Meekness and calm

Have you noticed that Paul asks that the Colossians pray for him? He writes:

“Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: That I may make it manifest as I ought to speak” Col. 4:2-4.

I find a meekness in Paul, a humility.

Now, meekness is a quality which I have been pondering. Having watched Janet Horton* on YouTube** I remarked on her meekness. I had been thinking that the world at this time is in great need of a Moses. We are told Moses that he was “very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.” See Numbers 12:3.

Shall we pray for those Moses' qualities?

Joyce Voysey

* A passage from Janet Horton's book, Cracking the Camouflage Ceiling, our book last month is good (page 17): "Calmly waiting on Him allows God to orchestrate the perfect events to resolve any problem."

** ed. There are several YouTube videos to select from. Here's one.

Go higher

Encouragement is a wonderful gift and Paul was THE great encourager! The little band of Christians at Colossae would no doubt have hung on to every word that Paul wrote to them. They knew he cared about them.

What then does Paul mean when he tells them to 'lie not one to another' (Col 3: 9)? The Passion translation offers this: 'Lay aside your old Adam-self with its masquerade and disguise'.  Might Paul's message be meant to encourage his listeners (his letter would no doubt have been read aloud to the group) -- to think of themselves in a brand new light? His great love for them and 'for them at Laodicea and ... as many as have not seen [his] face in the flesh' (Col 2: 1) just pours out of his message and in his yearning for their 'hearts' to be 'knit together in love' (Col 2:2).

And so, while this little band of Christians is to remain law-abiding i.e. they are 'subject to ordinances' such as 'touch not; taste not; handle not' (Col 2: 20,21), they are nevertheless (as followers of Christ Jesus) to look to a higher power, to 'set [their] affection on things above, not on things on the earth' (Col 3: 2).

Sounds like a good plan for us today.

Julie Swannell

Praying for each other (Paul's example)

As is his wont, Paul loves these Colossians, and he prays for them--such a powerful example which we could well emulate in praying for our brothers and sisters, while not forgetting ourselves:

9 ...we...do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 

10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 

11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering...; 

12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 

Col. 1:9-12 

Actually, perhaps the whole letter is a prayer for the Colossians.

Joyce Voysey

Thanks to Epaphras

As I was reading the first chapter of Colossians this morning, I wondered about the character called Epaphras who is described in four different ways:

1. 'our dear fellow-servant' 
2. 'a faithful minister of Christ' 
3. the one who 'declared unto [Paul and Timothy the local congregation's] love in the Spirit' and 
4. the one from whom the Colossians learned about God and Christ Jesus. 

It appears that Paul may have never visited this area, so he was relying on the insights of his friend Epaphras to provide information about the Christian disciples in Colossae, and he wants the little church there to value his friend and their teacher-mentor. 

On his blog site ReadingActs.com Phillip J. Long writes (Nov 5, 2015) that 

'Paul may associate himself with Epaphras in this letter because his opponents in Colossae are questioning his credentials–who is Epaphras to be teaching the congregation spiritual things?  The church may be influenced by other teachers for guidance rather than a young evangelist like Epaphras. Paul gives Epaphras his personal approval in the opening of this letter; what Epaphras teaches is exactly what Paul taught.'

Long also quotes J.B. Lightfoot, whose prolific writings are now in the public domain and are easily found with a quick internet search. One notable quote is - 

'Without doubt…[Colossae is] the least important church to which any epistle of Paul is addressed'  J. B. Lightfoot, Colossians, 16. 

Well, even the 'least important church' was worthy of Paul's attention. And who determines the worth of a church, a city, a person anyway! Jesus teaching about the one lost sheep indicates the worthiness of each of Christ's little ones - 'Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven' (Matt. 18:10). As the prophet Isaiah says: 'A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his time' (Isa. 60:22).

Paul obviously valued this little band of believers because he tells them that he and Timothy have 'not cease[d] to pray for [them], and to desire that [they] might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding' (verse 9) because 'the truth of the gospel...is come unto [them], as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit' (verses 5, 6).

So we can be grateful to dear Epaphras for taking the time to faithfully instruct his pupils. And we can be grateful to all his students, who obviously paid attention. And we can value the faithful contributions of each church and church member today and down the ages!  

Julie Swannell

PS Epaphras is also mentioned in Colossians 4 and Philemon 1.

map from: verticallivingministries.com 

https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/441493569696798475/

Thoughts on 'body'

A recent edition of 'Sentinel Watch' - a weekly broadcast/podcast from the Christian Science Publishing Society left a lasting impression on me. The speaker - John Biggs - spoke about picking and choosing Bible passages that suited him while rejecting passages that did not suit him. That's me too, I thought. John realised his mistake! So, I've been endeavouring to read everything that comes my way - Bible passages, newspaper stories, novels, biographies - more carefully and appreciatively. And if I don't like a passage, it's time to dig deeper.

And so to our book this month, Colossians.

Here's a lovely thought: '...the body is of Christ' (Col 2:17).

If something has 'body' it has weight, significance, value, substance, worth. Also, we can have a body of water, a body of people etc.

The Lexham English Bible translates the passage as: 'the reality is Christ'.

The Discoverer of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, speaks of Christ as 'the divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error' (Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures p. 583).

God is what's real.

Julie Swannell