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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Saturday, 27 July 2024:
Note: Here is a short video overview of Colossians — https://youtu.be/pXTXlDxQsvc
Colossians 1:1 – Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother….
You are a follower of Christ because He willed it, and He does not intend for you to go it alone. You were saved into a Spiritual family, into a body, as just one stone of a temple, intended to be united and in perfect position with the other stones of the temple.
Colossians 1:4 — We heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints.
Love is an act of faith. Faithful Christians are known by their love. Word will get around if you are an effective, truly loving, joyful, and peaceful Christian.
Colossians 1:5-6 — …the word of the truth, the gospel… has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.
The word of God should bear fruit in your heart, driving you to greater and greater love.
Colossians 1:9 – And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding….
Love comes only from the Holy Spirit; we do not create love, we can only transmit love coming from the Source through us. “God is love.” (1 John 4:8) Without God, there is no real love. It is only our unity with the Holy Spirit that enables us to truly love. Only as the vines are connected to the Branch can there be love. (John 15) Anything that does not draw a person closer to the Way, the Truth, and the Life, is ultimately unloving.
Colossians 1:9-12 – …so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
Be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
Wisdom is knowledge rightly applied, an application which is impossible without omniscience, which we cannot have as humans. Only God can supply us with the heart and insight required to love wisely, which is why we cannot function as humans without the continual guidance of His Spirit. Wisdom comes from the knowledge (intimacy) of God and is revealed by your behavior. Some of the attributes of a true Christian are endurance, patience, joy, and thankfulness. Is that how others describe you?
Colossians 1:10: …so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God….
God expects us to “walk in a manner worthy of Him” as each day we seek to please Him more and more and grow in our true knowledge “of Him,” (relationship) not just “about Him.” This is a choice we make. We can only “know Him” more and more if we walk with Him day by day, closer and closer, and only if He is our goal and not what He can do for us. He leads the way, not us. What is the destination? Unity with Him, and what do you call unity with Him? Heaven. Heaven, the Garden of Eden, the Kingdom of God, the Temple of the Lord, the House of God is not just a specific place but also where God is present, reigning and manifested. While many churches are trying to get people to Heaven, God is seeking to get Heaven into people. Do not ask God to bless you along your way. Ask to help you follow His way, The Way, and be blessed.
Colossians 1:11-14 – …being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
If those closest to you had to describe you in just a few words, would four of them be “patient, joyful, thankful, and forgiving”?
Colossians 1:19 – For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.
The fullness of God dwelt in Jesus, and He has given us the Holy Spirit which now dwells in us. Have you truly considered what that means for your life?
Colossians 1:20 – ….and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Jesus’ purpose was to reconcile all things to Him through the sacrificial forgiveness of sins. He has now given us the mission of reconciliation and forgiveness, under His authority, and through the power of the Holy Spirit within us. Have you truly considered what that means for your life too?
Colossians 1:21-23 — And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard.
Evil deeds are the outward indicator of someone who is alienated from God. Christ’s true disciples are above reproach in their obedience to Jesus. In your knowledge and power through Him, God expects you to press forward boldly in your faith, relentlessly unwavering, as a minister of the Gospel, rejoicing in sufferings, being a good steward of the word of God that Has been given to you for you to administer to those around you.
Colossians 1:24-26 — Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.
Colossians is another letter written by Paul in prison while he was being persecuted for sharing the truth of Jesus publicly. Paul had been empowered and entrusted by God with the ministry of suffering. We too have been entrusted with the ministry of suffering. Paul rejoiced in suffering for sake of the Gospel; we should too. However, our fleshly nature seeks to avoid all suffering. Yet, our knowledge of Christ, our love for Him, and the power of the Holy Spirit working in us, overcomes our carnality and compels us more and more to rejoice in our suffering for sake of the Gospel (as opposed to self-induced suffering as the consequences of sin), appreciating the opportunity to fellowship with Christ in His sacrificial love for His chosen.
