Friday, June 02, 2023

^1-2 Paul, messenger of Jesus Christ by God’s will, and brother Timothy send this greeting to all faithful Christians at Colossae: grace and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! ^3-6 I want you to know by this letter that we here are constantly praying for you, and whenever we do we thank God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ because you believe in Christ Jesus and because you are showing true Christian love towards other Christians. We know that you are showing these qualities because you have grasped the hope reserved for you in Heaven – that hope which first became yours when the truth was brought to you. It is, of course, part of the Gospel itself, which has reached you as it spreads all over the world. Wherever that Gospel goes, it produces Christian character, and develops it, as it had done in your own case from the time you first heard and realized the amazing fact of God’s grace.

^7-10 You learned these things, we understand, from Epaphras who is in the same service as we are. He is a most well-loved minister of Christ and has your well-being very much at heart. As a matter of fact, it was from him that we heard about your growth in Christian love, so you will understand that since we heard about you, we have never missed you in our prayers. We are asking God that you may see things, as it were, from his point of view by being given spiritual insight and understanding. We also pray that your outward lives, which men see, may bring credit to your master’s name, and that you may bring joy to his heart by bearing genuine Christian fruit, and that your knowledge of God may grow yet deeper.

^11-14 As you live this new life, we pray that you will be strengthened from God’s boundless resources, so that you will find yourselves able to pass through any experience and endure it with courage. You will even be able to thank God in the midst of pain and distress because you are privileged to share the lot of those who are living in the light. For we must never forget that he rescued us from the power of darkness and re-established us in the kingdom of his beloved Son, that is, in the kingdom of light. For it is by his Son alone that we have been redeemed and have had our sins forgiven.

       Known by Love!  The new and improved version of the old commandment was given to His Disciples by Jesus.  “Love one another the way I have loved you.  That way, everyone will know You belong to Me.”  I imagine Paul received regular reports from various places around the Roman Empire about the spread of the Gospel and its growth among the people.  Yet, at the same time, he was hounded by the spread of falsehood.  Judaizers followed him everywhere.  Thus, Paul had to be cautious about the reports he received.  Was the spreading of the Gospel authentic?  And how did he know this?  Love!

       I’m wondering today if my faith could be authenticated.  Would Paul or any other who heard or saw my life in Christ be able to say, “I’ve been rejoicing because I’ve heard about your love”?  I would certainly hope so, but love expressed is not always love received.  Love intended is not always love expressed.  So, I wonder.  Perhaps today what I need is for God to love others through me so that I learn to really love.  When I encounter another – Christian or non-Christian – in that moment I should submit to Christ within me and allow Him to love through me.  Then, they will know Whose I am.  O God, love through me today!  Amen!