I started a new devotional this year. "Heart of the Matter" which is a devotional from a collection of authors. Today's insert comes from Michael Emlet.
January 13, 2015- Colossians 1:24-29
"Your suffering occurs alongside Christ's. Your life story is embedded in His story. Your suffering, therefore, is actually a participation in the sufferings of Christ. Consider Paul's statement: "Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you and I fill up my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of the body which is the church" Paul is not saying that your sufferings add anything to Christ's work on the cross. There's nothing deficient about Jesus' suffering and death. He is saying that there is a purposeful link between the sufferings of Christ and your own suffering. Your connection with Jesus means that your identity is bigger than what you suffer. Paul says: "If we are children then we are heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory" (Romans 8:17) Paul is saying that your suffering acutally confirms your identity as a child of God. It does not undermine that identity, even though it sometimes feels that way. This perspective reminds you that as you suffer, you suffer in Christ. Your life (both suffering and ultimately glory) is intimately connect with his life"
I love how this short writing reminds me that my life is just a small thread woven in God's redemptive story. It is only when I struggle and suffer that I connect with Christ on an intimate level. In the scripture passage, Paul says, " God decided to let his people know about this rich and glorious secret in which he has for all people. This secret is Christ himself who is in you. HE IS OUR ONLY HOPE OF GLORY."
I give my destiny.
I'm giving you all of me.
I want your symphony
singing in all that I am
at the top of my lungs
I'm giving it back
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