God did not call us “Christians”. It is a word derived from
the concept of living as “Christ-followers.” There is a slight misconception with this word. God does not see us as individual
beings, but as Christ’s Body. We do not actually “follow” Christ, because He lives
within us.
We follow His teaching (Galatians 6:2) and His example (1 Corinthians 11:1); but we live in Him and He lives in us (Colossians 2:6). We are actually dead now, and He lives His life in and through us. His divine presence permeates every part of our spirit, and as much of our body and soul as we surrender to God’s will (2 Peter 1:4).
We follow His teaching (Galatians 6:2) and His example (1 Corinthians 11:1); but we live in Him and He lives in us (Colossians 2:6). We are actually dead now, and He lives His life in and through us. His divine presence permeates every part of our spirit, and as much of our body and soul as we surrender to God’s will (2 Peter 1:4).
God does not see us as a human self and divine self. He
only sees Christ in us. In this same sense, neither are we to divide our life
into secular and spiritual, or into human and divine pursuits. We are not split
into two personalities or compartments, because our human self is dead now, and
we are fully united with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3; Galatians 2:20).
As authentic Born Again Believers, we live in Christ throughout every moment of the day, just as He permanently lives in us (Colossians 1:27; John 17:23). Christ is our life (Colossians 3:4).We do not have a quick devotion in the morning and then go about our day, leaving Him behind.
Jesus wakes our body up in the morning, so that He can live His life in and through us all day long. Jesus types our boss’s reports, answers the phones, builds the buildings, repairs the cars, ministers to the sick, beautifies our clients, teaches the students, empties the trash cans, cares for the children, cleans the house and grooms the lawns or the pets through us.
We are dead, not we but Christ lives in us. The life which we now live is by the faith of Christ who loves us and gave Himself for us (Galatians 2:20). There is a fine line between reckoning the human-side of us dead and actually living as if we are dead and living now through the Christ-nature within us.
That is why Paul said that he dies daily (1 Corinthians 15:31). We die to our self until we are so surrendered to Christ in us that He uses our body, soul and spirit as vessels to live out His will in our life.
We have no aspirations, dreams, goals and desires of our own, because He lives His life instead of us. We walk in total obedience to the Holy Spirit as Christ performs through us all of our mundane tasks during all of our waking moments.
As authentic Born Again Believers, we live in Christ throughout every moment of the day, just as He permanently lives in us (Colossians 1:27; John 17:23). Christ is our life (Colossians 3:4).We do not have a quick devotion in the morning and then go about our day, leaving Him behind.
Jesus wakes our body up in the morning, so that He can live His life in and through us all day long. Jesus types our boss’s reports, answers the phones, builds the buildings, repairs the cars, ministers to the sick, beautifies our clients, teaches the students, empties the trash cans, cares for the children, cleans the house and grooms the lawns or the pets through us.
We are dead, not we but Christ lives in us. The life which we now live is by the faith of Christ who loves us and gave Himself for us (Galatians 2:20). There is a fine line between reckoning the human-side of us dead and actually living as if we are dead and living now through the Christ-nature within us.
That is why Paul said that he dies daily (1 Corinthians 15:31). We die to our self until we are so surrendered to Christ in us that He uses our body, soul and spirit as vessels to live out His will in our life.
We have no aspirations, dreams, goals and desires of our own, because He lives His life instead of us. We walk in total obedience to the Holy Spirit as Christ performs through us all of our mundane tasks during all of our waking moments.
Jesus provides the job for us that He wants to use to witness to our co-workers. He takes our car to the mechanic that He wants to influence for His Kingdom. He uses our body and soul to heal the sick, encourage with our smile or kind word, or minister in a myriad of ways to the person beside us in the grocery store and bank, and all the people He encounters through us during each moment of our day.
We are dead, and Christ accomplishes God’s work in the earth by leading us by His Spirit.
Prayer:
I am still in the flesh sometimes. However, now I walk more and more by the direction of Your Spirit. This is such a serene and joyful life. Your love flows over me like a waterfall all day long! People actually ask me why I am so happy! They see the difference, which the Christ-life makes, even in my face!
Thought for the Day:
