Wisdom and Reverence

 

Rejoicing During Trials

Overview of Earlier Colossian Bible Studies 

Up to this point, we have studied all of Colossians 1 and the background of this letter through eight Bible studies. The first study taught us the background of the Colossians. In that study, we learned the Colossae Christians lived in a multi-cultural and multi-religion geographical region called Asia Minor. Different intellectual teachings abounded there. The one that affected the Colossians believers most was an early form of Gnosticism. This Gnosticism proclaimed advanced thought brought salvation. They considered Jesus Christ’s salvation as insufficient. (see Background of Paul's Letter to the Church at Colossae)

The second Bible study came from Colossians 1:1-2. In this study, Paul wrote who he and Timothy were and helped the Colossian Christians identify with them since these men had never personally met the Colossians. He stated his Jewish and Christian background and explained they both came from the same geographical region as the Colossians. By doing this, Paul would have more credibility, and the believers in Colossae would trust what he told them in his letter. (see Identification)

In Colossians 1:3-8, Paul began his prayer to God by thanking Him for the Colossian Christians’ growth in their faith and in their love for God and the saints. He thanked God that they bore fruit and matured, which showed their faith. Paul spoke of Epaphras, too, the founder of the churches in Colossae and Laodicea. He said Epaphras was a man they could trust because he discipled him. Paul said, Epaphras is like himself, a “beloved fellow bond-servant” of Christ. (see Thanksgiving in Colossians)

In his prayer, after he gave thanks for the Colossian church, Paul interceded for them. In Colossians 1:9-12, he asked God to grow them in Christ so they would be well-pleasing to Him. Paul asked they have the knowledge of God and that He would give them His strength, power, steadfastness, and patience. At the end of this prayer, he asked God to give the Colossian Christians a sense of thankfulness to Him, the One who qualified them to inherit eternal life with the saints and His Son. (see Glorious Might)

Colossians 1:13-14 is Paul’s explanation of who the Father is, the One to whom he alluded in verse twelve. This Father is the One who would give them the gifts for which Paul asked for the believers in Colossae. He rescued them from their sins and eternal death and transferred them into His Son’s kingdom. Verse fourteen is the segue to Paul’s Christology he would write in verses fifteen through twenty. (see Snatched and Delivered)

Colossians 1:15-20 records what Paul taught about Jesus, the Son of God. He said Jesus is the exact embodiment of God. The Son of God and God have the same mind. Paul wrote Jesus is preeminent over all creation and existed and created all things with the Father and Spirit out of nothing, ex nihilo. This meant angels, as created beings, are lower than the Son of God. His teaching went against the teaching of the Gnostics and others who proclaimed angels were greater than Jesus, whom they considered was just a man. The Gnostics did not consider Jesus equal to God because Jesus had a mortal body. Material things, to them, were worth nothing. Paul taught Jesus holds all things together and is the Head of the body, the Church. He taught the Father shared His “fullness,” His superabundance, with the Son. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, enabled reconciliation of people to the Father through His sinless life, death, and resurrection. By these, He redeems each person who trusts in Him from the power of sin and death. Jesus paid the sin penalty for each person with His death on a sinner’s cross. (see Superabundant Peace)

Paul wrote in Colossians 1:21-23 using a teaching and writing technique called conditional clauses. These “if-then” statements, protasis-apodosis statements, teach if something happens, then another thing will occur. Paul used this technique to teach if the Colossian Christians would believe in Jesus, He would save them from their sins and their just death penalty. Before this conditional clause, he reminded them of what they were before God rescued and transferred them to His Son’s kingdom. Paul told the Colossian church the Son redeems and reconciles them to God. Nothing else need happen for people to receive salvation from their sins and gain eternal life with God. The Gnostics taught otherwise. (see Attaining Hope)

With the conclusion of Colossians 1, Paul told, in verses twenty-four through twenty-nine, of his calling by Jesus and his stewardship of God upon which he felt compelled to proclaim. His calling was to serve Christ and His church by proclaiming clearly the Gospel. Within the act of clearly proclaiming, Paul said God told him to teach and admonish. He was to preach the “word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from past ages and generations.” The mystery that God hid until then is that Jesus made salvation available for each person, Jew and Greek, slave and free, men and woman. Paul explained the blessing of this mystery is salvation and the indwelling of each believer by Jesus’ Spirit, the hope of glory. Jesus Christ made all things, redeems those who trust in Him, and indwells each believer. Finally, Paul said in verses twenty-eight and twenty-nine, Jesus called him to admonish with God’s gentle persuasion. This persuasion would tell of His love for each person and the salvation Jesus offers. It would convince and convict each person to turn away from their sins and accept the salvation Jesus provides. By doing this, God rescues and transfers people who act upon the faith He gives. He transfers them to the kingdom of His Son by their trust in Jesus as their Savior for salvation. The Gnostics taught against this point. They strove to prove it to anyone who would listen to them about their philosophical thought on advanced religion. The Gnostics said Jesus was just a man and His death did not give salvation. Paul taught otherwise. (see God's Power and Gentle Persuasion)

Paul’s Pastoral Care of the Colossian Church

Paul had a pastoral care for the Christians in Colossae, though he had never met them. His concern came from the love which Jesus instilled in him. This love is for each person to become a Christian and grow in the full knowledge of God with His power, steadfastness, strength, and patience. Paul wanted these Christians to have the full knowledge of God so they could stand against heresies, thoughts, and beliefs that tried to convince them to abandon God. He struggled for them. This care of the Colossian Christians by Paul included rejoicing at the growth and stability in their faith in Christ. His own struggles and resultant rejoicing during and after the difficulties showed Paul’s pastoral care of the Colossian and Laodicean churches.

