He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

– Colossians 1:15-20 (ESV)

Paul continues here his letter to the Colossians, comprised of more compact, powerful truth than would seem possible in just a few short verses. Here he affirms the deity of Christ in no uncertain terms. Jesus is “the image of the invisible God”. By Jesus all things were created, both of the physical world we see and the unseens spiritual world that swirls all around us and is, I believe, far more solid than what we call reality. Jesus is the beginning, both the creator and the “firstborn of all creation”, meaning not that he himself was created (how could he be? He is the Creator), but that in his incarnation he is the firstborn of a new kind of creation: the creation of redeemed sons and daughters of God in the Kingdom of God. If you know him you are not just his child but also his brother or sister.

And in him “all things hold together”. This vast and elegant universe in its unimaginable complexity, the very cells of your body, our world, the seas, the lands, molecules, everything holds together in him. He is the Logos, the Word spoken by the Father that created and maintains all things and for which all things were made. “In him we live and move and have our being . . .”.

In this humble carpenter from Nazareth God incarnated himself into this world. and in him all the fullness of God dwells, though it was veiled while he walked with us. The world sees this as foolishness, but in Jesus we have our King, the head of his church, and the very One who through his own sacrifice rescued us from death and has reconciled us (and, indeed, all things) to God.

I don’t even know what all that means, fully. I just know the peace of the cross, and the joy of redemption, and the wonder of my King, who allowed himself to be humbled beyond words so that you and I could be redeemed beyond all understanding.

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, 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. 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.

– Colossians 1:9-14 (ESV)

This is one of the best and most succinct examples in Scripture of the heart of a pastor for his people. How this must have encouraged the Colossians!

Take a moment to look at the attributes of Pauls prayer, as he describes it. The first thing you notice is that it was ceaseless. Do you know what it feels like to be prayed for always? I hope you do; it is a wonderful thing to have another believer lift you up to the Lord ceaselessly. And it’s a wonderful thing to be the one doing the praying too.

And look at the things Paul was asking God to give them. The first request is that they be filled with knowledge of God’s will and spiritual wisdom and understanding. Have you ever watched, helplessly, the life of a Christian who lacks wisdom? It’s either like watching a slow-motion train wreck or it’s just a further testament to God’s amazing grace that the train wreck is averted. How we need wisdom today! So many times you or I will say “I wish I knew what God’s will is”. I like the way Paul puts it: the knowledge of God’s will is something that we can be “filled” with. In other words, spiritual wisdom is not so much a checklist of truths as it is a living, active Presence in our lives, an overflow of the Spirit that guides our steps and deepens our knowledge of the Father’s ways.

The result of wisdom is, of course, not just more brain activity. It is that high calling of every Christian: to walk in a manner worthy of our Lord, fully pleasing to him. A friend of mine once said “the smile of God is the goal of my life.” So well said – the thought of being fully pleasing to God can seem far away from us when we are in the pit of sin, yet it is possible. It flows out of the filling of spiritual wisdom that God offers us, to point us in the way that is most pleasing to him.

The crescendo continues! Paul prays that the Colossians will be fully pleasing to God, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. In other words, as we live and walk in the spiritual wisdom God supplies, and live it out in obedience, the end-result is fruit that is pleasing to him and that results in a yet larger increase in the knowledge of God, and the blessed circle widens. For as we walk in his ways we become more and more like him.

Paul ends his pastoral prayer with a heartfelt blessing for these people that he loved so much. “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.”

Strength, power, endurance, patience, joy, thankfulness. These are the marks of the blessed child of God, one who shares in the unfathomable inheritance of the saints in light.

If you are a redeemed citizen of the kingdom of Jesus, may the blessings Paul prayed for the Colossians also fill your life. Many Christians have gone deep in their relationship with the Lord, others of us have only scratched the surface. Yet none of us can fully comprehend the glories, the riches, and the wisdom, understanding, and incomparable love our Father offers us.

“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.”

May wisdom, understanding, obedience, fruit, and ever increasing patience, joy, endurance and thankfulness be yours today.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing–as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

– Colossians 1:1-8 (ESV)

“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you . . .”

