365 Days of Praise
I HAVE DIED to SIN’S RULING POWER
“For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
Can you imagine getting a letter from a spiritual mentor who writes, “you have died.” What in the world would they mean? Obviously we’re not physically dead. Neither are we spiritually dead. Christians are more spiritually alive than ever. We’re not emotionally or intellectually dead. What Paul means is that believers are to consider themselves dead to the ruling power of sin. In Colossians 3:5 we read, “consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. Put aside anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another. (Colossians 3:8-9) These verses tell us that because Christ lives in us, we are no longer slaves to our old nature. And, most importantly, we should consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ!
Heavenly Father, thank You for Christ’s death that freed me from the ruling power of sin and released me to live by His power and grace!
From If God in In Control, Why Am I a Basket Case?
I AM HEAVENLY MINDED
“Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”
What are you thinking? Has anyone ever asked you that? It’s a good question. Are our thoughts anxious? Are they negative? Or, are they rejoicing on the things above and God’s goodness? This is the second time in two verses that we’re directed to “things above.” Above here means “on high.” Paul explains that, since we’ve been crucified with Christ, we should continuously think on Christ and our higher calling in Him. This doesn’t mean that we ignore our earthly responsibilities. However, it does mean that we take proactive measures to think on and absorb Christ’s perspective, love, and power over earth’s values, emptiness, and weakness. How do we do this? It’s a choice. To set means “to direct one’s mind to a thing.” Every day when we wake, we set our minds on the things above by directing our thoughts to God in prayer. We set our minds on the things above by reading the Bible. We set our minds on that which is outlined in Philippians 4:8. Gravity may pull our feet to earth, but God calls us to set our minds on the things above.
Heavenly Father, help me set my mind on the things above. May I be increasingly heavenly minded rather than earthly minded.
From If God in In Control, Why Am I a Basket Case?
I AM A SEEKER of THINGS ABOVE
“Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”
Is your spiritual life dry? If so, perhaps it’s because you haven’t been aware of this verse or known that as a Christian you’re to be a seeker of the things above. In this passage, seek means “to find out by thinking, meditating, reasoning; to strive after or crave.” The verb tense is a command to continuously seek, to keep on seeking as our general habit or lifestyle. Children seek to find eggs at Easter. They eagerly get their baskets and look for hidden eggs. Colossians 3:1 reminds us that we should be just as intentional about opening our Bibles and seeking to better know our Lord, His ways, about heaven, and so much more. When we do, our spirits are whetted, stimulated with desire to know Christ more.
Heavenly Father, thank You for the reminder that my role in life is not to seek earthly things, but rather to seek “the things above where Christ is.”
From If God in In Control, Why Am I a Basket Case?
I AM GROWING with a GROWTH from GOD
“the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments,
grows with a growth which is from God.”
Just as it is important for the physical body to grow in health, it is important to grow spiritually; in our knowledge of Christ and who we are in Him. Are you? If you’re getting this blog post, you most certainly ARE if you’re thinking on and personalizing the verses. Why is it important to grow? In our day and age, just like in Paul’s, false teaching, legalism, mysticism, asceticism, and everything in between vies for our attention. If we don’t have a clear understanding of our salvation, we can be unwittingly be led astray. I commend you for your dedication to keep growing with a growth that comes from God.
Heavenly Father, thank You that there is no limit to the amount I can learn and grow in You. Help me continue to grow so that I love and serve You more fully each day.
LEARN & GROW. Listen to free audio lessons. Click the picture.
I AM DEBT FREE!
“having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”
What would you give to be free of your financial debt? Can you imagine the weight lifted if the one to whom you owed a huge debt said, “Oh, forget it. Don’t worry about paying it.” And then, before your eyes, they took the bill and tore it up. You would walk out of their office with the weight of the world lifted from your shoulders. You would be a new person, with new resolve to do life better. You would be more than appreciative. That is exactly what God did in regard to our sin debt. He nailed it to the cross on Jesus.
Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Jesus to take care of my sin debt. Lord Jesus, I praise You for making my payment in full by Your death.
LEARN & GROW. Listen to free audio lessons. Click the picture.
