Built Up Through Grace

Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed and overflowing with gratitude.
Colossians 2:6-7 NASB

"This world can be pretty brutal at times; in fact, most of the time. People disappoint us. We disappoint them. The flesh gets the upper hand. Satan is relentless in his assault, whether by accusation or temptation or taunting. Circumstances get out of hand and dreams are shattered. Society as a whole just seems to unravel before our eyes. And worst of all, we begin to wonder if our lives are going anywhere or producing anything of value.

"That's why I am so wonderfully encouraged by Paul's choice of words (and verb tenses) in Colossians 2:6-7. I "have been rooted" in Jesus Christ. God has graciously seeded my soul into the soil of Christ's unchanging and unconquerable grace. My life is rooted in him. My hope is grounded in his goodness. This is my identity. This is my security. This is my strength when I feel like I'm wandering aimlessly and hopelessly through one disappointment after another. Whatever I may encounter, whether good or bad, of this I may be certain: I have been rooted in Christ. But what about those times when so little spiritual progress is being made? Again, it feels like I am stuck in concrete, immobile, immovable, unchangeable. That's when I remind myself once more of Paul's words: Not only have I been rooted in Christ in the past; I am being built up in Christ even now, in the present. I may not always see it or feel it or be aware of major developments. In fact, there are times when I feel like I am regressing rather then progressing. If I'm moving at all, it must be backwards.

"No! Paul assures us that however imperceptible it may be, we are being built up in Christ. We are ever and always under ongoing construction. A brick here, a board there, but always and persistently being built up by divine grace. Yes, every so often we dismantle what God has done. But God will not give up on us. What he began by grace, he'll finish by grace. The building will be completed. Our souls will grow in conformity to Christ and one day we will be like him for we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:1-3)."

This was from The Hope of Glory by Sam Storms, Chapter 46. It is titled "Thanks, I needed that."

Well, Mr. Storms, thanks, I needed that, too!

Kathy Withers

DIGGING DEEPER
Psalm 34:8-10
8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
9 Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
10 The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.