Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created. [v. 15]
I don’t know about you, but those truths are really difficult to wrap my mind around. See, in our humanity, we have a start and a finish. We have a physical body that we can see and touch and hurt and break.
We are also broken.
Another truth that I struggle with is that God wants me as I am.
Yes. Let me say that again: He wants you the way you are, mess and junk and everything.
Verse 22 tells us that He has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ.
It’s not anything that you’ve done.
It’s not anything you can say.
It’s not about success or Bible knowledge.
So as you come to Him, messy and broken, let’s read together how He sees you:
“You are holy and blameless as you stand before Him without a single fault.” [v. 22, NLT]
Paul goes on to remind us that we need to let this truth wash over us daily. Are you ready for a short history lesson? During this time, the towns of Colossae were under the Roman empire: Caesar was Lord, and I don’t mean just a fancy king. It was taught that he was the very image of god, and that your position with Caesar was a direct result of works: the homage you pay and serving him fully.
So just as when Paul writes this reminder years ago, it is just as applicable for us today: we need to remind ourselves daily that we don’t have to clean up our mess first. He wants you just as you are.
- In what areas do you try to “clean up” before bringing yourself before Him?
- How can we remind ourselves daily about His promise?
- Is there something in your life that you are allowing to lord over you? Ask God to break those chains - set a reminder, whatever you need – daily.
{ 55 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey, ‘Enocksonc’… I too am just now reading this devotional, months after all these comments. Bless you for posting!! I haven’t seen anyone who is currently where we are in this study… And it is great to know I have a Sister in Jesus Christ who is ‘just now’ here in SheReads. I am being greatly Blessed by these devotionals as well. It’s as if God has opened a window, and fresh Truth is blowing through my Spirit. Have a beautiful day, Sister!! Love in Christ, ‘Babs’ (ps… Post your name for me?)
I am just reading through this now months after you all. But it is the right time for me to be reminded of God's unconditional love for me. We can truly come to Him just as we are… No strings attached. It is not about works or perfection or getting it all right, it is about claiming Him as my Savior. I thank you all for these devotionals. They have given me a place to meet daily with my Lord and to be blessed by the Word.
This whole devotional is such an inspiration and I am so grateful for you ladies putting it together! :)…I definitely like the part where God sees us as blameless because I am in the midst of trying to understand the fullness of Gods grace!
This was an awesome one for me. The truths in the first part of the passage were powerful and move me to meditate on them. They are deep and amazing words that powerfully speak of who Jesus truly is and what He has done.
The second part for me was the hardest. I fail with the same sin I just said I would stop and then I am afraid to go before Him until "I can get a handle on it". I then continue to fall and fall away until God shakes me up with the truth of His grace again and I come back broken. I have no problem telling others it's ok to be messy before God but I have a hard time living it out!
The passage comes for me at a time when God seems to be reorientating my mind as to who he is. Just got through reading The Shack by WM. Paul Young and I’m breathless by my fresh revelation of God and his desire for pure unhindered relationship with me. I recommend the book to anyone who still thinks of God in abstracts. For me it was an experince that had me laughing, crying, renewing my perception of how God sees me and actually for once talking to him directly and unashamedly. I’m so glad that God loves us the way he does. How else would I have ever made it
I also struggle with perfectionism and being task oriented. For me, it can become more of a pride and control issue.i know that this is seething daily, sometimes multiple times a day I have to give back to The Lord Praise Him that He loves us so much, that no matter how many times we fall short He longs for us to run back to Him. I struggle to remind myself that Jesus is where I find the deepest love at times. I am working on allowing this truth to sink in more and more and taking the pressure off myself and my husband
I am such a flawed woman that I have a hard time believing that God wants me just as I am. Knowing what I know I still find it difficult to believe I can be of any use to him whatsoever.
