Perfect in him

Colossians 2:10: “and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.”

Fullness in this verse basically means perfection. Christ is the only way to achieve it. We have to abide in him if we expect to reach it. The only perfect human being that ever walked on the face of the earth was Jesus. Ok, Adam and Eve were too before the fall. No other one was perfect in a real sense of word. However, as God sees us through the sacrifice of Christ we may attain perfection. At least, we should try to go after it. As we attempt to follow Jesus and stay in his words we are well into becoming perfect in the eyes of God. Why? Because if you are in him you are like him. It means you are perfect. Good luck with that.

Hope in Heaven

Colossians 1:5: “the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel”.

Hope is always connected to the future. Faith is now. We need faith daily. However, if we fail to keep hope daily we will become weak pretty soon. Faith helps us much on the short term perspective. It helps us today. Faith does not look tomorrow. Hope does. We need to develop our perspective on everything in life from both short term and long term perspectives. You can be tossed like a wave here and there if you do not know what to do now. But you will lose motivation and inspiration very fast if you do not look ahead. You have hope in Heaven. That should help you keep you strong and inspired as well as motivated throughout your entire life. God bless you!

Holy Spirit testimony

Romans 8:16: “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”

One way to understand that you are a child of God is by reading the Bible. It is there. It is in the Bible. The Book testifies about the fact that you are born again and can righteously be called the son (or the daughter) of God. That is the most solid testimony that you can have about being part of the family of God.

The second very important testimony that is also very strong is the testimony of the Holy Spirit. If you are born again the Spirit of God lives in you and testifies to you about your nature. He calms you down and gives assurance that you are the child of God. Blessed be his holy name. 

Carnal and spiritual thinking

Romans 8:6: “The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.”

Only two kinds of thinking dominate in the world today. One is carnal and the other is spiritual. Carnal thinking is oriented on sinful lusts and desires, while spiritual thinking is based on spiritual desires, the word and the will of God. People who are not born again will definitely be ruled by carnal type of thinking. Christians that are filled with the Holy Spirit have great chances to think spiritually if they are willing to do so. They can do this, because the Spirit lives in them and gives them his thoughts. Therefore, let us think spiritually.

Dead to sin

Romans 6:1: “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?”

So, shall we? Grace set us free from the power of sin. Being free how can we continue staying in sin? No way! Let the grace increase and sin decrease. We do not want to be slaves to sin. Every Christian should consider himself to be dead to sin. A dead person cannot be tempted. He does not feel any lures of sin. He cannot be deceived. Being dead to sin is an attitude that we should have in our minds. Then will grace increase and our sins decrease. 

Sealed with the Holy Spirit

Ephesians 1:13-14: “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”

For ages the saints have been waiting for God to pour his Holy Spirit into the land. Finally, it has become a reality in Christ. After resurrection He sent the Holy Ghost to the first disciples and the were baptized in the spirit on the day of Pentecost. This promise now belongs to anyone who is converted to Christianity. You can have God Himself inside of you. What a promise and privilege to be a sanctuary of the living God. It shows that you are his property and the evil one cannot touch you. 

Hope does not disappoint

Roman 5:5: “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

People scorn hope. They do not value it. Most do not believe that hope is effective and necessary. It is! It makes our hearts softer. It allows us to be optimists by looking to the future and seeing it bright. It also helps us to forget our current or past troubles and helps us to believe that they will finish soon. So, embrace the hope that God gives you and do not be disappointed. 

Two realities

Romans 4:17: “As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.”

I want to draw your attention to the end of the worse. It says something about our God. He calls things into being that were not. God lives in invisible reality. We live in the visible one. Those that simply follow their five senses have no awareness of what is not visible. Christians try to pattern their father (God). They often call things that are not (visible) as though they were. And they really are. And one day it becomes a fact. 

All under power of sin

Romans 3:9: “What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.”

God is no respecter of persons. All humanity has fallen into sin in his eyes. There are no better or worse races. All nations and every single person are under the power of sin. It is hard to believe, but it is the truth. Some people commit bigger some smaller sins, but these things are still sins: crimes before God. This idea also leads us to a conclusion that all of us need forgiveness for whatever sins we have committed: big or small. 

Goodness of God leads to repentance

Romans 2:4: “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?”

Christians want to know how to repent and what helps us to repent. This excerpt states very clearly that God’s goodness leads us to repentance. When you see how merciful and good God is you do not want to do things He does not like and you repent of them. You cannot force yourself to repent. No, repentance is the gift of God. It is a sovereign act of the Holy Spirit. He reveals to us what is wrong with us and causes us to regret that. We simply have to submit ourselves to this revelation and repent.