Complete in Christ

Although we are simple clay jars, we contain God’s greatest treasure, Jesus Christ, who actually lives within every Born Again Believer (2 Corinthians 4:7-9; Colossians 1:27). We are in Christ, and Christ is also in us (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 1:27; Romans 8:10; 2 Corinthians 13:5; Ephesians 3:16-17).

Jesus, who knew no sin, took on the sin of the whole world; so that we could become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:20-21). Christ’s light shines in our hearts.

When we follow the Spirit’s leading rather than our flesh, we no longer experience condemnation and guilt (Romans 8:1-21). We minister in righteousness by the Spirit according to the will of God (2 Corinthians 3:7-9).

We discover that God's love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and self-control replace the carnal nature and attitudes in our heart (Galatians 5:22-23). 

Satan wants us to focus on our failings, and he tries to make us feel like failures - not good enough. However, if Christ is in us, although our body is dying daily, God’s Spirit gives us His life (Romans 8:10).

We are no longer a separate entity from Jesus. We quit struggling, stressing and striving to be more spiritual (2 Corinthians 5:18-19); and we enter into God's rest. We cease from all of our efforts (Hebrews 4:10).

God’s grace draws us to Jesus, keeping us pursuing holiness and finishing our perfection as God’s Spirit transforms us through sanctification into God’s divine nature (1 Corinthians 6:17; 1 John 3:2).

God fills us with His Spirit to complete us in Christ. We are so united with Christ that His thoughts fill our mind (Philippians 2:5). He has our new life, our perfection and our character in His capable hands.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for giving us Jesus as our advocate with You (1 John 2:1), and Your Holy Spirit who makes constant intercession for us before You (Romans 8:26). Help us to decrease so that Christ can increase within us (John 3:30). You give us our true identity in Christ, because our human “self” is dead and buried with Christ in You (Colossians 3:3).

We live in and through Christ, and He lives in and through us. We are complete in our union with Christ (Colossians 2:10), having all of Your power working in and through us. We never even have to fear death, because the moment we leave this earth, You take us home to live with You for eternity (Philippians 1:21).

Thought for the Day:

Christ is our life (Colossians 3:4), we are complete in Him (Colossians 2:10), He puts His mind within us (1 Corinthians 2:16), and He gives us His abundant life now and forever (John 10:10).

No Longer Condemned

Regardless of our struggles as Believers in Christ, no action on our part can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:31-39). We are no longer condemned, because Christ set us free (Romans 8:1). ​

When certain sins continue to entice us, we can ask God to reveal the need in us, which they supply. He gives us wisdom on how to meet those needs in a Godly fashion, and we no longer desire sin.

All sin is rooted in unbelief, because whatever is not of faith is sin (Romans 14:22-23). Satan will even attempt to condemn us with shame for our lack of faith; yet, we can cry out to God, "I believe, help my unbelief" (Mark 9:23-25).

We reject the devil's condemnation, and respond with repentance and surrender to the conviction of God's Holy Spirit. As we strive to enter God's rest, we abide in His peace and joy (Hebrews 10:4; Romans 14:17).

Choosing to refrain from running off on our own tangents, we reduce our need to cry out to God to find us and restore us back to a life in the center of His will (Luke 15:4).

Centering our life with our source in Christ in us, we do only those works, which God preordained for us to do (Ephesians 2:10, 3:17). We walk in the Spirit instead of in the flesh (Galatians 5:15-25).

We find our fulfillment in this life by walking the straight and narrow road (Matthew 7:14). We rejoice in the Lord always in every situation, because of His love and presence residing within us (Philippians 4:4).

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for providing for us the pearl of great price to pay the ransom for our sins and to set us free from Satan's lies (Matthew 13:45-46). We rejoice in knowing that we are wholly Yours and that You have a purpose for our individual life (Ephesians 2:10).

Remind us that we no longer live, but Christ lives in and through us, directing our day and giving us the desire and the power to accomplish Your will for each moment (Philippians 2:12-13; 2 Corinthians 4:11). We give You all of the praise and glory forever and ever.

Thought for the Day:

Satan tells us that we will never measure up and be enough, but Christ died for us and reminds us that in Him we are complete. - Job 19:26; Colossians 2:10

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Our Divine Identity

 

 

Human beings are born with a body and soul, which are alive, but our spirit is dead on arrival. Our spirit is buried under the layers of generational sin since the time of Adam and Eve (Ephesians 2:1-5). Our living soul – our mind, will and emotions – is fragile and often fails under the weight of life. Circumstances beat us down relentlessly.

Our dead spirit and our unhealthy soul affect our body as well. Without Christ as our Savior we are crippled in life. We search relentlessly to find the missing piece, which will make us whole. What we lack is the vital power of God. No one is intrinsically good except God (Mark 10:18). Therefore, we need Christ to move into our life.

Once we come to Christ we are totally complete in Him (Colossians 2:9-10). Jesus is our only way, truth and life (John 14:6). We have no meaningful existence without Him (2 Corinthians 13:5). He lives through us, making good choices, which last for eternity (Colossians 3:3). He anoints us with His Holy Spirit and power (Acts 10:38).