I AM ALIVE TOGETHER WITH CHRIST
“When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,”
Before salvation, we are dead in our sins and the “uncircumcision of our flesh.” Dead is a metaphor for “spiritually dead, destitute of a life that recognizes and is devoted to God, given up to trespasses and sins, destitute of force or power, inactive, inoperative.” Dead is our spiritual condition prior to salvation. The divine Spirit of God isn’t operative in unsaved people who sin without remorse. Spiritually dead doesn’t mean spiritually annihilated. It means spiritually separated from God. Paul explains that prior to salvation we’re dead in our transgressions. Transgressions carries overtones of “falling beside or near something, a lapse or deviation from truth and uprightness, a sin, misdeed.” Were we to die in this fallen state, we’d be separated from God; fallen eternally in the kingdom of darkness. However, through Christ, God forgives us all our transgressions and makes us alive together with Christ. If you’ve not said, “Hallelujah,” and responded to His offer of salvation, why not now?
Heavenly Father, what a joy to contemplate that I am alive together with Christ for eternity!
From If God in In Control, Why Am I a Basket Case?
I AM BURIED & RAISED WITH CHRIST
“having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.”
WHO ARE YOU? I hope you answered with the many ways we’ve studied since January. WHO AM I? I’m a person who has been buried and raised up with Christ. I’m not the same person who was born into this world. The old me is dead. My sins went to the grave with Christ. When God raised Christ, He raised me to walk in newness of life. When you contemplate the Easter season and final days of Christ, of Him heading to Jerusalem to carry the cross and die; it is your walk He is walking. He is doing the heavy, hard work for us. He is taking our place so we can be raised to new life.
Heavenly Father, in Christ’s death, I died. But You didn’t leave me in the grave. You miraculously raised Christ and me. Help me live ever mindful of my resurrected life.
LEARN & GROW. Listen to free audio lessons. Click the picture.
I AM CIRCUMCISED IN MY HEART
“and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;”
“Circumcised? What are you talking about? I’m not a man nor a Jew,” we may say. Of all the ways that Christians are identified in Christ, this may sound the strangest. What does it mean that believers are circumcised? Romans 2:28 explains, “but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.” In other words, when God convicts us that we’re sinners and we repent and confess Jesus as Lord; believing in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we’re saved. (Romans 10:9) The identifying “mark” of being saved is not wearing a cross or being physically circumcised. Rather, it is that we behave differently because the Spirit has circumcised our hearts and done away with the reigning power and penalty of sin. Have you been circumcised in your heart? If not, repent. Confess to God that you can’t change your heart, but You know He can. Confess Jesus as Lord. Let the Spirit do the inward surgery that only He can do to give you a new heart that beats for Christ.
Heavenly Father, Thank You for sending Jesus to die on the cross so that the power and penalty of sin would no longer be the reigning power in my heart. Help me live by the heartbeat of my new heart.
LEARN & GROW. Listen to free audio lessons. Click the picture.
I AM FIRMLY ROOTED IN CHRIST
“having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith,”
Have you ever seen a huge tree toppled over on it’s side? It’s sad. What had been big and beautiful lays there waiting to be chain sawed and taken to a brush pile or used for fire wood. However, more sad is a person who once professed their faith in Christ and is now toppled. One needs to look no further than the roots to see what happened. Showy faith won’t stand against the winds of temptation, despair, of disillusionment. But, if we truly trust in Christ, our roots are secure in Him. The more we study God’s Word and walk in His ways, the more firmly rooted, built up, and established we become.
Heavenly Father, thank You that in Christ Jesus I am firmly rooted. When despair and doubts assail me, I can open my Bible and deepen my roots in truth. I love and praise You!
I AM STABLE IN CHRIST
“For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.”
Talk to anyone who has experienced an earthquake and they will tell you how frightening it is. No one likes to feel shaken. One of God’s gifts to us is a firm foundation in Christ. Jesus spoke of the importance of building our lives on Him in Luke 6:47-49. “Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, …is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been built well.” What a blessing Christians have in the gift of a firm foundation in Christ and God’s Word.
Heavenly Father, Thank You for Christ, the firm foundation on Whom I can build my life and not be shaken.
From If God in In Control, Why Am I a Basket Case?
