Lord Jesus Christ - Colossians 1:3

 ...the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ...

Jesus is Lord.  He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.  That means He is in control and has the right to be obeyed.  Jesus is not a tyrant.  He does not force obedience.  However, He is not running a democracy either.  Our daily choices to submit to His Lordship will have both short-term and long-term consequences - for good or bad.  

While Jesus is Lord of the universe, He is also our Lord.  As Christians, we have acknowledged that Jesus is our personal Master regardless of how imperfectly we submit ourselves to His reign in daily life.  We need to keep that in mind.  It is not our opinions that count; it is not what we think is important that is important.  Our bottom line must always be:  What does the Bible say about that?

Father Of Jesus - Colossians 1:3

 ...the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ...

We know that there is only One God Who is revealed in three distinct Persons.  This statement of Paul's shows relationship with the Godhead.  It is a loving relationship of authority, not one of superiority.  Jesus related to the Father - and invited us to as well - as the loving and caring One Who looks after us and provides all our needs.  Jesus never walked in fear or lack because He had perfect confidence in His Father.  The greatest horror of the crucifixion was having that relationship temporarily broken.  We can never understand the depth of the pain, confusion, loneliness and rejection Jesus felt at that time.  And - thanks to Jesus - we will never have to know it unless we reject Him as Lord and Saviour. 

Always Thank God - Colossians 1:3

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

Thanksgiving is to be a natural part of our lives.  It is easy to get distracted or discouraged by life's problems, but God has done so much for us.  We need to cultivate a heart of thanksgiving.  Jesus has saved us and reconciled us to the Father.  We are in the family of God.  We live under God's blessing whether we feel like it or not.

Thanksgiving should always be our first response.  That doesn't mean that we are thankful for the bad things that happen, although we do recognize that God will work good out of it in the end.  If, for example, your car is stolen, it doesn't mean you are thankful that it was stolen but that since you are living a life flowing with thanksgiving, you can deal with the situation from Godly strength and perspective.

A couple of years ago, I wrote a course called 90 Days Of Thanksgiving [available on www.free-bible-study-lessons.com].  In it, I help people get into the mode of thanksgiving by showing them how to take 90 Scripture passages and turn them into prayers of thanksgiving.  It is also good to keep a thanksgiving journal and continually write down the things you are thankful for.  Live a thanksgiving life!

Father God - Colossians 1:2

 Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

We often think about Jesus [He is Worthy] and the Holy Spirit [especially in Pentecostal-type circles], but how often do we think about the Father?  I know we do when we say the Lord's Prayer.  Other than that, I don't hear much about Father God, yet He is mentioned many times in the New Testament.

Here Paul prays that grace and peace would come from the Father.  The Father is the One Who initiated the plan of Salvation by sending the Son.  Jesus said that the Father Himself loves us.  In 1 Cor. 8:6, Paul tells us that all things come from the Father, and we live for Him.  As we praise, worship, give things and meditate on Almighty God, let's not forget about the Father.

And remember that our earthly fathers, no matter how good or bad they were, are not the picture of Who God is; instead, God the Father is the image of who they are supposed to be.  

Two Worlds - Colossians 1:2

 In Colossae...in Christ...

The Colossian Christians lived in two worlds.  They physically lived in the city of Colossae, while spiritually, they were in Christ.

As Christians, we also live in two worlds.  We live in a physical location, but spiritually we are in Christ.  This only becomes a problem if we try to separate them.  Some Christians try to keep their 'natural' life separate from their 'spiritual' life.  This causes conflict and problems that our Father never intended us to have.  Like a divorce, this is separating what God has joined together.

God designed our 'natural' lives and our 'spiritual' lives to be a unity.  We are primarily spiritual creatures who are in the process of learning everything that means.  Our 'In Christ' lives are to envelop or saturate every other aspect of our lives.  When that happens, we are living whole; when we categorize our lives into different boxes, we are divided within ourselves.  As Jesus pointed out, a united house stands, and a divided house falls.  What kind of house are you?

Peace - Colossians 1:2

 Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

Paul's desire was for these believers to experience God's grace and peace.  Peace is something we all want.  The peace of God does not mean smooth sailing in life, but it does mean that we can rest in the knowledge that we have peace with God and He is in control of our life.

Since Paul is writing to people who are already believers, he is probably not referring to peace with God - they already had that.  He wants them to experience the peace which comes from an increasing knowledge of and relationship with the Father.  

This is a peace that we can enter into as we continue to develop our relationship with God.  When we are feeling overwhelmed with the situations of life, we need to focus on the Grace and Peace of the Father.  His loving arms are around us, no matter what waves are crashing on the beach of our life.

Grace - Colossians 1:2

 Amazing Grace!  One of Strong's definitions of Grace is "..of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting His holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues."  Wow!

When we look at it like that, we see how dependent we are on the Grace of God.  Without Him, we can literally do nothing of eternal value.  We can do nothing to earn or keep this Grace.  It is all by the 'merciful kindness' of God.  That should give us confidence in our Christian walk.  While we are responsible for living worthy of Christ, it is His Grace that provides us with the ability to do so.  We depend on Him.  It is all from Him - justification, sanctification, perseveration, glorification.  We say 'Thank You!'  And then we learn to live according to our high calling.  Truly Amazing Grace!

In Christ - Colossians 1:2

 ...the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ.

