No Pain No Gain!

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God lives fully in Christ.  And you are fully grown because you belong to Christ, who is over every power and authority.  Christ has also taken away your selfish desires, just as circumcision removes flesh from the body.  And when you were baptized, it was the same as being buried with Christ. Then you were raised to life because you had faith in the power of God, who raised Christ from death.

You were dead, because you were sinful and were not God’s people. But God let Christ make you alive, when he forgave all our sins.

God wiped out the charges that were against us for disobeying the Law of Moses. He took them away and nailed them to the cross.

Colossians 2:9-14

The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ was not just something that was done "for me," it was accomplished "with me" as I was crucified with Christ, buried with Him by baptism and made alive with Jesus. Christianity is not a spectator sport with Jesus as the athlete on the field. The only viewing stands are in heaven. All of us here on earth are part of the game.

Somehow we think the greatest pain we experience is from Satan. I believe it is not. Christ cuts away our selfish desires just as circumcision removes flesh from the body. It is not painless. And Jesus lets us die to this world so that we can be buried with Him.

Don't make light of the hard road of a believer! Even Jesus prayed that He might not have to suffer on the Cross the night before it happened. Jesus came to save us from sin and eternal death, not from suffering. Satan is the one who promises an easy life, and he often does deliver on that promise for the short term. Not walking with Jesus can mean temporary comforts and pleasures. But Satan's long term plan is Hell!

The phrase isn't found in the Bible, but the concept is certainly true. NO PAIN, NO GAIN!

"Lord, bring whatever it takes today to make me more like You! Let me walk with You, suffer with You and even die with You, Jesus! May my all consuming joy in this life be resurrection, as I come to live forever with You! Amen."