are a citizen of the light who once lived in the dark — brought out by the hand of God.

Reflect

If God has already delivered and transferred you, what would change about today if you lived from that settled fact instead of your circumstances?

Pray

Jesus, You reached into the darkness where I was living and pulled me out when I was still Your enemy. Thank You that I am delivered and transferred — already, and by Your hand. When today feels dark, remind me where I actually belong. Amen.

Read Romans 3

Thursday · Thursday, July 16, 2026

Pray Like Paul

"And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,"

Colossians 1:9 · ESV

Sitting in a Roman jail, what does Paul do for a struggling church? He prays — and listen to what he asks for. Not a bigger budget, not comfort, not an easier road. He asks that they'd be 'filled with the knowledge of His will.' Jay held that prayer up against ours: 'God, I really need this job, this car, this raise, this vacation house.' Then he asked the piercing question from James — why don't we have the knowledge of God? 'Because you don't ask.' We don't have because we don't pray. So borrow Paul's prayer today. Trade one self-centered request for this: 'God, let me see You. Show me my sin. Give me faith — I don't have it. Fill me with the knowledge of Your will.' Then watch what shifts.

Reflect

What is one thing you keep asking God for — and what would it look like to pray, instead, that you'd be filled with the knowledge of His will?

Pray

God, let me see You. Show me my sin. Give me faith — I don't have it. Fill me with the knowledge of Your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so my whole life pleases You. I'm asking, because You told me to. Amen.

Read Romans 4

Friday · Friday, July 17, 2026

It's Always Him

"in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

Colossians 1:14 · ESV

Paul lands the whole rescue on two words: redemption, forgiveness. Bought back. Wiped clean. Not 'will be, if you keep it up' — already true 'in whom,' in Christ. This is where Jay ended, and it's worth ending your week here too: 'It's Him. It's always Him. It will always be Him.' Every circumstance you're carrying into the weekend — the diagnosis, the bill, the strained relationship, the sin you keep confessing — is real. But it is not greater than Christ. When we keep our eyes on Him, Jay said, He gives us a hope greater than all our tiny hopes and turns our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. Your redemption doesn't rise and fall with your week. It rests on Him. So keep your eyes on Christ — He is greater than every circumstance you're carrying.

Reflect

What circumstance are you carrying into this weekend that needs to be re-measured against the size of Christ and the fact that you are already redeemed and forgiven?

Pray

Lord Jesus, in You I have redemption and the forgiveness of sins — already, fully, forever. When my circumstances feel bigger than my faith, fix my eyes on You. It's You, it's always You, and it always will be. Amen.

Read Romans 5
All devotionals Watch the sermon