Each photo below corresponds to a chapter-a-day post for the book of Numbers published by Tom Vander Well in July through September 2025. Click on the photo linked to each chapter to read the post.
Numbers (Jul-Sep 2025)
Tag Archives: Prison Letters
Philippians (Jul 2025)
Each photo below corresponds to a chapter-a-day post for the book of Philippians published by Tom Vander Well in July 2025. Click on the photo linked to each chapter to read the post.
Ephesians (Jun-Jul 2025)
Each photo below corresponds to a chapter-a-day post for the book of Ephesians published by Tom Vander Well in June-July 2025. Click on the photo linked to each chapter to read the post.
To Know Better
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
Ephesians 1:17 (NIV)
Yesterday at my desk I received an invite on my computer. The invitation came from Wendy asking to meet for a pre-dinner beverage downstairs in the Vander Well Pub. As we settled in at the bar, Wendy said she wanted to discuss a question I raised in a message I gave yesterday amidst our local gathering of Jesus’ followers. The message was about prayer, and specifically about the phrase Jesus used in teaching His disciples to pray: “give us this day our daily bread.” The question I raised in the message was “What is/are the thing(s) with which you struggle most to trust God?”
Wendy wanted to have a V-Dub Pub conversation to talk about each of our answers to that question.
I have to tell you that the conversation got gut-level honest and transparent. As we talked about some of the (admittedly stupid) things that I struggle to trust God for, the onion of my soul got peeled back a few layers deeper. I confess that it was uncomfortable, even though there is no one on this earth who knows me, my struggles, and my foibles as well as Wendy does. She loves me anyway. It was a good conversation, even if it was uncomfortable. As we headed upstairs to make dinner we knew one another a bit better, and we had been given the opportunity to extend grace to one another in expressing our love for one another despite our respective faith struggles.
Today our chapter-a-day journey continues through Paul’s “Prison Letters” which were written while he was under house arrest in Rome. With time on his hands waiting for Caesar to hear his case, Paul took the opportunity to pen letters to the local gatherings of Jesus’ followers he’d established in his travels. With the exception of the personal letter to Philemon, the Prison Letters were written to address entire gatherings of people. As with the letter to the Colossians that we just finished on this chapter-a-day trek, Paul intended his letter to the Ephesians to be read to the entire gathering for the purposes of teaching and instruction. He also expected that the local gatherings in different locations would exchange letters once they were read so that all the different local gatherings would benefit from the teaching and instructions Paul wrote to each.
In today’s opening chapter, Paul establishes that he’s got some mind-blowing spiritual truths he wants to lay on the believers in Ephesus. He’s going to expand their minds and hearts to think about God’s plans and purposes for life on a cosmic spiritual level. As he’s introducing this, he states that his purpose in doing so is so that the believers might “know [God] better.”
Which immediately took my mind to my message yesterday. I observed in my message that Jesus perpetually uses the metaphor of marriage to describe the relationship He wants to have with His followers. Jesus described Himself as “the bridegroom” and we as His “bride.” Like a marriage, Wendy and I communicate in different ways at different times for different relational purposes. Despite the many years that we have been married, and despite the fact that Wendy knows me better than anyone, there are still opportunities to sit at the bar, have a gut-level conversation, and peel back another layer of the onion of our souls.
There is always an opportunity to know one another better.
In the quiet this morning, I simply find myself acknowledging that after almost 45 years of relationship with Jesus I still have opportunity to know Him better. Perhaps I should set an appointment to meet Jesus in the V-Dub Pub for a conversation before dinner tonight.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
Colossians (June 2025)
Each photo below corresponds to a chapter-a-day post for the book of Colossians published by Tom Vander Well in June 2025. Click on the photo linked to each chapter to read the post.
Spiritual Health Assessment
We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.
Colossians 1:9-12 (NIV)
Paul is a prisoner of Rome. In a way, this is a matter of his own free will and choosing. His crime was to show his face in Jerusalem where he had carried a financial offering collected from the believers throughout Asia Minor to help the followers of Jesus who were being persecuted by the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem and throughout Judea. Paul had been one of those Jewish authorities and led the persecution and prosecution of Jesus’ followers. Then, Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus and abruptly switched teams. His return to Jerusalem sparked a riot, and civil unrest was something the Roman Empire did not abide.
Paul, however, was a citizen of Rome, which was not very common. Being a Roman Citizen had tremendous privileges, and where Paul was from only 1-3 percent of the population enjoyed that status. One of the privileges of Roman citizenship was that if you were accused of a crime you could appeal your case to be judged by Caesar himself. Paul used his privilege and made his appeal. Now, he waits in Rome for his trial to make its way to the top of Caesar’s docket. While he waits, he lives guarded under house arrest.
There’s not much to do while you’re living under house arrest, Paul prays for all the believers he left behind in Greece and Asia Minor. Paul has a cadre of friends who have worked with him in sharing Jesus’ love and message wherever he went. They hang with him in Rome and keep him company. Friends from the local gatherings of Jesus’ followers travel to visit him and give him reports on how things are going back in their hometowns. They also provide financial support because Paul is required to pay for his housing while under house arrest. Paul writes letters for his visitors to take back with them.
In yesterday’s post/podcast, I shared the story of the runaway slave who ran into Paul in Rome. Onesimus had been the slave of Philemon, a believer Paul knew back in the city of Colossae. Onesimus became a follower of Jesus, and Paul sent him back to reconcile to his master with a letter in hand that we now know as Philemon. Also in hand, Onesimus carried the letter we begin our chapter-a-day trek through today, known as Colossians.
Today’s chapter is Paul’s opening greeting to the believers in Colossae. It is filled with both teaching and encouragement. Amidst the encouragement, Paul describes his desire for the believers by outlining four things he wants for them:
- Bearing fruit in every good work, fruit that he would define in his letter to the believers in Galatia as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
- Growing in the knowledge of God.
- Being strengthened to patiently endure trials and hardships.
- Giving joyful thanks to God for His gracious gift of salvation.
As I meditated on these four things in the quiet this morning, I thought to myself what a simple checklist they were to do my own spiritual health assessment.
What are the “works” that are currently on my task list? As I think through each project at work, at home, and in my community is there evidence of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control?
Am I growing in my knowledge of God at all? How so? What am I intentionally doing to improve my relationship with God? Am I reading, praying, meditating, contemplating, or having conversations with others?
What challenges, trials, and hardships am I currently facing? Do my thoughts, words, and actions show evidence of spiritual strength, patience, and endurance – or complaining, grumbling, worrying, and whining?
Am I taking time to mindfully and consciously be thankful to God for all of the good things with which I am blessed every day?
In the quiet this morning, I thoughtfully pondered the honest answers to these questions. The good news is that I’m feeling positive about some of the answers. At the same time, it didn’t take long for me to realize I do have some simple growth opportunities ahead of me today.
Here I go.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.