The Key to the Christian Life
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Christianity is a PERSON, not a procedure; the LORD, not a list! Not church attendance, not Christ-like qualities, not good works, not the Christian "to-do list" (which may vary depending on the group and "camp" you are in)...
Not evangelism, not mission trips, not a quality "quiet time," not Scripture memorization or Bible study...
Not spiritual disciplines, not prayer, not fasting, not obedience, not miracle-working faith...
Not ______________________ (you fill in the blank with your favorite supposed "godliness-producing external" activity).
In other words, not our desperate trying by our own efforts to be and do and get God to love me more.
No!
The LORD JESUS CHRIST, the Son of God!
The Lord Jesus...HE is the Christian life. In fact, He is the key to Everything!
And it's not just what He's done for us, as total and complete as that is. No, it's His very Person. He is our Life!
Christ died for us, so that He could give His life to us, so that He could live in us and through us...as us, not as some illustrious Christian we admire, not as some super-person.
He lives in us to live through us the "Christian life." That's because He's the only one able to live it.
He is God's AMEN and total sum of all things!
And the amazing thing is, He lives in me! And He lives in you too, O child of God, through faith in this glorious Son of God!
...God has chosen to make known...the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Colossians 1:27 NIV
The Mystery, the Treasure who indwells us by faith in His Stellar Self is none other than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
...the glory of God..is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
2 Corinthians 4:6-7 NLT
Our Lord Jesus is the Father's All in All. And He will live through us as us as we let Him (a.k.a. faith)
May we begin to see those spiritual activities, that we think are the Christian life, fall into perspective (and maybe even fall away) in light of all that HE is...EVERYTHING and anything we will ever need!
For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete [full] through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
Colossians 2:9-10 NLT
May this become our equation for life:
JESUS + nothing = Everything*
Christ In Me
Damaris Carbaugh
Christ in Me
The hope of glory Christ in me
My shelter from the storm
Should men of evil have their day
Or should the earth's foundation sway
But none of these can take away
The living Christ in me
The Desire of all nations
Is the Rock of my salvation
Jesus Christ, the King Of Heaven stands with me
Christ in me, the hope of glory
Christ in me, my shelter from the storm
Should men of evil have their day
Or should the earth's foundation sway
None of these can take away the Living Christ in me
The Hope of Glory
Christ in me, my shelter from the storm
Should men of evil have their day
Or should the earth's foundation sway
None of these can take away the living.....
Christ in me, the hope of Glory
Christ in me, my shelter from the storm
Should men of evil have their day
Or should the earth's foundation sway
None of these can take away the living Christ in me
On Christ the solid Rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand
None of these can take away,
The living Christ in me
The living Christ in me.
**To explore this further, may I invite you to take a look at The With-ness of our God: Relationship in Every Dimension, perfect for personal or group study, available on Amazon and other online booksellers:
https://www.abranchinthevine.com/with-ness-of-our-god/
KIRKUS REVIEW:
A Christian devotional based upon prepositional relationships found in the Bible.
Loyd, an educator, begins this book by sharing her lifelong love of grammar—an interest that led her to look carefully at the specific grammatical constructions of the Bible and their implications for Christians. This leads to an exploration of prepositional phrases used in Scripture. This seemingly banal project turns out to be filled with insights about the relationship between God and the faithful. The author’s primary example is “with,” as in the phrase “God is with us,” and she looks at the three Greek words which could be translated as “with” and how they differ from one another. She then goes on to analyze a number of other prepositions in the same manner, focusing especially on key lines, such as, “If God is for us, who is against us?” and “You are in Christ Jesus.” Loyd designs each of her nine chapters as a one-week devotional tool. She begins by laying out a grammatical concept and focusing on a key verse, then moves on to seven days’ worth of reflections, including study and discussion questions. Her prose style is solid though certainly informal and even folksy at times. She often uses examples from her own daily life to back up her points; for instance, in one case, she related an imperfect birthday cake she baked to Jesus, “who came to earth and put up with a broken, imperfect life for my sake.” At another point, she contrasts an old, threadbare nightgown with the comfort of life with Christ. Loyd is well-read within the evangelical canon, quoting authors as diverse as early-20th-century Scottish Baptist minister Oswald Chambers and present-day Christian pastor and broadcaster Tony Evans. She also ably explains the basics of Christian theology, placing substitutionary atonement within the context of “Christ died for me.”
An ingenious and insightful approach to Scripture.
