The Spiral of Watchful, Thankful Prayer

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. (Colossians 4:2-4)

Paul now moves on from teaching about household relationships to offer a few words that will help the believers at Colosse keep properly focused on Jesus.

To “continue earnestly” in prayer means to be devoted to prayer, attentive to prayer, always ready to pray. The Greek word comes from a root that means to be steadfast. It is in the present tense and indicates that our devotion prayer is to be a continual activity. Elsewhere, Paul tells us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17; see How to Pray Without Ceasing).

Prayer is not simply about making requests. It is an act of worship, pressing into God with all our desires and concerns. It is an activity of the Holy Spirit at work in us. “For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26).

Prayer is not just for set times but for the thousand moments of each day. It is a constant fellowship with God, a running conversation with Him as we encounter the world together. Nor is prayer a private activity. We pray when we are together, we pray when we are apart, but our prayers always belong to each other because we belong to each other, and it is the same Spirit praying in us all.

“Being vigilant” speaks of watchfulness, wakefulness, always being alert. With all the miracles he performed, Jesus said that He could do only what He saw the Father doing (John 5:19). He judged only as He heard the Father judge (John 5:30) and spoke only as the Father showed Him to speak (John 8:28), so that He did only those things which pleased the Father (John 8:29). In other words, He learned how to watch the Father and listen for His voice. The focus of our watchfulness, then, is the Father, and on Jesus, who shows us the Father. The Holy Spirit is given to help us in this, of whom Jesus said, “ All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He [the Holy Spirit] will take of mine and declare it to you.” Being alert, in our prayer, to the works of the Father, the things of Jesus and the activity of the Holy Spirit, we will come to all the understanding and discernment that we need.

As we continue in prayer and watchfulness, we discover how much we have to be thankful for, about King Jesus, how God is working through Him in the world, who He is in us and who we are in Him. Giving thanks to God for all He does and reveals to us brings the cycle of prayer to completeness, spinning our spiral of worship forward. It is in this prayerfulness, this watchfulness, this thankfulness — this worship — that we keep our focus properly oriented on King Jesus.

Paul also wants the believers at Colosse to be sure to remember him in their prayers, that God would give him and his associates (whom he will mention shortly) an “open door” for the message of the gospel. His passion is to preach the “mystery” of the Messiah to the whole world, to proclaim that Jesus is not just King of the Jews but the Lord of heaven and earth who has come to bring the shalom, the wholeness that comes from God, into all the world. He desires, as he said earlier, “to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). It is for this that he has gladly endured the chains of imprisonment, and he has no intention of backing down from it. He wants to make the mystery apparent, that it may be seen by all. And he wants to speak it boldly as well as clearly (see Ephesians 6:20).

The “open door” Paul seeks might be release from prison so that he can have greater mobility to go forth. But his passion for the good news about King Jesus is such that he is ready for the message to go forth even if he himself remained in chains.

Focus Questions

1. Is devotion to prayer a dull or difficult thing to do, or a source of wonder and amazement for you?
2. How does watching or listening for the Lord play into prayer?
3. Why is thanksgiving important to this kind of watchfulness and prayer?

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Onesimus and Philemon ~ Receiving a Brother

In his section on household relationships (Colossians 3:18-4:1), Paul gives extra attention to how slaves and masters who are believers are to share their new life in Jesus. Though he speaks in general terms, he also has some specific individuals in mind. There is a man named Philemon, a faithful follower of King Jesus, who hosts meetings of the church in his home in or near Colosse. At the same time Paul writes to the believers there, he also prepares a brief, personal letter to Philemon. Paul’s desire for him is, “that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus” (Philemon 6).

Philemon has a servant named Onesimus, who ended up in Rome, where Paul is imprisoned for preaching the gospel of King Jesus. Most likely, Onesimus had some sort of falling out with Philemon and ran away to make an appeal to Paul, because Paul exercised spiritual oversight for the church at Colosse. This journey took an unexpected turn for Onesimus, however, when Paul led him to faith in Jesus the Messiah.

Paul now writes Philemon seeking a kindly disposition towards Onesimus. He does not speak by spiritual command but by the appeal to love (vv. 8-9): “I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains, who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me” (vv. 10-11). Paul speaks of him as a son begotten in the faith by Paul himself. In his letter to the believers at Colosse, Paul speaks of Onesimus as a “faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you” (Colossians 4:9).

In Paul’s thinking, and indeed in the new reality of King Jesus, Onesimus and Philemon were on equal footing. It was the existing culture and economy — leftovers from the principalities and powers that Jesus disarmed — that needed to be addressed here. The old way of masters and slaves makes no sense to the new life we have in Jesus and so must give way. “I am sending him back,” Paul says and then adds, “You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart” (v. 12).

Paul wants Philemon to receive Onesimus, not as a runaway slave who has been returned and subject to severe treatment, but as dearly and affectionately as Paul himself has received him. An even greater desire, however, is that Onesimus be able to come again to Paul and assist him in the ministry of the gospel (v. 13). But Paul will not do that without Philemon’s consent, nor will he compel Philemon to do so (v. 14). His appeal is purely that of love and the order of new life in King Jesus, so that Philemon might receive Onesimus fully as a brother in the Lord.