Struggling for the Church

“For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, ² that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, ³ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴ I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument.”  (Colossians 2:1-4 [NASB])

Paul said he struggled on behalf of the churches at Colossae and Laodicea. He wanted them to be aware and understand well what he endured for them. This struggle is like his striving wrote about in Colossians 1:29. In Colossians 1:29, the striving connoted a striving or struggling like in an athletic contest or in warfare, battling difficulties and dangers. In Colossians 2:1, Paul’s struggle is his internal battle of wanting to be in Colossae to confront the heresy with them while he was in prison. It concerned Paul that the Colossian Christians could not fight the fallacies of the false teachers. As a teacher of the Gospel, Paul struggled and fought with them by writing the truths the Christians needed to know and remember to counter the heresies taught in these cities.

Paul’s concern for the Colossians is four-fold. His first concern was that, while they struggled and lived with these false teachers, their hearts would receive encouragement. Paul wanted these believers to experience comfort and strength because Jesus is their Savior. He wanted them to know and remember they have the hope of an eternal reward with Jesus in heaven. Paul wanted these Christians to remember to hold fast to the fact they do not combat life alone but are with other believers and God is with them.

Later, in verse two, Paul said he wanted them to remember Christ united them in love with other Christians. They did not live through hardships alone. The Christians had the love of Christ in them, knitting them into a oneness to help, encourage, and stand with each other. This love was not the phileo love of the Greeks. It was not love for mankind. This love Paul wrote about is God’s agape love. God’s character defines it. He is the fount of agape love.

Paul concerned himself with reminding the believers in Colossae and Laodicea that they “attain to all the wealth” that comes from being a believer in Jesus Christ. This wealth is like the “riches of God’s glory” in Colossians 1:27. Just as those riches, the wealth is the mystery of God, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Paul worked to make sure these believers remembered what they gained within themselves when they trusted in Jesus. This wealth of their faith, the saving knowledge of Jesus, comes from the full assurance of understanding. The full assurance is complete confidence and conviction of insight in the knowledge God gives about His mystery. Remember, God gives faith to people. People must act upon that faith, seek Him, and trust in Jesus for salvation to “attain all the wealth” that comes from God. Acting upon this faith results in a “true knowledge of God’s mystery,” in knowing Jesus Christ Himself (vs 2).

Paul, in his pastoral concern for the believers in Colossae and Laodicea, made sure they knew the mystery is true knowledge and wisdom found only in Christ. In Colossians 1:27, the mystery was Christ living in the Gentiles. In Colossians 2:3, Christ holds within Himself all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Again, Paul used the terms riches and wealth. The wisdom and knowledge of God are treasures and are in Christ. This countered what the Gnostics taught that the way to God and salvation is through philosophical thoughts. The only way to have the highest wisdom and knowledge, God’s wisdom and knowledge, is through Jesus Christ. The path is first to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, then get the knowledge hidden in Him. A person’s trying to get absolute knowledge first as the way to get salvation, as the Gnostics taught, is impossible. Included in the salvation Jesus Christ gives are all wisdom and knowledge, not just what a mortal being can conceive. It includes all the riches in God’s storehouses. Why content yourself with Gnostic teaching when you can go above and beyond that. God has superabundant knowledge and wisdom hidden in Jesus Christ, and when you accept Him as the Son of God and trust in Him for salvation, you have this wisdom and knowledge available to you.

The last struggle Paul mentions he has for the Christians in these two cities is to ensure the false teachers do not delude them by persuasive arguments but, instead stand firm in their conviction of salvation through Christ. He wrote to these people to make sure false teachers did not beguile them into trusting in a false teaching. The words “persuasive argument” come from the Greek word pithanologia, a speech made intending to persuade someone to one’s way of thinking. This way of speaking strives to gain an acolyte to one’s beliefs. Contrary to that is God’s gentle persuasion to lead people to truth and salvation. God’s gentle persuasion comes from the two Greek words pistis/pistos and prosecheuchomai. These words in English are faith and prayer. Remember, God gives each person faith for them to act upon and trust in Jesus for their salvation. Added to this, as we pray and commune with God, His indwelling Spirit puts into our heart, soul, and mind those things for which He cares about so we can pray in agreement with Him. God’s persuasion benefits the listener, not the speaker. The Gnostics spoke for their own benefit to get people on their side.

Paul struggled like an athlete or soldier to keep the Christians in the churches in Colossae and Laodicea strong in their faith as they stood against the false teachings in their cities. He reminded them Christ united them in faith with each other and with Himself. They were knitted together in love for God and each other with God’s unifying love for each of them. The Christians already had all the wealth of the true knowledge of God’s mystery, Jesus Christ. Hidden within Him are God’s treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Why put trust in the partial knowledge the Gnostics proclaim when they have Jesus, who is all the wisdom and knowledge of God. Finally, Paul reminded these believers not to fall for the persuasion of the Gnostics who seek only to get more acolytes. Instead, stay steadfast in the faith, knowledge, and wisdom you received from God through Jesus. The first type of persuasion is egocentric, while God’s persuasion is other-centered.

Rejoicing Because of the Church

“For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.” (Colossians 2:5 [NASB])

Paul’s pastoral concern went beyond struggling within himself for the Christians because he could not be with them to fight the false teachers. As a man with a pastor’s heart, he rejoiced for and because of them, too. To grow a church and be part of a church requires growing in easy and hard times and the resultant rejoicing at where God has taken grown it.

