The Fullness of God in Christ Jesus!

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness…” – Colossians 2:8-10 NIV

Just like Christ Jesus, we have to live in the fullness of God all the time, especially if we are followers of Jesus Christ (1 John 4:17), for “we know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19)  In other words, we ought to fill our minds with the knowledge and the wisdom of God rather than human traditions. This is because if we are children of God (John 1:12-13), then we do not belong to this world (Philippians 3:20-21, 2 Corinthians 5:1). In fact, all of us are created to be out of this world (John 15:19) and to be the image of God (Genesis 1:27). “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” (Romans 8:29) Otherwise, we will be influenced by unbelievers to become one of them (2 Corinthians 4:4), that can be controlled by evil spiritual forces of this world. This is why the word of God declares,

His divine power [The Spirit of God] has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:3-11)

Furthermore, the word of God reminds us that continuing form of godliness in our lives is much better than our worldly ways of living, especially in 1 Timothy 4:8. “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.” (1 Timothy 4:8-9) This is the reason why we should have the hope of God (1 Peter 1:3-9) as this hope may able to change our ways of living. This  is because the word of God declares,

So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” (1 Peter 1:13-17)

Overall, we should continue to increase the knowledge and the wisdom of God until the end of the age, even though the word of God pronounces, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.” (Isaiah 40:28) This is because the word of God states:

Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! (1 Chronicles 16:11)

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. (Matthew 6:33, Hebrews 11:6)

As for me, I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause, who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number. (Job 5:8-9)

As for me, I stopped reading online devotionals a while ago because of school. However, I should have read them in spite of the fact that I kept having a desire to pursue God every day. Because of this, I guess that I have been lazy, despite the fact that I kept  praying before my heavenly Father asking for His Help to manage my time to let me pursue Him by reading devotionals and the word of God lots. Nonetheless, I was not doer. Thus, overall, I am going to really fix my time-management that I can pursue God more than I did before.