For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave — a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. (vv. 15-16)

Though we do not know for certain the outcome of this appeal, it is hard to imagine that Philemon would refuse Paul’s request — when you realize that someone is your brother, how can you any longer treat him as anything less? The historical tradition of the Church is that Onesimus was martyred for his faith shortly after Paul’s death. He has been canonized as a saint by several Christian communions and is remembered every February 15.

Focus Questions

1. Paul wants Philemon to be effective in sharing his faith. How does his request of Philemon play into this?
2. Though Paul had spiritual oversight of Philemon, he did not want to “command” him in this. Why not?
3. What are other ways believers might treat other believers as less than brothers or sisters?

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

New Life in the Home

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.

Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.

Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.

Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. (Colossians 3:18-4:1)

When the word of Messiah is at home in us, it fills us with His abundant wisdom. Paul shows us now what this wisdom looks like in our domestic relationships. The form of instruction he uses here is that of the “household code.” This form was a common feature of Greek and Roman teaching on ethics. They outline the duties and responsibilities members of a household owed to one another and especially to the paterfamilias, that is, the father of the family, the head of the house. In other words, they define how wives should act toward their husbands, children toward their fathers and slaves toward their masters, and it was all rather one-sided.

What Paul does with the household code, however, is unexpected, unheard of, even revolutionary. Household relationships in this new life in Jesus is not a one-way street — it runs both ways. We see this here in his letter to the believers at Colosse and also, more extensively, to in Ephesians 5:21-6:9 (Peter has a similar code in 1 Peter 2:18-3:9).

Wives are to submit to their husbands. This is “fitting,” or appropriate for our new life in Jesus. Indeed, submitting to one another appropriate for all of us. In his letter to the believers at Ephesus, Paul prefaces his household instruction with the words: “Submitting to one another” (Ephesians 5:21) That is, every believer is to submit to each other.

This is revolutionary! For husbands, it means that they are now to love their wives and not be bitter or ill-tempered toward them or provoke them. This love is not just a matter of having kind affections toward them. No, this is the kind of self-giving love Jesus has for us. Indeed, in Ephesians, Paul adds, “Just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for her” (Ephesians 5:25). Jesus submitted His whole life for the sake of the Church, and that is how husbands are to love their wives, submitting themselves for the sake of their wives. Note also what Paul does not say. He does not say, “Husbands, rule over your wives,” or “Husbands, make your wives submit.”

Children are to obey their parents in all things. This pleases the Lord and is, indeed, in keeping with the Fifth Commandment: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12).

But now there also is a word to fathers: “Do not provoke your children.” Do not be quarrelsome or contentious. Do not push them to anger, for example, by continual fault-finding or dealing unfairly or unreasonably with them. This is so that they do not become discouraged and no longer willing to try. Or they dishonor their parents instead of coming to maturity and walking in the favor and blessing of the Lord. The love of King Jesus expressed through fathers has much influence over this.

Now Paul speaks to the relationship between bondservants and masters. In his letter to the believers in Galatia, he said, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). In other words, there is full equality for every believer in Jesus, regardless of ethnicity, social stature, or whether one is a man or woman. For servants and slaves, this was a new reality, one that undermines abusive institutions. Though they were still servants according to their present social structure, the old system that operated according to the principalities and powers, it was now King Jesus they were really serving. Just as Jesus came to be a servant and offer His life on the cross, and in so doing disarmed the powers, in the same way, those who belong to Him overturn corrupt institutions and power structures by serving as He did.

How much more true this was for masters who took Jesus as their own Master. They were now answerable to Him for how they treated their servants. Realizing that Jesus came as a servant Himself for their sake would present a tension that eventually pulls down the walls of corrupt systems. This would be heightened for believing masters who had believing servants — how could they now continue in a system in which they made slaves of their own brothers and sisters? Treating them justly and fairly must ultimately turn out to mean giving them their freedom.

Focus Questions

1. How does the new version of the “household code” Paul presents demonstrate the “disarming of the powers”?
2. How does it demonstrate the new reality of who every believer now is in Jesus?
3. In what ways do these actually change societal structures?

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

The Word that Qualifies Us

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (Colossians 3:15-17)

Paul continues his talk on what the new life we have in Jesus should look like on us, with everything bound together with love as the mature and complete expression of that life. Now he shifts the analogy. “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts.” The Greek word for “rule” is brabeuo, which speaks of a judge in an athletic competition. We came across it earlier, in Colossians 2:18, where Paul said, “Let know one cheat you of your reward.” There the form was katabrabeuo, to “judge against,” and Paul was talking about the false teachers who were trying to disqualify believers by teaching them they needed something besides King Jesus. But here, it is the peace of God that comes to make the decisions.

Being Jewish, Paul would have understood peace as shalom, the wholeness that comes from God. It does not come to condemn but to teach us how to live this new life in Jesus. The false teachers gave their pronouncement, “Disqualified.” But the peace of God speaks over us and declares, “Qualified!” God has called us together in one body — the body of Jesus the Messiah — so that we may know and enjoy this peace. This should lead us to a life of continual praise to God, and in a moment, Paul will tell us how we come into that.

