A number of recent threads have touched on: the power of Satan, the conquering power of Christ, law and freedom from the law, etc. For me, and I believe for many others, Christianity is both obedience to God’s Word and the living out of this obedience free from legalism. This seems to be very difficult for many of us; as a result we struggle in our faith to come to a place where we can say with Paul: I have fought a good fight, I have finished (my) course, I have kept the faith (2Tim.4:7).Galatians 4:19. My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until CHRIST BE FORMED IN YOU.Colossians 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present EVERY MAN PERFECT in Christ Jesus:29 Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.These are a few Scriptures pointing towards the ultimate PRIZE which should be sought by every Christian: CHRIST IN YOU.Paul in his letter to the Ephesian Church wrote two prayers that He prayed for the Ephesian Christians and, even though this is not recorded, likely for others also. I make this statement, because Paul talks about travailing in birth, laboring, and striving for the Christians in the early churches. The root of the Greek word for what Paul did is AGON. It is also the root of the word AGONIA which is used to describe the intensity of the prayer by Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, when His sweat became drops of blood. Our English word AGONY comes from this Greek word. I pray and ask the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him so that the eyes of my heart may be enlightened, each time before I read His Word, and before I share from the Word with the people I speak to. For a number of years I have prayed the entire prayers in Ephesians 1:15-23 and 3:14-21, after I personalized them, for ourselves and for the Christians we worship with. I do this with confidence in faith because Jesus told us: how much more shall (your) heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? (Luke 11:13).Just consider: “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that YE MAY KNOW what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the EXEEDING GREATNESS OF HIS POWER TO US-WARD who believe, according to the working of HIS MIGHTY POWER, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead,” And:“That HE WOULD GRANT YOU, according to the riches of his glory, to be STRENGTHENED with might by his Spirit in THE INNER MAN; THAT CHRIST MAY DWELL IN YOUR HEARTS BY FAITH”I cannot think of a better way to learn to walk “in Christ,” than by the working of His mighty power, being strengthened with power by His Spirit in my inner man, so that Christ may live in me by faith!For years I have done this and taught others. When I ask the Christians I shared this with through the years, if they do this, the answer is always: NO.Will you?
