What is my hope? What do I count as my inheritance? Where does my strength come from?

All these questions spring to mind from Paul’s prayer for the believers in Ephesus. His prayer focuses my attention on the fundamentals of faith – hope, our future with God, and the power of God for us.

“Hope” –  this word conveys so many things. Our hope of glory (Colossians 1 v 27, a living hope (1 Peter 1 v 3), a transforming hope (1 John 3 v 2-3). As Ps Phil Pringle has written “Hope is a person, Jesus Christ.” Through Jesus we can hope for a glorious life forever with God. We can have hope for our lives now, when things are tough or seem hopeless because Jesus is our hope, our assurance of God’s love and plan for each of us – that plan is to be transformed to be more like Christ.

Why does Paul pray for them to know the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people? I think he wants them to have a future or heavenly perspective of life. The Message version captures it well “I ask…that you …grasp the immensity of the glorious way of life he has for his followers.” “The glorious way of life” is living with the Lord, not as if he doesn’t exist. We grow in relationship with him as we trust him every day, and we also look forward to a glorious never ending life with God, which is our inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – 1 Peter 1 v 4.

As Paul prays this for the believers, I feel the challenge is for us to be praying this for each other. That we grow deeper into the living hope and that we live in the glorious way of life he has designed for us.

Dear Lord Jesus, open the eyes of my heart so my perspective remains with you in the centre of everything.  Amen

Written by Claire Moore

In this passage, Paul is asking Philemon to be radically counter-cultural. How counter-cultural am I willing to be?

In Paul’s world slavery was a given. Today we see slavery as abhorrent – and so it is. But it was normal then. It was the way society got things done. It was also normal for society to be very stratified. Status was vital to them, and everyone was constantly striving to climb higher up the ranks.

So, it was really radical for Paul to ask Philemon, a wealthy, high-status slave owner, to accept back his runaway slave and to welcome him as though he were welcoming Paul himself! This letter would have been read aloud to the whole church so Philemon can’t wriggle out of Paul’s request. Philemon is really in pickle. Is he game to refuse a personal request from the apostle Paul? If he does what Paul wants, will the rest of his household and the church and society look down on him, diminishing his authority and status and honour in the world?

Paul’s point is clear. Christians should not have any ranking or preference in their midst. In Galatians 3:28 Paul says there is “neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” We are all brothers and sisters no matter who we are, where we live or what we have done in the past.

And so, I ask myself: am I willing to do something like Philemon was asked to do? Something so counter-cultural, so apparently disgraceful in others’ eyes? As a Christian, I am called to honour others above myself, to welcome everyone and to stand up for the poor and the oppressed.

 Lord Jesus, you sacrificed yourself for us. Help me to be brave enough to follow your lead.

Written by Megan Cornell

Paul is about to make a request of Philemon but first he takes the time to affirm him. Paul lets Philemon know how encouraged he is to hear about Philemon’s faith in Jesus and how he refreshes the hearts of other believers.

But ever the discipler, Paul takes the opportunity to encourage Philemon to go a little deeper in his faith. Paul directs Philemon to be active in sharing his faith and testimony with others, i.e. to those beyond the walls of the church that meets in his home. Paul’s pattern seems to be “go tell others” first and then you will gain a “full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ” (v6).

This pattern seems opposite to how I naturally want to approach evangelism and discipleship. I would rather find out everything I need to know, study it, practice it, and study some more. Then I will tell others about Jesus. But here Paul is clearly telling us to just get out there and do it. Get active. Just go. That as I share my experience of Jesus, I become more certain of who He is and what He has done for me. Simply, I grow as I do it.

Lord, help me to take the brave steps of faith in telling others about You, even before I have all the answers, and as I do, I will experience You deepening my knowledge and experience of You. 

Written by Gab Martin

As the apostle Paul concludes his short and powerful letter to the church in Colossae, he turns his broad advice and guidance into a list of personal connections. 

What strikes me about this passage is the connections that Paul has. He literally lists a network of connections and understands the relationship people have with one another. 

In our current age of social media, our networked connections can seem to flow and develop naturally, but Paul has clearly invested time into building his connections and he uses his influence to encourage and build those in his network even further. He sends just the right people at just the right time with a personal message from him, even though he was in chains in Rome. This was cutting edge use of technology for his day! 

Lord may I use social networks, technologies and influence today to bring support and edification to those who I am connected with, however loosely! Help me to build my connections with a sense of intention and purpose. 

Written by Ps Justin Ware