Since we are the body of King Jesus, we should be attentive to His word. It is the word that comes from Him that guides us, not the word of angels, or the teachers of the “mysteries,” or the superstitions of folk religionists, or lists of rules and regulations. The word of the Messiah is the message of the Gospel, the teaching about who He is and why He came, the things He said and did — all that comes from Him and pertains to Him. It comes to fill us abundantly with His wisdom.

With this word and the wisdom it brings, we are to teach and exhort each other. The way we do this, Paul tells us — and here is something we were not expecting — is with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. This is worship, an activity of the Holy Spirit in us. It is only by the Spirit that we can say, with any conviction, that Jesus is Lord (1 Corinthians 12:3). In his letter to the believers at Ephesus, Paul speaks of this same activity coming as a result of being filled with the Holy Spirit.

And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:18-20)

On the night of the Last Supper, Jesus taught that Holy Spirit would take the things of Jesus and declare them to us (John 16:15). That is, He comes to teach us about Jesus. When we are filled with the Spirit, then, it will always be about Jesus. This is the grace of God at work in our hearts, bringing praise to God. Everything we say and do is to be done in the name of King Jesus the Messiah (not in the name of angels). In this way we give proper thanks to the Father through Him.

Focus Questions

1. How does the peace of God rule in our hearts?
2. In Ephesians 5, it is being filled with the Holy Spirit that leads to psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Why does Paul emphasize, here in Colossians, that it is being filled with the word of the Messiah that leads to those things?
3. What does it mean to do all things in the name of King Jesus? Why is this important?

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Clothes for Your New Life

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. (Colossians 3:12-14)

Paul has shown us that the clothes of our old identity do not belong to the new identity of who we now are in Jesus the Messiah. They must be put off. But he does not leave us with nothing to wear. Now he speaks of what we are to put on, things that reflect our new life in Jesus. But first, he briefly reminds us of that identity: We are “the elect of God, holy and beloved.” Chosen of God. Set apart by God. Dearly loved by God.

Our identity as the elect of God is in Jesus the Messiah. He is the one God has chosen, the one He has anointed, the one He has established to have dominion over the earth. Jesus is the one of whom the Father said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Remember that Paul writes to the believers here as “saints and faithful brethren in Christ.” It is in Jesus the Messiah, the Elect One, that we ourselves are chosen, set apart and dearly loved by God. We are “accepted in the Beloved,” that is, in Jesus (Ephesians 1:6). Not just individually, but all of us together in Him.

These, then, are the kind of clothes we have now for our new life in the Beloved. Notice that, like the list of things we are to put off, these are all about our relationships and how we treat one another. Paul speaks over two dozen times in his letters about the ways we should treat each other, and several times about the ways we should not. (Search Paul’s letters for “one” plus “another.”)

• Tender mercies. Not merely acts of mercy but an attitude of tenderhearted affection and compassion.
• Kindness. Gentleness and goodness toward each other.
• Humility. Not lifting ourselves up and looking down on each other.
• Longsuffering. Being patient with each other.
• Bearing with one another. Being tolerant toward each other, putting up with each other even when it is difficult (as indeed it sometimes can be).
• Forgiving one another. Paul expands on this one, which should tell us something about how important it is. If we have a quarrel with or complaint against anyone, we are to forgive, just as Jesus has forgiven us.

All of these are expressions of love. Love bundles them all together. Jesus said that all the law and the prophets are fulfilled in the command to love God with everything in us and love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40). Jesus is the perfect fulfillment of that. The early gnostic teachers located perfection or completeness in understanding the mysteries, the secret wisdom they brought. But Paul identifies love, the kind that comes from God, the kind that Jesus demonstrated, as the bond of perfection. As we set our hearts to love each other with that kind of self-giving love, we are brought together into completeness and maturity, well-suited to the destiny God has for us.

Focus Questions

1. Why does Paul spend so much time on how believers should treat each other?
2. Why does forgiveness receive such prominence in this list?
3. How do all these things tell us about love?

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

A Renewed Image

But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. (Colossians 3:8-11)

In the previous section, the sins Paul listed were mostly of a sexual nature. It should be obvious that these do not come from the new life we have in Jesus but are alien to it. They are part of the old life and come under the judgment of God. But now Paul brings another list of things to “put off.” This list is mostly about our attitudes toward one another, how we treat each other. It largely concerns our communication — which is to say, our mouths and how we speak to one another.

The things in this second list might not seem as wrong to us at the things in the first. But for Paul, the things in this second list were just as bad, if not worse, than those in the first. For one thing, they are not as obvious and, consequently, are the kind of things that Jesus believers are more likely to get caught up in. We pretty know we should avoid the obvious sins, but the less obvious ones can slip in easily “under the radar.” However, they are just as destructive to our lives and just as harmful to our relationships with one another.

• Anger and wrath. The Greek words for these are very similar in meaning. “Anger” appears to be a disposition, and “wrath” the expression of that disposition.
• Malice. Ill-will toward others.
• Blasphemy. Slander, speaking ill of others, whether about God or other people.
• Filthy or obscene language. Weymouth translates this as “foul-mouthed abuse” (New Testament in Modern Speech).

Paul adds one more category of communication and sets it out by itself: “Do not lie to one another.” There is no room for deceitfulness with each other. His reason he gives here is this: “You have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man.”

