Scripture: Galatians 2 v 20:
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless, I live;
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh
I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loves me, and gave Himself for
me."
Do you know that you are crucified with Christ? Are you
dead to the sins and evils of this world? Are you truly free of depression;
oppression; suppression and possession by demons? If you can say yes to these
questions you are living the Christian life in its fullness.
If you are not there yet, it should be your ultimate
goal. There was an exchange made at the Cross, where Jesus took all our sins,
demons, diseases and death, and our once-dead, now-alive, spirit went to Heaven
to be seated in Christ on the right hand of the Father.
Its no longer I that live but Christ who lives in me. He
took our place inside our hearts when we were born again. Our flesh and soul
must now be conquered for us to live the crucified life. Jesus is within us to
boost our knowledge of the enemy so we can overcome him.
Our fleshly life is now to be lived by faith, ie
believing in things we cannot yet see happening. The more we crucify our
fleshly habits, the more clearly we see. The more worldliness we conquer in
ourselves, the freer we become.
How we stubbornly cling to those things which bring us
towards death. We call anything that is more important in our lives than our
personal relationship with Jesus, an idol.
You may be a champion tennis player; a Karate master; a supreme
commander of the fleet; clinging to memories of a dead loved one; a doting
parent; a lover of food, wine, women and song; an addict or a self-made man; a
TV evangelist or sought after preacher. If its greater than your love for Jesus
ie if you cannot let go when He tells you to, its an idol.
Jesus says we cannot serve two masters. We will love the
one and despise the other. So make an honest audit of your life. Ask Jesus to
show you your idols. The worldly things that you cannot bear to live without
are your idols.
Jesus said that worldly acclaim is dangerous - be ware
when all men speak well of you because they did that to the false prophets. If
you cannot live without recognition of your abilities that too is self-idolatry
and it must be crucified.
We must have as much concern for worldly things as a
corpse has. Be satisfied with what you have. Do not covet or be proud of your
possessions. Put Jesus and His needs first, last and all the time. Love Him
more than anything else and He will add to your life everything you need. Paul
idolised the Pharisees and their laws but when he met Jesus he counted it all
dung. He crucified those fleshly religious beliefs for the true love of Jesus.
So see this plastic world for what it is. Politicians
playing power games that no one wins. Millions of distractions to draw us away
from our true life hidden in Christ. The leap of faith can be a blind one but
the results are eye-opening.
Prayer: Father God I want to be truly dead to this world.
Show me my idols so I can destroy their hold over me. I want to be clean, pure
and holy so that Your Holy Spirit can flow through me to enlighten and bless
others. My reward is giving glory to You. In Jesus Christ's name. Amen.