We live, move and have our existence only in Jesus (Act 17:28). Christ actually does the work of God through us (Romans 12:15; Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 12:27). Our true identity as Authentic Christians comes from Christ living in us and expressing God’s character through us (Hebrews 13:20; Galatians 5:22-23).

We are all united with Christ in His Body. He uses us as individual members, each with unique gifts and talents. We work in ministries both to a corporate, church Body and to the dying world around us. God equips us to walk in His will through Christ in us. We live to fulfill His eternal purpose with our life (Matthew 11:29; Ephesians 2:10).

Prayer:

Father God, You give us Your eternal life, which no one can take from us (John 10:28). We are unified with You, and we are beneficiaries of Your divine will (1 Corinthians 6:17; 2 Peter 1:4). We have constant fellowship with You, Your Son and Your Spirit (1 John 1:3, 9; Phil 2:1). Thank You for seating us in heavenly places in Your Son (1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 2:6). We give You all the praise, honor and glory.

Thought for the Day:

Any identity not centered in Christ is merely temporary and fleeting.

 

Law of Life in Christ

 

When our spirit is Born Again by the Spirit of God in salvation, we are set free from the Law of Sin and Death (Romans 8:2). Jesus won this victory for us on Calvary’s cross. We are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Jesus died to sin once and for us all. He bore the penalty of our sin and gave us His righteousness in its place (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 6:10). Our spirit is alive to God in Christ and our soul – our thoughts, choices and emotions - is now free from sin (1 Peter 6:11; Romans 6:7). 

Our old carnal, human nature is dead and our new, spiritual nature resides in its place (Romans 8:2). We no longer struggle with the sin and depravity that used to plague our life. Paul records his struggle with coming to this conclusion in Romans chapter seven. Then, Paul triumphantly records the culmination of his struggle in the conclusion that the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus sets us free from the Law of Sin and Death (Romans 8:2; John 8:36).

Satan wants us to believe that we have to struggle with our flesh and go through a long, drawn out crucifixion process. Satan wants to keep us occupied with the struggle Paul describes in Romans chapter seven. However, when we realize the completed work, which Paul clarifies for us in Romans 8:2, we are no longer centered on the temporal, earthly aspects of life. We come to realize just how comprehensive Christ’s work on the cross really is (Philippians 2:12-13).

We focus instead on the eternal, Heavenly aspects of everlasting life, which is ours both now in this life and in eternity. We no longer live in selfishness, pride and rebellion, but we completely surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in our life. Our carnal nature is totally dead by our faith in Christ, and is replaced by the fruit of God’s Spirit. We no longer reap the negative consequences of a carnal lifestyle, because we enjoy the eternal advantages of a life complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10).

Prayer:

Father God, I see as Paul did that there is no need to pray for more love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness, self-control and faith, because they are all part of Your nature, which resides within us from the moment of our salvation. We really are a totally new creation with all the attributes of Your triune Being living within us (1 Thessalonians 5:23; Colossians 1:19). Our carnality is now dead, and our life is completely hidden with Christ in You (Colossian 3:3).

Thought for the Day:

Jesus Christ really is our whole life. - Colossian 3:4

 

Higher Ground

 

Jesus came in the likeness of sinful flesh and gave us His righteousness in exchange for our sin (Romans 8:3-4). God makes this transaction, and we have nothing to do with it, except to repent of our sin, to believe that Jesus is God who came in the flesh, and then to surrender our all to His service (1 Timothy 3:16; John 1:2). We work out our salvation with awe and vigilance, but it is actually God who is giving us both the desire and the power to comply (Philippians 2:12-13).

Idols are anything in our life, which prevent us from unhindered fellowship with our Father. With each idol we surrender to Him, we walk more freely in His ways. Many people are snared by the devil and held captive by him; however, God wants to set us free through our repentance and His truth (2 Timothy 2:24-26). As we abide in Christ and His Word, His truth sanctifies us and frees us from Satan’s lies (John 8:31-32; John 17:17).

Through sanctification, the Holy Spirit transforms us into the nature of Christ in continuous stages of holiness (2 Corinthians 3:18). We live in this world, but we are no longer a part of it (John 15:19). Christ lives in us and we are part of Him (Galatians 2:20). We are one spirit with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17). We live and walk in His Spirit, who leads us and conforms us into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). He continually leads us to ever-higher ground.

God loves us with His whole heart (John 3:16; Romans 5:8); therefore, He wants us to love and serve Him with our whole heart in return (Proverbs 3:5-6). God is love (1 John 4:8); and when we are filled with Him, we are filled with His love (John 17:23). We are accepted in His Beloved Body both world-wide and throughout the ages (Ephesians 1:6). God desires unbroken fellowship with us every day of our life (Romans 6:11). God sees us as perfect and complete in Christ (Colossians 1:27).

 

Prayer:

Father God, help us to avoid relying on our human resources, but to cling to You as You deliver us and make us whole (Proverbs 3:5-6). As we admit our helplessness, You achieve Your will in our life (Psalm 37:7-9). Prove to us each day that we are undeniably walking in Your Spirit, so that we can learn to live in unbroken fellowship with You. Use us each day according to Your will and purpose.

Thought for the Day:
God accomplishes His will in our life to the praise and the glory of His name. – Romans 12:2