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God's Words For US
by Cecelia Lester
“Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Christ in you
Paul writes to the believers at Colosse in order to encourage them to stand firm against the false teachers in their midst.
When a person comes to Christ, he or she asks Jesus to live in his or her heart. He inhabits the person’s thoughts, mind, speech, actions, and interactions. The result of Christ’s presence in a person’s heart is the anticipation of His working in and through people.
God in us—three powerful words. We should feel humbled that the Father would want to live in our hearts and souls. A pastor’s wife I knew told a group of us she felt very small when she partook of communion. She reflected on who He is and who she was each time she took the elements.
Hope
Hope-n. anticipation, v. anticipate, look forward to,
Christ lives in the hearts of His children. He guides them how to live, to love and to work. His presence in our hearts is a spiritual blessing. He empowers us with His presence. With His empowering, we are able to work for the Kingdom. We look forward to seeing God on His Throne, in His glory. (Isaiah 6:1) We hear we can only see God if we know Him, and have Him in our hearts.
Does Christ Live in Me?
We turn our hearts and lives over to Jesus Christ and ask Him to live there. But, we get overwhelmed by our world. We try to balance home and work and our spiritual lives.
When a giant in the automotive industry had two major divisions located in our town, sometimes a lot of men and women worked six or seven days a week. Certain areas of life became secondary to work in the factories. Family life, church involvement, and recreation all deferred to the job and getting the dollars. (I did not work in this industry. My husband did.)
As far as my place in the alignment of priorities (in my working), I allowed conditions surrounding me in my life to keep me off-balanced. It took a lengthy time for me to realize that God was with me and Christ in me. I still feel I didn’t do well, at that time in my life representing—living for—Jesus as I should have.
Hope
Hope- reliance on God’ blessing and provision, the expectation of future good.
When we rely on God’s blessings and provisions we possess hope. People who live their lives for Christ walk through their days following His leading.
The verse Colossians 1:27 speaks of Christ being an expectation of our future good.
When we have Christ in our hearts, we become His instruments. We become the hands, the feet, and the voice He needs in order to reach those who need to find Him. God uses us, His children, to demonstrate His love and care to those who need Him—those who are hurting, those who are displaced, those who are impoverished. We become His hope when we yield to Him. As we mature in Him, we learn from Him the exact nature of His will for our lives.
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Cecelia Lester has been serious about her writing for over two decades..
She composes Christian essays and posts them to her blog quietspirit-followingmyking.blogspot.com/
She has served in a faith-based organization, Grace In Action by writing two newsletters and searching for possible grants.
In July 2017, she published her first book, 'Times of Trouble Bring Rays of Joy.'
She and her husband of 54 years live in central Indiana. They have one grown son.
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