- Luke 9:23; 14:27 – And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me…. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
It is impossible to love like Jesus, grow closer to Jesus, and share the love of Jesus without suffering for others daily. Paul was suffering in prison, but for most of us suffering for Christ, with Christ, and through Christ will be much more subtle but equally powerful. Our suffering will look like radical, unmerited grace bestowed upon others in the name of Christ, turning the other cheek (Matthew 5:39), walking the extra mile (Matthew 5:41), forgiving “seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:22), giving beyond our means (2 Corinthians 8:3), and truly, from the heart, loving our enemies and doing only good to those who hate us (Luke 6:27), all while sharing the gospel so the focus would always be on Jesus and not on ourselves.
- 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 — All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
We have been entrusted by God with the ministry of reconciliation as ambassadors of Christ. With the ministry of reconciliation comes the ministry of suffering as Christ suffered. God has appointed us and empowered us to share the love of Christ with sinful people who Jesus promised would treat us sinfully, and we are called to take our inevitable persecution to the cross metaphorically as Jesus did for us literally, displaying and proclaiming the grace of God by our response in word and deed – “In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” (Hebrews 12:4)
- Philippians 2:4-8, 14-18 — Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross…. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
Having this mind of Christ in our personal relationships and daily encounters with others is difficult for us as we have not yet been perfected in His love. However, as we ‘practice’ walking with Christ as an infant would walk with a parent, we will get better at it. As we mature, increasingly we will take steps in love, walking as adults with Jesus, without even thinking about it – “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3) As any toddler knows intuitively, the key is to get up every time you fall down and keep trying (practice) – “Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.” (1 John 3:7) “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.” (2 Peter 1:10)
- Hebrews 11:6 — And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Practicing anything is an act of faith, believing you will one day master that which you practice. Our practice of godliness is an act of faith that rests on the promise and assurance that God will complete in us the work which He started – “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)
All practice is hard, particularly in the beginning, but practice is the path to perfection. And the better you get, the more you appreciate that mastery involves the constant refinement of the ‘little things.’ Growing in Christ involves adjusting how we respond to the little things, how we respond to today’s events and the people we encounter, how we respond when we are offended by someone, how we respond when we see someone with a need, how we respond when someone wants to praise us (tempting us to be prideful), and what we choose to say and do when we are given an opportunity to share the gospel. What we do in the little moments of the day defines how we will respond to the bigger matters. You can’t do great things until you master the little things — “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.” (Luke 16:10) You won’t have joy in prison as Paul did if you don’t practice remaining joyful today when someone offends you in some small way. And you won’t share the Gospel boldly to powerful leaders and multitudes as Paul did, if you don’t practice sharing the Gospel with that person you will meet today.
Colossians 1:25 — I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known.
Christians are stewards of God’s word and the Good News, called to make it fully known to others. Are you a good steward?
Colossians 1:28 — Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
Proclaiming Christ has always included a warning of the need for repentance and discipleship, “teaching them to obey all that I have commanded.”
Colossians 1:28, 29 — Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
Struggle beyond your natural energy, with His energy in you, to warn others of the need to repent and of the Good News of forgiveness and grace through Jesus. Toil, work harder than you think possible because God will make your impossible possible. Don’t just make believers, make disciples who will grow to maturity in Jesus.
Paul’s struggle was two part: to proclaim Christ (evangelism) and then to disciple those who would believe that they would grow in their spiritual maturity and fruitfulness (discipleship). This exemplifies the Great Commission: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19, 20) I have heard some call the second part of this two-fold mission statement, “teaching them to obey,” the “Great Omission” because so many churches place such little emphasis on discipleship and obedience.
In Colossians today, Paul expresses his continued prayer that “God [would] fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Your sins have already been forgiven, you have been rescued from the darkness, and you have already entered into eternal life. You have already been qualified as a priest and a saint to be a part of the kingdom. Now, to live out your calling requires that you grow daily in your “knowledge of God,” wisdom and understanding. This takes effort, endurance, and patience. Remember Proverbs 4:7: “Wisdom is supreme; therefore, get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.” Proverbs points out that wisdom starts with the “Fear of the Lord” and is cultivated through prayer, the Word, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, one day at a time.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 27 July 2024: Practice joyfully suffering today for sake of the Gospel.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 