“Put off” and “put on.” It is like a man changing out of filthy rags into a fine, new suit. He puts off all the old clothes and is made clean. Afterwards, he does not put those rags back on; they are fit only for the trash bin. No, he puts on the new clothes, the fine suit. That is what Paul pictures for us here. We have been washed clean in Jesus and made new with His life. The old way of life no longer fits. It does not reflect who we now are in Jesus and it stinks of death. We have put off the “old man” and put on the new — it happened when we received King Jesus as our own. Having put on the new man, why should we go back and wear any of the raggedy, stinking clothes of the old man.

This new life we have put on, the new person we have become in Jesus, is “renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.” From the beginning of creation, God made man to be in His image, to be like Him (Genesis 1:26). When Adam rebelled against God, this image was marred in the fall, but in Jesus it has been made new. Now our thinking is being renewed, made new by knowing God through Jesus the Messiah.

In his letter to the believers at Rome, Paul speaks in a similar way about the renewal of the mind: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1-2). To be conformed to the world, the way it thinks and behaves, would not reflect who we really are in Jesus. We need to be transformed, so that our outward being reveals the true nature of our inward being and the new life we have. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds, to think God’s thoughts after Him, walk in His ways and fulfill the destiny He has for us.

God’s purpose, Paul tells us, is to conform us to the “image of His Son” (Romans 8:29). Jesus is the perfect image of God, and as we are conformed to Him, we are being conformed to the original image in which God created humanity — to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and have dominion (Genesis 1:28). In this way, the will of God is done on earth as it is in heaven.

In this new life we have in Jesus, and the new creation of which we are now a part, it does not mater if one is a Jew or a Gentile. Those categories are no longer operative, the distinction between circumcision and uncircumcision no longer, the uncultured and the uncouth are both welcomed, and the slave is on equal footing with the free. All that matters is King Jesus the Messiah, who we are in Him and who He is in us.

Focus Questions

1. Why must we put off these old ways of dealing with one another? What harm do they do?
2. Why is there so often a difference between the new person we really are in Jesus and the way we act?
3. Paul speaks often in his letters about the image of God. Why is image so important?

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Putting Old Ways to Death

Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. (Colossians 3:5-7)

All our “side slips” (trespasses) have been forgiven. The indictment that accused and condemned us has been nailed to the cross in the body of Jesus. The principalities and powers have been disarmed. We are dead to all these things. But that is not a license to go back to the old ways of the world and the sinful behaviors that once held us in bondage.

The brief list of sins Paul gives here are mostly sexual in nature and were apparently at issue in the culture of that day, as well as in the false teaching that was being hawked.

• The Greek word for “fornication” is porneia (from which we get the word “pornography”) and refers to any illicit sexual intercourse.
• “Uncleanness” speaks of sexual immorality and the pursuit of such (see Romans 1:24).
• “Passion” is lust or inordinate affection.
• “Evil desire” is licentiousness.
• “Covetousness,” or some versions say “greed,” is insatiable hunger or desire.
• “Idolatry” is giving priority to anything other than God.

This list sounds very much like modern Western culture with its insatiable desire for all kinds of sexual behaviors and abuses, to the point where sex has become a very prominent idol. They are part of the old ways of a fallen world and God’s wrath will come on all of them. Such perversions and idolatries may have been part of who we once were, but they have no place in our new life in Jesus.

Some strains of the false teaching Paul has been addressing believed that matter is inherently evil and the physical body beyond redemption. Therefore, they said, it does not matter what one does in or with the body. But Paul will have none of that. The body is not beyond redemption, it will be transformed in the resurrection to come, when Jesus returns. For He is the “firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18) and the guarantee of our own bodily resurrection (1 Corinthians 15). So, yes! It does matter what we do with our bodies. We now have new life in Jesus the Messiah, as well as the promise of the resurrection of the body, and how we live now should demonstrate that reality.

Paul says, then, “Put to death your members which are on the earth.” These “members” are the appendages, the remnants of the way we used to live in the world before we receive His life. We are now dead to them. Though they still have a voice, it is an echo that no longer has any authority, and the only power it has over us is whatever power we yield to it. “Put to death” means to make it dead, deprive it of its power, destroy its strength.

How do we do that? Not by beating ourselves up, treating our bodies harshly or trying to keep a list of rules and regulations. As we saw earlier, such things “are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh” (Colossians 2:23). And Paul has already given us the answer: We are already dead to these things! We died to them with Jesus the Messiah. We have also been raised with Him and He is now our life. What is needed now is to live in the truth of that. In other words, it is a matter of faith — that is, believing the truth of who Jesus is in us and who we are in Him. In his letter to the believers at Rome, Paul put it this way:

Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. (Romans 6:11-14)

To “reckon” means to account it to be so, to treat it as the truth that we are indeed dead to sin and alive to God. When temptation comes and the voice of the old ways tries to reassert itself, we do not have to let any of it in. It has been stripped of its power and we do not have to give any of it back. Instead, we answer with the truth: We are now dead to sin and alive to God (it helps to make this a personal declaration: “I am now dead to sin and alive to God”). Instead of yielding ourselves to the old, fading echoes of who we once were, we present ourselves to God, yielding ourselves to Him. The grace of God and the power of the new life we have in Jesus accomplishes in us what rules and regulations never could.

