Daily Reading: 7-18-16
Colossians 1:27-2:7 Living Bible (TLB)
This is a Word for today; keep it in your heart and never let it go: Christ in your hearts is your only hope of tasting the glory and culture of heaven. You need to connect to Christ. God desires to give us glimpses of the glory; it pleases Him to share with His children. We must press in and open ourselves up for the revelation and understanding; to live in vital union with Christ.
Several weeks ago in our LIFE lesson series on Revelation, we read about the lukewarm church at Laodicea who turned away from Christ’s highest for them. In our passage this morning we see the Apostle Paul had been pouring himself out to help them grow in the riches of heaven, but in Revelation we can see they were too full of themselves to be full of Christ and, therefore, faced God’s discipline instead of being filled with His glory. It is always about humans making wise choices.
Colossians 1:27-2:7Living Bible (TLB)
1:26-27 He has kept this secret for centuries and generations past, but now at last it has pleased him to tell it to those who love him and live for him, and the riches and glory of his plan are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ in your hearts is your only hope of glory.
28 So everywhere we go we talk about Christ to all who will listen, warning them and teaching them as well as we know how. We want to be able to present each one to God, perfect because of what Christ has done for each of them. 29 This is my work, and I can do it only because Christ’s mighty energy is at work within me.
2:1 I wish you could know how much I have struggled in prayer for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for my many other friends who have never known me personally.
2 This is what I have asked of God for you: that you will be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love, and that you will have the rich experience of knowing Christ with real certainty and clear understanding. For God’s secret plan, now at last made known, is Christ himself. 3 In him lie hidden all the mighty, untapped treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 I am saying this because I am afraid that someone may fool you with smooth talk. 5 For though I am far away from you my heart is with you, happy because you are getting along so well, happy because of your strong faith in Christ. 6 And now just as you trusted Christ to save you, trust him, too, for each day’s problems; live in vital union with him. 7 Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him. See that you go on growing in the Lord, and become strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with joy and thanksgiving for all he has done.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for extending wisdom to me every time I choose to ask. Holy Spirit, please prompt me to ask for wisdom for each opportunity you bring to share Christ’s vibrant love, as well as with each problem I face because I live in a world that rejects you. Help me to pull on the supernatural riches of heaven to meet the need. Cause the root of Christ’s love in my heart to grow even deeper, today, and nourish me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.