We receive Christ as our Savior and Lord, but then we have
no idea what to do with Him. Paul tells us to walk in Him, to sink our roots
into Him and to be built up in Him. In this way, we are established in our faith
and abound in Him for every good work (Colossians 2:6-7). This
has nothing to do with the exercise of self-discipline (Galatians
3:1-3). It has everything to do with the grace and mercy of God.
Our only command is to believe (John 3:16-18). Yet, God even helps us in our
unbelief (Mark 9:23-25).
There are impediments to belief. Our guilt, our penchant toward sin, our carnal flesh, our pride and willfulness, our fears and doubts all plague us. They build a wall around our spiritual growth. Slowly, over the years, God cleanses us from all unrighteousness and demolishes these walls (1 John 1:7-9). He builds up our faith by allowing trials to cleanse us from our deepest fears and insecurities. He whittles away at our pride, and allows us to experience humiliation until we are humbled.
We come to realize that we did not earn our salvation and
neither can we earn our sanctification (Galatians 3:1-3). We do
not deserve Christ, but He loved us even while we were still sinners (Romans
5:8). God empties us of our self and fills us with all of His
fullness (Ephesians 3:19). Jesus leads us into a walk
of intimate fellowship with Himself. If we sit in His presence and empty our
mind of all thoughts and stress, He pours His love over us like a waterfall,
until we are saturated with His affection and care.
God fills us with His joy, holiness and spiritual fruit as
we come to a place of abiding in His presence each moment of the day (Romans
15:13; Galatians 5:22-23). It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives
in and through us (Galatians 2:20). He holds us securely in His
everlasting arms. We can depend on Him for all of our needs and the strength
and wisdom to walk in His will moment by moment throughout the day. We walk in
confidence as His Spirit directs our paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).
If we are in Christ, we lack no good thing (Psalm
34:10). He lives the Christian life through us. Due to His presence, we deny
our flesh, obey His Spirit’s direction and study His Word to show our self
approved and not ashamed (2 Timothy 2:15). We realize that nothing is
impossible to those who believe in God (Luke 1:37). Our life
depends upon every Word that ensues from His mouth (Matthew
& Luke 4:4). God grafts us into the Vine (Jesus) so that we partake of
His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).
Prayer:
Father God, even in our times of remorse and despair, You
remind us that we are Your beloved children. You breathe hope, peace and joy
into our soul regardless of our circumstances (Jeremiah 29:11). You
accomplish Your wondrous work in us and for us, as You work all things out for
our good (Romans 8:28). We rejoice in Your divinity
within us and we thank You for Your presence forevermore (1 Peter
1:4). As our thoughts permanently dwell on You, Your living Word transforms
our life into the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18).
Thought for the Day:
We can thoroughly depend upon Christ to fulfill His
promises to us, both now on this earth and also in eternity. 