Category: Devotionals

“To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.” (Colossians 1)

One of our American friends has feared flying, but that didn’t keep her from visiting the UK. She did, however, drink some wine on the way over (she who normally abstains from alcohol). Believing that God can free us from such fears, I offered to pray with her before their return home. We began to pray, and after a while I wondered if I was praying the right way (whatever that is). Just then the words flashed into my mind, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

That was the key to deeper prayer, where we claimed her identity in Christ and where she sloughed off layers of fear that had been rooted in her heart. As we prayed, we rejoiced and gave thanks, and I looked forward to hearing how her flight home would go. The next day I got a quick email that said “the flight was fine – better than fine – in fact” and that she “made it through and didn’t self-medicate at all!”

The phrase that came to me in prayer makes up a profound part of Paul’s letter to the Colossians. He writes to address a heresy, and in doing so he proclaims Christ as the image of God, the creator, the head of the church and the reconciler, among other titles. He wants the Colossians to hold tight to their faith in Christ, to know his indwelling and to become fully mature in him.

Memorizing Scripture may not be your favorite thing, but perhaps this devotional series of considering Christ’s indwelling could plant one phrase indelibly in your mind, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” I trust the Lord will quicken those words when you need a touch of his caress, a reminder of his love, a gift of his grace. May you remain in him as he remains in you.

For reflection: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!” (Ephesians 3:20–21)

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ… (Ephesians 3:14–21)

This week’s text comes from another of Paul’s letters, but unlike some that he wrote to address a specific heresy, this one speaks more generally about God’s purposes. Paul might have intended it not only for the Ephesians but for several other churches as well.

Some people label Paul as harsh or dogmatic, but in this passage we see him welling up with emotion over the amazing riches that we receive in Christ, which come through our dwelling in him. As Christ lives in us we are rooted and established in his love, and the Spirit at work in us gives us the power to comprehend this love.

Indeed, love is our beginning and ending. As we grasp how deep and wide and long and high is Christ’s love, we are permeated with it and it starts to seep out of our very pores. Or to use a metaphor we’ve employed before, Christ’s love bubbles within and pours out of us like living water, bringing life and grace and truth.

Love flowing from within helps us see others as God has created them. It gives us strength to answer a small child’s repeated question of “Why”? It helps us make time to visit the housebound person who is smelly and cantankerous. It gives us a gracious response when we are interrupted from our current project as we remember that people are more important than things or achievements.

Charles Wesley in his famous hymn states it better than I could: “Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heaven, to earth come down; fix in us thy humble dwelling; all thy faithful mercies crown! Jesus thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love thou art; visit us with thy salvation; enter every trembling heart.”

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, show us this day how wide and long and high and deep is your love. Root and establish us in your love as you dwell in us, that others too might grasp this saving love. Amen.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20)

I used to have Scripture memory cards, and this week’s verse was one of the first we memorized. It still rolls off my tongue as easily as the Hail Mary, which I learned as a youngster. (Yes, my background was varied with my Roman Catholic upbringing and my conservative Protestant university.)

But knowing something by heart and living it out are not always the same thing. Rather more often than I like to admit, my “old self” rears its ugly head and I’m not a good advertisement for Christ. Recently I heard myself snip at my husband during the frantic rush to get our kids to school on time. “You’re going to shower and shave?” I asked heatedly, as if the world would stop at this mad idea. So much for the fruits of the Spirit such as gentleness.

We sin, we apologize and ask for forgiveness, we turn from the old self and affirm that Christ lives within. Sometimes we have to come repeatedly to the Lord and our loved ones (or others) as we repent from our sins. It is Christ living in us who gives us the power to do so. And it is Christ living in us who will reduce the frequency of our outbursts.

Paul here was writing to the Galatians, and especially to what were known as Judaizers – Jewish Christians who argued that some of the ceremonial practices from the Old Testament were still binding after Christ. Throughout this letter Paul stresses the freedom that comes with Jesus, which we receive through grace and faith, not works. As we allow our old self to be crucified with Christ, through faith we put on the new; that is, Christ living in us. And he leads us into all freedom, even freedom from snipping at one’s husband.

Prayer: Lord, I have been crucified with you and I no longer live, but you live in me. Today help me to live in faith by you, because you love me and gave yourself for me.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).

The last verses of the gospel of Matthew bring another promise of incarnational truth – that Jesus will be with us until the end of time. He who was named Immanuel – God with us – at the beginning of Matthew’s account (1:23) will never leave us.