I love the words bring your mess to Christ,because it reminds me of the saying come to Him just as you are.God is a loving God,and he knows our struggles,and our shortcomings,and when we go to him just as we are and truly repent He will forgive us,and then He will beging to clean us up.You and I can not fix ourselves.We are unable to clean our own selves up.it is the Blood of Jesus that cleanses us when we repent before Him(1John 1).When we begin to study and meditate on God's word out minds are renewed and then our actions change and we begin to be conformed to His image.We are washed by His word.Nothing we do within ourselves can fix us up or clean us up,it is all His doing.We just have to totally submit to the process of sanctification (Romans 12:1-2;Romans 8:29-30;Ephesians 5:26;Ephesians 2:8-9;1Thessalonians 5:23).
I have been struggling with dependence on food. I go to food when I have a bad day in the office, when life hurts or seems unfair or when I just can’t cope anymore. This year has been tough for me. We are going through a big life change, my husband & I. So, in my weakness, after having lost 2 1/2stones in weight, I am now putting it back on. It adds to the worry & feeling bad about myself.
I prayed before reading this days study that God would help me then read how God loves me as I am, right now, with my food habit, with my not going to Him when trouble comes & yet he doesn’t condemn me.
Like a number of ladies here, I also struggle with perfectionism & poor self image too. I struggle to accept that God accepts the messed-up me & keep trying to make myself acceptable first. Dense, huh?
Thank you for this site. If anyone wants to pray with me, my email is bunnyb1802@aol.co.uk
Bless you all
Such a great truth to just rest in. Instead of being stuck thinking of ourselves as sinners, recognizing how God sees us and claiming the freedom only He can bring. His grace is enough. And as I accept this in my heart, I feel The Lord saying to me, “I give you my eyes to see all my other children this way, whether they know me or not. Be my love. Let this truth overflow into their lives through your voice.”
oops…let me correct that last comment…My last name is Idle not diel…sorry about that. ;-)
My name is Phatima and I try to clean up my life before bringing myself before the Lord by making his words apart of my daily existence. I remind myself of his promise daily by reading my Bible. I allow my illness to lord over me and I ask God to break these chains.
I love this verse and I thank God for loving me anyhow….. "You are holy and blameless as you stand before Him without a single fault." [v. 22, NLT]
I feel so good knowing that He wants me just the way I am, I å̝̅♏ acceptable in His sight and that’s all that matters!
I’m new here too, and what timing! Just what I’ve needed.
jenn, your post brought tears to my eyes and I would love to be a prayer buddy with you! You are so brave and that inspires me.
Hthrmyr@gmail.com
http://unkeptrecords.com/track/supreme-high-god My friend and worship leader, Eric Herron wrote this song..a beautiful expression of this passage. One of my favorites.
Jenn, I’m a day late and catching up, but want to tell you that you are brave and loved. We all have places we are fearful of, or feel we can’t bring to God, or to each other, don’t we? But He made us and loves us and so wants us in community with each other. So thank you for being an example of that for me this morning!
I am praying today that God soften my heart, remind me that I am on His mission (not mine!) and draw me close, even and especially the messy parts.
This is exactly what I needed to read today. Jesus created all, and all was created for Him. He is King, He is supreme. This brings me so much comfort, joy, and peace.
Jenn,
I’m so happy to hear you have been blessed by this community. I have as well, daily.
I don’t comment much, but I just felt led to let you know your sisters in Christ love you. The Gospel is for all of us, and doesn’t turn away any who seek Him with all their heart.
I found #shereadstruth Sunday, and it is such a blessing. Today's reading really struck home to me. See, God wanting and loving me just the way I am? That's a concept that I've struggled with since I was in Jr. High, and only recently accepted. I've deleted this next bit 6 times already, so I'm just going to spit it out. I'm a Christian. I'm also queer, and I've been with my partner for almost 7 years now. I've spent over a dozen years trying to balance being told I was, not just a sinner, but unwelcome in many congregations with the fact that I am as God made me.
