Author: emmanuelpcgateshead

SATURDAY 9^th

The Psalms

The Psalms are often broken up into five books or sections:

Book One – Psalms 1-41

Book Two – Psalms 42-72

Book Three – Psalms 73-89

Book Four – Psalms 90-106

Book Five – Psalms 107-150

Over the course of the next few weeks we will look at the first book or section, chapters 1-41, now, if I go into lengthy detail with each of the Psalms it would take months to get through them, therefore for the devotions I will just concentrate mostly a day per Psalm, (as difficult as this will be) highlighting something from each. We will discover that the Psalms were composed by more than one author, there are Psalms that are very short and of course they also contain the longest and shortest chapters in the Bible, Psalms 119 (176 verses) and Psalm 117. (2 verses)

I guess we all like the Psalms, and in various moments in our Christian walk have been blessed in some way through the reading of a Psalm, or with the preaching from one of the Psalms, we find that there are Psalms that give instruction, others that give us guidance, others that give us confidence, or assurance, or comfort and of course ones that give us warning, helping us to navigate the pitfalls we come across as we walk through life.

For myself I can recall particular moments in my experience when a Psalm has been given me or shared with me and has been pivotal in my life at that particular moment, sometimes it will have encouraged me, other times challenged me, I recall a very difficult experience over twenty five years ago, where everything seemed to be going against me, and one day in the Church a lady got up and said she had a Psalm to share and that she believed it was for me, and she read it and it immediately spoke into my life and into the circumstances that I was found in at that time and the outcome was exactly as the Psalm portrayed.

As I have said, there are snippets from the Psalms that we can all probably relate to in some way, a line or a sentence that has been key to us at some point, and why not, for as it is with the whole of Scripture, the Psalms are the Word of God which is living and powerful, as we read in Psalm 119:105 ‘Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.’ Are you seeking direction at this present time, then allow the Word of God to be the lamp to your feet and the light for your path, allow the Word of God to lead you and to direct you.

May we be encouraged as we look at the Psalms, applying perhaps the prayer that is found in Psalm 19:14 ‘Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight,  O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.’ And adding to this the words from Psalm 119:18 ‘Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.’

FRIDAY 8^th

Colossians 4:7-18

NIV (v18) – ‘I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.’

ESV (v18) – ‘I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.’

Our last look in Colossians today, and Paul ends it by saying that he has written the greeting himself, with his own hand, maybe he was not able to see enough to write the whole letter, or maybe his being in chains made it difficult to be able to write, he probably dictated the content but wanted to sign it himself, showing it was a genuine letter, but he then says ‘remember my chains’.

I want this to be the theme today and to turn our attention to those who because of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are suffering in some way, persecuted, ridiculed, imprisoned, being beaten and possibly living under a death sentence.

Thank God we know that Jesus said he would build his Church and that the gates of hell would not prevail against it, but it doesn’t mean the gates of hell will not try, and try they have done throughout the 2000 years of the Church being built, but they have not and will not prevail. The devil is not happy that he has been defeated through the work of the Cross and the resurrection of Jesus, he knows his days are numbered and so he is doing all he can to destroy what God is doing through the Church, and as a result anything that is anti-Christ will oppose and seek to destroy, and much of the persecution is brought against individuals, individuals who have put their hope and trust in Jesus.

We see the persecution start almost immediately after the birth of the Church, leading to the martyrdom of Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, here in our study, Paul who himself was once a persecutor is now the persecuted, and he is wanting the believers to remember his chains, in other words, remember the situation I am found in because of the gospel and pray for me.

We need to pray for the persecuted, we need to pray for them to have God given strength to persevere, protection from the venom of the ones persecuting them and also for the persecutors themselves to have a Damascus Road experience and know the power of the gospel transforming them and translating them from the kingdom of Darkness into the Kingdom of Light,

We need also to pray for our own nation as the secular world is seeking to do all it can to snuff out the light of the gospel, to deprive the Church of its right to preach and to declare the truth as it is found in the world of God, we need to pray that even though we may not as yet be knowing any severity of persecution as it is  found in other nations that should it come we will be endowed with grace and strength to stand firm, as Paul says in the closing of Ephesians, standing in the full armour of God.

