peace to live by

Having Christ's Consciousness, Part 2 (TMF:2615)

Friday, May 16, 2025
Peace to Live By: Having Christ's Consciousness, Part 2 (TMF:2615) - Daniel Litton
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       Now, in this verse, Paul is pinpointing or specifying where actual true or real knowledge lies, and that is in Christ. Christ’s consciousness we might say, his way of being. Indeed, when he was here on the earth, having took on an earthly, human body (which he keeps for all eternity), he demonstrated for us the ultimate attitude we are to have. That’s an attitude of love. That’s the overarching attitude. He healed the sick, cast out demons, even raised the dead, and all of this was on the physical level. The material level, or worldly level. Things which pertained to this life. On the spiritual level, he proclaimed the Gospel—the fact that all can be saved from their sins and brought into right relationship with God. A real relationship with the God of Universe which he himself demonstrated in his own life through his constant praying.

Having Christ's Consciousness, Part 1 (TMF:2614)

Thursday, May 15, 2025
Peace to Live By: Having Christ's Consciousness, Part 1 (TMF:2614) - Daniel Litton
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       Paul goes ahead and elaborates on the mystery of Christ in the statement: ‘in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3, ESV). Remember, back toward the beginning of Colossians 1, Paul talked about the knowledge. And we said that knowledge lays the bedrock, the foundation of our understanding of life as a Christian. This then includes God’s will for us, as Christians. And over time, we increase in this knowledge, as we learn more, as we grow more, as we experience more. Now, in this verse, Paul is pinpointing or specifying where actual true or real knowledge lies, and that is in Christ. Christ’s consciousness we might say, his way of being. Indeed, when he was here on the earth, having took on an earthly, human body (which he keeps for all eternity), he demonstrated for us the ultimate attitude we are to have. That’s an attitude of love. That’s the overarching attitude.

How Can the Church Be Knit Together? (TMF:2613)

Wednesday, May 14, 2025
Peace to Live By: How Can the Church Be Knit Together? (TMF:2613) - Daniel Litton
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       What are some ways that modern evangelical churches can work toward “being knit together in love”? And going back to the text, we can derive from it that of the use of knowledge. That’s what Paul is talking about here. He’s talking about understanding and having knowledge of Christ. And for us, as twenty-first century Christians, obviously that comes from our use of the Scriptures. That’s how we try to understand Christ more and more, through study and application of the Scriptures. So, any way a church promotes the studying of the Scriptures together would be a good way to fulfill what Paul is emphasizing here, in “being knit together in love.” Probably most commonly used are small groups—often outside Sunday morning services. That’s good. That’s the point. But it’s also important on Sunday mornings aside from conducting services, to perhaps even have small groups, Bible studies, classes, whatever, that work to achieve this goal. This could be what is needed to get someone new seriously interested in the Bible for the first time.

Interwoveness vs. Independence, Part 2 (TMF:2612)

Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Peace to Live By: Interwoveness vs. Independence, Part 2 (TMF:2612) - Daniel Litton
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       It appears this is, to a greater extent, the experience, the picture Paul is referring to here, of more collective societies within Christianity. This is something that most Americans, then, would be unfamiliar with. Indeed, it seems to be more prevalent in a the more communal types of churches, ones of which a more communal focus is in play. To provide a specific example, this was the experience spent during the course of a year with an anabaptist church in northeastern Ohio. It was an Amish-Mennonite church to be specific. One of the practices of the church was, during Sunday morning service, at one point the men would break up into a couple groups, and the women also into a couple groups, to study the Bible. So, Bible study would actually occur within the church service, right there, on Sunday morning. And individuals would share their thoughts on a certain passage, while at the same time discussing how it ties into experiences they perhaps faced during the week or whenever with whatever it was. It was a cool practice that lended to a deeper fellowship.

Interwoveness vs. Independence, Part 1 (TMF:2611)

Monday, May 12, 2025
Peace to Live By: Interwoveness vs. Independence, Part 1 (TMF:2611) - Daniel Litton
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       Each thread interwoven into another. And all the threads, each crossing the other, form the whole. It really is the perfect picture of the church. It is how it’s supposed to be. And interestingly, and on more of a sadder note, while the concept makes good sense to us, experientially, it may be more foreign to us in American church life than we realize. That’s because, as Americans, we value independence, and this valuing of independence from one another, to each his own kind of mentality, seeks to promote separation from one another. We would likely look at ourselves more like a chess board with the variety of pieces on it. We are the variety of pieces, which are different, and have the commonness that we all stand on the board. That’s our foundation. But we are all separate, independent pieces. That’s more likely how we experience church in twenty-first century America. A commonness but also a separation. But this isn’t the picture Paul has in mind.

