Raised with Him

 Colossians 2:11-15

12 Having been buried with Him in baptism, you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive with Him and forgave us all our trespasses. 14 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; He triumphed over them by Him.

I remember many years ago, as I was grappling with the question of getting baptised or not, that God gave me this scripture one morning. Suddenly upon reading this, it was just so simple that I was wondering why I actually found it, for some time, to be a 'difficult' question?  Baptism is a simple prophetic act in the spirit of identifying with Christ's death, in our place, and being raised up with Him to a new life, to being a new creature in Him.  

And then verse 15:  ...He disarmed the rulers and authorities, disgraced them publicly and triumphed over them. Through Christ's finished work on the cross and His resurrection, He obliterated the hold and the legal right the enemy had on us through our own sin.  

Point to ponder:  What a privilege to have a God Who came down to us when we were completely lost in our sin.  A God Who made a humongous, out of this world, effort to make it possible for us to return to Him and walk in relationship with Him without fear or shame. The only thing He asks of us is our willingness to believe - because even then He comes and puts the faith we need for that in our hearts through His Holy Spirit.

Come Holy Spirit Come!

Open our Eyes - Stephany Gretzinger

(p.s put the song on repeat and just sit with Jesus a while)