September 2, 2025

Colossians 4:1 -5 CSB)

“Lifestyles”

“Masters, deal with your slaves justly and fairly, since you know that you too have a Master in heaven. 2 Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains, 4 so that I may make it known as I should. 5 Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time.”

Paul begins by reminding the church that anyone who had a slave should treat them justly. Many people in Biblical had slaves who served them. New Testaments, but generally involved a position of not the form of slavery seen in American history. In the Old Testament Hebrew servitude was often a form of a person bound by contract to work for a set period, mostly the poor, with rights to freedom after six years or release in the Year of Jubilee, along with protections against severe abuse. Sometime you might want to do a study on the year of jubilee and what it brought to those of the day. New Testament slaves were to serve their masters sincerely, with masters called to treat them with respect, while understanding that God is the ultimate Master, and there is no favoritism in heaven.

He then goes into a message about prayer and the reference here is to be “courageously persistent” prayer in your prayer life. He uses the term ‘say alert” here and most likely he meant to be specific in our prayers asking for what is needed in a specific words not generalities. It was not the idea of staying awake to pray but be intentional in your need.

When we pray often times God opens a door for us to minister to one another. A lady in church this past Sunday shared about praying for someone. I have often mentioned to people that prayers do not need to be long so I asked her how long her prayer was and she said, “maybe a minute.” The “door” becomes an opportunity.

He concludes our study today with these words “”Act wisely” toward others. How do we win people to a changed lifestyle when we act unwisely, say the wrong thing, go to wrong places? We are called to be evangelistic which includes our lifestyle. We must live the Gospel.

God Bless.

Bible Study August 27, 2025

Colossians 3:22 – 25 CSB)

“It’s Not About Me”

22” Slaves, obey your human masters in everything. Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but work wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people, 24 knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. You serve the Lord Christ. 25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong he has done, and there is no favoritism.”

These verse offer us a commentary of serving in the work place. The question is what do I do when I am not being watched.

I spent thirty-five years in the business world and had a wonderful career. In many of those positions I spent in the Marketing portion of the company in Market Management. During one of our tenures I was the Division Agency Manager for an insurance company living in St. Louis. There would be on occasion representatives of different departments come from our Regional Office to the filed for training and support. One particular representative always ate fast food because we were given a per diem with no accountability for expenses. It was foe whatever you wanted you were given a set amount. The rep came to St, Louis on one trip to honor a successful sales person in  my division. He took the District Manage and the agent out to lunch and forced the DM to pay for lunch even though he had and expense account for such purposes.

I tell you all that because he did these things behind the back. If he had paid for the lunch it would go a separate account and he would not collect the per diem for his meal but it would be paid for by the company, He did this for himself.

We are called as believers to do all things for the Lord. I believe that goes to all areas of our lives. In the business world as well as our personal lives. We should not need to hide or cover up anything we do.

Why, Paul sums it up in the final verse of chapter three we will be paid back for what we do.

God Bless.

Bible Study August 26, 2025

Colossians 3:18 – 21 (CSB)

“Is Christ In Your Home?”
“Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and don’t be bitter toward them. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they won’t become discouraged.

If you were to survey Americans today on the subject of submission I imagine the vast majority would say we are all equal, everyone should have the same opportunity, and the vast majority would say they did not like the word submission. It is a Greek verb that simply means we are “willing to put ourselves under someone or something.” If you work you submit simple statement but factual. But when we get to the idea of wives submitting to their husbands the conversation stops there.

However, if you were honest and open minded you must look to the remainder of that verse. “as fitting the Lord.” Submission is secondary to love. The husband must love the wife as Christ loved the church that is an awesome responsibility. It’s all done out of love by both the man and women in the marriage covenant. Submission does not work without love and love does not work without submission.

The word “love” used by Paul here has very deep meaning and often we overlook what he is saying. The use of the word here is “do not be bitter.” Everyone has their own idea of love but what would you think if you looked at as “do not be bitter?”

