Today's Reading:
2 Chronicles 19:1-20:37
Colossians 2:8-23
Psalm 116:12-19
Click on Text Link to Read Online
Focus Verses: Colossians 2:6-10
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 8 See to it
that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy,
which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world
rather than on Christ. 9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
Insight:
Putting
faith in Christ Jesus and surrendering to his authority is the
beginning to a new life that must be continued and lived out. As our
roots grow deep into Christ and our hearts are strengthened by faith in
him, our lives are built up; we are able to do what we've been taught,
and thankfulness flows out of us.
Response and Action:
I
must not let my faith in Christ become a powerless list of rules,
beliefs, and traditions, or be reduced to a philosophical system of
principles. My faith is rooted in Christ. He is my hope because he
embodies the fullness of Deity. As I receive Christ, his fullness
becomes my fullness. He is greater than every power and authority. It is
by his power and authority that my life can be transformed.
I
desire to live a transformed life, and to be built up with Christ as my
foundation. He is the one who saves me--not religion, not a set of
ideas, not traditions, not spiritual disciplines, and not rules. All
these become distractions unless they lead me to a deeper love and
relationship with Jesus. They are only valuable to me as a means of
growing into and building upon Jesus, who is the hope of my life and the
power for living.
O
God, help me to know and experience Christ Jesus more each day. My
faith and hope are in him. Strengthen and increase my faith, as I put
down deep roots through the study of scripture, prayer, service,
obedience, and fellowship with other believers. O Jesus, all authority
and power belong to you. Lead me, teach me, and transform me into your
likeness. May my life overflow with thanksgiving as I continue to build
my life on you. Amen.
Spiritual Formation Verses: Ephesians 3:16-19
16
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power
through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in
your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and
established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to
grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and
to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to
the measure of all the fullness of God.
Resources:
Deep-Rooted in Christ: The Way of Transformation
by Joshua Choonmin Kang
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