He is Before All Things

Jesus has gone before my day, my month, my year--the rest of my life. Not only has He gone before, but everything is held together by Him.

He is Before All Things

This week's devotions are written by my son, Bryant Forshee. Bryant has been the Junior High Pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, TX for the last seven years and has just accepted a new position as Lead Student Pastor for Cross Church at their Springdale, AR campus.

- Pastor Danny

"He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together."

(Colossians 1:17, CSB)

Before writing this devo, some buddies of mine went with me to see Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Yesterday we looked at a book; today I will reference a movie... but don't worry, there are no spoilers. I love going to the movies, and if movie-going was a hereditary trait, I believe it was passed down to all three of the Forshee kids, because we all love going to the movies ALMOST as much as our parents do.

Most movies are basically the same: they have characters, plots, conflicts, resolution, and relatively speaking, a happy ending. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has done a phenomenal job of making a whole timeline of movies. This movie connects to the next movie, and the next movie connects to the movie after that, and the Marvel executives have it planned out for many years to come, which is awesome! Except for the fact that I want to know how it all ends right now after seeing Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. I want to know how the new "big-bad guy" is going to rise to power, who will defeat him, how they will defeat him, what new superheroes are going to be introduced, and a myriad of other details. I want to know all about the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

As I was thinking about my desire to know the future of the MCU, my mind went to Colossians 1:17. In my personal time with the Lord, I am going through the book of Colossians. Colossians 1:17 states, "He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together." As I began thinking about my frustrations with the MCU, I began thinking about Jesus, Who is before all things and by Jesus, all things hold together.

I began meditating on the truth that Jesus is before all things. He has gone before my day, my month, my year, my next however many years I have left on this planet. Not only has He gone before, but everything is held together BY HIM: He holds the Earth together, He holds civilization together, He holds salvation together, He holds families together. He holds ALL THINGS together. One commentator put it this way:

Jesus is eternally existent (an attribute that can only be true of God) because He is before all things. Jesus is also the powerful sustainer of the universe. Because of Him, all things hold together. His power guarantees that the universe is under control and not chaotic.

(Max Anders, Galatians-Colossians, vol. 8, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 283.)

Picking up where we left off yesterday, what if we meditated on the truth of Colossians 1:17 throughout our day today? Jesus is before you, and Jesus holds all things together. That verse doesn't mean that there won't be tribulations, that verse means that tribulations are under His control. He is in control of your day, your month, your year, your life. He has gone before you and holds it all together.

May our response to Jesus, Who is before all things and by Him all things hold together, be worship, awe, and more and more trust in Him!

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Podcast of the Week

Let's Talk Story, Pt. 3

Pastor Danny concludes his discussion of Paul's account of his testimony before a very hostile crowd, what we can learn from it, and how we can be bolder and better about sharing our own testimony with others.

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