In verse five, Paul reminded the Colossian and Laodicean churches he stood with them. Though they may have felt they stood alone in their contest with the Gnostics, Paul struggled with them. He was with them in spirit and proved it with his letter to the Colossians. Paul stood with them in the same Spirit and in the joining of their heart and purpose. He identified with these churches and with Christ. Paul rejoiced over them. He rejoiced over their “good discipline.” This phrase has a military connotation. It means to be in an orderly array, like in military ranks, so they are ready for whatever may come. These Christians had grown and were ready to battle the false teachings like an army ready to fight its enemy.

Along with that, Paul rejoiced to see the “stability of their faith in Christ.” This stability means being immoveable or having a solid front like a military battalion standing ready for battle. The Colossian and Laodicean believers were immoveable in their faith, in their persuasion, of who Jesus is. They understood Jesus Christ is the mystery. He holds all knowledge and wisdom and gives salvation to all who trust in Him. These Christians were steadfast because of their discipling by Epaphras and their spiritual growth as they met obstacles and relied on God to lead them. The Gnostics had moveable benchmarks for what they considered advanced thought. Each person based his or her idea of advanced thought on his or her own thinking. Whatever a person determined was never the ultimate. Only God’s superabundant knowledge, wisdom, and understanding can be the standard. Christ gives from this fount to each person who believes in Him as the Son of God. Paul rejoiced that the Christians of Colossae and Laodicea stood their ground in their faith in Jesus Christ.

Paul had a pastoral concern for the Christians in Colossae and Laodicea. They faced the Gnostic idea that advanced thought raises a person to the spiritual realm and saves him or her from evil. The Gnostics considered all things material as evil and all things spiritual as good. Colossian Christians battled this heresy. Paul wrote to encourage them and to rejoice at the way they steadfastly stood while battling this false teaching. He encouraged them and reminded them of their unity in God’s agape love. Paul wrote to remind them of their attaining all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, which results in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, Christ Himself. He taught them the mystery is Christ in them from chapter one. He then stated the mystery is that Christ is the wisdom of God. Because of this, they had access to God’s full wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Paul wrote to encourage the churches so no false teachers could delude (persuade) them to follow a manmade belief. Besides writing to encourage the Christians, Paul rejoiced over their growth so they could be ready for whatever false teaching tried to trick them into considering something Epaphras did not teach them. He rejoiced that the Colossian and Laodicean churches were steadfast and immoveable in their faith in Christ, even though the Gnostics had persuasive arguments. Paul’s letter was the letter of a pastor who cared for his flock, his church given to him by God to lead and protect.

Thoughts to Consider

Have you heard that doing enough good deeds during your life will earn your entrance to heaven? Have you heard that this life now is all you get, so do what you want no matter the consequences? These and other thoughts are manmade ideas to appease them of their sinfulness. Possibly, these thoughts came from Satan to assuage guilt and keep people tricked and not knowing the absolute truth. Satan’s thoughts and, often, humankind’s thoughts are untrue. They do not originate with God. The truth is agape love originates with God. Created things originated with God. Salvation originates from God with Jesus’ gift of His life as the sin sacrifice. The resultant knowledge of God’s mystery, Jesus Christ, and His wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, comes to the people who believe in Him with the faith He gives to trust in Jesus as the Son of God and receive salvation from sins.

Questions:

• What have you heard about life after death?
• What do you feel when you do wrong things?
• Do you proclaim your insights about heaven?
• Are your proclamations the same as Paul’s?
•  Do you proclaim these insights to get people to assume you have more profound thoughts than they have heard?
• Whose teaching do you trust is being the right way to heaven?
• What keeps you from believing in Jesus as the Son of God and your Savior?

For next week’s Bible study, read Colossians 2, especially concentrate on Colossians 2:6-7.

“Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.” (Colossians 2:6-7 [NASB])

Glorious Might

With the first Bible study in this series on Colossians titled Background of Paul's Letter to the Church at Colossae, we learned of the background of the Colossians. Several cultures, belief systems, and philosophical thoughts influenced them. The second Bible study in this series, Identification, taught us about Paul’s greeting and introduction of himself and Timothy to the Christians in Colossae. In this greeting, Paul identified himself with Jesus and with the believers in Colossae, as he did Timothy. In Thanksgiving in Colossians, Paul prayed, offering thanks to God for the growth of the Christians in the church of Colossae as shown by their love for God and the saints. He continued to thank God because these Christians constantly bore fruit and matured. Paul identified Epaphras, the founding pastor of this church, as a “beloved fellow bond-servant,” one who willingly submitted to Christ as Paul taught him.

This fourth Bible study in the series covers Colossians 1:9-12. These four verses told the Colossian believers how Paul prayed for them daily. This prayer sets the standard, according to Paul, for a maturing, devoted Christian. It incorporates four main points with it and states definitively the Father qualifies each believer. Paul’s prayer for the Colossian believers about how they should grow to maturity in Christ is the goal to which each believer in Jesus should strive. Paul’s letter to them is a letter to us today. Let’s consider every verse of Paul’s prayer for the Colossians, and what each should be because of his or her relationship with God.

The Prayer

Pleasing God

“For this reason, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work…” (Col. 1:9-10a [NASB])

Paul’s request to God for the Colossian Christians occurred because of their faith, hope, love, fruitfulness, and maturity. (Col. 1:3-8) Because these Christians believed and were being sanctified, Paul said he had not ceased to pray for them. He interacted with the Lord, seeking His will as he prayed for the Colossians, so what he prayed was God’s good and perfect will. Prayer occurs when you exchange your human desires for God’s desires because of the faith He gives you, which you live out. This kind of prayer connects you intimately with God. Because of Paul’s close relationship with the Lord, he recognized the Colossian believers’ sincerity in wanting to be closer to and more like Jesus. He asked God to fill each Colossian believer from His person with what is necessary for life as a Christian. Paul’s very long sentence with multiple dependent clauses specifically stresses how a Christian can live a life that is “well-pleasing” to God. Paul spoke about the knowledge of God’s will, spiritual wisdom, understanding, and walking in “a manner worthy of the Lord” in these two verses.