THURSDAY 7^th

Colossians 4:1-6

NIV (vv5-6) – ‘Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.’

ESV (vv5-6) – ‘Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.’

My late grandmother used to often say to us as children growing up, ‘you will have to give an account for every idle word you have spoken’, (found in Matthew 12:36) she was correct except that she included in this every joke or humorous comment we may have said as well, She meant well, but took things to the extreme, but there is from these verses before us today a very clear instruction concerning not only our conversation but also our conduct in particular towards outsiders or unbelievers.

Many of those we see on a daily basis, whether work colleagues or fellow students, neighbours, or even unsaved family and friends may never pick up a Bible to read, or listen in to a Bible teaching programme on TV or radio, but they will always be reading our lives and listening to what we are saying.

Paul is reminding the Colossian believers to make the best of every opportunity, in other words treat every moment of our time with others as a way of displaying Jesus. He encourages it in two ways, walk in wisdom, and speak rightly. The Christian walk is so important, and we need to ensure that the way we walk as we traverse this world is in such a way that we become a testimony to those around us. I am going to turn our attention to the Psalms after we complete Colossians and the very first Psalm is to do with our walk, we need to tread carefully knowing that the world is watching, secondly in regard to our speech, in the rough and tumble of every day, in particular in a secular sense we can so easily speak in a manner that is not befitting to a believer, we can answer in a way that mars our testimony or behave in a way that is not conducive to a Christian lifestyle, but, it is also possible to speak or behave in a way that can have a negative impact among the Christian community as well. Paul gives us the antidote which is to make sure we speak in a gracious way, that is in a manner that is pleasant and favourable and make sure our speech is seasoned with salt – that means making sure what we say is palatable to those who hear it and not offensive or condescending. In the book of Proverbs, we read ‘A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.’ (Proverbs 15:1-2)

May God help us to be wise in our walk and wise with our tongues, may we guard them both, taking care where we tread and do our best in taming the tongue.

WEDNESDAY 6^th

Colossians 3:18-25

NIV (v24) – ‘. . . since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.’

ESV (v24) – ‘. . . knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.’

Verse 23 is very similar to the verse we looked at yesterday, and our text for today follows on from it ‘Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, . . . since you know that you will receive . . .’

We all work and do for the gain we can get, either the salary at the end of the week, or the pleasure of accomplishing and this is right, but we also always need to remember that in all our doing and in all our saying there is one who is watching and listening over it all, and the day will come when we will receive an eternal inheritance, an eternal reward, and although we do so much of what we do to survive this life, we also do in light of eternity. Therefore, everything I shared yesterday is also applicable to today’s verse. In the previous verses, vv18-21 Paul has covered what we call the secular,(although they become spiritual in a Christian home) the marriage relationship, the family setting and the workplace, he places three words in verse 10 which should make us sit up and think very seriously about all these three areas, of marriage, family and work, he says ‘fearing the Lord’, now he is not speaking of a fear that is dread, but a fear that is a respect for God, an awe and a reverence for who he is and the part he should be playing in these areas. It is a fear that causes us to take notice that God is seeing all and therefore we should allow him to oversee all, be in the centre of everything – marriage, family and work, because the way we outwork these areas will have a reflection in our eternal reward.

The best way to sum it up would be this way, is God being honoured in my relationships or marriage, is God being honoured in my family, is God being honoured in my working practise, and we could add as some are not married or maybe do not have a family, or maybe are no longer working, is God being honoured in all that I do and with all that I am. For it is Christ we are serving, whether in the spiritual or in the secular.

I have mentioned the inheritance when we were looking at Ephesians, sufficient to say that we need to be seeking to ensure that in every way possible we are doing all we can to ensure we receive the inheritance God has prepared for us.

Those of us who have gone through the process of having to deal with loss and the ongoing challenges of seeing that a will is dealt with as it should be, know that it sometimes causes complications, maybe even strife as each one who is due an inheritance wants to make sure they get all that they are entitled to, we need to be of the same mind concerning our eternal inheritance, striving to work, striving to do, whether in word of deed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing it is not for earthly gain but for eternal glory, his glory and for the inheritance of reward which he will give.

