I would like to recommend a book by Sam Storms called "The Hope of Glory". It is a devotional/study through the book of Colossians. Sam is an incredible writer as well as theologian. This book is the oppositie of boring. It is exciting and uplifting and will help you get your day started right.
Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters by Dr. Meg Meeker
Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know The most important person in a young girl's life? Her father. That's right-and teen health expert Dr. Meg Meeker has the data and clinical experience to prove it. After more than twenty years of counseling girls, she knows that fathers, more than anyone else, set the course for their daughters' lives. Now Dr. Meeker, author of the critically acclaimed Epidemic: How Teen Sex Is Killing Our Kids, shows you how to strengthen-or rebuild-your bond with your daughter, and how to use it to shape her life, and yours, for the better. Directly challenging the feminist attack on traditional masculinity, Dr. Meeker demonstrates that the most important factor for girls growing up into confident, well-adjusted women is a strong father with conservative values. To have one, she shows, is the best protection against eating disorders, failure in school, STDs, unwed pregnancy, and drug or alcohol abuse and the best predictor of academic achievement, successful marriage, and a satisfying emotional life.
"Dr. Meeker's conclusions are timely, relevant, and often deeply moving. No one interested in what girls experience growing up in our culture today - and the impact that parents, especially fathers, have on the experience-can afford to miss reading this book." - Armand M. Nicholi, Jr., M.D., professor of psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
How amazing that Paul writes such an encouraging letter to the Church of Philippi while in prison. I can guarantee you Paul's jail cell wasn't nearly as nice as though we see now in America. I wonder how many of us, and I specifically ask myself this question, would opt out of the call of spreading the gospel if faced with similar circumstances as Paul was here.
In the first 11 verses Paul goes out of his way to express his love and appreciation for the people who represent the Church of Philippi. Verse 9 speaks volumes to me today, especially with the growing popularity of the emergent and seeker friendly churches who want to remove certain aspects of the gospel. In verse nine Paul says, "And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and discernment." My fear is that we are so afraid of offending people with the truth of the gospel that we choose to flatter them with a watered down gospel thinking we are acting in true love. Paul's prayer is specific in that there love would abound more and more , with knowledge and wisdom.
The gospel need not be changed in anyway, which Paul makes crystal clear in his letter to the Church of Galatia (Galatians 1:6-9). Our love for others is best expressed through the gospel of Jesus, not through flattery. Jesus saves those who believe in Him from the wrath of God and for that we should be forever grateful. I nor anyone else has any right to change the gospel we find in the Scriptures. We must always pray for the Holy Spirit to assist us with His knowledge and discernment as we attempt to show our love toward others by sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
