Paul chronicled for the Romans his journey from an
earthly-minded sinner to a liberated Saint who was led by the Spirit of God (Romans
6-Romans 8). He
describes in detail the revelation God gave to him: The law of the Spirit of
Life in Christ Jesus freed him from bondage to this world and the flesh (Romans
8:2). We too
share in this liberation. We all died in Christ, and now we live, not for our
self, but for Him
(2
Corinthians 5:14-15). We do not pursue our own agenda or work to amass this
world’s goods, which will only burn up in the end. Instead, we focus on the
eternal aspects of life (Matthew 6:19-20).
We cannot perfect our self by our good works any more than
we can save our self by them (Galatians 3:1-3). It is all the work of Christ on
the cross (Romans
7:18). We now
belong to Christ, and the carnal cravings of our flesh are crucified with Him (Galatians
5:24). Our
humanity is dead, and our life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians
3:3). We no
longer struggle with sin, because sin disgusts us. We have no desire to partake
in the frivolity in this world, because just like Jesus, we must be about our
Father’s business
(Luke
2:49). We are
totally led by the Spirit and have no desire to take any part in sinful
activity (Romans 5:18).
We are from God and have overcome the world, because Christ
in us is greater than anything this world offers us (1 John
4:4). We may be
surrounded by the horrors of tragedy, but this is not our life; therefore, they
do not rob us of our peace and joy (Philippians 3:8-14). We set our
mind on the spiritual aspects of the Kingdom of God, rather than on the earthly
issues swirling all around us (2 Corinthians 4:18). Jesus sanctified and perfected us on His cross (Hebrews
10:13). Now, we
walk in obedience, not through self-effort, but by obeying God’s Spirit moment
by moment (Ephesians 2:8-10).
Christ is working in and through us, giving us the strength
and the longing to follow the leading of His Spirit throughout the day (Philippians
2:12-13). We no longer
have any desire to wander back into sin and destruction. We rejoice when we
face temptation, because it has no affect on us (James 1:2). We submit
to God and resist the devil, and God delivers us every time (James 4:7). Our
anxiety is swallowed up by His faithfulness and assurance. Any depression is
replaced by His joy, which is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). We live as victors in Christ.
Prayer:
Father God, there is no reason for us to attempt to perfect
our self by any self-effort (Galatians 3:1-3). We know that You work out all things in our life
according to Your perfect plan (Ephesians 1:11). We come to You to replace all of our negative
emotions with thoughts of whatever is true, gracious, accurate, pure, divine,
commendable and worthy (Philippians 4:8). If we happen to fall into temptation, we confess the
sin; and You readily forgive us and cleanses our conscience from all unholiness
(1
John 1:9; Hebrews 9:14). You are capable of keeping us pure in our body, soul and
spirit, as we live in Your abiding rest (Jude 24; Hebrews
4:9-11).
Thought for the Day:
Daily, we take up our cross and follow Jesus, by
realizing that we are dead and Christ now lives His life in, through and
instead of us regardless of our circumstances (1
Corinthians 4:8-14; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3).