Is there anyone in your life that you thank God for every time you pray for them? This is an interesting kind of thankfulness; it is another way to worship God, when you think about it. For who else could turn a fallen human being into a vessel of grace producing thankfulness in others?

Notice the traits of the Colossians that Paul extols: their faith in Jesus and their love for the saints. And both of these springing up from hope. Faith, hope and love – these are the evidences of the Spirit in a person’s life, and are the marks and reflection of Jesus. Do you know someone full of the Spirit and overflowing with faith, hope, and love? When I think of the people I know who are like this I can’t help but worship God for them. Because it is through them that I get just a taste of the deep love God has for me.

I recommend that you often take a moment to think about and pray for those who have demonstrated faith, hope, and love to you, and thank God for them. It is through such as these that the gospel bears fruit throughout the whole world!

. . . as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

– Philippians 1:20 (ESV)

I’ve posted on this before, but I truly love this verse.

I love the phrase “eager expectation and hope”. The word behind “eager expectation” (apokaradokia) is only used one other place in the NT (Romans 8:19). It’s a word that surges, one that, according to Vines, gives the picture of someone watching with outstretched head (apo – from, kara – the head, dokia – to look, to watch). It is a “strained expectancy”, an eager longing, and contains the idea of focus – the abstraction from anything else that might take our attentions.

Paul knew hope. Which is why he could speak of it so eloquently while chained to a Roman guard – most likely a thoroughly evangelized Roman guard! My guess is that the coterie of imperial guards who had “Paul duty” were a mixed bag vis-a-vis whether they enjoyed it or not. To some, Paul represented a hope beyond endless service to a pagan regime – contagious and enticing hope! To others he was, no doubt, just another misguided fool, gabbling on about his crucified god.

Paul didn’t care. He had hope, and he eagerly awaited Christ’s honoring of himself within Paul’s body. Whether by Paul’s life or death, well, it hardly mattered which to the old apostle. He strained forward, like a sleek and powerful horse straining at the starting gate in eager expectation. He couldn’t wait!

I hope that you have hope today. As God’s children we are not to live as those who have no hope. Thank God.

And I pray that God will glorify himself in you and me today.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

– Philippians 1:2 (ESV)

“Grace to you and peace”; this was the common epistolary greeting of Paul. I’ve blown through it many times, without realizing its importance.

Greetings in letters in those days held more importants than the greetings of our day – the greeting in most of my emails is “hey!”, for instance. It was quite common for Greek letters of Paul’s day to begin with the word charein, which means “rejoice”, or “greetings”. An example of this can be found in the beginning of the book of James.

Paul diverged from this custom by starting many of his letters with the word charis, or “grace”. It is derived from the same root as charein but carries with it that central theme of the Gospel, the theme of unmerited favor. Grace! The favor of God, undeserved yet purchased for us by the willing shedding of the blood of Jesus.

The common greeting in a Hebrew letter of Paul’s day was shalom, or “peace”. Paul knew the source of peace, the “peace that passes all understanding”. It is grace, from whose fountain peace flows into our lives. So Paul combined these two customs in one: charis umin kai eirene, “Grace to you and peace”.

May you experience both today!

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

– Colossians 3:5-15 (ESV)

There’s so much in this passage. I can’t do it justice. But there are some things that jump out at me:

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you . . . Whoa. Paul goes on to list some of the things that constitute “earthly”. And it is, indeed, all very down to earth stuff. All the lusts, the wants, the desires that, unlike Godly desires, don’t fill us with eager anticipation so much as they fill us with frustration and anger. All this is “earthly” and must be put to death. Not reformed, not “set right”. There are no leaves to turn over here. We are to become new leaves.

We are to take the earthly in us out behind the barn and kill it with an axe.

It hits me: for someone who is not in Christ, all they have is earthly. It’s impossible to put the earthly to death, as there is nothing there to replace it with, outside of Christ. But in Christ? Yes, behind the barn, with the axe. Now.

