Monday October 11, 2010

Read Colossians 3:1, Ephesians 2:1-7

The Christian life is often a tension. We are prefect in Christ. We are justified in Christ. Yet here and now we see someone less than perfect. Here and now we see the sin and the natural humanity of ourselves. This reality has driven many to find relief from sin in human pursuits, self help programs and fix yourself strategies. But as we saw last week they rarely work.

As believers we are called to holiness and purity. We are called to strive  to be all that we have been declared to be in Christ. That creates a tension and causes a heartache or soul ache as we see the difference between what we are and what we yearn to become in Christ.

The key is to live in Christ. We need to set our heart on the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. We need to find joy, peace and comfort in Jesus’ victory, His ensuing return and the coming glory. The burden of this world, the weight of sin, the pain of struggle is overcome as we set our hearts above to the heavenlies.

Indeed, through Christ we have been raised and seated with Christ in the heavens! He has done everything for our final victory. We soldier on now, looking not at the battle but at the final resting place for the victorious. As one grand old hymn put it, ‘This day the noise of battle, the next the victor’s song.’ Onward Christian soldier. Onward.

Prayer:-

ÿ Pray that those who will teach us on the next Lord’s Day will have their heart in the heavenlies. Pray that they will be seeing all of life from the perspective of the risen and victorious Christ. Pray that God’s Word on the next Lord’s day will equip us, comfort us and mould us to be more like Jesus.

ÿ Pray for our up coming church camp. Pray that the weekend will be a time of relationship building, deep fellowship and a saturation and growth in love for each other and for our Lord. Pray that everyone will be blessed.

We often tend to view our life through a particular grid or set of lenses.

A Christian should see the world and everything that happens in it through the grid of Scripture and more          particularly through the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ Jesus. Is this your grid?

Think about what grid you are using to see the world and how it’s affecting your worship of God, your love for the brotherhood of Christians and your attitude towards non believers.