And there will be no injustice in heaven!

TUESDAY 5^th

Colossians 3:12-17

NIV (v17) – ‘And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.’

ESV (v17) – ‘And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.’

When we read this verse there are two contexts in which I see it being applicable, the first is to do with the spiritual and our Christian service, the second is with the outworking of our lives in general, the secular.

First to do with the spiritual and our Christian service. We are what we are, or we have become what we are, all by the grace of God, he has called us, he has saved us. And in doing this he has called us to do that which is his plan for our lives as we are reminded in Ephesians 2:10 ‘we are his workmanship in Christ Jesus’. There is spiritual work for us all to do. And we should do it or fulfil it in the name of the Lord Jesus, this means it should all be done to and for his glory. Although we may not immediately see it, it is saying that Jesus should be the centre of everything and the reason for all that we do. So for example, for me as a pastor, whatever I do in that role should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus (that also infers according to his will) with a heart of thankfulness, that way all the glory and the honour goes to him. I should not be doing anything to get any glory for myself, if that were the case I would be doing (whether in word of in deed) for the sake of building up my own ego. This to me speaks of another word, which needs to be resurrected in the arena of so much of what is called the modern Church, and it is the word humility – sadly we see a culture of celebrity status being brought into the Church which is taking the glory away from the Lord Jesus Christ, a look at me rather than look to Jesus. And should someone in this position fall and it has happened very recently it causes so much fall out as those who have focused on the celebrity leader have suddenly lost the object of their attention, when all the time it should have been the Lord Jesus Christ.

Secondly, it is an applicable text to the outworking of our lives in general, everything in our lives should be done for his glory, including the secular and maybe we have never thought of it like this before. When I worked in the motor trade, I always sought to do my best for two reasons, the one was because I was employed by someone and therefore had a responsibility to serve them well, the other was I always sought to do my best because I knew that even in the workplace as a believer I was a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore it was important to represent him well, the same should be said in our marriages, in our families, in our friendships and relationships, we should seek for them to all be in accordance to that which will bring glory to God, so that in whatever we do, or whatever we say we do it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, as his representatives in a fallen world, bringing glory to him. It means that when others might be taking short cuts, we don’t, when others might be fiddling, we don’t, (unless it’s a violin) when others might be fudging the truth, we don’t, we seek to be a people of integrity, bringing honour to him who has called us and saved us, serving him well in word and in deed both in the spiritual and in the secular.

MONDAY 4^th

Colossians 3:1-11

NIV (v4) – ‘When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.’

ESV (v4) – ‘When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.’

This is a great Scripture that speaks of our eternal future – with Christ! We will appear with him and we will be with him. But notice what it says before this, , ‘When Christ WHO IS YOUR LIFE, appears . . .’ He is already at this moment our life. What does this mean for us? Well our answer comes from considering who Jesus is, he is the source of life ‘All things were made through him, . . .’ (John 1:3) ‘In him was life . . .’ (John 1:4)  in his own words Jesus said ‘I am the way, and the truth and the life’ (John 14:6) He was the one who came from God to give life, life in all its fulness, abundant and eternal. ‘whoever believes in him will have everlasting life’ (John 3:16) ‘I came that they may have life and have it abundantly’ (John 10:10) and in the well-known words that Jesus spoke to Martha at the tomb of Lazarus, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.’ (John 11:25-26)

Jesus is life, and he has the power to grant life, which is guaranteed to all who come to him by faith and believe, and the moment we do believe and accept, Jesus becomes our life. And because he is our life, one day, which could be very soon,  we shall appear with him in glory.

What a day that is going to be, that moment in time when we will suddenly be taken up into eternity, it will happen at the very moment that the trumpet sounds and the arch angel shouts and the dead in Christ will be raised and we who are alive shall be caught up together so that we will meet the Lord in the air – we shall, we are going to appear with him in glory, on that wonderful day when he comes for the saints. It possibly also looks forward as well to the time when the Lord will come down to the earth with the saints at the end of the tribulation, when he comes in glory to set up his earthly kingdom for the millennial reign, when he comes we will appear with him, whether Paul is thinking of one of these stages of Christs coming or both, the news is good, because we have placed our trust in him as our Saviour one day we will be with him.