Knowledge

Paul taught to live a life well-pleasing to God requires being “filled with the knowledge of His will.” The Gnostics would have been interested in this letter because Paul spoke of knowledge. Remember, for the Gnostics, knowledge led to freedom. Yet, nowhere did Paul say the Gnostic idea of knowledge was what he spoke about. Instead, he contrasted the Gnostic philosophical knowledge with the “knowledge of His will.” Paul spoke of a specific knowledge that comes from the fount of all being and knowledge. No other knowledge is greater or is absolute. This knowledge is precise because it comes from God’s knowledge. The word “will” Paul uses comes from the Greek word thelema, meaning God’s will, His best offer to people which they can accept or reject. This “will” speaks of God’s purpose to bless and offer grace to humanity through Jesus. A fruitful and maturing Christian will seek the knowledge of God’s will.

Wisdom

More than that, a Christian will seek spiritual wisdom. The word “spiritual” comes from the Greek word pneumatikos, meaning that which comes from the Holy Spirit of God and exhibits the effects and character of the Spirit. Paul did not pray the Colossian believers would have any wisdom. He specifically prayed they would have wisdom coming from the Holy Spirit of God. Since God knows all things (omniscient) and is the author of all things (the Creator), He and the Spirit would have all spiritual wisdom. Paul prayed the Colossians would have this spiritual wisdom as they grew in the Lord and bore fruit.

Understanding

Paul grouped the knowledge of His will, spiritual wisdom, and understanding together. Without knowledge and wisdom, understanding a situation is difficult. It would rely on what you have experienced and could surmise; a human-based understanding. That understanding is limited. Paul did not pray for a worldly wisdom. He prayed for wisdom that came from God’s knowledge gained through prayer and the study of His word and the wisdom to know the ramifications of a situation, so that a godly understanding and assessment of it would lead to a godly resolution of it. With only worldly knowledge and wisdom, people do not consider the power and grace of God. With godly knowledge and wisdom, a complete understanding, including God’s power and what He did through Jesus, guides a believer to a godly understanding and solution. Who wants a resolution based on worldly knowledge and wisdom? Don’t all people want to know the best way to approach things and people, so they consider everything and find an absolutely correct solution? Growing in the knowledge of God’s will, spiritual wisdom, and understanding leads Christians to the best solutions. God is well-pleased when these occur 

Godly Walk

To walk in a manner worthy of the Lord requires knowledge of God’s will, spiritual wisdom, and understanding. Knowledge without application is useless. Wisdom without all-knowledge (knowledge that comes from God, omniscience) isn’t true wisdom. Understanding without knowing the full picture, having God’s knowledge and wisdom, is worthless. These, applied to each other and then to life, lead to living a life well-pleasing to the Lord. The worthiness of which Paul wrote in his prayer, “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord,” means getting worth from Jesus that matches the actual value. When people see the way you walk and equate it to the way Jesus lived while on earth, you walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. The worth of anything must be compared to something else to show its value. For Christian, people compare us to Christ. When Christians live like Christ in actions, words, attitudes, and thoughts that reflect His ethics, grace, and love because of their personal relationship with and worship of Him, they live in a manner worthy of the Lord. They please Him.

Followers of Christ please Him wholly by seeking to be like Him, seeking His will, His wisdom, and His understanding, and walking in His ways. When they are this closely connected to God, that is “in all respects,” they bear fruit. This fruit speaks of a quality of life within a person, of the Spirit’s remolding them into Jesus’ image. Paul prayed the Corinthian Christians would know God very well and be connected intimately to Him. This intimacy with God would show their knowledge and faith in Jesus, which included His wisdom and understanding. It would lead to living the fruit-born life from the super-abounding overflowing of the Spirit in them. When you see a child of God overflowing with the Spirit and abounding in “every good work,” nothing else can explain the life this person lives. These works, these actions, occur because of the Spirit living within the believer. When questioning how and why, the only answer is because of God’s miraculous work in the person’s life. Fruits, a change in a person’s life - character, attitudes, and being - come from the quality of a life hidden with God in Christ Jesus. (Col. 3:3) Christians die to their old lives and the Spirit gives them a new nature, Christ’s nature. (Ephesians 4:22-24)

Paul prayed this for the Colossian church. We continue to pray this prayer for every Christian today as they profess Christ as their Savior, begin and continue their walk with Him, and walk through life and its trials. This prayer teaches how each Christian should strive to live. Believers should seek to have an intimacy with Jesus that re-makes them and then overflows in super-abounding fruit of good work, God’s work.

Increasing in the Knowledge of God

“…and increasing in the knowledge of God…” (Col. 1:10c [NASB])

Paul prayed the Colossian church would live a life well-pleasing to the Lord. He asked God to increase their knowledge of Him, too. As noted above, this knowledge that comes from God is absolute and perfect. It lacks nothing, but the knowledge people of the world gain from philosophical conversation and studying is incomplete.

Paul prayed these Christians would increase. This increase would come from knowing God more, a growing in maturity in relationship with Him. Knowing about God differs from being in a relationship with Him. Paul said in Romans 1, people can know of God from what is visible in creation. People can know of Him through listening to preachers and teachers, from reading the Bible, and from praying to Him. No one has an excuse for not knowing about God. Even the demons believed Jesus was the Son of God, but they didn’t and couldn’t believe in Him for salvation. (Matthew 8:28-34) A Christian should want to know more of God than just the basics. He/she should want to know Him in a deeper way, be related intimately to Him through a daily relationship with Him, so he or she can be like Him. When a person falls in love and marries, he/she wants to know all about his or her spouse. That person wants to know what happens in his/her spouse’s day, what causes him or her to act the way he or she does, what he or she believes, and why he or she espouses certain beliefs. That creates intimacy in a relationship. Each believer should want this depth of relationship with God, and more, so he/she becomes more aligned with and more like Jesus. Increasing in the knowledge of God happens because of first-hand experience of a life lived with Him.