I am terrified to be posting this. But I'm putting this conversation in God's hands. I didn't post about a prayer partner yesterday because I was stricken with fear that I would be turned away. (I asked my sister instead. While I don't regret that at all, it felt almost like cheating; I pray for her and her family already.) I've prayed about this comment for most of the day. In the end, I felt called to reach out to you ladies even though I was afraid.
God loves us as we are! No matter what you are struggling with, know that God accepts you and wants you by his side! And if you need someone to talk to–if you're struggling with your faith like I did for so long–please contact me. I'm jennrhebert on twitter, gmail, and facebook.
The Word today is so inspiring. How wonderful to know that we can trust in Someone bigger, better, and more worthy than anyone else. I have gone through a heck of a journey already in life, struggled intensely with the feelings of never being good enough, BUT praise God He doesn't
give up on us, He doesn't turn His back if we make mistakes, He accepts us just as we are. I am so grateful for this, because of this Truth, I can write here today that I am forgiven, I am worthy, I am blessed, I am beautiful in His eyes!! Be encouraged ladies, sometimes the journey seems impossible, painful and long, God is walking with you all the way. Trust Him more than you trust yourself!
I need this so badly today. I feel that anger is my biggest area of sin and I have such a hard time remembering that He still loves me even when I mess up. I REALLY want to be healed of this because I do not want it to effect my children (I think I got this from generational bondage in this area). I feel like I have broken free from SO much of the junk I carried, but this is the one area I cannot break free from. I needed this reminder that He is not waiting for me to break myself free, He is waiting for me to let HIM set me free! AMEN!
I'm new to your blog! I love this! You can check out my inspiring blog at http://www.thesociallovemovement.com
God brought me to this site yesterday through Instagram and already I am learning why. For a long while I had been coming to Jesus through His words every morning and loving the feeling, knowledge and truth I was gaining. But then life took me away from my devotional time and I could definitely tell what I was missing.
Then yesterday He brought me here and I caught up on Colossians today and wow has He already shared so much truth with me, as have you wonderful ladies.
I’m encouraged to come to God broken and sinful because I know God knows my heart better than I know it myself. He knows the true me when I do not and He knows what I need before I even know to ask.
Thank you, Lord for bringing me into this community and onto a fresh start with You.
BreAnee-
So glad you found SRT! Thank you for sharing!
I feel like I really needed to hear this today; I always need to hear this. I have been struggling so much lately with something and this verse stood out to me:
There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message.
I am trying to figure out how I feel about that. How can this be true when many people in the world have never heard of Jesus, or were raised in a completely different religion and understandably don't turn their back on that when they hear Jesus mentioned, just as we don't turn our backs to ours when we hear what Muslims believe, for example?
If anyone has any thoughts on this, recommended reading, etc, if you'd like I would love an email (still need a prayer partner too. :)) It's caseybrackney@gmail.com
Thank you sisters!
for me, forgetting my mess and concentrating on serving others just as Jesus did, helped immensely. Put yourself aside and volunteer at a soup kitchen, take a shut-in a meal, or help out with potty breaks and snacks in a sunday school classroom. These things will bring you pure joy because you are acting, speaking and thinking like Jesus. That, in turn, will help you to look at yourself as less of a "mess" and more as a child of God.
I know this segment was about surrender but what really hit me was verses 15-18. God is in control in the midst of this result of the election. He has a purpose and created all authority. Thay was reassuring! :-)
Mandisa has a gripping song that talks about if I could see me the way God sees me. So hard to do because of what I know about myself, even though He knows all of that craziness as well. I don't try to clean myself up for Him, but smile to myself when I catch myself telling Him something He already knows!
I'm so blessed looking through the IG feed. So many women reading truth! There's a revival starting and it's starting with this online community! Praise Jesus!
Oh how grateful I am for this community. Today is especially hard for me and I bring my messy and broken self to you all and ask for prayer.
As I was driving this morning feeling a meltdown happening I felt Him telling me to “leave it” and when I took a minute to LISTEN I could feel the meltdown slipping away.
I am praying for us all and am so grateful for His love and for all of you.