It would be easy for some of us to look at the things Paul listed, “sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire”, and perhaps feel a bit “safe”, skipping over that unfortunate little clause about covetousness (that pesky forgotten tenth commandment!). But the list goes on: “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another . . .”, and, I don’t know about you, but any leg I had to stand on has just been amputated, with extreme prejudice. These are all of the earth, they are foreign to Christ, and must be put away. For someone who is in Christ, these constitute all that is the “old self”, which must be stripped off like muddy clothes after a romp in the swamp. The clothes stick; they have almost become part of me. They are heavy and slimy and stifling. And they must be removed. New clothing is called for:

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other . . .”

We are holy and beloved, and called with a calling that is high above “earthly”. It is heavenly, and we are called to be heavenly bodies, shining as the stars. These traits that shine through us, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, and especially love, are not natural, just as royal raiment is foreign to one who has worn dirty rags all his life. But what more natural clothing is there, really, for a child of the King? Worn daily we will soon feel at home in these princely garments.

We’ve been chosen by God. Chosen for these new clothes!

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

– Philippians 1:9-11 (ESV)

Oh yeah!

Paul swings for the fences here. Because, when you break it down, what higher goal can a person have for those he has ministered to than what Paul is praying here?

Abounding more and more in love. That means a love that overflows, and keeps overflowing. Picture it.

With knowledge and discernment (for knowledge without discernment is a scary thing. When I come in contact with discernment-less knowledge, I run away as fast as I can!).

Able to approve what is excellent. The NIV puts it this way: “so that you may be able to discern what is best”. Best! So many of us spend our Christian lives settling for “good”, or even “ok”.

For a brief time when I was in high school the word everyone used was “excellent”. Yes, just like Wayne and Garth (it’s scary how much I was like them when I was that age – heh). We would say “excellent” for everything. But few of us knew what excellence really was. To be honest, my idea of “excellence” at the time was to be the drummer for the rock band Rush. As good as they were (Wayne and Garth: “Excellent!”) there’s no way I’d trade a relationship with the Lord for all the riches and fame this world can offer. Because I’ve seen glimpses of what real “Excellent” looks like, in the beautiful spirits of some wonderful Christians I’ve known, and – rarely, and only for brief seconds – in my own heart as Christ has worked in me. But mostly, I’ve seen what excellence is as I’ve come to know Jesus better; for He is the only One who ever lived “Excellent” every day of His life.

Able to approve what is excellent! This is my prayer for those I love and long for, and for myself. Enough with trading God’s gold for the world’s wood and calling that “good”. Do I know what excellence is, as God defines it? May I have that discernment, and be able to discern what is best. “OK” makes for easy, but, well, excellent prepares us for eternity. And we all need a lot of preparation.

For this prayer from Paul is really a prayer for Christ to do the work only He can do: to fill those Paul loved and longed for with the fruit of righteousness. And this righteousness only comes through Jesus. And this righteousness is the only kind that brings glory and praise to God.

Read this passage again. Is this your prayer, for yourself and for those that you love? It is becoming mine:

Excellent!

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.

– Matthew 14:22-24 (ESV)

Interesting contrasts here: Jesus is alone on the mountain, praying in solitude and peace. Night is falling, and his followers find themselves out in the middle of the lake, beaten by the waves. The wind is against them. They were experienced fishermen and were no doubt used to situations such as this, but as night fell I would imagine they were feeling some anxiety. I personally would have been terrified. That wind! It had set itself against these men in their little boat, and it was blowing hard.

My guess is that they were wishing Jesus was with them. They had seen him take authority over the wind and the waves before.

But, even as far away as they thought he was, it’s not like this situation was beyond him.

And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

– Matthew 14:25-27 (ESV)

I love the disciples! First wind, then waves, and now . . . A GHOST!!! AAAAHHHHHH!!!!

What would it have been like to spend time with these guys? I can’t imagine! But I digress. The bit that really hits me is this:

Don’t be afraid. Jesus is here. Notice that the wind and the waves were still blasting away. Take heart. Jesus is the rock, the cornerstone, the foundation. There is nothing stronger than him, least of all these wet, messy waves and this breeze on steroids.

And, all kidding aside, these men really were scared. They were crying out in fear — have you been in a situation like that before? I’m sure some of you have. Perhaps even now. You and I may not be panicking out loud, but behind our calm demeanors our hearts often cry out in fear. The winds of circumstance, the cursed ground we live on, and our own sin that follows us all have “set themselves against us.” Sometimes I want to run screaming.