Focus Questions

1. Why does it matter what we do with our bodies now?
2. How do we “put to death” the remnants and silence the old voices?
3. How does asserting the truth of who we are in Jesus help us?

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Hidden in God

For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. (Colossians 3:3-4)

All who believe in Jesus now have a new life, one that is from a higher realm. Not the old realm to which we had once become accustomed, one influenced and controlled by principalities and powers. These have been disarmed now and we are no longer subject to them. We died to them. Oh, they are still present in the world and they still have a voice, but they no longer have any authority over us. The only power they hold now is the power we yield or attribute to them. Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). His authority extends over all the powers and they must all bow and acknowledge that He is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11).

Jesus the Messiah is now the source of our lives. Indeed, He is our life. In his letter to the Jesus believers of Galatia, Paul made this declaration: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). The life of the Messiah is now at work in us — He lives in us, we live in Him.

But this new life is “hidden.” The Greek word is crypto, which is, of course, where we get our English word “cryptic.” This life is not apparent to the senses. It is not perceptible to the ordinary ways we were once accustomed to seeing things when we were caught in under the influences of the principalities and powers. However, it is not hidden in those powers or in the hierarchy of angels, as the gnostic teachers might have imagined. No, our life is now hidden with the Messiah, in God.

Once, when we were spiritually dead, we were disconnected from the life of God. We could not perceive or understand that life. But now, in Jesus the Messiah, we are dead to everything alien to that life — those things no longer have any power over us and we no longer have to yield to them. Because we are now made alive to God. As Paul said to the believers at Rome, “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:11).

When the Messiah “appears,” that is, when He comes again, this life we have in Him will be revealed in all its glory — the glory of Jesus Himself. This glory is not a place, as some Christians tend to think, it is an expression of identity. It is a revelation, the unveiling of who we are in Jesus and who He is in us. The apostle John says something very similar to what Paul says here.

Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1 John 3:2-3)

John concludes from this that everyone who has this “hope” (expectation) purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure. Because we have the expectation that who we are in Jesus and who He is in us will one day be revealed in all its glory, we no longer have to live according to what we once were. We are free to begin living this new life we have in Him and become who we really are. Paul will speak more to this in his letter.

Focus Questions

1. In what way have we died? In what way have we been made alive?
2. How does this new life we have in Jesus turn human systems upside down?
3. How might this new life be revealed in us even now?

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Living from a Higher Realm

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. (Colossians 3:1-2)

Paul has already settled the issue of whether believers in Jesus the Messiah have been buried and raised with Him. Earlier, he affirmed that we have been “buried with Him in baptism” and likewise “raised with Him” through the faithful work of God (Colossians 2:12). Now Paul is building on the significance of that. So we can take the “if” here as “since.”

Since, then, those who believe in Jesus have been raised from the dead with Him, we are now to seek those things which are “above.” This is a reference to heaven, of course, but it in the way many people are accustomed to thinking about it — that is, as some place way far away, at the edge of the universe, perhaps, and off in the vagueness of the future. In that sort of view, heaven is mostly a destination and does not have much to do with earth, except that God or one of His angels pops in every now and then to work some little miracle. But that is not at all what Paul has in mind.

No, Paul conceives of heaven as a realm that is very close to us, a realm of which we are already a part. In Ephesians, he speaks of it as “the heavenlies.” In the heavenlies, we have already been blessed with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3). In the heavenlies, we have already been raised up with Jesus the Messiah and seated with Him at the right hand of the Father (Ephesians 2:6). In the heavenlies, we are part of the manifold wisdom of God being made known to the principalities and powers — the same powers that were disarmed by Jesus at the cross (Ephesians 3:10). It is not a distant realm but a higher one, in both position and priority.

This is now what we are to seek, the things that are of that realm. The Greek word for “seek” here is the same one used in Matthew 6:33, where Jesus says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” There, Jesus was speaking of the kingdom; here, Peter is speaking of the King — Jesus. We are to seek those things which are above, where Jesus the Messiah is seated at the right hand of God. For Paul, this is enthronement. We can see this in his letter to the Jesus believers at Ephesus, where he speaks about the working of God’s mighty power,

which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:19-23)

To seek the kingdom and the things that are above is not an act of curiosity or idle speculation. We seek them in order to find them, that we may know and benefit from them.

Paul adds this: “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” This is to be our focus now. The lens through which we view everything. The perspective from which we think about and relate to everything. Because we are new creatures who are no longer under the authority of principalities and powers. We no longer have to look at things through the old lens of those broken powers. We can begin to see things as heaven sees them.

Seeking the things above is not about abandoning the earth but is for the sake of the earth. Jesus taught us to pray for the kingdom of God to come and the will of God to be done on earth as it is in heaven. We are now to look at everything from the perspective of that higher realm so that it may become a reality on earth. Heaven is not our final destination, earth is. We have been raised with Jesus in the spiritual realm, but one day we will receive the resurrection of our physical bodies as well, just as Jesus’ own physical body was raised from the dead, and we shall dwell upon the earth. For heaven and earth will become one.