SUNDAY 3^rd

Colossians 2:16-23

NIV (v17) – ‘These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.’

ESV (v17) – ‘These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.’

In coming to chapter two, Paul has listed a number of things which we could consider as threats to the believers, in that there were those who were seeking to introduce or add philosophy (v8) that held no value to the Christian faith, or traditions, judgment or regulations that although were purposeful at one time, no longer held any real purpose (v16, v18, 20-23). I wonder if some of us can identify with this in some way, in that our past experience, may have been that of a very strict upbringing, in which life seemed to be full of strict rules and regulations. I can, there were so many things we were not allowed to do as six children growing up  because for some reason the keeping of these things had somehow become the be all and end all of what being a Christian was all about. It was as if the breaking of one of these ‘rules’ or ‘regulations’ would have disqualified us for salvation. Now, I am not talking of things here which we know we shouldn’t be doing or getting involved in as Christians, there are certain standards that need to be kept pertaining to holiness and having a right relationship with God, being a new creation does set up certain standards for us, but I am referring to those extra rules that do not really have any Biblical support whatsoever. As an example, we were not allowed to do certain things on a Sunday, all that we could do was to read a book, doing anything else would have been breaking the Sabbath! We were never allowed to play any board games on a Sunday, I can tell you it was a real shock to me when I discovered that one of our Pastors while having supper on a Sunday evening would play Scrabble with his family before retiring to bed! Now I am using examples which I smile about now when I think of them, and so many other things could be mentioned not only to do with family life but also the Church, for example what you should or shouldn’t wear, but that is how things were. And yes, the tide has turned too far the other way, but what I am seeking to show is that it is not rules and regulations that will determine whether or not we will get into heaven, what will determine it is whether or not we have a right relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, for as Paul puts it in this text, the regulations, traditions, rules etc, mean nothing what matters is Christ who is the real substance, he is our measure, he is our means of salvation, he is our standard. And when we truly desire to become Christlike then we won’t need to be bombarded with rules and regulations, we will willingly apply the standard of the Word and we will have that inner conviction of the Holy Spirit in relation to what we should be doing and where we should be going and what is and what is not acceptable for the lifestyle of the believer. In a sense the tradition I grew up in is a little like trying to mix faith with good works, relying not only on grace but on my doing and adhering as well, when all the time my dependency for salvation relied fully on what Christ who is the real substance has done through his grace for me.

Yes, let us be careful in our doing, we have a testimony to keep pure as God’s children, we have been called out of darkness into light, we have been transformed and become new creations, but let’s not get bogged down with unnecessary rules and regulations, using perhaps some of Paul’s own advice in an earlier letter, we need to set our minds upon the things of the Spirit, Romans 8:5-11 and as he puts it in our next chapter in Colossians, ‘If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.’ (3:1-4)

Finally, I appreciate my parents very much and the godly heritage that they gave to me, I know that they too were living out what they had been taught, and they are now safe in glory. The rules and regulations, although so many of them unnecessary did not do me any harm either!

SATURDAY 2^nd

Colossians 2:1-15

NIV (vv13b-14) – ‘He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.’

ESV (vv13b-14) – ‘. . . having forgiven us all our trespasses, by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.’

What a place to start the new year, there is no better place than with a Scripture that takes us to the Cross, and what better than to be reminded that at the Cross everything that was written AGAINST us has been cancelled, taken away. We can visualise it this way, when Jesus lay on the Cross, as they took the hammer and nails, they were not only nailing his body to the Cross, but the list he held in his hand with all the charges written against us, and as the blood flowed, it ran over the list, blotting it out.

Isn’t this good news, EVERYTHING, ALL OUR TRESPASSES, and there is no doubt if we started writing a list of all the wrong we had done, we would never ever be able to complete it, yet he has wiped it all out! It is gone, it is forgiven, as far as God is concerned it will never be recalled and brought to light again.

