Most Holy Lord, Your Word declares “For in Christ all fulness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” This tells me that all of God was present in You. Therefore, when I have You I have everything I need for my salvation and living a righteous life. In addition, all rulers, powers and authorities in both the physical and spiritual worlds were created by You and are subject to You. You have no equal or rival. You are the Lord of all. Paul uses the illustration of our being rooted in You. Just as a plant draws its nourishment from the soil through its roots, so do I draw my life-giving strength through You. The more I draw my strength from You, the less I will be fooled by those who say they have all the answers to life’s questions. If I seek You as my strength, I will be free from human domination and will be able to follow in Your footsteps. If I remain in You, I have everything I will ever need to be successful.
You alone hold the answers to the true meaning of life because You are my life. You are the unique source of knowledge and power for my Christian walk. There is nothing I need in addition to what You supply as my Savior. I am complete when I have You. Nothing in the world has the impact on me that You do. When I accept You into my heart, Your ways are written upon it … not just on the pages of the Bible. Through You I have been set free from the evil desires that lead me away from the life You want me to lead. In receiving You into my heart, my old nature is replaced by a new nature that is in tune to what You represent. Baptism is my way to identify with Your death, burial and resurrection. It portrays the death and burial of my old ways and my resurrection into a new life with You. Remembering that my old sinful life is dead and buried helps give me the power to resist sin.
Before I came to believe in You, my nature was evil and selfish. I disobeyed, rebelled and outright ignored Your wishes. Fact is I did not love You with all of my heart, soul and mind. But thanks to You, I’ve been given a new nature that loves and respects You. You crucified my old, rebellious nature and replaced it with a new loving one like Yours. The penalties for my sins were nailed to Your cross and died with You. You declared me innocent and no longer under the power of sin. You did not take me out of the world nor turn me into a robot. What You did was take away the human pleasure and satisfaction of sin. Sometimes I still feel like sinning and I do sin. What I must not forget is that greater are You within me than anything the world offers. Before I was saved, I was a slave to sin, but now I am free to choose to live for You. I have a new life and I plan to keep it. And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!!
John 8:36 So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.