And Jesus says “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

Lord, I won’t be afraid, if you provide the courage. I have none on my own.

And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

– Matthew 14:28-33 (ESV)

Yes, he is!

I love Peter. We ridicule him sometimes from our safe perches here in the 21st century, and, I might add, with a relationship with the Lord made “safe” (we think) by the fact that we can’t see him or touch him. But I can’t help but love Peter. I don’t see a record here of any of the other disciples stepping out of the boat. Peter did it. If even for just a few seconds, he committed his all in faith to the Lord. And when he started to sink he didn’t act according to that famous pride we often (wrongly, I think) ascribe to him. He reached out to Jesus and called upon him for salvation, and there you have the only right answer to the central question of life. Peter, you get an “A”. May I be more like you were, on my journey of becoming more like Jesus is. May I feel the electric thrill of faith in action as the soles of my feet touch onto the thrashing waves and my Lord fills all my vision.

Truly he is the Son of God!

In my previous post I talked about waiting on God. However, I realize that I may be presenting an incomplete picture. We do often wait on God, but we are not to be idle while we wait.

A common source of angst for Christians is the question “what is God’s will for my life?” This query, prayed fervently and often desperately, spins continuously in the minds of many. This is not necessarily a bad thing; we are to seek God and His ways and His will, so we should certainly care what that might be! But I’ve seen (and lived) the paralysis of that question. The lie that creeps in: “I’m waiting on God’s will for my life. I don’t want to screw anything up, so I’ll do nothing until I’m absolutely sure it’s God’s will.”

Aside from some obvious problems with the unnecessary clause “for my life”, it took me awhile to realize that this attitude is a thousand miles from anything resembling faith. Trust me, I’ve been there. I have often laughed inwardly at the fact that pretty much everything big God has done in my life is something I backed into. I simply wasn’t looking for it to happen the way it did – how could I have foreseen what God would do? I’m just not that smart. So why spend all my useful days in useless puzzle-work? God has called me to live, to run the race, and to focus on Him.

Someone wise once made this point: too many of us, as we walk along life’s path, expect to find GOD’S WILL wrapped up like a present, complete with our name on the tag. But, really, the path is God’s will.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus . . .

– Hebrews 12:1-2a (ESV)

Notice that Paul is not encouraging us to carefully sit idly by as we wait for detailed instructions from our Coach (the instructions that we have, in fact, demanded as a condition of our running). No, the command is far more straightforward: lay aside our sin and distractions and run like crazy toward Jesus.

So beware the wait if it’s really just a vacation from motion. For God will not, generally, lay out the plan for you all at once. At least He’s never done so for me. But that’s no excuse for standing still. There’s a reason the Christian life is compared to a race. We are to be running, and running to win.

So what do you do while you are waiting on God? Learn His ways, seek His face, learn to listen to His voice. And do whatever it is that He has put before you. You never know; the next seemingly uninspiring or uninteresting task or ministry that presents itself may be a gateway into a life you never dreamed of. One of my favorite quotes is by a secular author, but it carries with it a profound spiritual truth:

We all want to lead epic lives, but sometimes in that quest we miss that one life that just brushed past us that desperately needs some love and an encouraging word. As we pray for God’s mighty rain of revival to sweep us away we miss the fact that someone near us needs a cup of cold water. We want to love the whole earth and give ourselves to some mighty work, but we don’t love our neighbor (or even know his name). For it’s through the small things that come to us step by step on this path that God leads us toward the epic.

“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 (ESV)

As you run, in obedience to the commands of God that you know well through reading HIs word, your motion and training will help prevent the other great sin we fall into: being so careful “waiting for God’s will” that even when He lays it out straight for us we’re too afraid to move.

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him . . .

– Genesis 12:1-4a (ESV)

Because often times the next step God has for us may not be explained in as much detail as we would like. But as we grow more in love with Him and learn to hear His voice we’ll learn to obey even the steps that don’t make sense. So that when the command comes we, like Abraham, will simply go as the Lord has told us . . . because the Lord is really ahead of us, blazing the trail.

So while you and I are waiting to fly, we must continuously learn to run.