The command that comes just before this promise has been called the “Great Commission.” Through it we are exhorted to spread Jesus’ good news, making disciples as we baptize and teach them his rules for abundant living.

How are you at making “disciples of all nations”? I find it a challenge, especially when confronted with some of the evangelistic methods that used to be popular. I could never ask a stranger in the street where they would be if they died tonight. Nor could I knock on doors and pass out tracts. Perhaps the fact that these were “methods” with a goal of conversion was a part of the problem, although I’m sure the Lord has worked through them just the same.

The Great Commission is followed immediately by the promise that Jesus will always be with us, so I can’t help thinking that the two are closely related. We will be winsome in introducing people to Christ when we live in constant communion with him. Relationships are the key, not methods and goals.

This makes me think of the time I did talk to a stranger in the park. I could hear that she was a fellow American as I breezed by, then felt God’s Spirit prompt me to go back and say hello. I didn’t want to, and kept walking. The urge was strong, however, so finally I went back. Turns out she was lonely and I was able to show Christ’s hospitality to her that day. And she was from nearby Iowa (which is right next to my home state of Minnesota). Jesus in us is a transforming presence.

Prayer: Lord, open my eyes to the appointments you are making for me throughout the day, whether while in the queue at the market, the school gates or during the commute to work. Help me be your vessel of love and grace.

We’re at the beginning of Advent, but instead of starting a new series, I’m continuing with this one through December on the indwelling Christ. After all, the Incarnation – the coming of Jesus – is what we celebrate at Christmas, how he’s birthed in our lives. May your time of waiting this Advent season be filled with wonder and awe. 

“I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity” (John 17:20–26).

In my twenties I lived in a house with three other women. Over a decade some of them moved in and out, but one woman and I lived together the whole time. And she was the one whom I most struggled to love or to have unity with.

Being blind to my own faults, I rarely saw things from her point of view. Thus I was shocked during one of our struggles when she said that she had asked God to show her how much he loved me. “Oh dear,” I thought, “Who am I that Kay needs to pray for me in this way?” A few scales fell from my eyes as I realized how self-focused and proud I had been. I had to humble myself and ask her forgiveness. After that revelation, we still had our challenges, but we forged a deeper bond based on our shared love for Jesus Christ.

Our passage this week focuses on the unity of believers, and comes again during Jesus’ last night with the disciples. Here is Jesus’ longest and most intimate prayer, where he prays not only for the followers of his day but for those who would come after – us! Jesus longs that we would be united even as he is one with the Father and the Spirit. This unity is not just for our own good, but that the world would yearn to know more about Jesus.

Being united can be difficult and painful, especially when we glimpse our own sins through the eyes of another. It requires openness, vulnerability, forgiveness, and grace, but we can rest in Jesus’ prayer for us. For he who dwells in us will help us bring about his unity, in and through him.

Prayer: Lord, I often miss the log in my own eye and want to pull out a speck in someone else’s. Give me clarity of vision that I might love others as you love them.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love… I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:9–17)

Our text comes from what is known as the Final Discourse, when Jesus and the disciples move from the Last Supper to his betrayal. As he prepares them for his death, he’s been speaking with them about remaining in him and in his love. To abide in him.

But what does this mean – abiding, so that our joy may be complete? One of the commentators calls it a mystical and interior experience. Perhaps it is mystical, but I hope it can also be natural, practical, and down-to-earth.

We remain in Jesus even as God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit remain in each other. As we saw last week, we are the branches that are attached to the vine. And our growth comes through nourishment – prayer, companionship with other believers, study of God’s word, corporate worship – all empowered by the Holy Spirit who makes his home in us.

Brother Lawrence was one who sought to remain, moment by moment, in Jesus. He was a French monk who lived in the 1600s and worked in the kitchen, so he was definitely rooted in his spirituality. He coined the term “practicing the presence of God,” which simply means calling to mind – anywhere, anytime – that Christ dwells in us, and allowing that reality to shape our lives.

So when we’re making dinner for our family or friends, we can affirm that Christ lives in us as we ask him to help us make a special and nourishing meal. When we are queuing at the bank we can remember that Jesus radiates from within and that we can be his witness of grace to the hassled clerk behind the window. When we are annoyed by ones we love most, we can ask the triune God to help us see that person as he sees them and love them as he does.

As we remain in the love of Jesus, our life will be transformed and our joy will be complete.

For reflection: “In your conversation with God, praise him, adore him, and love him without ceasing because of his infinite goodness and perfection” (Brother Lawrence).