Coming to the Still Waters

Today's verses are Colossians 2:20-23, which read,   v.20-22 - If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!" (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)--in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?   Paul is writing to the new Christians in Colossae who received the message of the gospel from a man named Epraphas who received the message of the gospel from him.  Paul is instructing them about their salvation and the foundations of the faith of who Christ is.  He is praying earnestly for them to continue in the faith against the efforts of the false teachers who are giving a message of Jesus plus something else for salvation.  Paul is saying Jesus alone for salvation.  To grow in the faith is to have it firmly rooted, built up, and established in who Jesus is...

Today's verses are Colossians 2:16-19, which read,   v.16, 17 - Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day--things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. Therefore, because of our new life in Christ given to us and provided for us by the grace of God through the cross of Christ, we and the new Christians in the Colossae church are to beware of those who push man-made traditions and released ceremonial laws from God.  Paul gives us and them a list here.   "food or drink" - Under the new covenant, the Christians were not under obligation to observe the Old Testament dietary restrictions.  These were lifted but it doesn't mean that some of them are not beneficial to follow physically and voluntarily.  The point is that food or drink are not the way of salvation and anyone promoting the connection should be disregarded...

Today's verses are Colossians 2:13-15, which read,   v.13, 14 - When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Paul takes us back as we go forward.  Yesterday was the focus on our salvation in Christ by looking at Him and who He is.  We have been circumcised by Him for He cut off sin from us by His obedient sacrifice on the cross for the glory of God.  We are baptized and raised in Him through the faith given us by the working of God to live a changed life reflecting Him. To go forward we look back to our previous state.  We were dead in our transgressions or sins.  We were dead.  We were not partially alive or on the brink of death.  We were dead a...

Today's verses are Colossians 2:8-12, which read,   v.8 - See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. Paul is writing to the new Christians in the Colossian church with prayers and instruction for these new believers.  Last study, he spoke of the establishment of their faith in Christ that was rooted, built up, and established showing through an overflow of gratitude.  One who is doing this will not fall for the elements of this verse. The fruit of not having your faith rooted, built up, and established in Christ is being taken prisoner of the wisdom of the world and its empty promises.  The fruit of a weak faith is to have a greater faith in something else and that is the traditions of men or the cultural norms held to of the day.  The Christian goes down this wide road when what is acc...

Today's verses are Colossians 2:6, 7, which read,   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. Paul is writing to the new Christians of the church in Colossae, actually praying for them on a regular basis, to continue in growth of their spiritual lives.  A convert to Christianity under Paul's ministry named Epaphras brought the gospel to them and Paul is writing a letter of instruction in the doctrines of the faith.  Many other voices are being broadcasted of many other doctrines to follow, as true today, that needed to be addressed with the gospel message they had heard and the Author and Finisher of that gospel, Jesus Christ the Lord. To receive Christ Jesus the Lord is to take the hand of Him as Christ, the Messiah prophesied of the Old Testament to be the Savior and Sacrifice ...

Today's verses are Colossians 2:1-5, which read,   v.1-3 - 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, 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, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Paul is the master of the long sentence.  I picture him dictating this to one of his writers in one long breath and when he breathes, the writer puts the period.  Paul is writing and speaking to 2nd generation Christians from him and some of them he has never met face to face.  Paul shared the gospel with someone and discipled them and then they shared the gospel with someone else and discipled them and now spiritual grandpa Paul has this opportunity...

Today's verses are Colossians 1:24-29, which read,   v.24 - Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions. Paul's instruction and prayers to and for the new Christians in the church in Colossae do not come without a price.  Paul's open witness of Christ has put him in prison.  In prison, Paul's response is to rejoice because of why he is there.  He is there directly related to Christ and Christ's body, the church.  The persecutors of Jesus, in which Paul was one at one time, are not done persecuting the Lord.  Jesus ascended into heaven to be at the right hand of God but His persecutors have just changed their sights to the followers of Jesus in which Paul was a chief target.  Paul rejoices over the fact of this affiliation of his life with the life of Christ and His church, the redeemed by the grace of God t...

Today's verses are Colossians 1:21-23, which read,   v.21, 22 - And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach... Paul is praying for the new Christians in the new church in the city of Colossae.  In his prayer are some very important doctrinal statements about Jesus that we need to be reminded of to shape our actions to be fruit of such a salvation.  Yesterday's study showed the Jesus of the cross as so much more. He is Creator of all and over all and head of the Church with being the first in resurrection.  Jesus is deity that is eternal. Now Paul goes the other direction to say that Jesus was not just fully God but also fully man.  "His fleshly body" hung on the cross physically to be able to present Christians before God as "holy and blameless and beyond reproach....

Today's verses are Colossians 1:15-20, which read,   v.15 - He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. We studied yesterday that Paul was praying for these new Christians in the church in Colossae.  His prayer included some of the truths from Scripture about salvation and the transformation of the believer.  His prayer continues about the foundational truths about our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the image or copy or likeness of God.  Jesus is and makes the invisible God visible to us.  He is also the firstborn but in context this word is not about chronological order of birth but the chronological order of rank.  A firstborn received the inheritance of the father and had an exalted rank over all others.  So a firstborn could be a firstborn in rank and not be a firstborn in order of birth.  Jesus is in rank over all creation because of verse 16.   v.16 - For by Him all things were crea...

