Daily Dose 10-6-11

Colossians 2:11-15 (MSG) Entering into this fullness is not something you figure out or achieve. It's not a matter of being circumcised or keeping a long list of laws. No, you're already in—insiders—not through some secretive initiation rite but rather through what Christ has already gone through for you, destroying the power of sin. If it's an initiation ritual you're after, you've already been through it by submitting to baptism. Going under the water was a burial of your old life; coming up out of it was a resurrection, God raising you from the dead as he did Christ. When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ's cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.

Living in the fullness of Christ is freedom! So many avoid Christianity thinking they could not be obedient – some may not like giving up sins. Freedom comes to Christians when they begin to worry less about what they do or don’t do, but rather what was done for them. We can never measure up, do enough or be good enough to be Godly people. But, because of the sacrifice Jesus made, we don’t have to be! He paid off every debt of sins we have committed or will commit. Living a life in His complete fullness comes when we lose desire for sins because we know how much they cost.

Father, My debt was steep and Your Son paid it off! The accuser had strong arguments for my condemnation, but You looked at Jesus and He vouched for me, now I live, “Not Guilty!” Help me seek more of the fullness of Christ. Give me the strength to overcome the desire for sin or traps satan sets so I may enjoy the freedom of living this redeemed life. I love You! Amen