Without Christ in our life, we know something is missing. We optimistically search everywhere to find it. Since the time of Adam and Eve, the spirit of man is dead at birth, buried under layers of sin (Ephesians 2:1-5).
We all have a living soul – our mind, will and
emotions - which often fails under the weight of life, because circumstances
beat us down relentlessly.
Our dead spirit and our unhealthy soul affect our
body as well. What we lack is the vital power of God. Without the Spirit of God
rebirthing and dwelling in our spirit, we are crippled in life.
No one is intrinsically good except God (Mark
10:18). However, when Christ moves into our life, we daily die to our carnal
flesh and we grow in His good judgment and nature (Galatians 2:20; John 12:24;
Luke 9:23).
We start to make wiser choices, which last for
eternity; rather than desiring options, which are carnal, temporal and
momentary.
Over time, Jesus becomes our only life and we have
no meaningful existence outside of Him (2 Corinthians 13:5; Colossians 3:3).
This does not mean that we sit in a meditative state all day, every day.
Jesus and the apostles interacted with people. They
were anointed with the Holy Spirit and with God’s power. They went everywhere
the Spirit led them, and they blessed people with healing, wisdom and
deliverance (Acts 10:38).
Once we come to Christ we are totally complete in
Him (Colossians 2:9-10). We live and move and have our existence in Jesus each
moment of our day (Act 17:28).
We come to realize that if we do not have something
we think we need, it is because God knows we do not need it at this time. He
has other plans for us. Accepting His will with joy brings us ultimate
fulfillment.
Prayer:
Father God, we realize that Christ actually does Your
work through us. Our true identity as Authentic Christians comes from Christ
living in us. Christ expresses Your character through us, which is the fruit of
Your Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness,
self-control and faith (Galatians 5:22-23).
We are all united with Christ in His Body. You
utilize us as individual members of this Body, each with unique gifts and
talents, in a ministry to a corporate, church Body. Thank You for using us to
fulfill Your purpose in the earth (Romans 12:15; Ephesians 1:22,23; Colossians
1:18; 1 Corinthians 12:27).
Thought for the Day:
Salvation is the beginning of our walk in Christ,
but the next step is to develop awareness in our conscious thoughts of the
reality of Christ living within us.
