A friend told me to stop swimming through life, and just
float. She meant that God designed His life in us to propel us through life
without any effort on our part. She meant that we relinquish our need to work
for God and to please Him with our efforts. She also reminded me that dying to
self is not an action on our part, but an acceptance of the fact that we are
already dead and hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3).
This allows us not to fret about tomorrow, but to live each
moment in the center of God’s will for us. We trust Him to give us the desire,
to lead us, and to work through us in every situation (Philippians
2:12-13). We are the vessel for Him to use for His purposes. The pot
never moves. It just rests in the Potter’s hand, willing to serve at the
Potter’s will (Romans 9:20-21). We are God’s temple; His holy,
resting place upon this earth (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
When we seek Him, we find Him, if we search for Him with
our whole heart (Jeremiah
29:13). God does not honor half-hearted devotion. He laid down His life
for us and wants nothing less from us. As we serve in His Kingdom, He supplies
all of our needs (Matthew
6:33). As we trust in His promises, His divine nature replaces our
carnal nature (2 Peter
1:4). Our self-life is dead, and Christ lives in and through us (Galatians 2:20).
To acquire salvation, we repent and surrender (1 Peter
1:15). To enter God’s rest, we cease from our human striving (Hebrews
4:10). To walk in the Spirit, we refrain from walking in the
flesh (Galatians 5:16, 25). We are His gloves; and He is the hand fitting firmly within us. We
cooperate as He uses our body, soul and spirit for His service. We rest in the
Vine as He produces fruit through us as His branches (John
15:5).
We become partakers of His Divine Nature by fleeing from
covetousness by His grace, peace and freedom. We exercise our faith, which
helps us to develop virtue, excellence, perseverance and knowledge, which lead
to patience, endurance and godliness and Christian love. These qualities
increasingly abound in us to keep us from idle unfruitfulness (2 Peter
1:2-9). We live by the faith of the Son of God in us (Galatians
2:20).
Prayer:
Father God, You inspire and direct our thoughts, words and
actions by Your Spirit within us. We enter into Your rest by ceasing from our own efforts,
and we allow Christ to walk, talk and act through us. This is more
than Him using us, but Him actually working through us to accomplish Your will
in the earth around us. We freely receive from Him. Please, use our body,
soul and spirit to freely give to those in need around us (Matthew
10:8).
Thought for the Day:
We can do all things only when Christ lives
within us. – Philippians 4:13