Knowing God in this way is seeking God and living in faith according to His will. This intimacy leads Christians to act because of their love of God, not just because of obedience. Paul meant this when he prayed the Colossian Christians would increase in the knowledge of God. A relationship with God is not static; it should always increase/grow. Christians should have this desire in their hearts, to be intimately close to God so that every action, word, or thought occurs because of their love for God, not just because of disciplined obedience. When a person knows his/her spouse well, he/she knows when the spouse wants a drink or needs to talk. That person is in tune with him/her. Christians should be that in tune with God, too. That is the level of intimacy with God Paul prayed for the Colossian Christians.

Strengthened with all Power

“…strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for attaining of all steadfastness and patience…” (Col. 1:11 [NASB])

Paul continued with his prayer for the Colossian believers. He asked God to strengthen them with His might.  Just as Paul prayed for the Colossians to have the knowledge, wisdom, understanding, walk, and good works that come from knowing God intimately, he prayed the believers would have the strength “with all power” that comes from His might. Paul asked for the ultimate in verses nine and ten. He continued asking for the ultimate by asking for the power of God to strengthen them.

Like God’s knowledge is complete and the knowledge of people never can be, so His strength is almighty because it comes from the source of all strength, Himself. God’s power is ultimate. What is this “power” Paul prayed? It comes from the Greek word dunamis. This word is from where the English word dynamite originates. God’s power gives the power and strength in each sphere of believers’ lives to grow in sanctification daily. It prepares them for the time when they will receive their future reward and He makes them holy, the time of their glorification in heaven. Christ saves each Christian at a point in time, but believers should not stay the same as from that moment. They should grow in intimacy with God by being reshaped by His Spirit, seeking His knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. This will cause believers to live in the world bearing fruit and increasing in maturity in Him. Living in the world being led by our love for Jesus is sanctification. Jesus’ salvation of people who seek Him as part of their close relationship with Him causes them to grow toward perfection. Without God’s dunamis power, Christians stagnate. They strive in their own power to do what they think God wants them to do and be what they think He wants them to be, but they don’t recognize what that is for sure because they have mixed their limited human knowledge into what they understand of God. That isn’t dunamis power. Dunamis power comes down from a higher plane, from God, to a lower plane, humanity. God gives it to His people who intimately relate to Him, seek Him, and walk in His ways to help them live, be, and grow to be more like Jesus.

This “glorious might” shows God’s excellence, not the person’s excellence, aptitude, or abilities. It brings glory to God, not the person. People cannot explain the source of this power in any way other than from God, so it has intrinsic worth. No person could create it or cause it to be used for God’s glory. God gives this power from His glorious might to those who seek Him, to know Him, and to live a life well-pleasing to Him. Knowledge and wisdom are not enough, as the Gnostics put espoused. Knowing what is right and doing right not enough. (Doing the right thing does not pay for admittance into heaven. By accepting the grace of God offered through Jesus Christ, a person can receive salvation from his or her sins and have the hope of eternal life in heaven.) Each person will face trials and the way a person journeys through them will determine how he or she comes out of them. If a person goes through them in his or her own strength, he/she will finish the journey battered, torn, worn out, and possibly angry and discouraged. For a Christian in a close relationship with God who seeks His knowledge and wisdom, seeks to grow in His relationship with Him, and who God strengthens with all power from His glorious might, that believer will end his/her journey possibly battered and torn, but with a glow because he/she recognized God went through the trial with him/her, learned something from it, and gave God glory because His hand was with him/her. God’s power came down to that Christian and how he/she lived through and finished that journey caused him/her to glorify God. That believer sees and saw where God’s hand was with and on us him/her through that hard period. It makes him/her fall to his/her knees and thank Him for sustaining and never leaving him/her.

Having God’s might causes each Christian to have all steadfastness and patience. Without God’s might, their strength would fail. Believers would grow tired and give up or collapse under the weight of the trial. With God’s might, they can endure the challenges God allows and grow from it. The “steadfastness” Paul wrote of here is patience upon which a person acted. This person lived out the characteristic that did not deviate from the path set before him/her to act like the unbelieving person he/she was before the Spirit changed him/her. This steadfast/enduring person puts patience into action and remains loyal to his/her faith in God and grows in faith because of it. Opposition and sacrifice does not make him/her fall away from his/her faith in God.

The “patience” Paul wrote of is an inner stability or not reacting rashly. It allows time to pass before saying or doing something when reacting to an occurrence. This patience comes from God’s might, just as does the steadfastness about which Paul wrote. This patience is an internal constancy. When Christians apply this patience to actions, it becomes endurance/steadfastness.

Giving Thanks

“…joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.” (Col. 1:11b-12 [NASB])

For these things - God’s knowledge, all His spiritual wisdom and understanding, a daily relationship and walk with Him, His strength with all power, all His endurance and patience - Paul wrote he gave joyous thanks for the Colossian believers. As we each understand, these attributes come from God and often work themselves in us as lessons when we go through trials. Paul gave thanks for trials. He gave thanks for the grace God gave the Colossian Christians, though they did not deserve it. James wrote in James 1:2-4, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (NASB) Like James, Paul thanked God for His grace that led the Colossian Christians through trials of the past, in the present, and in the future because it led them to grow stronger with God’s attributes helping to mold them.