We live in a society of rebellion today. From civil disobedience to murder, to all types of crimes against humanity. Children are subjected to far more than I was when I was growing up. Thankfully I did not have a helicopter mom that hovered over everything I did. I drank out of a garden hose but today we are concerned that every drop must be two-hundred percent pure. We allow our children to eat food that is laced with unhealthy ingredients yet allow them to tell their parents what to do. Is there a limit to obedience? I believe there is.

We should allow our children a right relationship with God even if we were to believe something to the contrary. It is the responsibility of parents to teach their children right from wrong yet today we have to many absentee fathers and in some cases absentee mothers and the home is not what it should be. The unrest in the world today lies in the hands of the parents.

Until we get the screwed up parents thinking and acting right we will continue to face a lack of submission and obedience in our society. There is an answer but are parents willing to pay the price?
God Bless.

I mentioned yesterday about a memory verse plan that I receied. It is called “Malachi Daily.” I am sharing the email I received from them You might want to try it out.

Hey friend,

Welcome! You are now part of a growing community of Jesus followers where we:

Memorize 1 Bible verse every other week and

Learn its context

Note: Look out for emails from Malachi Daily over the next 3 days (be sure to open every one of them) to help you memorize your first verse!

The next verse we memorize as an entire community will start the week of August 18th!

This email is super important and requires you to take 1 action, so please keep reading

Why is it called Malachi Daily?

The name Malachi means ‘messenger of God.’ And we send you emails, aka messages with God’s Word, daily (well, almost daily but more on that below).

Optional: Set up the free Malachi Daily Web App

It’s 100% free, takes less than 30 seconds to set up and is an easy way to memorize the verses we study via email:

Choose your translation: ESV, NIV, KJV, NLT, MSG and more. We use the ESV in our emails, so if you prefer another translation, use our emails to learn the context and the app to memorize in your favorite translation!

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Interactive: Each day, you can type to fill in the blanks and build the verse into your long term memory

Click here for instructions to set up the app

If you run into any issues getting it set up, just reply to this email and we’ll help you out!

Here’s what to expect

We memorize a new Bible verse every other week (NOT every week)

On Monday, you get the whole verse

For the rest of the week, the verse gets replaced with more and more fill-in-the-blanks

Each email will teach you relevant context to help you understand the verse you’re memorizing and help you apply it to your life

expect to see us in your inbox Monday-Friday, only during the weeks when we’re memorizing a new verse

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Lastly, to make sure we end up in your inbox and not your spam, choose 1 of the following options:

Reply to this email saying ‘hi!, ‘can’t wait!’, or tell us your favorite book of the Bible

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To-Do

Reply to this with your favorite book of the Bible!

Look out for emails from us over the next 3 days (there’s one in your inbox right now!) and be sure to open every one to make sure you:

Memorize your first verse with us

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Glad you’re here

Bible Study August 25, 2025

Colossians 3:16 – 17

“The Dwelling of the Word”

“Remember what Christ taught, and let his words enrich your lives and make you wise; teach them to each other and sing them out in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing to the Lord with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, and come with him into the presence of God the Father to give him your thanks.”

The Word of Christ is the scriptures. Everything we need to know can be found in them but sometimes it does take searching the scriptures. These words were Spirit inspired to bring the message of salvation to world that desperately needs Good News. Some versions use the term “Remember” some “dwell” but both have relevance. These words from the Greek mean ‘to live in” not just know but to really live each word. One writer said the scriptures should permeate every fiber of man. In other words our thoughts, deeds, actions, words should all parallel the scriptures.

Every motivation should be directed by the Spirit to guide us. The Word must dwell in us for us to be effective. I came across a really neat way to memorize scripture I will be sharing later today on the church Facebook page that teaching. You can find it on facebook.com/asburychapel.org. I would encourage to take a look at it.

This is not a one time experience but it is day to day lifestyle. It is living in obedience to Holy Spirit. It is not an emotional high but a lifestyle. We will at times experience a real sense of God’s Spirit moving in our lives but what I am saying here is a lifestyle.

We must let our lives be a representative of the lord. That simply means to act like He does as we grow into His image while we live on this earth.

God Bless.

