CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY

“God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.”  (Colossians 1:27-28 NIV)

Christ in you means you don’t have to face anything alone. Anything! When you walk into a doctor’s office with more questions than answers, Christ in you is the hope of glory. When you’re sitting at the kitchen table staring at bills that you can’t pay, Christ in you is the hope of glory. When you’re parenting a child who’s breaking your heart, Christ in you is the hope of glory. When you are unseen in your workplace, unappreciated in your home, or feeling unqualified for the next thing that God asked you to do, Christ in you is the hope of glory. When you’ve prayed the same prayer a hundred times and the mountain hasn’t moved, yet, even in that place, Christ in you is the hope of glory. It’s not just a verse. It’s not just a doctrine. It’s not just a hope for someday. It’s a promise for right now and if the fire still is burning, meaning if there is still breath in your lungs, then God is not finished with you yet. 

-- Pastor Larry Frank, Grace Church, Cape Coral, Florida

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THE GIFT OF CHRIST’S INDWELLING PRESENCE

“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.”  (Colossians 2:9-10 NIV)

Jesus is the whole package. He is not part of the package, part of the solution, part of the hope. Being in Him, living in union with Him, and having Him dwell within us, is the complete, sufficient, and enduring hope of the human heart.

There is no hope for the heart that matches Jesus. There is no other ultimate solution for the ills of humankind. And no one who has truly discovered the power of Christ’s love and the gift of His indwelling and healing presence would want it any other way. 

-- Excerpted from “The Wake-up Call” with Dan Wilt 

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THE GOAL OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH

“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ.”  (Ephesians 4:14-15 NIV)

I am called to become the person God had in mind when He originally designed me. This is what is behind Kierkegaard's wonderful prayer, "And now Lord, with Your help I shall become myself." …[Spiritual growth] is about that holy and mysterious process described by the apostle Paul when he said he was "in the pain of childbirth until Christ is formed in you." (Galatians 4:19) The goal of such growth is to live as if Jesus held unhindered sway over our bodies. Of course, it is still we doing the living. We are called by God to live as our uniquely created selves -- our temperament, our gene pool, our history. But to grow spiritually means to live increasingly as Jesus would in our unique place -- to perceive what Jesus would perceive if He looked through our eyes, to think what He would think, to feel what He would feel, and therefore to do what He would do.

-- John Ortberg in “The Life You've Always Wanted”

THE SECRET TO LASTING JOY - Part 2

Jesus said, “Abide in Me, and I in you.”  (John 15:4a NKJV)

The other half of the secret of lasting joy is that Christ abides  -- lives -- in us. He gives us exactly what we need in any moment: assurance that we are loved in our problems, forgiveness for our mistakes, wisdom to discern what He wants to do to bring good out of difficulties, and supernatural strength to do what He guides in untangling our problems.

There is no joy when we are worried about whether we will have what it takes. But equally so, there is no joy to be compared to the joy we feel when we know that we are empowered by the Savior of the world! That means accepting His strength pulsing into us as branches inseparably connected to Him, the vine.

-- Lloyd J. Ogilvie in “If God Cares, Why Do I Still Have Problems”

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GOD IS AT WORK IN YOU

"For it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13)

God is at work in you is an explosive, earth-shaking, and life-changing truth. … At this very moment, whoever and wherever you are, something beyond our full comprehension is taking place within your life and mine. The infinite God of love has chosen to become resident within you and to work within you for pure good. Since God is pure goodness and has no ulterior motives, we can trust, embrace, and cooperate with the divine work going on within us and every child of God. Once we accept this truth and fully embrace this Divine Presence within us, many other things become clear and possible. We can listen to and follow the guidance of the One who made us, loves us, and is able to lead us in the way of God. We can hear and respond to the Divine call to communion and community with the present and living God. We can hear and respond to the call to faithfulness and service because we are no longer on our own, but the power and the presence of the God at work within us is ready, available, and capable to form, transform and shape us into the beautiful, faithful, and good persons we were created to become. We can now walk through each day without fear because we remember that we do not walk alone but always with the companionship and help of the One who is now at work within us. Let’s remember and remind each other often of this radical and revolutionary truth.

-- Reuben P. Job in When You Pray

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TO FOLLOW JESUS IS TO BE DIFFERENT

Christians are different. Or at least they should be.

After all, as the Apostle Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me." (Galatians 2:20)  What a revolutionary idea: As Christians, you have been crucified with Christ. He now lives in you. That means you no longer live by the world's standards; instead, you live by faith in the Son of God. Your values will differ from the world's values. When the world says, "If it feels good, do it," Jesus says, "Deny yourself and follow Me." When the world says, "I gotta be me," Jesus says, "You are My sheep, My flock." When the world says, "Do unto others, and then split," Jesus says, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." To follow Jesus is to be different.

In other words, Jesus wants your heart and your soul. He yearns to free you from the awful bondage of serving only yourself and seeking only your advantage. He envisions yours as a heart that desire God and His pleasure most of all.

That's what Paul means in Galatians 5:16 when he says, "Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh." The-best-version-of-yourself will live by faith in God rather that faith in yourself or in the powers of this world. As a result, your behaviors, values, and priorities will change.

-- Allen R. Hunt in Nine Words

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PEACE IN CHRIST

God's ultimate answer to suffering isn't an explanation; it's His incarnation. He isn't some distant, detached and disinterested deity; He entered our world and personally experienced our pain.

Jesus is there in the lowest places of our lives. As philosopher Peter Kreeft says: "Are you broken? He was broken, like bread, for us. Are you despised? He was despised and rejected of men. Do you cry out that you can't take any more? He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Did someone betray you? He was sold out. Are your most tender relationships broken? He loved and was rejected.

"Jesus is much closer than your closest friend. Because if you've put your trust in Him, then He is in you. And, therefore, your sufferings are His sufferings; your sorrow is His sorrow."

So when tragedy strikes, when suffering comes, when you're wrestling with pain – and when you make the choice to run into His arms, here's what you're going to discover: peace to deal with the present, courage to deal with your future and the incredible promise of eternal life in heaven.

"I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. But be courageous! I have conquered the world." (John 16:33)

-- Lee Strobel  in The Case for Christianity Answer Book

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SEEING GOD IN YOU

"To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.." (Colossians 1:27 NIV)

I am weary of celebrity religion. I have had my share of honors, but when I die, unless my family can say, "There is something of God in that man," then I will have failed.

-- Stephen Olford


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