Today's verses are Colossians 1:9-14, which read,   v.9, 10 - For this reason also, 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 and increasing in the knowledge of God;... Paul shared the gospel message of Christ with a man named Epaphras in Ephesus and Epaphras returned to his hometown of Colossae and shared that gospel message with others just like Paul did with him.  The result was a church there and word has gotten back to Paul about this group.  He has put this work of God on his personal prayer list.  This is a church full of new Christians and in Paul's prayer is also instruction on what is to happen to them and us after answering the call of God through the gospel of Jesus Christ. The first thing...

Today's verses are Colossians 1:1-8, which read,   v.1, 2 - Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae:  Grace to you and peace from God our Father. This is a typical opening of a letter from Paul to a church.  Colossae lies along a river and was a very prominent city but then the main road was re routed around them and the city went into decline.  We have seen that many times when an interstate replaces the main road that ran through a town.  Timothy is mentioned as he attended to Paul while he was in prison in Rome when this letter was penned. It is written to the "saints and faithful brethren" of the church in this depressed town. Those descriptive words give you a great insight on the brethren of this church.  They have focused on holiness, being called saints, and loyalty, being called faithful, to Christ.  Paul prays for them ...

Today's verses are Ephesians 6:21-24, which read,   But that you also may know about my circumstances, how I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make everything known to you.  I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know about us, and that he may comfort your hearts.  Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love. Paul ends this letter to the Christians in the church in Ephesus.  He is sending a convert of the faith named Tychicus who will bring them word of his condition and a ministry update.  Tychicus was with Paul in prison in Rome during his first imprisonment.  He was also with Paul when he took the great gift to Jerusalem to aid the persecuted saints.  Now he is being sent out by Paul again to different churches that have started with messa...

Today's verses are Ephesians 6:18-20, which read,   With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. Yesterday Paul gave us the armor of God that we are to put on continually and to make sure that we put on all the pieces of the armor of God.  We are to be living a life based on the truth; we are to be living a life of righteousness and holy acts; we are to be living a life standing on and giving out the gospel of the Great Commission; we are to be living a life of faith in God; we are to be living a life based upon the salvation that we have received; and we are to be living a life that puts forth out of us the W...

Today's verses are Ephesians 6:14-17, which read,   Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. We can be eternally thankful that Paul put armor parts with these disciplines so that we could visualize and remember them.  Many a Sunday School teacher has had students act out the armor or color it on a learning sheet.  The word picture of the armor aids us in the process of putting this armor on every day by helping us remember its parts.  Again, we are to put on the whole armor of God. Yesterday we also were instructed to be strong and be in the strength of the Lord and in the Lord.  T...

Today's verses are Ephesians 6:10-13, which read,   v.10 - Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Paul is winding up this letter to the Christians in the church in the city of Ephesus called the Ephesians.  He has given the fact that they have been and are continuing to be transformed from the old life to the new life.  He has given general instruction to all of what is to be laid aside and what is to be picked up as a follower of Christ.  He has also given specific instruction to specific groups to their conduct and attitude as they obey as onto the Lord in their specific roles.  Now Paul goes back to the general population of Christians with some closing instructions.  The word to focus in on in verse 10 is the word "in."   What am I strong in?  What do I have strength in?  I am strong in the Lord and I have strength in His might.  I am strong in the Lord by being with the Lord and as I am ...

Today's verse is Ephesians 6:9, which reads,   And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him. Paul has spoken to the wives, husbands, children, parents, slaves then or relevant us as employees, and now the masters then or relevant to us as the employers.  The Christian faith stretches across all ages and all races and all social economical levels.  Who we worship is greater than who we are. The masters or employers who have been transformed by the grace of God through the cross of Christ are to treat their employees just like a transformed Christian employee is to treat him or her.  They are to be obedient; they are to give respect; they are to do their part not just in others eye sight or with flattery to promote themselves; and they are to do good as to the Lord.  All of these things are instructed to the masters or employers in the p...

Today's verses are Ephesians 6:5-8, which read,   v.5, 6 - Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; not by way of eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. Paul has spoken specifically to the wives and then the husbands and then the children and then the parents and now onto the workers and we see some common things here.  The first is that what is to be done by the workers, or slaves, or servants is "as to Christ."   Again, the object of our obedience is bigger than that master or employer that is before us. Slaves in the day of the Jesus and Paul were different in some ways than our history of slavery in the United States.  Some of them had property and many had a great amount of education but they still were a commodity to their owners.  These verses are speaking to those who find themselv...

Today's verses are Ephesians 6:1-4, which read,   v.1 - Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Paul has spoken to the wives and then to the husbands and now he speaks to the children.  The message is consistence with His order within the home.  Children are to be submissive to the loving authority that has been put over them and they are to do this "in the Lord."   The motivation and obedience is to the Someone bigger than their parents.  This action by the children and how children are to respond in the dynamics of the family is right.  This is given to the children but it is also given to the parents to know of the proper response that they are parenting toward.   v.2, 3 - Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth. Paul then takes the children and the parents to the Biblical reference for this action...

Today's verses are Ephesians 5:25-33, which read   v.25-27 - Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. Paul spoke in the last study to the wives and really to the husbands also but this section zeros in on the husbands.  Again, the example that we are to follow and imitate is none other than Jesus Christ Himself.  The question is if a husband is to love his wife like Christ loved the church then how did Christ love the church? First, Jesus gave Himself up for her.  He became the sacrifice for her.  A husband is to be sacrificial. Second, Jesus gave sacrificially for a purpose to sanctify the church.  This action had a direction to provide a way for the...