Christ Church Daily Devotion Nov 21 2023

Paul encourages the Colossians to continue living their lives in Christ. They should be rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in faith, and overflowing with thankfulness. They should avoid being deceived by human traditions and false philosophies. Christ is fully God and fully man, the head over all things. Paul uses agricultural imagery to illustrate the importance of being rooted in Christ, avoiding false teaching, and being grateful. In order to bear fruit and be transformed, they must let Christ be the Lord of their lives. Welcome to Christ Church's Daily Devotion from November 21st, 2023. Today we will be reading from Colossians chapter 2, verses 6 through 10. So then, just as you receive Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. So then, Paul wrote, or in other words, given all this, keep growing from verse 6. The Colossians had received Jesus as Savior, and their rescue into the kingdom of light was indeed a marvelous miracle. Since they had also received Him as Lord, they needed to continue to live their lives in Him on a daily basis. The title, Lord, means that Christ has all authority and we owe Him our obedience. He has all authority because He is fully God and fully man. The creator and sustainer of all things. The head of the church. The one who rescued us and reconciled us to God and to one another. And the central mystery and treasure in God's epic plan of redemption. Paul used three phrases to describe following Christ in this way. The first was an agricultural picture rooted and built up in him, verse 7. Plants without roots wither and die. In the same way, Christ must be our source of life. The second was being strengthened in the faith and avoiding hollow and deceptive philosophy by means of sound teaching, found in verse 8. False teaching is a human-centered rather than Christ-centered and results in captivity rather than freedom. The final phrase was overflowing with thankfulness. A mirror of Paul's opening prayer, chapter 1, verses 11 through 12. Scripture uses tree and plant imagery to describe us as followers and worshippers of God. The righteous are like a tree planted by streams of water, which yield its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither, found in Psalms, chapter 1, verse 3. Or they are branches abiding in the vine, Jesus Christ. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit, found from John, chapter 15, verse 5. When we are rooted in Christ, we will see his fruit in our lives as a testimony to his sustaining work to transform us to be more like him. Today's personal worship option. Heavenly Father, I pray that you will give me the faith and strength to let you be Lord of my life today and every day. It is so easy to try to live my life my way, but I want to be rooted, growing and bearing fruit in you.