Light of The World Today
"Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness."
Colossians 2:7 NLT
Parts 1 and 2 gave you the daily foundations and the next steps of listening and serving. Part 3 closes this series with two of the most powerful and the most misunderstood dimensions of building a relationship with Jesus. What to do with the difficult season you might be in right now. And why telling people what he has done is one of the most important things you can do for your own spiritual growth, not only for theirs.
Let Your Trials Deepen the Relationship, Not Damage It
Nobody tells you this honestly enough when you first begin following Jesus. There will be difficult seasons. Not because God has withdrawn from you. Not because your faith has failed. But because James 1:2-4 in the NLT says when troubles of any kind come your way consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested your endurance has a chance to grow. And let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
Paul said in Philippians 3:10 that knowing Christ included sharing in his sufferings. Not as something to be feared. As something that deepens the knowing. The person who brings their difficulty honestly to Jesus, who chooses to trust him in it rather than simply asking him to remove it, discovers a nearness of God and a faithfulness in him that the comfortable seasons simply cannot produce in the same way. Colossians 2:7 says let your roots grow down into him. Roots always grow deepest during the dry season when they have to push further down to find the water. Your difficult season is not evidence that the relationship is failing. It is often the season in which the roots are going deepest. Do not waste it. Bring it honestly to him and let it do its work.
"When your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow."
James 1:3-4 NLT
Tell Someone What He Has Done
Revelation 12:11 in the NKJV says they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. Your testimony is not only a gift to someone else. It is one of the most powerful tools available for keeping your own relationship with Jesus alive and growing. When you tell someone specifically what he did in a moment of your life, what changed, what he said, how he showed up in a situation where you had no other help available, you are reminding your own heart of what is true about him. You are rehearsing his faithfulness out loud. And that rehearsal is one of the most effective antidotes to the doubt and the drift that can settle quietly into even the most sincere Christian life.
In Mark 5:19 in the NIV, after the man in the tombs was delivered, Jesus said go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you. The instruction was not to wait until he had a more polished story. It was not to wait until he felt spiritually ready. It was to go immediately and tell the specific people in his specific community the specific thing that had just happened. Your testimony is the most personal and the most irreducibly genuine thing you have to offer the people around you. It does not need to be polished. It needs to be honest. Tell someone this week what Jesus has done for you. It will strengthen them. And it will strengthen you more than you expect.
Conclusion
Across three parts of this series the picture of building a relationship with Jesus has become clearer and more specific. Daily prayer three times a day. Meditating on the Word. Living holy, honest and obedient. Walking in love. Listening for his still small voice. Serving from genuine love. Letting the trials deepen the root. And telling people what he has done. The relationship with Jesus is the most rewarding pursuit available to a human being. It does not plateau. Every step deeper reveals more to go deeper into. The roots you build in the quiet will produce fruit that the whole world can eventually see.
Memory Verse
"Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness."
Colossians 2:7 NLT
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Key scriptures: Colossians 2:7 NLT, James 1:2-4 NLT, Philippians 3:10 NLT, Revelation 12:11 NKJV, Mark 5:19 NIV.