Heaven is not our final destination, it is our source. Right here, right now. We come from heaven, we live from heaven. We live on the earth but with the life of heaven at work in us. That is why we are to seek the things that of that realm, to set our thinking on how heaven operates. Because it corresponds with who we really are in Jesus and who He is in us. Should we not view things from the perspective of where we are now seated with Jesus? Then we will be able to manifest the reality of heaven on earth.

(See also, Heaven Now and Pursuing Heaven for the Sake of Earth, and my book, The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth: Keys to the Kingdom of God in the Gospel of Matthew.)

Focus Questions

1. What is your conception of the realm of heaven?
2. What is your conception of the relationship between heaven and earth?
3. In what ways might the reality of heaven be made manifest on earth, that is, the will of God being done on earth as it is in heaven?

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Live as Free

Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations — “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using — according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. (Colossians 2:20-23)

By “if,” Paul does not question whether the believers at Colosse had died with Messiah — he has already taught them that they have been “buried with Christ in baptism” (Colossians 2:12). He is challenging them to live according to that truth. What happened to Jesus at the cross is counted by God as having happened to us, in our place and for our benefit. Once we were dead in the sinfulness of a fallen human nature. Now, having died with Jesus, we are dead to it. Our “side slips” (transgressions) have been forgiven, the regulation that condemned us has been wiped out and the principalities have been disarmed. “Basic principles of the world” is a reference back to those powers, the demonic influences that so often manipulate human systems governments, cultures and economies.

Since those who are in Jesus are dead to all these things, why should we live as if we were still subject to them? They now have no authority over us. Yet religious teachers were coming around the believers at Colosse and teaching them that they must follow ascetic practices and regulations. Such rules and regulations are not from God but are the “commandments and doctrines of men.” Paul could be referring to Isaiah 29:13, where God says,

Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths
And honor Me with their lips,
But have removed their hearts far from Me,
And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men.

These things might appear to be wisdom, according to how the world thinks and acts, but it is not the wisdom that comes from God. It is “self-imposed religion.” It presents itself as humility, neglect of the body as a way of overcoming the sinful nature, but it actually has the opposite effect — it ends up indulging the sinful nature through the insidiousness of pride.

The problem is, “Don’t eat, don’t drink, don’t touch” is a focus on things, on regulations, on religion, on ourselves, and not on Jesus the Messiah, who has already overcome the sinful nature and defeated the satanic powers. Our focus and our thinking, then, needs to match up with that new reality, then we will learn how to stand in that victory.

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Keeping Focus

Imagine this: You have run the race and you have won. You are just about to receive the prize, when a judge comes over, taps you on the shoulder and says, “This does not belong to you — you have been disqualified.” That is the picture Paul paints for us here:

Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. (Colossians 2:18-19)

The believers at Colosse had come to faith in King Jesus the Messiah. They had been buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him through the faithfulness of God. They were in the “winner’s circle.” But then certain teachers came with elements of Judaism, folk religion and esoteric philosophies and told them that was not enough. That they needed to have special hidden knowledge, certain ascetic practices and unusual revelatory experiences if they were going to know the fullness of God. Otherwise they would not be qualified for the reward.

Paul’s answer to all that was, to paraphrase, “Don’t let them rob you of what it means to be the Church!” These teachers submit themselves to angels, through fasting and acts of self-denial, invoking them for protection from demonic powers. They present themselves as humble but then go about bragging how they have been initiated into the “deeper mysteries” and how they have seen visions. Their egos have been inflated by the kind of thinking that comes from fallen human nature. They are caught up in themselves.
But those are symptoms. The real problem is this: They are not connected to the Head. Imagine a body without a head, still trying to carry on and function — the proverbial “chicken with its head cut off.” That is Paul’s assessment of these false teachers.

They are not connected to the Head of the body. That is, they have no vital relationship with Jesus, who is the head of the Church (Colossians 1:18). They are focused on themselves, their philosophies, their practices, their experiences — but not on Jesus.

Paul’s teaching is that everything we need is found in Jesus the Messiah. Divine fullness does not come from angels or visions or secret knowledge or self-abasements. We already have all the fullness of God in Jesus the Messiah. “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him” (Colossians 1:9-10). Anything that pulls our focus away from Him robs us of knowing His completeness, and our completeness in Him. He is the head, and it is only in Him that we grow together as His body, with all the life that comes from God.

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Out of the Shadows

So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. (Colossians 2:16-17)

“So” — that is conclusion, the therefore that follows from the preceding verses (and some versions do translate it as “therefore”). It reaches back as far as verse 8, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.”

Dietary rules and the calendar of festivals were important in the Law of Moses. The dietary laws were one way of setting apart the people of Israel as the people of God. The festivals reminded them of past deliverance and how God had created them as His covenant people, but they also pointed forward to the final deliverance God had for them when He would set the world right through Messiah.

However, these things were all “shadows.” Their significance was not in themselves but in what they pointed to — that which cast those shadows. Once the substance comes, the shadow is no longer the focus. The substance, Paul says, is Jesus the Messiah, and He has now come, bringing God’s redemption into the world. He not only brought forgiveness for all our “side slips” (transgressions), He also wiped out the indictment that accused us — the Law! He took it and nailed it to the cross (v. 14). What is more, He disarmed all the principalities and powers — the demonic entities behind the human rulers and systems that crucified Him — and made a “public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (v. 15).

