	Bob Hostetler > Devotions

Christ's Life In You, Your Life in Christ

by Bob Hostetler

"We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit" (1 John 4:13, NIV).

Try this: take a half-cup of water and a half-cup of red food coloring. Next, pour one into the other, mixing the two.

The resulting mixture will be pink, of course, but that's not the point. The point is this: is the food coloring in the water, or is the water in the food coloring?

The answer is both. The two once-separate liquids are so united that you could accurately say the food coloring is in the water, and you could just as certainly say that the water is in the food coloring.

That is just what John says is true of your relationship with Jesus Christ, if you have received new life by his Spirit through faith in the Son. "We know that we live in him," John says, "and he in us" (1 John 4:13, NIV). Your union with Christ is so complete that you are in him, and he is in you.

And, what's more, that formula produces a far greater result than colored water; it produces an ability to live righteously, in a way that is pleasing to God, "because he has given us of his Spirit," and his Spirit will produce the fruits of righteousness in you as you trust him and walk in him day by day.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for giving me your Spirit, that I might live in you and you in me. Please live your life in me throughout this day.

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