Colossians 1:11-14

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 1:11-14

In light of this strengthening for the purpose of endurance and patience, we are to have joy and thankfulness.  The thankfulness we are to have is toward God.  The reason is because of what he has done.  God has saved us.  I like the way Paul puts it, "He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son".  We were really in need of saving and not in the best of places before God saved us.  I also like the beginning of Ephesians 2, "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."  God has taken us out of a really bad place and we are brought into the kingdom.  We also get to share in an inheritance.  This is what we have to be thankful for.  We should be thankful for he great, saving work.  Unfortunately, I don't think the reality of this truth hits me as hard as it should each and every day.  May I be more and more thankful each and every day for what God has done for me.  He is good.

Colossians 1:11

May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,

-Colossians 1:11

Paul begins a slightly separate line of thinking in his prayers.  He began by praying for them to "be filled with the knowledge of his will", but now he begins to pray for other things.  He prays for strength for them.  Why does he pray for strength?  The purpose is so that they will have endurance and patience.  I guess this means that the type of strength that Paul is referring to has to do with helping them endure and have patience.  If Paul is asking for these purposes, then it makes me wonder what they need it for.  Perhaps they were up against a lot of persecution and hardships, which would require endurance and patience.  It also reminds me, yet again, about how interesting it is to notice what Paul asks for them in prayer.  He prays for their knowledge and wisdom and understanding, not for a change in their circumstances.  Even here in these few verses, he asks for their patience and endurance, which would help in light of their circumstances.  I guess they wouldn't need patience and endurance if they didn't have circumstances to face, but I guess that's not the way Paul thinks.  Perhaps this should help develop the way we pray and think too.  All too often I am praying for a change in circumstances, when maybe I should be praying for help in the midst of circumstances.

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.

-Colossians 1:10

Here in verse 10, we get to see why Paul is "asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding".  He explains that the purpose is for them "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."  I guess this means that to know God better is helpful for living in a way that is worthy and pleasing to God.  It is also helpful for bearing fruit and increasing in the knowledge of God.  This shows what is important to Paul, namely living in a way that honours and pleases God.  It's all for God, and living for him is should be at the forefront of our lives.

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,

-Colossians 1:9

Paul tells them that they haven't stopped praying for them.  That's pretty cool, knowing someone's praying for you and so fervently.  It says "from the day we heard", which is pretty interesting.  Since hearing of their faith and love, which is a result of their hearing of the gospel, Paul hasn't stopped praying for them.

What's probably more important is what Paul prays for them.  He prays, "asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding".  I've been reading Prayer by Tim Keller and he comments on this in the beginning of the second chapter.  Tim Keller points out how interesting it is to see what Paul prays for in the beginning of some of his letters.  Instead of asking for a change in circumstances, which were probably very bleak for his readers,  Paul is essentially praying that they may know God better.  Not that a change in circumstances is wrong to ask for, but it seems to tell us what is important to Paul in his prayers for others.  Maybe with this in mind, it will change our perspective and what we pray for. as Paul asks, "that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding".

Colossians 1:3-8

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 increasing—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 1:3-8

Midway through this passage, Paul starts talking about the gospel.  He gets to talking about the gospel through a few connected steps.  First he's talking about the faith and love of the believers at Colossae, which has produced in them because of their hope in heaven.  They heard about the hope in heaven through their hearing of the gospel.

Now that he's talking about the gospel, he takes a moment to say that the gospel has been spreading through the whole world.  We also learn here that the believers at Colossae first heard the gospel from Epaphras.  Epaphras is the one who has told Paul about the believers at Colossae.

So I guess at first glance, there isn't too much here.  Sure, he's talking about the gospel and about Epaphras, but it doesn't seem substantial to me.  Perhaps it should remind me about the gospel and it should excite me.  To hear about how it's moving around the world and how people like Paul get excited should be cool and it should get me excited.  Perhaps I don't see it that much.  Perhaps I'm just not working hard or putting at the forefront of my life.  But it should be...

Colossians 1:3-8

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 increasing—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 1:3-8

Paul begins (after the introduction) by telling his readers that he is thankful to God for them.  I don't think he's ever met them before, so this may be weird news to them.  That's probably why Paul explains his reasons.  He's thankful because he has heard about their faith in Jesus and their love for the saints.  Next, Paul goes on to talk about the gospel.  But maybe I'll stop there.  This was meant to be brief and maybe I'll look at this passage some more next time.

What's cool to me is what excites Paul.  Paul hasn't met these people, but has only heard about their faith and love.  It is something that Paul thanks God for.  It's probably something that I should be thankful for.  So, why am I not more excited about these kinds of things?  I should care about it more than some of the silly worldly things that often occupy my mind.

Colossians 1:1-2

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.

-Colossians 1:1-2

The beginning of this letter is pretty simple and straightforward.  The authors of this letter are Paul and Timothy.  It's being written to the believers at Colossae.  He ends this introduction with "grace" and "peace", which I think was fairly common for Paul's letters.

One thing that caught my attention about this was how Paul says "by the will of God".  He first describes himself as an apostle of Christ Jesus, which is important.  But what does that mean to be "by the will of God"?  Sure, maybe it seems silly to even think that there's much to it.  You might know what it means and think I'm ridiculous for stopping to think about it.  However, this is the word of God and every word is there for a reason.  I may not get to everything, but maybe I can take a look into at least some of the minor details.  In any case, let's get back to what this means.  I think Paul is saying that the reason he is "an apostle of Christ Jesus" is mainly or solely because of God.  The NLT puts it this way: "chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus".  If you were to think about the way Paul got saved and how he was before, it's hard to make a case that Paul was heading towards following Jesus.  He was probably the one who was the furthest from doing so.

In any case, this is just the intro and that's that.  We'll see how far we get...

It's been a long time and I think this was a good practice for me to do.  We'll give it a shot and see how it goes.  Looking back, I didn't get very far in Colossians last time.  Also, it may be a bit unfair since we're going through a sermon serious for Colossians at church.  In any case... ya... next time.