If God is In Control
MY LIFE IS HIDDEN WITH CHRIST
“For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
Paul explains in Colossians 3:3 that we have “died” – are separated from sin’s power. How is it, then, he now speaks of our lives? Life in this passage is defined as, “the state of one who is possessed of vitality or is animate.” It’s a reference to absolute fullness of life. It is life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by a more perfect body, to last forever. In other words, our ultimate life – that which spiritually enlivens and animates us – isn’t found in a person, job, child, home, or anything else. It’s found/hidden in Christ. It is spiritual. Those who aren’t Christians and those who aren’t walking closely with Christ, don’t understand the exuberance of life that is possible in Christ. But those who do, rejoice!
Heavenly Father, thank You for the exuberance You give me in Christ; and that my life is hidden/concealed with Him; safe and alive forever.
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 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.
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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 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?
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 CARRY the HOPE of GLORY
“Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Several weeks ago my husband called me with the sad news that a friend had committed suicide. Unfortunately, his state of “hopelessness” is felt by many today. But what is the Christian’s message? It is that we have hope! It is a hope anchored in Christ. It is grounded in the reality that Christ is in us, and that in Him we have the hope of glory. It is not an illusive glory. Rather, we are to fix our eyes on the glory that awaits us, but also pray daily for Christ’s glorious presence to fill us. We are not as those who have no hope. Rather, every believer can lay hold of their identity; that they carry Christ within them, the hope of glory.
Heavenly Father, Thank you that my hope does not rest in how “good” I am today. Rather, my hope is in Christ, who resides in me and is the HOPE OF GLORY.
POSSESSOR of a GLORIOUS MYSTERY
“God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
When Paul referred to his message as a “mystery manifested,” it was a direct confrontation to false teachers who wooed people from the simplicity of the gospel. False teachers urged people to add to their faith “fullness of knowledge.” They claimed only a select few could experience fullness of knowledge, and it was only available through the mystical experience they offered. However, rather than secretive, Paul explains that God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of the mystery. What is the glorious mystery once hidden but now revealed? The mystery is the birth of the church. The mystery is God unitying Jews and Gentiles into one body in Christ. The mystery is Christ in the believer. Now that’s a mystery to rejoice in and share!
Heavenly Father, what a glorious mystery You have give me by which to live and share!
From “If God is In Control, Why Am I a Basket Case?”
I Am at PEACE with God
“For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”
There are few things for which people seek more than to be at peace; and especially at peace with God. When we were reconciled to God, which means, “bring back a former state of harmony,” our lives changed. No longer were we at war with God. Rather, harmony was established. I don’t know about you, but I love knowing that God and I are in harmony. “I am at peace with my Maker.” Say it aloud. Say it often. It’s who you are because of Christ.
Heavenly Father, thank You that because of Christ, I am at peace with You!
from If God is In Control, Why Am I a Basket Case?
I AM HELD TOGETHER by CHRIST
“He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
“I can’t hold it together another day!” I once heard someone say. What did they mean? Life was “falling apart.” Hopes, dreams, aspirations were not “falling into place.” Sometimes we say, “Hold on. It will get better.” But the fact is, sometimes one person’s definition of “better” isn’t another person’s. In the midst of the chaos of life, what can “hold us together?” I’ve found no one better or more faithful than Jesus. He has literally “held me together” when it seemed things were crumbling apart. Author and pastor Warren Wiersbe, in The Bible Expositon Commentary, tells the story of a guide who “took a group of people through an atomic laboratory…The tourists studied models of molecules and were amazed to learn that matter is made up primarily of space…One visitor asked, ‘If this is the way matter works, what holds it all together?’ For that, the guide had no answer.” Not only is Jesus the agent of creation and one for whom the world was created, He is also the one who holds it together. As Christ holds all things together, He holds you together. You are a wonderful creation of Christ – held together by Him.
Heavenly Father, thank You that in the midst of the chaos of life, You remind me that I’m not alone; and I don’t have to carry my responsibilities alone. At the center of each day is Christ – loving me and holding me and holding me together.
from If God is In Control, Why Am I a Basket Case?
