Living by Grace - Himalayan Heights – June 20 Readings: Colossians 2:4-7 – Rooted and Built Up

 

Colossians 1:15-2:15- Christ in You, Your Hope of Glory

All Scripture is God-breathed and useful, but there are some Scriptures that we can consider the Himalayan mountaintops of the Bible. In the next few months, we will be looking at a series of great texts that inspire and move us - the "Himalayan Heights" of God's Word.

Today's Reading:  Colossians 2:4-7

The Colossian church was beset by heresy, one we do not know specifically. All we know for sure is that it hit at the heart of the Gospel and elevated other things above Jesus. Paul told them our faith was all about Jesus. He exalted Jesus and told them that Christ in them was their hope of glory.

Again, read the entire text of Colossians 1:15-2:15 every day, then focus on our featured passage during this week. This week, we exalt Jesus!

I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with arguments that sound reasonable. 5 For I may be absent in body, but I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in Christ. 

6 So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him, 7 being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude.

Through the Bible Readings: 1 Chronicles 26-27, John 19:28–42, Psalm 75:1–6, Proverbs15:20–22

If you wish to read through the Bible in a year, follow these readings. 

Devotional: Living by Grace    

We disagree on all sorts of things in the church of Jesus Christ - that is why we have so many denominations. We disagree about church structure and leadership, about baptism and the Lord's Supper, about many doctrines. There is one thing all true believers agree on and that is that salvation comes by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, not by our works. It is all of God, all of Christ, not by our works. We cannot save ourselves.

Once we are saved, though, many people are under the impression that everything changes. The Christian life is about me "doing my best" to be a good, moral person, to fight against sin, to try to be like Jesus, to be the best person I can be. No wonder so many Christians fail so miserably and live in spiritual gloom and defeat.

Paul says something startling and important in verse 6, "just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him." The way we receive Jesus is the same way we walk in him. We are saved by grace and we grow in grace. Once we are saved, the Spirit makes us alive and begins to build in us the character of Christ. We respond in faith to the gracious work of God in us, but we are as dependent on the power of God for Christian growth as we were for salvation.

We are not talking about passivity here. We must respond in faith, in obedience and commitment to the Spirit of God within as he guides us according to the word of God. We must simply recognize that from the moment our lives our plant, throughout the process of growth, until our faith is harvested for eternity, it is the work of God and the power of God that enables us, that motivates us, and that strengthens us. He is able!

The Christian life is not about me "doing my best" but about me giving myself completely to Christ so that he can accomplish his work in me and through me.

Father, I pray that my life will be far more than what I could have done, far more than my best. May I be your vessel to accomplish YOUR best. 

Think and Pray:

Is your life a vessel for the work of Christ?
What is God doing in you today?