Xoxo
Before I read this, I was just thinking of all of the ways that I could have been better in an area of my life. I was beating myself up. What perfect timing. I am still looking for a prayer partner if anyone still needs one. Send me an email – amychelle4 at gmail dot com.
This was written for me to read today! Just this morning I woke up and felt "messy." As I sat down to the computer I felt like everything was a mess, including myself. So often, I don't like "me, as I am," how can God? But HE does!
Lord,
Please help remind me, I can come to you ALWAYS and in ALL WAYS! You want me just as I am. Not as someone who has it all together all the time, not 10lbs lighter, not with clean hair, not with a clean kitchen, not my idea of perfect. Help me let go of the need to 'clean up' in order to feel worthy; worthy of you and your love. I receive love and grace eternally from you. Thank you Lord for loving me, just as I am.
Amen.
I struggle with perfectionism and this was such a needed reminder that God wants me. Imperfect. Broken. And that’s okay. I pray that daily I can fight the sin in me to recognize that I am a daughter of the most high god and there is nothing I can do or not do to change that.
It is so encouraging to read these comments, as this is my story, sisters! I am constantly trying to clean up my messes, like I'm going to hide something from the Almighty God?? Like I'm going to fix my brokenness or erase my past or wash over my anger and just go to Him after I'm better? I'm identifying with what Carrie said, about struggling to go in prayer when I'm angry — I'm realizing it has to do with not thinking I deserve grace if I'm not willing to give it. But a wise woman pointed out to me that I can't give grace to others without the power of Jesus, and I need to go to Him and ask Him for His grace to work through me.
I'm just so grateful for this community! I've spent so much of my life identifying with all of the brokenness inside of me, all of the ways I'm "not a good Christian". Jesus called us to love Him. To follow Him. To accept His grace. Not to clean ourselves up. He's done that! It is written!
This is definitely a hard concept to grasp, but one thing I tell myself is that God NEVER makes mistakes. If I think that I cannot come before Him with all my sins and failures, then I am saying that He messed up when He created me. God creates everything and everyone PERFECTLY. Therefore I AM PERFECT in His eyes. We have to remember that Satan has tainted what perfect means. Don't listen to the world's definition of perfect – listen to God's. It's the only one that matters and we already are perfect. God loves each and every one of you! Rejoice!!
The concept of being broken truly broken before God makes me think of a vase that is being molded by a potter. We all have bumps and kinks that may be considered difficult but God has chosen to love us regardless of that. For a while I had a really difficult time putting my past behind me. I still continued to operate out of the mind sets that were created and formed from the hurt and the pain. I finally had to realize that in order for me to be truly healed I had to let go of the pain, guilt & shame. I’ll admit the molding process has not been easy and some days are better than others but I thank God for accepting me as I am.
This was a great reminder for me. I have a lot of difficulty going to God when I’m angry or frustrated. I feel like I need to get my heart right and then pray, when in all reality I should pray to help me get my heart right!!
The battle with my flesh is daily, hourly, minute by minute. The only way to battle it is 1 Thess. 5:17 “Pray without ceasing.”
Don’t let the fear or worry, anger or frustration control me!! GOD IS IN CONTROL!! Praise the Lord!
I really enjoy verse 17. I need to remember that when my life is falling apart or when this nation is falling apart, “in him all things hold together”. He will hold us together as the Body of Christ :)
That verse called out to me too! Going through some uncertainty right now and when I read that it was like fresh air! God's got this! Even when I don't, or don't see how, He's got it!
this is such a difficult truth because there is nowhere that we CAN come with our mess and be not only accepted, but loved, cared for and healed! It is a pretty foreign concept for us. I love v 17 which says, "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Some days ~ in the midst of our mess ~ that is all we have. The promise that He can hold it together for us.
this is a truth I have tried and tried to grasp. i just can't wrap my mind around it. sometimes I think I have, but I know I haven't. That god wants me just as I am. it is just so hard to grasp.
