In Search Of A Better Tomorrow

Friday, November 18

Time Alone With God daily devotional

Message by Pastor Phil Stout of JAXNAZ Church

Read: Colossians 2:1-7

New International Version (NIV)

2 I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. 2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. 5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.

Spiritual Fullness in Christ
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Start

Consider: You have to grow down to grow up. Roots matter.

Tending to the roots is hard, tedious, consistent, invisible work. The roots are not seen. They don’t clamor for attention. But root-tending makes it possible for a tree to grow and growth makes it possible for that tree, over time, to bear fruit.

“Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him.” (Colossians 2:7)

What would it look like for you today to do some root-tending? How would you go about growing down? How can you deepen your life in the fertile soil of God’s grace? What does it mean for you to “grow down into him”?

These are important questions because growth in Christ is seldom accidental. That’s not to say that we produce growth in ourselves. Our growth is a gift from God. But we can partner with him. We can break up the hard clods of dirt in our hearts. We can clear the thorns away that choke the plant. We can be intentional in giving fertile soil to God for him to take us deeper.

Often the cry of the heart is, “Take me higher.” We all want to experience the great joy of knowing and seeing God. We want to stand on the mountain with our hands raised high. And our gracious God gives us those experiences from time to time. But we must also include another prayer—“Take me deeper.”

Pray: “Lord, take me deeper. I want my roots to go so deep that the winds of life will not take me down. But even more than that, I want to go deep to know you more fully and love you with all that I am.”