Like in verse three, this thanks in verse twelve comes from the Greek word eucharisteo and means remembering and giving thanks to God for the grace He gave you, which you did not deserve. God’s grace gave and would give the Colossian Christians power and strength, endurance and patience, knowledge and wisdom, and fruit and good works if they chose to seek Him daily in prayer, Bible reading and studying, listening to godly preaching and teaching, and fellowshipping with other believers. When Christians seek to follow God, to be in a close, personal relationship with Him, He gives grace. Paul joyously gave thanks for that grace He would give the Colossian Christians, even if they learned it from trials.

Paul joyously thanked the Father because He qualified the believers in Colossae to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. God makes each believer sufficient by the sufficiency of the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus. He gives each person enough power to live on earth in a way pleasing to Him because of His grace. The sufficiency and power come from God alone. Nothing anyone could ever do or think would make him or her sufficient to be called saints or to be able to live as His child. People are inadequate, but God offers us the adequate grace to save and enable us to live in this world as His child whose actions and words give glory to Him. God’s grace through Jesus’ death and resurrection makes believers righteous so we can share in the inheritance in Light, the hope of eternal life. This light is the true Light of God. He completes the sanctification of each believer, making them free from every imperfection so they can enter heaven. Jesus will glorify true followers of Jesus into the kingdom of light. That hope is to what each believer looks forward and for what Paul gives joyous thanks. God makes each believer fit to share in His kingdom. Jesus’ resurrection gives Christians the hope of eternal life - defeat over death - and eternity with God in His kingdom.

Thoughts to Consider

Paul’s joyous thanks occurred because of what God had done in the lives of the Colossian Christians and what He would do in their lives because of His grace. Because of His grace, God enables His children to have the knowledge of His will, have all spiritual wisdom and understanding, walk in a manner worthy of Him, please Him in all respects, bear fruit in every good work, increase in the knowledge of Him, receive strength with all power from His glorious might, and gain steadfastness and patience. Each of these characteristics have their source in God. Four times Paul used the word “all.” God gives from His whole being to grow believers in sanctification toward glorification, to be more like Him.

Full and true strength, power, might, knowledge, wisdom, understanding, fruit, good works, steadfastness, and patience originate in God and come from Him to those who seek Him. God gives these to people who believe in and have a close, personal relationship with Him. No person can create these attributes from within him/herself. What we Christians create from within themselves is not enough to combat the trials God allows and the tribulations Satan throws against us. Instead of seeking for something that seems good or good enough, Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (NASB) Seek God and His attributes and you will have the best at hand for what you face. 

Questions to Consider:

•  Have you believed in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, confessed your sins, and asked Him to save you?
• Are you developing a close relationship with God?
• Do you seek God’s will each day through prayer, Bible reading and study, sermons, and teachings?
• Do you know you are a Christian but realize you have done nothing with God since that point you asked Jesus to save you?
• Do you find that whenever you face a particular trial, you can never seem to win?
• Do you get angry, frustrated, and fed-up with people and situations then want to do something drastic?
• Now that you have considered your own relationship with God, what do you need to tell God and for what do you need to ask Him to forgive you?

Each person who has a close personal relationship with God, should grow continually, bear fruit, and mature in their Christian walk with Him daily. If  a day comes when you say you have finished growing, then you will know you still have more growing to do. Our goal is for God to be well-pleased with us. Paul outlined in his prayer in Colossians 1:9-12 how that would be well-pleased with us.

“He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved son, in who we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14 [NASB])

Earthen Vessels...But

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Christ, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So, death works in us, but life in you.  2 Corinthians 4:7-12 [NASB]

Each of us, when we encounter a speed bump or cliff in life, wonder why we must go through it. “Why is this happening to me?” we may ask. “How can I ever get through this trouble?” is another question that often arises. If we are believers, the answer is most obvious when we are sailing on calm seas. We get through it with God’s strength and direction. As we battle through the difficulty, we often forget God is with us and makes His wisdom, knowledge, power, and strength available to us. Yet, when we get through the trial, we realize God was there all the time. Still, we may wonder, “Why did that horrible time happen?”

Have you considered God will orchestrate difficult times? He will do it to help us grow and to bring Himself glory. How we get through the trials determine if we grow and if God gets the glory. Paul spoke in 2 Corinthians 4 about trials. He said, “We are afflicted, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” This attitude did not just happen. It came from going through trials and finding God to be faithful when Paul called upon Him. Paul spent this part of his letter to the Corinthians teaching them from his own experiences. He spoke as one who had been through the fires.

When we encounter our own fires, we wonder why we must go through that trial. “What did I do to deserve this?” we may ask. Paul explained two reasons for trials in 2 Corinthians 4:7 & 11. He said we go through difficulties “so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.” (2 Cor. 4:7b) People go through trials to show God’s great power as they go through them. In verse 11b, Paul added, we go through these things “so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal (believer) flesh.” Our lives can be a testimony of Jesus’ life in us enabled by His Holy Spirit. This latter cannot happen without growth and growth cannot happen without the believer calling on God for help during difficult times. Difficult times grow a person’s faith in God and make the person more identified with the sufferings of Jesus.

Let me give an example. We have a prodigal child in our family. Many people have prodigals in their families. Our family prays daily for this adult child, for God to keep speaking to the heart of the person, to break down the walls Satan has erected in the person’s heart, to bring the person to the point of repentance, and bring the person back to living in communion with God and His children, our family included. The last five years have been painful as we watched this child live without God and walk in ways contrary to God’s moral laws. On Mother’s Day Sunday, without my foreknowledge, the pastor called me up to the front of the church. I had no idea what was about to happen. As the pastor talked about the people in our church who may have prodigals in their family, whether child, sibling, or parent, I got nervous. I had been at the point of tears in my pew and knew I could not talk or pray without crying. I called out to God silently in my heart and mind asking Him to make me strong enough to speak without crying. Eventually, the pastor asked me to pray for each person standing who has a prodigal in their family. I prayed without crying as God has led me to pray these last 5 years for my adult child.

Why did I tell you this story? I told you this story because if I had not called upon God for His strength to get through that time of prayer, I would have cried. My prayer would have been babbling. People would not have had prayers lifted for their prodigals and learned how to pray for them. And God would not have been glorified. My prayer that morning was a testimony to God’s greatness, goodness, love, and faithfulness. Nothing in me could have done it without God’s intervention. Other people would not have gained strength and grown in their walk with God about their prodigal.

Paul added two other benefits of going through trials at the end of chapter four. He said,

Therefore, we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. (1 Corinthians 4:16-17 [NASB])

As we go through trials, God receives glory, Jesus’ life in us manifests itself and receives testimony, God renews our inner person daily, and, our affliction produces an eternal weight of glory.

For today and the next tomorrows, when you go through trials, I encourage you to consider not asking, “Why must I go through this?” or “What did I do to deserve this?” Instead, ask God to give you His strength, wisdom, and power to go through the difficulty so He will receive glory, and your life and voice will bring testimony to the life of Jesus in you. For this, you will grow in your Christlikeness and in relationship with God, and you will get a greater reward in heaven.

Lord, God, I admit, I hate to go through hard times. I hate to struggle and slog through the stormy seas that batter me. Forgive me for attempting to stand on my own and not looking to You, My Lord, for wisdom, strength, and power. Forgive me for walking away from You during those difficult times. Lord, help me remember You are always with me and I only need to call to You for help. Lord be my strength, wisdom, and Protector. Be my guide. Help me grow closer to You even if it means I must go through trials. Help me stand strong with You so You receive glory and my life testifies to the life of Your Son in me. Amen.

Intercession Regardless

He Himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors. Isaiah 53:12c [NASB]

This verse stands in stark contrast to how we would act after experiencing what Jesus did. Consider the verses before it. Isaiah prophesied in chapter 53 truths that occurred during Jesus’ life.

Isaiah said the Messiah grew up from parched land. This land was Judah a land of God’s chosen people who chose not to obey Him nor worship Him exclusively. Though Jesus lived in Judah, He carried no great stature among people. He was not a king or leader of the people according to their ways of life.

Isaiah continued with verses three and four by saying the people despised the Messiah and turned their back on Him. They considered Him contemptible and worthless. What He said did not matter to the Israelites and so they rejected Him. The people of Israel considered the Messiah as having no value for their lives and so forsook Him. Because of this, Jesus suffered and grieved for His pain and the people’s loss, the loss of relationship and salvation from God. The Messiah bore their sorrows and carried them, yet the Israelites considered Him someone whom God struck and afflicted, not One who took their punishments. They considered Him a heretic and an outcast.

Yet, Isaiah said, this Messiah was pierced for the sin, the rebellion against God, of the Israelites and the people of the world. He was contrite and shattered for their guilt. Jesus was broken-hearted for the people and broken-bodied on the cross because of the sin and guilt of people. He received the stripes, wounds, and bruises of the punishment for us so we could receive healing, and cleansing from our guilt and sins. So that none of us could say he didn’t cause the Messiah to die for them, Isaiah expressly pointed out we all, like sheep, have gone astray; we’ve wandered away from God and gone our own ways. Still, because of God’s great love for us, the sins and guilt of all of us fell on Him; Jesus bore them all for us.

Isaiah explained what happened to Jesus. He said He was oppressed, bowed down, and humbled, but He did not cry out, “Foul play,” or demand to be released. Instead, the Messiah walked like a meek lamb to His death. He did not demand a retrial, but bore the pain of our punishment because of His love for us. The oppression and judgment that was ours Jesus took and was led away to die.

While He laid aside His glory and majesty to be born as a man and suffer the indignities, judgment, and punishments from men, Jesus also was consigned to humiliation in death. The judges made Him die as a wicked man, consigned the worse form of death penalty reserved for the evilest people. The people humiliated the Messiah in life and death.

Still, God was pleased and delighted to break His Son, making Him to bear grief. He was pleased to do this so He would see His children. The Lord would increase the days of His people and His will would occur. Jesus humbled Himself to become a man, suffer persecution and infamy, and die as an evil person. It would enable God’s plan for His people to be with Him forever. Through the anguish and trouble of the Messiah, God’s judgment of the people would be satisfied. Because of the knowledge and wisdom of Jesus, God’s serving Son, who served both people and the Father, many would receive justification, cleansing and righteousness, through His carrying their burden of sin and guilt.

Because of all this what did Jesus do?  

·         Grew and lived in a parched land

·         Lived humbly as a man with no power or glory

·         Lived despised, considered worthless, and rejected by people

·         Knew sorrows and grief

·         Bore our grief, afflictions, pain, and sorrow

·         Became considered as a sinner stricken by God

·         Received our death punishment of sword, nail, and cross

·         Accepted the oppression and afflictions by people without crying out His personal innocence

·         Took the title of outcast as He was led outside the city gates

·         Died the worst death, that of a wicked man upon a cross

·         Bore the weight and punishment the sins and guilt of people

·         Received God’s pleasure

And despite what people did to Him, He interceded for the transgressors and continues to intercede for us. Jesus taught His followers to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you in Matthew 5:44. He lived this out on earth and does it in heaven now.