“Therefore,” Paul says, “Let no one judge you.” Do not let anyone condemn you or look down on you because of what you do or do not eat or drink, or whether or not you join in the traditional festivals or celebrations. To follow his analogy, do not let anyone drag you away from Jesus the Messiah back into the shadows that pointed to Him in the first place. That is exactly what the false teachers, with their blend of Jewish folk religion and ideas of the occult, were trying to do. It was a misuse, by the principalities and powers, of the Law of Moses and brought only condemnation and bondage.

But Jesus the Messiah has delivered us from all that, and our focus, like that of the Law and the prophets of the Old Testament, is to be set firmly on Him.

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Psalm 146 ~ All My Life

A personal confession based on the Psalms.

All My Life ~ from Psalm 146

Praise Yah!*
Everything in me
Praises Yahweh.
All my life,
As long as I live,
Is all about Him.

I do not trust in presidents,
Or senators, or governors,
Or any other human being.
Their help is too small,
Not near enough
For what I need.
They may have good intentions,
But they are unreliable.
And when they die,
Their plans die with them.

But, O the happiness!
Of trusting in Yahweh,
Of setting my expectation
On Him.

The God who helped Jacob
Is the God who helps me.
The God who made heaven and earth
Is faithful and true forever.

He sets things right
For those who are oppressed.
He provides for those
Who are in need.

Yahweh frees the prisoner.
Yahweh makes blind eyes see.
Yahweh lifts up those beaten down ~
Stands them up straight.
Yahweh loves those who do right.
Yahweh protects the outsider.
He is a father to the fatherless
And a husband to the widow.
But those who do evil,
He brings to nothing.

Yahweh is King forever;
Jesus rules over all generations.

* The Hebrew word for “praise” is hallel; Yah is a shortened form for Yahweh. When we say Hallelujah, we are saying Praise Yah!

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Personal Confessions from the Psalms
Prayers and Affirmations for a Life of Faith, Happiness and Awe in God
by Jeff Doles

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Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Psalm 145 ~ My King and My God

A personal confession based on the Psalms.

My King and My God ~ from Psalm 145

I exalt Jesus,
My King and my God,
With the highest honor.
Every day I bless His name,
I will brag on Him
Now and forever.
He is great beyond all things,
More than I can tell,
And worthy of all praise.

This generation
Will announce His works
To the coming generations,
Proclaiming His mighty acts,
And I will celebrate His glory,
His splendor, His majesty.

We will tell of His awesome power
That sets things right,
And I will give testimony
To His greatness.

We will pour out songs of praise
Because His goodness knows no end.
We will shout and howl for joy
Because everything He does
Is faithful and true.

He is full of favor and compassion,
And exceedingly patient with us;
His love is constant.
His goodness is for everyone,
He surrounds everything
With kindness and mercy.

Everything He has made
Will give Him thanks,
And all who are His
Will kneel in adoration.

The glory of His kingdom
Will be our testimony,
The power of His dominion
The word we bring.
His dominion is forever,
He is King over all generations.

He sustains those
Who have no strength,
Lifts up those
Who are pressed down.
He has provision
For everyone and everything,
And opens His hand
To satisfy every need.

He is near to those
Who call on Him,
To all who trust Him.
He shows favor to those
Who honor Him,
And satisfies their desires.
He hears their prayers
And rescues them,
Heals them, prospers them.
He protects those
Who love Him.

My mouth will praise King Jesus,
With all God’s creatures,
Now and always.

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Personal Confessions from the Psalms
Prayers and Affirmations for a Life of Faith, Happiness and Awe in God
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Psalm 144 ~ From Battle to Blessing

A personal confession based on the Psalms.

From Battle to Blessing ~ from Psalm 144

Blessed is Yahweh, my Rock,
Who has taught me how
To run to the battle
And fight the fight.*

He is my faithful one
My fortress,
My strong tower,
My rescuer,
My shield,
The one in whom
I take refuge,
And the one who subdues
Those who come against me.

Who am I,
That He should think of me
And show me such favor?
He moves heaven and earth
To give me His aid.
He stretches out His hand
And rescues me
Out of deep waters.
He delivers me
From those who tell lies,
Who promise peace
But work evil.

I will sing a new song,
A victory song,
And give Him praise.
He rescues us, protects us,
Delivers us from the evil one.

That our sons be
Like mighty oaks,
Full and flourishing.

That our daughters be
Like sculpted pillars,
Strong and beautiful.

That our storehouses
Be filled to overflowing
With all kinds of provision.

That our wealth
And prosperity increase ~
Always having
All sufficiency
In all things,
And abundance
For every good work.**

That there be
Nothing missing,
Nothing broken,
Nothing lost or stolen.

This is what He has planned
For all His people.
We are happy and blessed indeed.

* “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:10-13).
** “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

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Personal Confessions from the Psalms
Prayers and Affirmations for a Life of Faith, Happiness and Awe in God
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Psalm 143 ~ When My Soul Feels Weak

A personal confession based on the Psalms.

