The deeper the river, the smoother and quieter it is.  The opposite is true too.  The more shallow the river, the more active and louder it can be.  This is what we talk about today.

We are walking through the book of Colossians.  This was a letter to the church in Colossae.  The reason Paul wrote this letter was to reestablish Jesus as the center of their lives.  I want to highlight what Paul wrote.

26 The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, therefore you can look forward to sharing in God’s glory. It’s that simple. 27 That is the substance of our Message. 28 We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. MSG Colossians 1:26-28

The great God mystery is this, ready, Jesus lives in you.  That changes everything.  When we struggle to see that Jesus is the center of our lives, we drift away from the Gospel message of grace.  As we drift, our focus is taken off of Jesus and we place it on ourselves.  We get stuck spiritually.  We lose out on freedom, and abundant life.  We try desperately to muscle our way through our spiritual life.  As Sam put it last week, lots of frustration, lots of pretending, lots of exhaustion.

Paul continues.

We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels – everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. MSG Colossians 1:15-16

So spacious is he, so expansive, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe – people and things, animals and atoms – get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross. MSG Colossians 1:19-20

Paul is explaining the supremacy of Christ.  Everything got started in Jesus and finds its purpose in Jesus.  Everything in God finds its proper place in Jesus.  Paul wants the church to understand who Jesus is and to put Him at the center of their lives.

Let’s take a second and think about how you have lived your life.  How long did it take you to realize, nothing in this world will satisfy me?  Or are you still trying to figure that out?  How long did it take you to realize, every attempt I make to find purpose without God, fails?  Or are you still trying to figure that out?  Isn’t that the story of our lives?  We try to find purpose and meaning on our own and fail at it.  Why does it take so long to put Jesus at the center of our lives and fully devote our lives to Him?  What stops us from surrendering our will and placing our trust in God?  Our pride.  Our pride blinds us to God.  We can’t see how doing life Jesus’ way will get us ahead in life – we don’t believe Him.

To prepare for today, let’s quickly review where we have been.  We talked about Colossians 1:3-12.  Paul prayed for the church to have God’s glorious strength to have the character to do the hard work over a long period of time and overcome all challenges.  Why?  Because doing God’s work can feel ordinary.

We talked about the ordinariness of living out the Christian faith.  That morning we challenged you to embrace and enjoy ordinariness because that is where you find God.  If your Christian life seems ordinary, it doesn’t mean something is wrong.  It probably means you are humble.

Sam jumped into Colossians 1:13-14.

God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He’s set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much. MSG Colossians 1:13

Sam challenged us to remember our grace story.  That day in our lives when God rescued us from the kingdom of darkness.  You remember what Sam brought out about Paul?  Paul said, I am the chief sinner.  Why would the greatest church leader not build himself up?  Why would Paul remember how bad he was before God rescued him?  Because he was remembering his grace story.  He was remembering what God did.

Because of this, Paul lived a life of gratitude regardless of every challenge.  He had passion to live, he didn’t have to grit his teeth to plant churches.  He had empathy for everyone far from God.  He had a refreshing humility.  With his knowledge and experience, he could have acted like he was more than others, but his grace story kept him humble.  Lastly, Paul had hope all the way to the end.  The more you focus on Jesus’ pursuit and love for you, it will change everything about your life.

Sam continued last week into Colossians 1:15-29.

15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.  He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, 16 for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. NLT Colossians 1:15

Paul challenges everyone to see that it’s all about Jesus.  Jesus truly made it all, reveals it all, shows it all, gives it all away and paid it all for us.  Do you see it?  It’s all about Jesus.  It’s about the supremacy of Jesus.

Sam told us, life is hard and it’s full of distractions.  Paul knew it way back in the day when they had half the distractions that we walk in today and he ends this section of Scripture with an encouraging word here.  Don’t drift away from the amazing gift of Jesus.  Jesus is ‘ALL’ and is ‘ENOUGH.’

Today we move into Chapter 2.

2 I wish you could know how much I have struggled in prayer for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for my many other friends who have never known me personally. 2 This is what I have asked of God for you: that you will be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love, and that you will have the rich experience of knowing Christ with real certainty and clear understanding. For God’s secret plan, now at last made known, is Christ himself. 3 In him lie hidden all the mighty, untapped treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I am saying this because I am afraid that someone may fool you with smooth talk. 5 For though I am far away from you my heart is with you, happy because you are getting along so well, happy because of your strong faith in Christ. LB

Do you see that part, …that you will have the rich experience of knowing Christ with real certainty and clear understanding.  For God’s secret plan, now at last made known, is Christ himself.  In him lie hidden all the mighty, untapped treasures of wisdom and knowledge…?

Think about this.  In Chapter one Paul is explaining the supremacy of Christ.  If everything got started in Jesus and finds its purpose in Jesus, and if everything in God finds its proper place in Jesus, doesn’t it make sense that we would daily focus on Jesus?  If remembering your grace story that Jesus has pursued you gives you passion, gratitude, and humility, doesn’t it make sense that we daily focus on Jesus?  If Jesus made it all, reveals it all, shows it all, gives it all away and paid it all for us, doesn’t it make sense that we daily focus on Jesus?  Doesn’t it make sense that in Chapter 2 Paul says, I hope you experience Jesus?

