In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve did not have to wonder about their significance. They had been created by God in his image (Genesis 1:26, 27). Their identity was not an issue. But when sin stained the planet their identity and sense of significance was compromised and marred. Humankind continued to search for […]

The lesson title asks a question. The implied subject is “You.” Thus, “Do you pray enough?” Most of us would have to answer, “No.” But God is hurt by our distance and preoccupation with other things. This closing exhortation in Colossians calls us to go forward on our knees. We cannot stumble when we are […]

James S. Stewart, the great preacher from Scotland, asked the question about what could explain the strange union of the twelve disciples (e.g. Matthew going hand-in-hand with Simon the Zealot). His answer, “They had each found Jesus” (The Life and Teaching of Jesus Christ). All kinds of differences disappear when Christ is all, and is […]

What parent has not said, “Enough already!”? This exclamation is usually given when the parent has one frazzled nerve left, and the children are standing on it. Some childish behaviors just need to stop. That is true of spiritual childishness, too.  Paul told the Colossians what they needed to believe about Jesus but also how […]

Some believers simply grow old in Jesus instead of growing up in Jesus. The epistles are intended to help us grow up in Christ. They function as the biblical and practical theology of the Gospels. The lessons of the recent past have come from two of the four prison epistles (Ephesians and Philippians). The next […]