“As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.”  Colossians 2:6-7 (NKJ)

“And they overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” Rev. 12:11a (NKJ)

As I was finishing my evening devotions, I asked the Lord why we, as believers, have such a difficult time receiving the power He has given us to live out His purpose.  As I finished my reading, this thought came to mind, “You cannot claim what you do not proclaim!”  In other words, there is an apparent disconnect between what we mentally believe and how we personally walk out that truth in our lives.   We fail to make a personal proclamation.

Our failure to boldly proclaim and claim God’s power in our life may be as a result of choosing to operate independently, outside of God’s direction.  We may opt to follow the path of “diys”—do it yourself.  This may be a good approach in doing home projects but not in the advancement of one’s spiritual maturity.  Failed efforts are reflective of our failure to accept our own human imperfection.  In reality, what seemed to be the “best way” results  in failure to proclaim God’s sufficiency and failure to claim His desired outcome for our lives.  “For we are God’s masterpiece.  He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago”       (Ep. 2:10, NLT).

Lack of success in our personal proclamation often stems from a lack of understanding and acceptance of our identity in Christ.  “In Christ, in Him, of Him” was used most often by Paul in his letters to the Early Church.  It describes our special union with Christ and the benefits we can “proclaim and claim” as a result of that union.  We are one with Christ, therefore what Christ has we also possess.  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ep. 1:3).

Satan desires that we remain “spiritually ambivalent.”  If he can silence our proclamation of the freedom and goodness to be found in Christ, he can continue his campaign of deception, disbelief, and disobedience in the believer’s life.  It is the proclamation of believers in Christ that will ultimately lead to Satan’s defeat (Rev. 12:11a).   In Christ, we have “redemption, righteousness and access”, just to name a few.  Once we better know who we are in Christ, we can boldly proclaim and claim His power and presence in our lives.

 Good to the Last Byte…

Using your Bible concordance, find scriptures that include “in Christ”.  Begin to see all the things we have and are becoming as a result of our special union with Christ.