I have been crucified with
Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me… —Galatians 2:20
{CHAMBERS} “No one can do this for me, I must do it myself. God may
bring me up to this point three hundred and sixty-five times a year, but He
cannot push me through it. […] The one point to decide is— will I give up? Will
I surrender to Jesus Christ, placing no conditions whatsoever as to how the
brokenness will come? I must be broken from my own understanding of myself.
When I reach that point, immediately the reality of the supernatural
identification with Jesus Christ takes place. And the witness of the Spirit of
God is unmistakable— “I have been crucified with Christ….” The passion of Christianity comes from
deliberately signing away my own rights and becoming a bondservant of Jesus
Christ. Until I do that, I will not begin to be a saint.[…] Will we allow Him
to help Himself to us, or are we more concerned with our own ideas of what we
are going to be?”
{ELGIN} In Galatians 2:20,
Paul is referring to his “new” life. His
new, supernatural existence. Everything that
I am is totally dependent upon Jesus and the Spirit. Jesus saved me, the Spirit
sanctifies me. Pretty simple. But why is it so hard to live? Instead, we look at our own cross, sing about
it, listen to sermons about it, make references to it, but will not bend over
and pick it up. Instead, we are content
with things the way they are. It’s a silent
struggle – hidden from the view of other Christians – at least we think it
is. We are content with thinking that we
are only human, flawed, but forgiven.
Well, we are human, we are flawed, and we are forgiven. But we are also children of Jehovah God. Adopted through the blood of Jesus and His
resurrection. Sealed with the Spirit. Given access to the very presence of God the
Father through Jesus. Christian, don’t
be content with mediocrity. Am I trying
to make you feel guilty? No … all of us are guilty … that is a fact. I want to remind you of your new life in Christ
and your calling from God to abandon the desires of the flesh and pursue the
way of the Cross. Not my will but Your will be done. God has intended much more in your new life
than you are experiencing, but you must be willing to put the world and what it
has to offer (wood, hay and stubble) behind you and follow Jesus.
Listen, all of us struggle
with this. But we need to be reminded of who we are in Christ and our high
calling to be like Him, through Him. I,
Charley, have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I, Charley, who lives,
but Christ lives in me… —Galatians 2:20
No comments:
Post a Comment