My Favorite Bible Verses and Quotes

Part: 22: Prayer of Thanksgiving

Prayer of Thanksgiving  

We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. For we

have heard  of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all God's people. When the true

message, the Good News, first  came to you, you heard about the hope it offers. So your faith and

love are based on what you hope for, which  is kept safe for you in heaven. The gospel keeps

bringing blessings and is spreading throughout the world, just  as it has among you ever since the

day you first heard about the grace of God and came to know it as it really  is. You learned of God's

grace from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is Christ's faithful worker on our  behalf. He has

told us of the love that the Spirit has given you. For this reason we have always prayed for you,  ever

since we heard about you. We ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will, with all the wisdom

and  understanding that his Spirit gives. Then you will be able to live as the Lord wants and will

always do what  pleases him. Your lives will produce all kinds of good deeds, and you will grow in

your knowledge of God. May  you be made strong with all the strength which comes from his

glorious power, so that you may be able to  endure everything with patience? And with joy give

thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to have your  share of what God has reserved for his

people in the kingdom of light. He rescued us from the power of  darkness and brought us safe into

the kingdom of his dear Son, by whom we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven. The Person

and Work of Christ  

The Person and Work of Christ  

Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible

God. He is the first-born Son, superior to all created things. For through him God created everything

in heaven and  on earth, the seen and the unseen things, including spiritual powers, lords, rulers,

and authorities. God created  the whole universe through him and for him. Christ existed before all

things, and in union with him all things  have their proper place. He is the head of his body, the

church; he is the source of the body's life. He is the  first-born Son, who was raised from death, in

order that he alone might have the first place in all things. For it  was by God's own decision that the

Son has in himself the full nature of God. Through the Son, then, God  decided to bring the whole

universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son's blood on the cross  and so brought

back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven. At one time you were far away from  God

and were his enemies because of the evil things you did and thought. But now, by means of the

physical  death of his Son, God has made you his friends, in order to bring you, holy, pure, and

faultless, into his  presence. You must, of course, continue faithful on a firm and sure foundation,

and must not allow yourselves  to be shaken from the hope you gained when you heard the gospel.

It is of this gospel that I, Paul, became a  servant—this gospel which has been preached to

everybody in the world.

Colossians 1:3-20