When My Soul Feels Weak ~ from Psalm 143

When the enemy comes after me,
And my soul feels weak,
And my heart is distressed,
I remember days gone by
And all Yahweh has done for me.
I ponder all the ways He works
On my behalf.

I stretch out my hands to Him,
Thirsty for Him,
Like a land without rain.
I know He will answer me
And will not let me fade away.
He will not hide His face from me,
He has already revealed it to me
In the face of Jesus the Son.

I will hear word
Of His faithful love
In the morning,
Because I trust in Him.
He will show me
The way I should go,
Because I look to Him.
He will deliver me from my enemies,
Because He is my shelter
And I run to Him.

He will teach me to do
What is pleasing to Him,
Because He is my God.
He will guide me by His Spirit
And lead me on level ground,
Because He is good.

He will revive me,
Because I belong to Him
And bear His name.
He will bring me out of distress
Because He is faithful
To His own.
And in His faithful love,
He will cut off all who attack me,
For I am His servant.

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Personal Confessions from the Psalms
Prayers and Affirmations for a Life of Faith, Happiness and Awe in God
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Psalm 142 ~ When I Feel Abandoned

A personal confession based on the Psalms.

When I Feel Abandoned ~ from Psalm 142

When I am in distress
I cry out LOUD to Yahweh.
Show me Your favor and kindness!
I pour out my problem to Him,
I lay out my trouble before Him,
I cast my care upon Him,
Because He takes care of me.*

When I am overwhelmed,
He knows the path I should take.
He knows the traps that have been laid for me,
And He leads me around them.

When I feel abandoned,
With no one to help,
I cry out to Yahweh;
He is my stronghold,
My shelter, my safety.
He is all I have.
But He is all I need ~
And all I want.

When I am beaten down,
Yahweh hears my cry
And rescues me
From those who attack me,
Those too strong for me.
He brings me out ~
Praise His name!
His people gather around me
(I am never really alone)
For Yahweh is bountiful toward me.

* “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7).

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Personal Confessions from the Psalms
Prayers and Affirmations for a Life of Faith, Happiness and Awe in God
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Psalm 141 ~ Help in a Time of Evil

A personal confession adapted from the Psalms.

Help in a Time of Evil ~ from Psalm 141

I cry out to Yahweh, Come quickly!
He hears me and answers.
I set my prayer before Him like incense,
I lift up my hands to give Him praise.

Set a guard, O Yahweh, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips!

Out of the overflow of my heart,
My mouth speaks;
So I will keep my heart with all diligence.*
I will not let it be turned toward any evil thing,
Or take part with those who do wrong.
Nor will I honor their ways.

If the righteous reprove me,
It is a kindness to me.
If they correct me,
It is an anointing for my head,
I will receive it and prosper by it,

But my prayer is against the deeds
Of those who do what is evil.
When they are cast aside,
My words will be heard,
Words of healing and hope,
Guided and guarded by Yahweh.

My eyes are on Yahweh, my God.
He will keep me safe
And guide me past
The traps of the enemy,
The snares of the wicked.
They will fall into their own nets,
While I walk safely by.

* “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

(See also The Door of My Lips)

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Personal Confessions from the Psalms
Prayers and Affirmations for a Life of Faith, Happiness and Awe in God
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

The Year for Divine Favor

King Jesus the Messiah has fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53. Now we are in the time described in Isaiah 54 and these things are true for all who follow Jesus. The days of the King have begun. Therefore:

Enlarge the place of your tent,
And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings;
Do not spare;
Lengthen your cords,
And strengthen your stakes.
For you shall expand to the right and to the left,
And your descendants will inherit the nations,
And make the desolate cities inhabited.

(Isaiah 54: 2-3)

One day Jesus came preaching in the synagogue at Nazareth, His home town. They handed Him the scroll of Isaiah. He looked for a particular passage and read it aloud:

The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.

(Luke 4:18-19, quoting Isaiah 61:1-2)

This was a declaration about the great Jubilee. An announcement about the Messiah. A proclamation about the coming kingdom of God. After reading these words, Jesus handed back the scroll and sat down to teach, saying

Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. (Luke 4:21)

The time of Jubilee, the time of Messiah, the time of the kingdom was no longer just coming — it was now at hand, breaking into the world in the person of Jesus. He was the Messiah, the one God anointed to be King. The “acceptable year,” the year of the favor of the LORD had now come into play.

In terms of eschatology (the doctrine of final things), we have been living in the year of God’s favor ever since. All authority has been given to Jesus in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18), God has “seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet” (Ephesians 1:20-22). This means that Jesus is, even now, King over all.

Some people are hoping they can just stay afloat or keep their head above water in 2012. But the people of God should be learning how to walk on water. This the year of the favor of the LORD, and the year for it to be revealed in your life. Enlarge, stretch, lengthen, strengthen, the prophet says. So here is what I say (and you can say it, too):

I enlarge my expectation, I strengthen my anticipation, I stretch my thinking and I believe the favor God has for me this year. I receive it, laying hold of it by faith. The economy, the political climate, the social situation — these are all just circumstances. But Jesus is King over every situation, and the favor of God is greater than every circumstance. And He is “able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power [His power, the power that raised Jesus from the dead] that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20). In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.