I’m grateful for another surprisingly sunny day (right at the end of summer) spent in this area of outstanding natural beauty-in the middle of the Ards Peninsula! A good place to be & great position to be in!
But our position is more than:
our GPS co-ordinates on this planet,
our location as posted on Facebook,
our step on the ladder or social class,
our status, or branch on the family tree.
It’s better than our rank in the race,
in the company,
or where we are in life
and love.
The only position that truly matters & counts for time & eternity
is our position in Christ
i.e. whether we are in Christ
or not.
Whether we are in a relationship with Him {by trusting Him for forgiveness} …or not
As Christians, our true identity, deepest meaning , & unshakable security are all in Christ alone.
In Christ is the best place to be,
the ONLY place to be,
to truly BE ,
& really live {not just exist }
It’s the difference between:
light & darkness
peace & anxiety
heaven & hell
In Christ is not always an easy place to be.
Jesus said there would be trouble(John 14)
However, He also said that He was greater than any trouble we would face:
‘I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.] (John 16:33 AMP)
The greatest blessing is the blessing of being in Christ
‘For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment’ (Colossians 1:15-18 MSG)
We are ‘a people whose life in Jesus’
For He said: ‘I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of’. (John 10:10 MSG)
When we are in Christ we have:
unlimited grace,
undeserved blessings,
unending love.
Indeed, day by day, we are living in pure grace (Rom 12:6 MSG)
We experience grace heaped upon grace (John 1:16)
Yet often we are unaware of the immensity of pure grace & incessant love from God in heaven above.
For,in Christ, we live a life filled with outrageous, audacious grace.
‘It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.’ (Ephesians 1:11, 12 MSG)
‘He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.’ (Ephesians 1:7-10 MSG)
‘For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.’ (Eph1:4-6)
These verses convey amazing truth, echoed in the words of this modern hymn:
‘LOVED BEFORE THE DAWN OF TIME,
Chosen by my Maker,
Hidden in my Saviour:
I am His and He is mine,
Cherished for eternity.’
(Stuart Townend)
We are brought into the privileged position of being in Christ, through grace:
‘being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 3:24 NKJV)
‘He has saved us and called us to a holy life-not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time’(2 Timothy 1:9NIV)
‘Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.’ (Romans 3:21-24 MSG)
In Christ, we are adopted:
‘So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith’ (Gal 3:26)
In Christ, we are transformed:
‘if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come’ (2Cor 5:17)
In Christ, we are freed from guilt:
‘Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ’ (Rom 8:1)
In Him we have all that we need!
In Him we are complete, totally complete in body, soul, mind &spirit.
In Him we have real, abundant, everlasting life.
Outside of Him,
apart from Him,
aside from Him,
we are nothing:
-a dead twig
-an empty page
-a lifeless body
‘But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.’ (Ephesians 2:13)
We are:
Chosen & called
Flawed but forgiven
Found & treasured
Redeemed & restored
We have :
Power & purpose
We are:
Beloved & blessed
In Christ!
As this popular anthem declares:
‘In Christ alone
My hope is found
He is my light my strength my song’
(Getty & Townend)
We can be
strong in His strength,
bright in His light
‘For in you I find my dwelling place
In you I find amazing grace
In you I find security
Jesus you are all I need’
(Kari Jobe –Dwelling Place)
In Christ we have ‘strength for today & bright hope for tomorrow’
If we are in Christ, we can declare:
‘Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.’ (Philippians 4:13MSG)
So,
‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.’ (Eph 1:3)
Blessings,
Ruth x
Edited from post originally published at http://www.blessedme.co.uk
Blessed! 