Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Is your life plugged into the Power source?


Colossians 2:9-10

“For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.”  It would be somewhat strange to find a follower of Christ, a person who believes Jesus was born of a virgin, who’s Father was God, and who was sent to redeem them from the penalty of sin, not believing “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” 

Most believers in Christ are in full agreement with the truth listed above, they believe; “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through him and for him.” (Colossians 1:15-16)  Yes, to believe any less would be foolish!

What about the last part of those verses, how are you doing with, “and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.”  What does that mean, to be filled?  The dictionary gives this definition of the word fill, “put someone or something into (a space or container) so that it is completely or almost completely full.”  Is Colossians 2:10, telling us we are full of Christ Jesus?  Is it based on our performance or our relationship?

Often analogy helps me understand a truth, so this is my attempt using an electric car and the Holy Spirit.  A new electric car was delivered to my home, and I was told by the person who delivered it and I received instructions from the manufacturer that it had been tested before leaving the factory and was in perfect working order, it would only require that I plug it into an electric outlet for twelve hours before it would receive power to perform.  I acknowledge that fact to the person who delivered the car and also replied to the manufacturer that I knew it would require me plugging it into an electric outlet, so it could perform in the manner of it’s design.  I was so proud of that car, it had a special place in the garage, but it never had any power to do what it was designed to do.  You see I would tell and show my electric car to others, but it was waiting for me to follow the instructions of the manufacturer.  It was waiting to be plugged in!  My dear friend Pete Peterson, told how his life at church was like a unplugged vacuum cleaner, he was into all the duties of the church, but he had never plugged into Christ, his life was all what Pete could do, till Christ became his source of power.

Listen and act on what Jesus is telling you in John 14:15-21, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him.  You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.  “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me.  Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.  Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he is who loves me.  And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”  Many of us Christians are like the electric car; we are in the garage, only needing to follow the Manufacturers instructions.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

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