When we think about being In Christ, we are often thinking of our position in Christ.  Knowing our proper position in Christ is vital to our Christian life and health.  But we are not the only ones who are In Christ.  All true Christians are In Christ, and we need to think of them and treat them that way.

Family is important.  A hard concept to realize is that our spiritual family is the most important family we belong to.  If Jesus must have priority in our lives, that also means His family must have priority in our lives.  Of course, I don't mean that we neglect our natural family, but I find often it is the family of God that is neglected.  

I am sure we all have Jesus as our top priority.  [If not, we have bigger problems!]. Where does His family rate on our list of priorities?

A Christian Requirement - Colossians 1:2

 ...the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ.

Faithfulness is being trustworthy, reliable and honest.  If a person is faithful, they can be counted on to perform their duties to the best of their abilities.  As a manager, I can tell you that I would rather have someone working for me who is faithful and has developing skills rather than someone who is unfaithful but has highly developed skills.  I think God feels the same.

As Christians, we often put the greatest value on things like prayer, Bible study, church, etc.  Those are essential things to be doing, of course.  But I think what God is looking for most in His people is things like faithfulness, integrity, and honesty.  I know of a church, an entire church organization as well, that has a great outward show of spirituality but is rotten at the core.  How about you and I?  Are we proving ourselves to be people of solid character?  Would Paul call us faithful brothers and sisters?

Holy Stubborness - Colossians 1:2

 To God's holy people in Colossae...

If you are a Christian, you are holy now; that is, you are separated to God for His purposes.  This is not something you have to work at.  It is not something you have to earn.  It is simply a statement of fact.  You are holy.

But the next question a Christian should ask is:  Since I am holy, how should I live my life?  As we will see later in this book, the Bible speaks of walking worthy of Jesus.  It should be our desire to order life so that it is pleasing to God.  This requires both knowledge of His will and the self-control/self-determination to do it.  Elsewhere I have referred to this as holy stubbornness.  Our feet are set to serve God well; nothing- inside us or outside - will deter us.  The knowledge of His will comes through Bible study and application and prayer, and self-control comes through submission to the Holy Spirit.

 Glenn Davis Books Update

This week I will be working on adding three pages to our website.  One page will give you the opportunity  to share your favourite biographies, another page will be where new authors can tell us about their books, and the third page will have free books that you can download.  I have more things coming as well, so visit often.  Meanwhile, consider adding your own review of your favourite fiction or non-fiction book.

You Are Holy - Colossians 1:2

To God's holy people...

You are one of God’s holy people if you are a Christian.  Holiness is a characteristic of God.  It refers to His purity, majesty and glory.  God is perfectly holy.  

This is one reason satan likes to abuse and ridicule the term 'holy.'  He wants people to think it is boring, robs them of the good life, and is judgmental.  Even common expressions like 'sinfully delicious' and 'delightfully wicked' imply that sin is good and holy is bad.  We should expect nothing less from the father of lies.  

Being God's holy people basically means that we are separated to Him.  We are His special and chosen people to live in the light of His holiness.  Only here can we find true fulfillment and enjoyment of life.  It is what we were created for; it is how we were designed. We need to get out thinking about the holiness vs. sin issue realigned with reality.  

Working Together - Colossians 1:1

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

Paul was the great super apostle.  He was the one who received special revelations.  Through him, unusual miracles were done.  His mission field was the majority of the human race.  Most of the New Testament was written by him.  If ever a man could stand alone in his faith, it must have been Paul.

Yet we don't see that independence and pride in him.  Here in Colossians, he identifies with young Timothy.  They are brothers; they are co-workers.  In other places in Scripture, we see that Paul always had a team with him.  He was not a Lone Ranger.  He was willing to submit to authority.

We swim in dangerous waters if we think we can do things alone.  God designed us to be a family - a family is more than one person!  We need each other for stability, protection and growth.  One of the evils of COVID was to try to drive people apart.  We need fellowship.  And we need to be happy when our brothers and sisters succeed and are recognized.  It is not all about us or our ministry.  It is about the Lord Jesus Christ and expanding His kingdom.  The united team wins, the fractured team loses.  

Leaving The Past - Colossians 1:1

 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God...

Paul was a murderer.  He deliberately hunted down, harassed and even killed people who disagreed with him.  He did this with religious zeal, thinking he was doing God a favour.  Just a side note: some of the hardest-hearted, cruel people are those with religious zeal thinking they are pleasing God or gods.

So Paul had a past.  Yet here we find him referring to himself as an apostle of Christ Jesus.  How dare he!  He had caused so much pain and suffering.  Doesn't he know he should walk around in shame and guilt for the rest of his life?  

Paul couldn't change his past, but what he could do, after repentance before Jesus, was realize he was a new creation.  He was not the same man that he was before.  He might look the same, and his personality might be the same, but he was a new man.  The past was gone.   [Now, I believe in restitution as part of the repentance process, but that is a different topic.]

How about you and I?  Do we have a past?  Have we done things, said things, been someone who hurt others?  In Christ Jesus, we become a new person.  While we have to deal with the past and its consequences, that is not who we are anymore.  Its guilt and shame can be left at the foot of the cross.  Like Paul, we can embrace who we are in Christ and move forward.  If you are a Christian, you do not have to let your past define your future.  You are a new person.  Paul moved from murderer to apostle.  You can make the move too.