Go for the Glory!

Many people dream of the glory of being a professional sport’s hero, a movie star, a rock star, a millionaire, or the president.

The believer does not need to dream of glory, it is already guaranteed!

In Colossians 1:27 we read:

“Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Christ’s indwelling presence within our human spirit or New Man.

Paul has in mind here the personal experience of every believer of having the indwelling presence of Christ in their individual lives.

This was completely unknown to Old Testament believers.

Only New Testament believers are indwelt personally by Christ.

This truth is taught in Gal. 2:20 and in Rom. 8:10.

This makes us spiritually rich because Christ personally indwells us; Paul says

“the riches of the glory.”

Our resources in Christ are inexhaustible!

This shows us that Christ is the answer to life; He is called our very life in Col. 3:4.

Our life is to be all about a person, Jesus, and He wants to live His Life through us. Our message to the world is all about a person, not a religion!

Religion, philosophy, science, education, politics, social reform, pleasure, partying, climbing the corporate ladder, or even our family, are not the answer to life.

Christ Himself is!

We have Christ’s resurrection power in us, and His presence within can harness all the power to live the Christian life.

If we could live the Christian life, then why did God put Christ in us?

He is the only one who can live the life, and we must let Him do it through us. When we choose to make Christ our very life, He makes our victory sure.

All that we need is in Him!

Don Calhoun worked for five dollars an hour at an office supply store in Bloomington, Illinois.

He had attended two Chicago Bulls basketball games in his life, and now he was going to his third.

When he strolled into the Chicago Stadium, a woman who worked for the Bulls organization walked up to him and told him they were selecting him to take part in a promotional event during the game called the Million Dollar Shot.

The Shot came after a time-out in the third quarter.

If Calhoun could shoot a basket standing seventy-nine feet away—that means he had to stand behind the free throw line on the opposite end of the court and throw the ball three quarters of the length of the court—he would win a million dollars.

Calhoun played basketball at the Bloomington YMCA but he had never tried a shot like this before.

He took the basketball in his hands and looked over at Michael Jordan and the rest of the Bulls.

He could see they were pulling for him. Calhoun stepped to the line and let it fly.

As soon as the basketball left his hand, coach Phil Jackson said, “It’s good.”

Indeed, the ball went through the basket with a swish.

The stadium crowd went wild. Calhoun rushed into the arms of Michael Jordan and the rest of the Bulls players crowded around slapping him on the back.

When Don Calhoun went home that night, he had only two dollars in his wallet, but he would receive fifty thousand dollars a year for the next twenty years of his life.

Sometimes one action, one decision, one moment can change everything for a person.

So it is when we choose to make Christ our life, that one action, one decision, one moment can change everything for us.

We begin to live life out of His resources, and not our own. We then begin to see more victory and a more consistent growth in Him.

“Christ in you, the hope of glory”

means Christ indwelling us not only as our very life here, but also as our pledge of the future.

We will receive a glorified body like His,be with Him in heaven, reign with Him in the Millennial Kingdom, and live with Him on the new earth and new universe throughout all eternity.

Christ indwelling us is our only glory we can have now and in the future!

Blessings!

Pastor Ken Keeler, Director of Church Ministries