Paul's Encouragement for the Church, Part 2 (TMF:2610)

Friday, May 09, 2025
Peace to Live By: Paul's Encouragement for the Church, Part 2 (TMF:2610) - Daniel Litton
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       Paul says Christ is God’s mystery. That’s peculiar because we don’t often seem to think of Christ as a mystery. It seems like we already know a lot about him. We know who he is, that he’s God. We know about his birth and earthly ministry. We know about his crucifixion for our sins and then rising from the dead. We know these things. So what is the mystery? Before we get into this mystery, let’s back up a little bit and not miss the part of the verse where Paul says of the church, “being knit together in love.” It’s a cool illustration, or picture, that is used here—one of which certainly refers to clothing, and how clothing is made. Interwoven. Each thread interwoven into another. And all the threads, each crossing the other, form the whole. It really is the perfect picture of the church. It is how it’s supposed to be. And interestingly, and on more of a sadder note, while the concept makes good sense to us, experientially, it may be more foreign to us in American church life than we realize.

Paul's Encouragement for the Church, Part 1 (TMF:2609)

Thursday, May 08, 2025
Peace to Live By: Paul's Encouragement for the Church, Part 1 (TMF:2609) - Daniel Litton
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       Continuing in verse 2: “that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ” (ESV). The first goal of the struggle can be realized as seeking to encourage. To encourage. That’s a good goal. That’s a noble goal. Everyone needs encouragement. Back then. Even now. But the kind of encouragement being discussed, that which is being focused on, isn’t just a general encouragement to make people feel better. It certainly is going to make people feel better—but the encouragement in and of itself has a specific goal. And what’s interesting is that we are taken roundabout back to the mind—to “understanding” and “knowledge.” Paul talked about this at the end of chapter 1, about knowledge. We noted that he mentioned it a couple times. Well, here it is again. The understanding and knowledge though are geared toward Christ. Paul says Christ is God’s mystery. That’s peculiar because we don’t often seem to think of Christ as a mystery.

Paul's Struggle for the Church, Part 2 (TMF:2608)

Wednesday, May 07, 2025
Peace to Live By: Paul's Struggle for the Church, Part 2 (TMF:2608) - Daniel Litton
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       Surprisingly, Paul had never met the Colossian believers, nor those in Laodicea for that matter. We can assume, and it will be alluded to in chapter 4, that the two churches had a close connection. That would make sense since they were located about mine miles apart from each other. Doesn’t seem like much to us, and even back then, wouldn’t have been far. We can understand to a further degree than we probably realize what meant Paul meant when he said they hadn’t seen him in the person before. The Colossian believers had no idea what Paul looked like from a physical stance. Though, the same is true with us today. We don’t know what Paul looked like. Of course, there are artistic renderings, especially anglo ones, often used in more formal church settings, which depict Paul. But we know these are very likely to be inaccurate. Too, we might have a picture of Paul from our favorite Biblical T.V. show or movie in which he is depicted. But, truth be told, we really don’t know.

Paul's Struggle for the Church, Part 1 (TMF:2607)

Tuesday, May 06, 2025
Peace to Live By: Paul's Struggle for the Church, Part 1 (TMF:2607) - Daniel Litton
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       Beginning in Colossians 2 today, starting in verse 1: “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face” (ESV). We begin today with Paul’s acknowledgement of a struggle. A struggle in the work he is seeking to accomplish. The good news is that it’s a positive struggle. It’s not something that is negative or causing him and Timothy to be downtrodden. Where is the struggling coming from? Obviously, it’s coming from an inner love that Paul has toward the believers in Colossae. It seems safe to assume that no one would put that kind of effort in such an endeavor without love. And for the nearby city of Laodicea, Paul also shared that love. Notice he emphasized the work by noting “how great a struggle” it was. Paul was presenting the good news to world, and the believers in Colossae and Laodicea had believed that good news. And Paul wanted to make sure they continue down that path—away from the negative influence of the world from which they had escaped.

Paul's Desire for People's Maturity, Part 2 (TMF:2606)

Monday, May 05, 2025
Peace to Live By: Paul's Desire for People's Maturity, Part 2 (TMF:2606) - Daniel Litton
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       People have asked the question in the past, of what is thought about some of the modern, more charismatic, televangelist (to use a somewhat dated term) types of preachers? Pay attention to the fact that Paul told us today that his and Timothy’s teaching came “with all wisdom.” While it doesn’t seem right to group these type of teachers into one bag and declare them all no good, at the same time it is important to be wise. Let’s lay out an illustration to try to get the point across. Let’s say someone wanted to be healthy as a person. Now let’s say that person decided to eat a healthy, balanced diet, and that of which caters to the person’s individual needs. We would call that person wise. But we wouldn’t call that person wise, on the other hand, if the person instead decided to eat chocolate cake three times a day, everyday. It seems likely there would be unnecessary weight gain, and not to mention other issues. This is the wisdom we are talking about.