Young Adults' Group

Let The Word Of Christ Dwell Richly

by Pastor Mark
August 17, 2017

Thank God for a great Spiritual Retreat

We give thanks to God for our recently held Spiritual Retreat (11–12 August 2017). There were many deep lessons learnt concerning the theme…to let the word of Christ to dwell richly in our heart. Pastor Charles opened up for us the book of Colossians in 5 sessions and it was truly an enlightening time of discovering truths from the Scriptures.

Reflections over the lessons learnt

1. Praying for progress

“For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;” (Col 1:9)

One significant lesson that Pastor taught was to pray for progress for our life and ministry. The Apostle Paul commended the Colossian brethren about their faith and salvation. He went on to pray for their further growth. He prayed for them to be filled with knowledge of God’s will and in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. The challenge is whether we have the capacity to be filled. What would we ask to be filled with?

This is a most challenging prayer to make…especially when we are thinking of spiritual progress in mind. We recognise how difficult it is for us to make good progress. Yet, we understand our need to make progress further in our growth and faith. Let us be challenged to ceaselessly pray for our progress…to be filled with knowledge, all wisdom and spiritual understanding.

2. Christ in us as our glorious hope

“To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col 1:27)

While we recognise how challenging it is to grow, we can find great hope in the Lord Jesus. We are privileged that it was God’s will to reveal this glorious mystery to us that Christ is in us…the hope of glory. He lives in us and manifests Himself in us. In every aspect of our life, Christ can be involved. He becomes the centre of our life and ministry. He takes the pre-eminence in our life. (Col 1:18) What a wonderful hope and glory we have…for Christ to be in us. Let us be challenged to hold on to Christ and the glorious hope that He gives to us.

3. The word of Christ dwelling in us

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” (Col 3:16)

How do we ensure that we grow this understanding and hope? It is by letting the word of Christ dwell in us richly. The word “dwell” in Greek is “enoikeo”. It means “to house in”. We are to house the Lord Jesus and His word inside us. The word of Christ is really about His person, power, presence and promises. These are the things that is to be house inside us. He is to reside richly in us. All that Christ is becomes part of us. When Christ dwells richly in us, it is Him who comes through in all that we do. It is His wisdom that we are able to manifest. In our teaching and admonishing, Christ is manifested. As we sing and serve the Lord, Christ is also central. The challenge is for us to be more and more like Christ. The Holy Spirit will transform us into the same image of Christ from glory to glory. (2 Cor 3:18) What a glorious truth this is! Let us be challenged to truly let the word of Christ dwell richly in our hearts.

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