Salty Zebra

being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of all patience and steadfastness, joyfully giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the saint’s inheritance in the light.   Colossians 1:11-12  Patience and steadfastness. That’s kind of the definition of radiation therapy. Six weeks. Six weeks of driving hours to and from the hospital every day. Six weeks of laying down and having a mask pressed down on my face, locking me onto the table. Six weeks of nine buzzes. The first buzz brought the scent of ozone as the radiation “tickled” my olfactory nerve. The fifth buzz drew a blue light across my left eye for ten seconds and the sixth buzz drew a purple one across my right for the same. The seventh buzz was always a little strange as it had a “hiccup” in the middle. The ninth buzz signaled the end of treatment and I would be jerkily ejected from the machine. The mask popped off and I rose from the table wobbly, tired, but ha...

  We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people.   Colossians 1:3-4  When you see something positive in someone else, do you point it out? Do you affirm it? Encourage it? Do you worry that by doing so, you might “puff them up?” Here, Paul takes a very healthy way of encouraging the believers in Colossae, by thanking God for what He has heard about in them.   I first learned this technique through my uncle who worked in missions in India for decades. He was never one to tell me that he was proud of me or that I had done something well, but when we prayed together, He thanked God for the spiritual growth he saw in me and the ways that God was using me in the world. This was an indirect way to affirm what God had been doing in my life without falsely assigning credit to me for it. It gave God the glory for what God had clearly done and ...

  For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, have not ceased praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Colossians 1:9  Knowledge and wisdom. Two different words, different concepts, that are used occasionally interchangeably (incorrectly) and very often together. Let’s look at them: KNOWL'EDGE, noun nol'lej. 1. A clear and certain perception of that which exists, or of truth and fact; the perception of the connection and agreement, or disagreement and repugnancy of our ideas. WISDOM, noun s as z. [G. See Wise.] 1. The right use or exercise of knowledge; the choice of laudable ends, and of the best means to accomplish them. This is wisdom in act, effect, or practice. If wisdom is to be considered as a faculty of the mind, it is the faculty of discerning or judging what is most just, proper and useful, and if it is to be considered as an acquirement, it is the knowledge and use of...

  Your faith and love have arisen from the hope laid up for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel   Colossians 1:5 What are your deepest motivations? Why do you do what you do? It may be as simple as the reason you get out of bed in the morning to the guiding principles of how you spend your time and money in this world. Are you just running on vibes, or do you have a set of principles and ideals that govern your choices?   I’m going to be completely honest here, my husband and I operate very differently in this area, and I think we complement each other because of it. You see, I’m kind of a “running on vibes” sort of person. When faced with a choice or decision, I’m most likely to lean towards what “feels” right. That’s my reason for getting out of bed in the morning, btw. It hurts too much to stay in it 😩 . If I encounter an opportunity for giving or an invitation to an event, I do a heart check. I pray. I seek the Holy Spiri...

  to the saints, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you from God our Father! Colossians 1:2  Saint. What does the word bring to mind? Do you see someone with a glowing halo about them? A disgusting picture of a person being tortured to death? An alcove in a cathedral dedicated to their story?   The book of Colossians is addressed to the, “saints, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ, at Colossae.” Paul is clearly addressing the letter to all of the brothers and sisters in the congregation, not special people set apart by the church due to miracles or wonders. In our modern era, the idea of a “saint” has been influenced by the catholic church and its practices, but biblically, we are all saints that have found our righteousness in Christ Jesus.   This letter was written to the “saints,” our brothers and sisters in Colossae, but it was also written to us. Like them, we heard about the message of truth, the gospel ...

   It’s wild how people take a basic truth and start to shift and change it. We mold it to become more palatable, more in line with what we want or desire. It happens subconsciously. It happens intentionally at times. Someone brings in a new thought or idea and it sounds right, so it gets worked into our beliefs. Oftentimes, it’s just a matter of how we were raised or what we “understood” before coming to a saving belief in Christ that influences our thoughts and understandings of the gospel.  In our next study, Christ is All I Need, we’ll be focusing on the book of Colossians. This is a letter that Paul wrote to the church in Colossae while he was imprisoned in Rome. Paul had never been to Colossae before and did not plant this church, but rather someone he had preached to, Epaphras, went on to Colossae and planted a church there. Paul had heard about some of the teachings and influences that were going on there and he wanted to reach out and point them back to the basi...