Paul is telling the people in the church, I pray that you experience Jesus.  It will give you real certainty and clear understanding.  As you live out every day, it’s in Jesus that you will find continual and reliable spiritual fuel and passion.  And when this happens, you will have a strong faith.

Do you remember how we started today?  The deeper the river, the smoother and quieter it is.  Spiritually, the more you are focused on Jesus, the deeper that relationship, it will show up in your life.  The smoother and quieter it is.  We would call that peace.

Before we go any further in Colossians, we need to apply these verses.  To do that, I want to ask you, what is your life like?  Is your relationship with Jesus going deeper and deeper resulting in more and more peace in your soul?  I didn’t ask if your life was getting easier.  I didn’t ask if everything in your life is comfortable.  I didn’t ask if you were in perfect health.  I didn’t ask if you were happy in your marriage or being single.  I asked, is your relationship with Jesus going deeper and deeper resulting in more and more peace in your soul?  Are you experiencing Jesus?  Be honest, what is it like to live with you?

One of the greatest challenges we have as people, we don’t see ourselves clearly.  We don’t clearly know what it’s like to live with us.  Have you noticed this about yourself?  When bad stuff comes out of us, when negative emotions show up, we quickly have an excuse as to why.  And it’s not our fault.  We tend to see ourselves as good people who are struggling to get through life.  We truly are great people, we think, and the only reason bad things come out is because of… [fill in the blank].

Have you noticed how you view others?  What do you think when bad stuff or negative emotions come out from those we live with?  We think there is something wrong with them.  It’s their fault.  We need to tell them or yell at them to see how bad they really are.  They need to take responsibility for what they have done.  When we do it, it’s okay.  When others do it, it’s a problem.

What is your life like?  Is your relationship with Jesus going deeper and deeper resulting in more and more peace in your soul?  What is it like to live with you?

So, what does it mean to experience Jesus that leads to a peaceful life?  Jesus told us.

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. NLT Mark 8:35

We give our lives back to Jesus.  Peter Scazzero in his book ‘Emotional Healthy Discipleship’ says it well.  He writes, we must learn to detach.  Detach from the things of this earth.  That means we don’t cling to or hold on to anything in this world.  We relinquish all control and ego.  We surrender our will.  We surrender successes, our failures, everything.

A Dominican monk said, “To be empty of all created things is to be full of God and to be full of created things is to be empty of God,” – Meister Eckhart

Three practical examples.

We accept the unfolding of events and circumstances in our life, accepting everything.  We don’t worry about our life experience or our goals.  Instead, we trust that God is orchestrating all things for our good, his glory, and the good of the world.

We set goals and direction for our lives, and at the same time we release attachment to any particular outcome.  We do what Jesus asked us to do and recognize we cannot manipulate or predict the outcome.

We pray, not to get what we want, but to surrender our will to God’s will.  We recognize that unhealthy attachments are a reflection of our core spiritual problem: self-will.

Think about where your hurts, stress and struggles come from.  Where have your hurts come from?  Where does your stress come from?  What are your struggles?  Chances are, they come from our attachment to the things of this world.  We expect things from people, and they disappoint us.  We demand that things work out the way we want.  We stress that things won’t turn out the way we want.  We get angry because things didn’t turn out the way we wanted.  We crave success and are afraid of failure.  Almost everything we do, we are feeding our cravings and egos.

It’s all based on our attachment to the things of this world.

Let’s read Jesus’ words again.

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. NLT Mark 8:35

Imagine the peace we would have in our lives if we detached from this world.  And imagine the connection we would have with Jesus if we detached from this world.  Can you imagine, making plans, working hard and being detached from success or failure?  Can you imagine serving being detached from ego and title?  Can you imagine allowing life to unfold and being detached from demanding control and having the outcomes we want?  Wouldn’t we be at peace?

Let me ask you, does that sound risky to you?  I would challenge you to think about what you are stressed about.  What are the things that add anxiety or depression or stress to your life?  What are the things that make you tired?  What if you detached from demanding the outcome you wanted?  What if you had faith and gave God your life?  Jesus said, that is how you keep your life.

One of the greatest keys to experiencing Jesus that leads to peace is healthy detachment.  Giving your life over to Jesus.  Making plans, living wisely, working hard.  Emptying yourself of the things of this world to be full of God.  Remember, the deeper the river, the smoother and quieter it is.

Paul wrote this in Colossians.

…that you will have the rich experience of knowing Christ with real certainty and clear understanding.  For God’s secret plan, now at last made known, is Christ himself.  In him lie hidden all the mighty, untapped treasures of wisdom and knowledge…?

Here is my question for you.  Is your relationship with Jesus going deeper and deeper resulting in more and more peace in your soul?

The deeper the river, the smoother and quieter it is.