Bible Study

Colossians 3:13 – 15 (TLB)

“Forgiveness – The Peace It Brings”

“Be gentle and ready to forgive; never hold grudges. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Most of all, let love guide your life, for then the whole church will stay together in perfect harmony. 15 Let the peace of heart that comes from Christ be always present in your hearts and lives, for this is your responsibility and privilege as members of his body. And always be thankful.”

The idea of forgiveness is a difficult one for many people. They have been harmed and the hurt is deep. I think of those who have lost a loved one at the hands of another and we are called to forgive. Some forgive others and others refuse to forgive. It is clearly written in these verses if we want the forgiveness and grace of God we must act the same.

It is not an optional concept it is mandatory. Believers must be willing to forgive. What happens when we forgive? God replaces the hate for love. Paul says it is love that binds us together. Do I want to bound with the one that harmed a loved one? Tough question and each must answer that question. It takes the supernatural love of God to help us through all these situations. It is love that binds us together whether it be a family, a church, or even a business.

When we forgive, when we allow love to enter into the situation we are facing then we can find what Paul called “peace” in verse fifteen. It is only after the first two (forgiveness and love) that we can achieve peace. It may not be something we understand but it works. When we cast the stuff off ourselves that drags us down then we can have peace in our lives.  “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:7 NJKJ).

We have peace because of the eternal security he has promised the believer, the pain here is of short duration compared to an eternity with God.

God Bless.

Bible Study August 21, 2025

Colossians 3:11 – 12  (CSB)

“All Are Equal”

11 In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all. 12 Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,

No matter what our nationality is we must turn from the sinful habits in our lives. Even the church must recognize its unity and destroy barriers that separate people.

Who are these groups that Paul mentions here? The Greek is a Gentile or non-Jew who descended from Abraham. A Scythian is known for their barbaric ways and were the most feared of the invaders of the seventh century. Slave, free is a social barrier that existed between the free and the slave. Christ destroyed that stigma through faith in Him.

A friend of mine who has a Facebook page title Families For Him posted this “Satan says, look at your sin God says, look at His Son.” (By the way check out his page Families For Him – FFH)

“Christ in all” Jesus is equally sufficient for everyone. In Him there is no special group, no select people who get preferential treatment all are equal in His sight.

I once told a friend we sometimes must decide what we do not like before we can determine what we like. This true of the believer. We are converted by the call of God upon our lives we do not do it on our behalf it is in response to His sovereign grace.

Paul uses a number of words to identify goodness to others that identifies who we are in Christ:

Compassionate hearts – used to describe our emotions,

Kindness – goodness of the entire person,

Humility – the perfect antidote to self-love,

Meekness – the willingness to suffer rather than getting even,

Patience – the opposite of resentment.

God Bless.

Bible Study August 20, 2025

Colossians 3:9 – 10  (CSB)

“Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self[a] with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”

“Recycled”

There is little doubt what Paul was writing the Colossians. He says in verse nine “put off … put on.”

The person forgiven and living in right relationship with Jesus has put off the old person and been made new. We are recycled into a new creation in the image of Jesus Himself. We are to “put on” the newness of life while “putting off” the past stuff in your life that was not pleasing to God.

What are those things I need to put off. Well many of them may only be likened to you while they may not fit another person but rest assured we all have stuff that needs to be gone. Some may have habits that are contrary to what the scriptures teach us while some may have escaped that in their past.

We can live in Christlikeness and sin have the past sin in our lives living within us. Now I will say you may lose it all on the first day but we must acknowledge our sinfulness and be willing to abandon it to self. Admission is the firsts step followed by a willingness to give up what has corrupted our lives.

The old self is that of the first man Adam, the new self is that of the often referred to second Adam Jesus our Lord. The old is gone now the new appears. The old is our past the new is our future. This is the essence of the new life.

The sin that will come in our lives is a result of the unredeemed flesh that appeals to our sensuous appetites. Just like an infant who is new to this world he has much to grow into and learn so is the new life in Christ. The person is there but growth is needed.

It is God’s plan that we become more like Jesus. We learn this by studying His Word.

God Bless.