This last statement of Isaiah 53 is important. Even though people and their sins caused the need for a sin sacrifice to cleanse us from our sins, Jesus interceded for us. Before He died and with His death, He interceded for us with God. Since His death, Jesus intercedes for us while sitting at the right hand of God. Paul stated this in Romans 8:34 when he said, “Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.” [NASB] Intercede means to plead for us, to supplicate or petition. Jesus petitions God for us for our salvation, needs, and forgiveness. Who of us, if we faced the inhumanity to the extreme Jesus did, would pray to God begging Him for mercy for the people who tormented, oppressed, and persecuted us? Yet that is what Jesus did and does for us even today. Isaiah told us of what the Jews would do to Jesus and expressed why Jesus came to live as a man on earth. This shows God’s great love for us even while we were/are sinners.

Isaiah closed this chapter of prophecy about the fore-coming Messiah by reminding the Israelites how great is God’s love for them. Even though they persecuted, oppressed, and killed His body, Jesus interceded for them to the Father in heaven to help them and us, and not to give us what any of us deserves. That is love! God gives us what we don’t deserve. Jesus pleads our cause even though we struck Him with our transgressions.

What greater love is there than God’s love!

Our love cannot compare to His.

“The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5b [NASB]

Lord, thank you for reminding me of my sin against You. Thank you for forgiving me each of my sins as I repent of them. Please help me remember how great Your love is that you would die for me and continue to plead for me with the Father. I do not deserve Your love, yet You give it anyway. Help me to live as Jesus did and pray for my enemies and those who I consider unworthy of help from You. Thank you for Your love. Amen.

Recognize Self, Desire Truth: A Psalm 51:5-6 Devotional

David, after admitting his sins and repenting of them in Psalm 51:1-4, admitted in no way could he ever be anything but a sinner, a person who chooses his own way in rebellion to God’s will. He stated this in two ways.

First, David said he was born in sin, “in iniquity.” He understood, with the sin of Adam and Eve, humankind’s makeup was altered so they/we could no longer meet with God without an intermediary. Our will became tainted with self-desire instead of a desire for God. Adam and Eve, our descendants, followed their own will instead of being obedient to God. Each person is born into a sinful, disobedient being.

Second, David said his mother was sinful and so he inherited sin through her. His nature was no better than the one who gave him birth. As sinners, his mother and father conceived him. His DNA came from them and he was a born sinner.

David acknowledged all humankind was changed with the fall in the Garden of Eden by Adam and Eve. He was a sinner in that rite. David recognized he was a sinner because of who his parents were, too. He did not let this keep him away from a relationship with the God whom he had come to know and love and who, he realized, loved him.

David acknowledged God wants to be in a relationship with each person. He said, “Behold You desire truth in the innermost being.” In this verse he meant God desires we know His truth so we can correctly know Him to the depths of our soul, the part of us that communes directly with Him. When we correctly know God, then we will desire to be faithful and always commune with Him, be in His presence. We will not want to rebel and choose a way contrary to His.

Besides this, David said God would make him know wisdom when he repented and lived in relationship with Him. God would enable David to understand how to use the truth God gave Him to act and speak in the world. By opening his secret hidden place - his innermost being - to God, David stated God would purify and empower him by the Holy Spirit to know His will and think, speak, and enact it in the world. His faith in God would be visible. Nothing would be hidden from God or humankind. David would come to be known as a man after God’s heart.

That is the testimony to this day of David’s life. What keeps God from cleansing you and implanting His truth and wisdom in you? What keeps you from having a close relationship that is visibly lived out in the world? I encourage you to do as David did in the first four verses of Psalm 51 –

v  Recognize you are a sinner

v  Realize God is great and compassionate to remove your sins and the stain of your sins (your guilt) from you

v  Repent of your sins one by one

v  Then believe in the Messiah David had faith God would send to redeem each person who believed by faith in Him.

Live by faith in the world with the truth and wisdom of God.

Do Not Be Deceived: A James 1:16 Devotional

Let's consider today what James spoke about in James 1:16. He said, "Do not be deceived my beloved brethren."

Of what did he refer? Was it other teachings? Was it righteous indignation? Was it gifts? Was it testings versus temptation? Was it their salvation?

James spoke on each of these things in chapter 1. Verse 16 comes in the middle of the chapter and seems to be the axis upon which the teachings of this chapter surround.

Let's look at one of them

Do not be deceived by other people who say they are believers but then tell you things contrary to what you were taught and believe. When you became a believer in the gospel of salvation, Jesus Christ implanted in you His Holy Spirit. This word of truth will guide you to know truth from lies. As James said in verse 17, "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow."

What you learned and had implanted in you by Jesus Christ is not something that changes with the situation. Truth is truth. Just as light is pure, so God is pure. He brings the light of truth and knowledge so we can discern His truth from lies and not fall prey to the teachings of other people. God does not change. What He says at one time is the same at other times. He is faithful to Himself and to us, unlike shadows which shift and move with the changing times and lights.

Do not be deceived, James said. Then he tells us how to stand firm, to endure and grow towards perfection. He said to ask God for wisdom in verse five to be able to endure your present trials. James spoke of this wisdom in verse seventeen when he said, "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above." God gifts us with wisdom to withstand against trials and to come out from them stronger and closer to Christlikeness. In James 3:17, James defined wisdom as pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering and without hypocrisy.

We need wisdom to not be deceived. We need to rely upon God and His implanted Holy Spirit to endure and stand strong in our faith. To be able to stand firm, we must ask for and then put into action God's wisdom and we must ask without doubting.

Trials will come for all Christians, make no mistake about that. How we go through them determines if we grow more Christlike, toward perfection, or if we fall in the battle.

Do not be deceived. God is faithful to His children. 

Do not be deceived. God will give you strength and wisdom if you ask for them. Believe and act on what He gives you. 

Do not be deceived. God is the Father of light and has made you His child. He will not forsake you or leave you.