Sometimes I have taken a memory card from my camera and accidently formatted it, erasing the photos before I had backed them up, but all is not lost, because it is possible to get some software that will search the memory card and seek to restore the photos. God will never do that with our erased sin, and yet sadly, we sometimes do it to ourselves, we drag up the past, we bring to memory the things we have done, and we start to condemn ourselves again, and ask questions such as ‘Has God really forgiven’ or ‘Can God really forgive that?’ Yes he has, yes he can and what’s more HE HAS not only forgiven it he has forgotten all about it, not because he has a bad memory, but because he has chosen to remember it no more. HE HAS erased it and will never recall it, that is the power that is in the blood of Jesus. Then of course we can be so quick to point out what someone else might have done, but if God has forgiven and forgotten the sin so also should we, the past is the past and the past needs to remain in the past and under the blood, because in coming to the Cross, in accepting Jesus we are given a brand new start. (Now of course, we are talking in the realm of redemption, and should someone be a Christian and something of their past catches up with them, then the law of the land still needs to be applied, but thankfully God will have dealt with it as far as eternity is concerned.)

Finally, although we are forgiven at the Cross, we find that we still sin, we say what we shouldn’t, we do what we shouldn’t, we think what we shouldn’t etc, and this sin needs to be dealt with, and it is as we come to the place of regularly confessing, that is one of the purposes of the place of communion, to put wrongs right before we partake, but we can also continually come before the mercy seat, to our Great High Priest and have the assurance of Scripture, that ‘if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ (1 John 1:9) Being saved, knowing our sin is forgiven, is great news, this is what we read in Romans 4:7-8 ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.’ (Paul quoting from Psalm 32:1-2)

Let us not count our sins of the past, but instead count the many blessings that come through our being renewed and placed in Christ and seek to live this year in a proper and right relationship with him and with each other. Knowing that should we sin so long as we stay in relationship with him, we have an advocate with the Father, ‘My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says I know him but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.’ (1 John 2:1-6)

FRIDAY January 1^st 2021

A Happy New Year to all our Church family and WordPress readers

Psalm 46

NIV (v10) – ‘He says, Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’

ESV (v10) – ‘Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!’

We pause today from the book of Colossians and I want to leave with you today some thoughts for the new year.

As we look back over 2020, we will all say, ‘what a year’. And yes, we are not out of the woods yet, the Covid-19 is still causing havoc as it penetrates society leaving us with ongoing restrictions, but it behoves us to acknowledge that in the midst of this pandemic as we have traversed through it, God has been with us and he has been faithful. Even though there has been much sorrow, and uncertainty, God has not left us nor forsaken us. There are three thoughts that entered my thinking based around this Psalm, and they are ‘reset’ and ‘be still’ and ‘bin’.

We surely have proven the words of this Psalm, not just throughout 2020 but all the time as we have known the Lord God and put our trust in him through Jesus as our Saviour.

It is a Psalm we often turn to in the midst of difficult circumstances, it is often read at funeral services or in the midst of a crisis because it reminds us that God truly is ‘our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.’ But today I want us to take hold of this chapter and make it our ‘banner’ for the year 2021, entering the year with a renewed confidence and trust in the faithfulness of God and treading through each day knowing we are safe in the arms of our Lord. None of us knows what lies ahead, as Scripture reminds us ‘Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious about itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.’ (Matthew 6:34) but we know that God is sufficient for us for each day, today, tomorrow, next week and throughout the year.

The first thought was ‘reset’. Those of us who use modern technology will know that sometimes something will happen to the computer or perhaps the smartphone that affects the way it works, slowing it down or even worse to be infected with a virus (rather apt) and the only option left is to reset it. We know what happens it reinstalls and if we have not backed up the information stored on the product, we will lose it, but the machine will at least function as it should. Can I suggest we press the reset button, and before we do, don’t back up all the negatives of 2020, all the difficulties, problems and issues that have perhaps caused us to be anxious, then after resetting have a fresh new start to the new year, looking forward with anticipation to what God has in store for us. But of course we need to ‘be still’ as well, we need to allow for moments of stillness and quietness when we are in standby mode, waiting to receive whatever updates God has for us as we embark in the new year, it may be a fresh enduement of power, it may be a renewed confidence in God, it may be fresh grace to persevere, it may be strength to continue in the midst of difficulty, it may be a fresh zeal for service, a rekindled love for others or a new impetus towards prayer and fellowship.

