365 Days of Praise
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?
I HAVE RECEIVED CHRIST JESUS the LORD
“ Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,”
Lately I heard a pastor say that the Bible doesn’t speak of salvation as “accepting” Jesus. However, the Bible does speak of not “rejecting” Christ. Numerous times Jesus emphasized our response to Him and His words. He even went so far as to tell the disciples whom He was sending out in His name, “The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.” A quick check of the antonym for reject will prove to be “accept.” Believers are those who accept and receive Jesus and His teachings; including our need for complete abandonment to our Lord; to take up our cross and follow Him. Therefore, we’re reminded in this verse who we are as Christians. We are those who have RECEIVED Christ Jesus the Lord; and walk in His ways.
Heavenly Father, May I be ever mindful of the gift of receiving Christ Jesus my Lord and walk in His ways.
From If God in In Control, Why Am I a Basket Case?
I AM NOT DELUDED
“I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument.”
Have you ever had the “wool pulled over your eyes;” in other words, someone lie to you? Perhaps they convinced you that something was true when it wasn’t. Or, that something was false when it was true. In the early church, even as today, there are those who try to dissuade us from believing in and following Christ Jesus. But, I am not deluded in Christ. Rather, my whole realm of understanding opens like a flower the more I plunge into the wealth of knowledge that comes through reading His Word. No, in Christ, I am not deluded. I am freed to think and meditate on the highest of concepts and realities that extend beyond what my eyes can see.
Heavenly Father, thank You that in Christ a wealth of knowledge and truth opens before me. I can come into Your presence through the Bible and sit and absorb knowledge that extends beyond the world’s reasonings. I can not only know truth, but experience truth in my inner man.
From If God in In Control, Why Am I a Basket Case?
I HAVE CHRIST, IN WHOM ARE HIDDEN ALL the TREASURES of WISDOM & KNOWLEDGE
“Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Are you a seeker of hidden treasures? Hidden means “secret, stored up.” Treasures is the place in which good and precious thing are collected and laid up. Colossians 2:1-3 awakens us to understand that good and precious things are laid up, hidden, and stored in Christ. Bible commentator Wuest notes the following. “The force of this passage then is this: all, and not merely some of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are contained in Christ; therefore the search for them outside of Him is doomed to failure. But not only are they in Christ, but they are contained in a hidden way. Therefore they do not lie on the surface, but must be sought for earnestly, as men seek for hidden treasure. They are not matters of external observances, such as false teachers enjoined, but to be apprehended by deep and serious meditation.”
Heavenly Father, thank You for my salvation and for the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden in Christ. Help me increasingly seek His wisdom and knowledge through deep and serious meditation on Your Word.
From If God in In Control, Why Am I a Basket Case?
CHRIST’S POWER MIGHTILY WORKS WITHIN ME
“For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”
Does Christ’s power mightily work within you? It can. It should within each of us. The apostle Paul, who wrote these words was flesh and blood – just like us. What made him different was that he was “sold out” for Jesus. What does that mean? It means that he had an encounter with the living Christ and believed that Jesus was who He said He was; that nothing made more sense than committing his life to serving Christ. Paul said Christ’s power mightily worked within him. In this verse, working means “working efficiency, used only of superhuman power.” It is power in exercise. Our word energy is derived from this word. Mightily is power in the sense of natural inherent ability. Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament for the English Reader says, “The struggle is carried on in proportion, not to Paul’s natural powers, but to the mightily working energy of Christ within him.” Isn’t this exciting? The mighty working energy of Christ is in you if you’re a Christian. Perhaps if we’re spiritually impotent it’s because we’re living by our strength rather than Christ’s.
Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of Christ’s Spirit and power which mightily works within the believer. Help me be ever sensitive to His Spirit and serve Him wholeheartedly.
I am COMPLETE in CHRIST
“We proclaim Him (Jesus), admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.”
Have you ever thought about how exciting it is that you are “complete in Christ”? So often, we feel anything but complete. There’s always another “step” for how to do something better or faster. Few people would say they complete their daily “to do” list. Personally, we may at times feel incomplete; that there’s something missing. However, the Bible teaches that we are positionally complete “in Christ.” In other words, there’s nothing more we can add to the completed work Christ did in securing our salvation. When He said from the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30), He meant it. The price for our redemption was paid in full. In Christ, we have everything we need for “life and godliness.” (2 Peter 1:3) What a joy it is to say with the apostle Paul, “we proclaim Him” as we grow in our knowledge of all we have in Christ.
Heavenly Father, I rejoice when I meditate on the gift of being complete in Christ. Help me increasingly grow in the knowledge of Christ and walk by His wisdom.
I am a TEACHER
“We proclaim Him (Jesus), admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom,…”
Do you think of teaching others about Jesus as only the job of a pastor or person who leads a Bible study? If so, you’re in for a joyful surprise: every Christian is a teacher. Matthew 28:18-19 Some of us may be actively engaged. Others of us may have fallen behind. Some of us may be good examples of what we teach. Others of us may speak one thing but live differently from our message. Those we teach are family. They’re neighbors and co-workers. What does it mean to “teach”? It means to “impart instruction, instill doctrine, explain, and expound.” To admonish means “to warn and exhort.” Teachers – preachers, parents, spouses, and friends – both warn and instruct others about Christ and His ways.
Heavenly Father, thank You for the privilege of teaching others about Jesus. Help me teach not only in words but by example.
from If God is In Control, Why Am I a Basket Case?
