In
God’s three-fold plan of salvation, He starts by justifying our spirit, which
happens the instant we repent. Eventually, He will instantly glorify our body
when we see Jesus, because we will see Him as He is (1 John 3:2).
In
between, His Spirit sanctifies our soul a little more each day (2 Corinthians
3:18). Our soul is purified as we lay down our life, will and goals, and completely
surrender to Christ in us. We are crucified with Christ, and therefore, we live
in this world for the glory of Christ (Philippians 1:21).
Yet,
it is not we who live, but Christ who lives in and through us (Galatians 2:20).
Christ is in us, but we are also in Him. We are totally surrounded by Jesus,
inside and out. He is our life (Colossians 3:3-4). He is our everything. We are
consumed by Him.
Nothing
can penetrate this shield, unless we allow it to, by living in the flesh
instead of in the Spirit. Christ in us prevents the stress of life from
negatively affecting us, because we are not dealing with it; Jesus is.
Christ
in us is working out His perfect will for us through every issue we experience.
God wants to fill us through all of our being with all of His fullness, so that
we may obtain the richest portion of His presence in our life (Ephesians 4:13).
We
no longer go with the flow of life; instead, we live in the flow of the Spirit.
We no longer spend time in prayer; instead, we live in prayer without ceasing
(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). We no longer spend just an hour in devotional
reading; instead, we meditate on God’s Word constantly throughout the day, no
matter what we are doing (Psalm 119:11), etc.
This
way we react to life in the Spirit and not in the flesh. We exhibit the fruit
of the Spirit rather than the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:15-25). God
removes the veil from our eyes and we can clearly see spiritual truth.
We
reflect the glory of God in our thoughts, words and deeds. God’s Spirit changes
us from glory to glory a little more each day (2 Corinthians 3:18). We slowly mature
until we totally walk in the divine nature of Christ, who is our life
(Ephesians 4:13; Colossians 3:4).
We
express to the world around us, the character of Christ within us, which is the
fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). We walk in obedience moment by moment
throughout the day. We no longer willfully sin or fulfill the lusts of the
flesh. Jesus plans our life instead of us.
Prayer:
Father
God, negative emotions illuminate the areas in our life where we have unmet
needs or idols. As we lay the idols down, Satan has fewer and fewer areas where
he can hinder our walk in Christ. Show us the ways in which we prevent You from
using us each day.
Remind
us to walk by Your Spirit's direction moment by moment, and help us to decrease
so that You may increase in our life. We want to be filled through all of our
being with all of Your fullness, so that we may have the richest measure of
your presence and become a body wholly and completely filled with You
(Ephesians 3:19-21 – Amplified Bible).
Thought
for the Day:
God
is faithful to us, even in times of our unfaithfulness to Him; Jesus, Elijah
and Enoch walked in God's Spirit all of the time, and as His children we can
too; through Christ in us, God’s divine nature infuses every part of our body,
soul and spirit, and as our focus on our self decreases, the fullness of Christ
increases within us.
–
2 Timothy 2:13; John 3:30; Acts 17:28-19