Taking the analogy of the computer or smartphone again, I often get a message that says, insufficient memory to carry out the task, the storage and the working memory is full, it gives the option to ‘bin’ or to ‘delete’ unwanted items to free up space to continue to work. What a great way that would be to start the new year, to bin or delete all those things that are unnecessary or an hindrance to the outworking of the will of God in our lives so that we can continue to work in what he is calling us to do. When the message comes up, I have to search the computer for all the files that I can delete, and we too can ask God to search us, and to help us delete any clutter and stuff that is slowing us spiritually down.

Psalm 139:23-24 ‘Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!’

Hebrews12:1-2 ‘Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.’

Finally, 2020 was a big change for Elaine and I, leaving North Wales which had been our home for 14 years to come up to the North East, we started the year with so much that needed to happen, and the outbreak of the virus looked as if it could all come crashing down, but no, God was in control, he worked things out according to his will and purpose, and we look back with thankfulness to God and with thanks to you the Church in Emmanuel who have welcomed us among you, and together we will go through 2021 knowing that our God who controlled 2020 will never let go, and as the words of Psalm 46 says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God I WILL BE EXALTED AMONG THE NATIONS.’ He will be exalted in Gateshead.

THURSDAY 31^st

Colossians 1:24-29

NIV (v29) – ‘To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.’

ESV (v29) – ‘For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.’

I also add here today from the CSB ‘I labour for this, striving with his strength that works powerfully in me.’

There is something in this verse that tells us how much Paul cared for the Churches he had pioneered and planted, in the previous verse he says that he has proclaimed Christ, warning and teaching everyone so that he may see them presented as mature in Christ. He wanted all who had received the message of the gospel to be mature believers, and for this to happen he was working hard to ensure it. We can see how hard Paul had worked, 1) because of the many letters he has written, 2) the many miles he had travelled and 3) in all that he had suffered to be able to do it.

Paul seemed at all times to put the believers before himself, and it wasn’t always easy, but he knew that what he was doing was not under his own steam, it was done through the enabling of the power of God upon his life. I guess we could say that in his own strength, or through his own ability he would not have achieved very much, he may have given up after a few hurdles, but no, his strength came not out of himself but from above. We know of the one occasion when Paul was suffering in some way, he pleaded with God to take the source of his problem away, but the reply he had was ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’  (2 Corinthians 12:9) May we never underestimate the power of God, and in our own lives realise that the same power that was available to Paul is available to us, and be determined to toil and strive in the strength that God supplies. We have looked at Ephesians 1:19 before, but let’s remind ourselves of what it says about the greatness of that power, it is immeasurable –, it created all things, it sustains all things, it was at work on the Cross and in the tomb, making it possible for the vilest of sinners to be made holy, for the Cross is the power of God unto salvation. It is constantly at work transforming the lives of all who come by faith and believe, it is available through the outpouring and infilling of the Holy Spirit, it is available as God continues to pour his grace into our lives on a daily basis, it is available as we spend time in prayer, and around his Word and in fellowship. And Paul recognised this, he toiled, or struggled or strived to do all that God had purposed him to do through the energy that Christ so powerfully worked through him.

At this moment I recall the ‘I am the true vine’ statement of the Lord Jesus Christ. (John 15:1) The narrative is all about us as the branches being connected to the Vine to enable us to bear fruit, the connection is essential, and Paul had this vital connection to the Vine, which allowed the energy (power) from the Vine to be transmitted into his life as a branch, and as a result he could do what he was doing and be fruitful.

May we remain connected to the Vine, so that his power may be evident as it flows into our lives, enabling us to be strengthened to toil and to strive in all that he is calling us to do.