January 25th

Living According to God 

⁹ For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; ¹⁰that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; ¹¹strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; ¹²giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. ¹³He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:9-14 NKJV 

This passage wonderfully captures the idea of walking according to God.  In conversing with sex addicts, we often talk a lot about stopping the habits of fleshly indulgence and lust, when we ought to talk more about how to live according to God’s Spirit in the “new life” in Christ.  One of the secrets to successfully putting the sinful deeds of the body to death each day is engaging ourselves in good things that will bear fruit in God’s kingdom. We don’t want to leave a vacuum when we clean all the evil out of our life, and so we should fill our minds with God’s words and present our bodies for righteous works that will glorify God.  This will help us have less idle time on our hands and also tune our minds to God’s ways and power for living in righteousness. 

The new life is not about keeping to a list of do’s and don’ts.  It involves a fullness and satisfaction in life that can be found nowhere but from God.  It is not a life lived in stoic obedience, but rather, a life lived in the love, refreshment and peace of God.  Some of the elements of this new life that Paul mentioned above include:

·        Filling with knowledge of God’s will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding

·        Walking worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him

·        Being fruitful for God in every good work

·        Increasing in knowledge of God

·        Strengthening with all might, according to God’s power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy

·        Enjoying a wonderful inheritance as children of God

·        Forgiveness of sins and deliverance from the power of darkness 

If you desire to live the new life in Christ, you can turn the above passage into a prayer for yourself.  True joy, satisfaction and happiness is found in living this new life.  God will help you do it by His Spirit that lives in you through your faith in Jesus Christ. 

Questions for further thought:

• How does spiritual wisdom and understanding differ from worldly wisdom and understanding?
• How does verse 10 (¹⁰that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; ) contrast with the all-too-common lifestyle of the backsliding Christian?
• How is the walk of purity like a partnership with the Holy Spirit?

Prayer:

“Lord Jesus, thank you for your matchless sacrifice on the cross for me!  Lord, please fill me with the knowledge of your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.  Please strengthen me to walk worthy of you, fully pleasing to you and being fruitful in every good work.  Please help me to maintain a forward momentum in my walk with you, increasing in the knowledge of God.  I invite your Holy Spirit to strengthen me with all might, according to your glorious power.  Thank you, Father, for qualifying me as a co-heir with Jesus!  Thank you for delivering me from the power of darkness and conveying me into your kingdom!  In the mighty name of Jesus I pray, Amen.”