He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
James 1:17-18 NIV
Firstfruits.
Trials, perserverance, maturity, and our good, unchanging God.
Chosen.
And we end up here.
Some kind of firstfruits.
Deuteronomy 26 talks about firstfruits.
They come from cultivation. The work of someone's hands.
If we are a kind of firstfruits we are shaped, cultivated, by the word of truth.
God's Word
The person of Jesus
We don't read then God's word, look at Jesus life, death, resurrection, for information, but cultivation.
Problem is I don't want to be shaped or changed by someone else.
I'm selfish.
And stubborn.
Lord, let your word shape me, change me, make me fruit for your kingdom. Overwhelm my selfishness with your grace today.
Amen
#james
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Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see - such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. Colossians 1:15-16 NLT OK so this is an English translation of a letter Paul wrote to a church 2,000 years ago, but does it feel like Paul is wrestling with words and ideas to try and capture all of who Jesus is, of who God is, of how does it work that the walking around Jesus was also there before the beginning of the beginning of everything we can see and touch and know. Not only that but Jesus was somehow the agent of everything that has been made in the physical, social, and spiritual. Jesus is at the centre of it all. Walking around Jesus. Cooking fish for breakfast Jesus. Heart aching as he looks at p
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