Emilysophiaa-I heard a song the other day that talks about how God sometimes would rather hear our sorrows and pains than a Hallelujah. Even when we come to the foot of the cross with all of our imperfections that’s still worship in the eyes of Our Lord. He truly is Our Savior, we just have to put our selfish pride aside & realize we can’t do it alone. He’ll meet us WHEREVER we are in our walk, especially in our imperfections.
Love that song!
I see that there are a few women struggling with the thought that God loves AND accepts them for who they are, not because of anything they have done. Let me encourage you by reminding you of Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION to those who are in Christ Jesus…" He knew you before anyone else knew you before anyone else knew anything, and He chose you. Yes, you. There was nothing you had ever done, because you hadn't even been born, but He knew you, He created you, He has loved you so long already and will love you for all eternity. You are worthy in His sight, you are NOT condemned or common (Acts 10:15) and He lives to love you because He is Love!
The song beautiful things by gungor is a great reminder of this truth!
I've never heard that song…. I will check it out…..
What comes to mind for me about "cleaning myself up" before coming to God is thinking, "I'll get this such-and-such area in my life fixed and then I'll feel like I can get more involved at church or can reach out to others more." Like, I know I'm having trouble holding on too tightly to what I want for me and for my family's future, as opposed to what God may have in mind for us. Or the tendency to get quickly frustrated or impatient with people or situations and then let that grow to complaining and anger. While those things definitely need to be worked out in my life, God can and still wants me to serve Him, and He can teach and change me as I serve.
I'm sure there's plenty more for God to show me in this lesson, and I'm praying for clarity and the graciousness to accept and deal with each truth as it comes!
I too have a hard time rapping my mind around this. I think about what we are told we need to do to be a good Christain and this makes me feel as though God is judging me. This says I can go before him no matter what. I believe that but it is all so confusing.
Praying God will open my eyes to the things I allow to lord over me.
This is very hard for me to read. However, it keeps coming up in my life whether in this study, in my bible study at church or just in my daily reading and activities. I find that it is hard for me that I can go before God as a mess. I am still struggling with the idea that I don't have to clean up or be perfect to go before God.
I need a daily reminder so I can keep this biblical truth in my mind, can anyone offer me advice or suggestions?
One of my favorite reminders is the phrase "dark but lovely." It is from Song of Solomon. There is a song by Sara Edwards that I think of often when I'm having a hard time grasping this truth:
I can't understand this work of grace
How a perfect God would come and take my place
The stars they don't move You, the waves can't undo You
The mountains in their splendor, they cannot steal Your heart
This God who is holy, perfect in beauty
Awesome in glory is ravished by my heart
Though I'm poor You say I am lovely
Though I'm dark You say I am beautiful
Somehow my weak glance has overwhelmed You
Somehow my weak love, it has stolen away Your heart
Perhaps, you could chose on particular verse of Scripture which encourages you most to believe this truth. Could you work to memorize it? Along the way, you could use it as a guide for your prayers, and write it down in obvious places where you might see it as you struggle to remember. I know those may seem simplistic, but retraining our minds by Truth is so crucial. You might also review the essence of the Gospel message to yourself or with another Believer and friend. There is nothing that we can bring before the Lord, His grace alone saves us and continues to change us each day.
There have been multiple times in my life when I have difficulty going before God without this same feeling. A friend once asked me when I shared this feeling, "What can you to clean up or fix that would be greater than his sacrifice for you. He suffered on a cross and died for you, because he loved you. What can you do to top that?" He suffered and died for you and me because He knows us, and knows we are incapable of being perfect. I pray that you can ask yourself this question, each time you try to "clean" yourself up. He does love you faults and all.
Remember that before you were created in the womb, God knew you! He knew what you would be, what you would do, the mistakes you would make, and everything in between. Just remember that you are not a surprise to God. He knew all of your faults before you did. If we were all made perfect there would be no reason for God to send Jesus to die on the cross for us. He died for our sins (OUR FLAWS) and loves us anyways ;)