One of God’s mysteries is that Christ can actually
dwell in our hearts by His Spirit (Colossians 1:26-27). When we choose to die
to our self - to lay down our own dreams, goals and desires for our life - we
embrace God’s will for us instead.
This does not mean that we live in destitution and
unfulfillment. It actually guarantees that we find even more blessings in God’s
service, than we ever did when we controlled our own life (Romans 8:5-8).
The fact that Christ
actually lives in us by His Spirit gives us hope of living with Him in glory (Colossians 1:27). We reflect the glory of our Heavenly Father a little
more each day, because Christ lives in and through us.
When we see carnality in our life, we confess it as
sin, and rejoice that the Spirit is exchanging His fruit, through the
sanctification process, for our errant attitudes and character traits
(Galatians 2: 22-23; 1 Corinthians 6:11).
When we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit
moment by moment throughout the day we are sure to succeed in everything we do
(Deuteronomy 28:13).
We cannot live with one foot in the world and one
foot in the things of the Spirit. This is impossible because the flesh lusts
against the Spirit (Matthew 6:24).
God’s goal for us is that we walk in the Spirit
(Galatians 5:16-17, 25; Romans 8:9-14). Christ buried us with Him in His death
by baptism and raised us up from dead works by the glory of our Father
(Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 3:3).
Prayer:
Father God, we are now Your sons, led by Your Spirit
as we take the time to submit our life to Christ one moment at a time (1 John
3:2). We find fulfillment in living in Your will and we realize Your glory
radiating in us and through us to the world around us.
Our inner man is renewed day by day, and this
encourages us, even though our body is getting older. Thank You for raising us
up as You raised up the Lord Jesus. Thank You also for bringing us into Your
presence for eternity and giving us our eternal hope of Your glory.
Thought for the Day:
When God sees us, He sees us in union with Christ,
perfected and cloaked in His righteousness. - Romans 13:14
