Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

If you're doing our New Testament plan, today we finished our 13th and 14th books,

and if you're doing the whole Bible, we finished books 52 and 53.

Paul wrote today's two letters while in prison, though we're not sure which prison, maybe Rome.

The first letter is to a church at Colosset in modern Turkey.

He didn't plant this church and he hadn't met them but he's friends with one of their

church leaders who filled him in on some problems they're having. He starts out by

thanking God for their faith and hope and love and ask God to grow their

knowledge and wisdom. He wants them to know and love God with their minds,

and he wants to see it bearing fruit

in the way they live their lives.

And he says they have what they need to do that,

because God is the one who empowers them.

Then he goes on to remind them exactly who Jesus is.

Colossians 1 15 through 20 is one of the most succinct, beautiful descriptions of who Jesus

is in all of scripture.

If you've been wanting to memorize scripture but aren't sure where to start, this is a great spot.

More on this in a minute.

He says Jesus has reconciled us to the Father and presents us holy and blameless to him, provided there really has been a heart change.

Perseverance will be the evidence of a new heart.

Verse 24 is a challenging verse to understand, but given what Paul and scriptures say about Jesus suffering elsewhere,

we know he can't be saying there's something lacking in what Jesus did on the cross.

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