Complete

Good morning. It is Tuesday, May 19, 2015.

Today’s word of the day, from Merriam-Webster, is prudent. This is an adjective, meaning, “marked by wisdom or judiciousness,” “shrewd in the management of practical affairs,” “cautious, discreet,” or, “thrifty, frugal.”

Today is Accounting Day. I’ve never needed an accountant, so I don’t what to do with this. If you have one, I guess, show some appreciation today.

I really have nothing personal to write about today. The week has started of pretty normally, nothing really exceptional to say about it. I kind of hope it continues that way.

Tonight is Huddle night, so I’ll have to catch the finale of the Voice tomorrow night. We watched most of the performance show, last night. I’m rooting for Sawyer Fredericks to win.

TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL

Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me;
my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly.
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?
All day long they injure my cause; all their thoughts are against me for evil.
They stir up strife, they lurk; they watch my steps, as they have waited for my life.
For their crime will they escape? In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!
You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?
Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call. This I know, that God is for me.
In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?
I must perform my vows to you, O God; I will render thank offerings to you.
For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.
Psalm 56

(From Knowing Jesus)

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Colossians 2:6-15

Today’s reading is “Jesus, Our Total Sufficiency.”

Through the untimely death of his wife of seven years, the author learned of his complete sufficiency in Christ. “In the abyss God spoke Colossians 2:10 to me. Despite my desolate grief, by the miracle of God’s grace in Christ, I was complete in Jesus.”

We all fall into the trap of believing that we need something else to complete us. For many, it is a spouse. For some it is a fulfilling job or even a ministry. But, in truth, we need nothing besides Jesus to be complete. When the Spirit reveals this to us, it becomes “refreshing water and nourishing food” for our souls.

“Colossians 2:9-15 resembles a JumboTron display of everything believers possess in Jesus. We are divested of our lower nature by a spiritual circumcision, buried with him and raised to new life. We have been made alive in Christ. He has forgiven us and has wiped out the indictment against us, nailing it to the cross. Triumphantly, on that cross, for our sake, Jesus threw off the cosmic powers of darkness like so much dirty laundry and made a public spectacle of them in his victory parade.”

When we get trampled down by our circumstances, let us look to the “victory parade” of Jesus. We are completely free and completely forgiven! When we begin to believe that we need someone or something to complete us, we need to “recognize this as the devil’s trick to draw us away from our completeness in Christ.”

Father, I thank you that I am complete in Jesus Christ. However, I don’t always recognize or acknowledge this. May your Spirit, just as he reminded our author, remind me that I don’t need anyone or anything to be complete, because I am complete in Jesus. Let that be the thought that runs through my heart today, like “refreshing water and nourishing food.”

I pray for this day, today, that we might have safe passage to and from work. May we have just enough grace and mercy for this day. May our jobs not produce stress for us today, and may we reflect your Kingdom in everything that we do, say, or even think. I pray for your great love to be shown to Rachel, Justin, and Stephanie, and that you would provide for, protect, and guide them today.

I pray for our Huddle group tonight. Teach us your ways, that we may walk in your truth.

Your grace is sufficient.

We are complete in Christ Jesus. We need nothing else. Nothing.

Grace and peace, friends.