<p>1:11 <i>Strengthened with all power- </i>See on :10 <i>Fully pleasing him. </i>A play on words, &lsquo;made able with all ability&rsquo;. It&rsquo;s the same word as found in Mt. 25:15, where we read that talents are given to each one &ldquo;according to his personal <i>ability</i>&rdquo;; but <i>kata </i>(&ldquo;according to&rdquo;) needn&rsquo;t be translated like this at all, and could mean that the talents given <i>are</i> what results in the personal abilities. This connects with a major theme of Paul&rsquo;s- that we are <i>made</i> able, rather than having existing abilities which God asks us to use. The parallel Eph. 3:16-20 speaks of &ldquo;the power that works in us&rdquo; as being far above all we ask or think; and it is exercised within our minds (&ldquo;strengthened with might by His spirit in the inner man&rdquo;, Eph. 3:16). We are given psychological power, strength within, to do what would have been impossible otherwise. Constantly we&rsquo;re faced with mental situations we feel we can&rsquo;t endure- the need for continued patience with a difficult person, to keep on keeping on forgiving and showing grace... The strengthening which Paul has in mind is exactly what we need. It is internal, &ldquo;in the inner man&rdquo;. And this is the same context in which Paul speaks here in Col. 1; for the mighty strengthening we receive enables the mental, internal attributes of patience and joyful endurance (:11). We who were once alienated &ldquo;in your mind&rdquo; (:21) are now changed; the Christ formed &ldquo;in you&rdquo;, the mind of Christ within, is the basis for our &ldquo;hope of glory&rdquo; (:27). 2:2 continues this theme when Paul speaks of his urgent concern for the state of the believers&rsquo; <i>hearts</i>. Indeed the whole hymn of praise to Christ in :15-18 is in this context; Paul is emphasizing the utter supremacy of Christ because this should lead to Him dominating our thinking. Appreciating the height of His exaltation will lead to Christ mindedness. &ldquo;He is the head of the body&rdquo; in the sense that He is the mind of it, the thinking of it. Members of Christ&rsquo;s body are shown to be in the same body by the fact that they are Christ-minded, they have Him as their &ldquo;head&rdquo;. Christ-mindedness is therefore the basis upon which we feel that someone is also in the body of Christ rather than membership of the same denomination, fellowship, church etc. But note that the idea of the Greek word translated &quot;strengthened&quot; is essentially ability, and therefore potential. Nobody is forced against their will. We are given the potential ability, and must use it.</p><p><i>According to the might of his glory</i><i>, to all patience and endurance, with joy</i>- This appears to be a reference to the immense and total power which the Lord Jesus now enjoys, as King of the cosmos and prince of the kings of the earth. The idea is that the internal strengthening of the believer is performed by He whose power is unbounded throughout the cosmos. This is encouragement indeed, when we wonder how ever we might be able to change, or rather, be changed.</p>