Put off the dead stuff…

Imagine having a billion dollar bank account, getting statements each month, but not believing it, so you are working hard to keep afloat financially. If that seems silly, imagine having faith in Christ and being dead to sin, reading what God says and still not sure this is true, particularly each time you disobey God. In both cases, inner thoughts do not line up with facts like this:

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Colossians 3:1–10)

Key to both issues is what I am listening to? Is it the statements regarding my wealth? Is it the Word of God stating my status? Or am I looking at something else? The above passage asks, “If you have been raised with Christ” — a question puts those who hear it into a dilemma. How do I measure the answer?

I remember one man who claimed to be sinless. He said that salvation was death to sin and since he was saved, he no longer sinned. Anyone who knew him knew otherwise, but this man measured his answer by what he wanted to be true, and that desire blinded him to reality:

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:8)

If I have money in the bank and yet insist I am poor and do not rely on that money, I would be like a person who claims to be saved, but is not relying on the Lord Jesus Christ to redeem him. I might be trying hard to redeem myself, or like the man I knew, denying I needed further work and denying there is any sin left to fight. What is true?

Today’s devotional talks about reckoning or considering. The Bible says that because of faith in God’s Word, I have died and my life is hidden with Christ in God. But it also speaks of earthly things in me, things to put off and not rely on or be involved in. I have to live according to what God says, not according to what I think or want.

The error comes by supposing “to live I must first die” or lose my life and find my life hid with God. However, the Bible says I am already dead. I don’t need to die, but to realize what I already am dead to that old life because of what Jesus has done. Reckoning is thinking the truth, not making it happen. When I think the truth, it shows up in the way I live, not the other way around. In other words, I don’t have to make a large income and deposit it in my account because that account is already full, established, there for me to live. Not ignore as if I didn’t have it and had to work hard to get it.

Putting off the old way is realizing the old way is a lie and no longer alive. Instead, I am not spiritual poor but very rich in the resources of my Redeemer!

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

Losing the old life is key to discovering the new, but key to losing the old life is realizing and believing it is already lost, dead to God and useless. What I have in Christ is life and truth and reality, not a charge to go get it.

PRAY: Feelings, sinful behavior, any kind of selfishness can mess with truth, and Jesus, that is a big reason You tell me to shed that stuff and live in the joy You give. It happens by loving You and loving others and reckoning truth about me — truth that You proclaim and even put in writing for me to read and rejoice — to believe and obey. Sometimes this is difficult to explain, yet knowing the truth sets me free from that deceptive and useless self-effort.

 

When Jesus changes lives…

 

The Lord taught me much at our family reunion that last weekend in July. As I reflect, it was not just for family that we were entirely blessed. He blessed me by letting me experience what it was like to be filled with His Spirit and feel entirely free to do or say whatever came to mind — and whatever came to mind was always praise and honor to Him. Complete freedom. I never once worried what others might think or that I might look like some sort of nitwit. Later, I was told by someone who wasn’t even there that I made a lot of people happy. That was Jesus at work and when the weekend was over, the joy remained. I felt like I’d just experienced a taste of heaven. Indescribable joy and worship.

That lesson reinforced what I’d known but never experienced in such measure. When God is in charge, there is no thought of self, no concerns about being rejected or sneered at, nothing negative, just great love and care for others to the point that self is totally out of the picture.

I didn’t make this happen. Being aware of God at work, I often felt like a bystander or an audience. He made clear what it means to be totally consecrated to Him. I didn’t even get tired, at least not until hours after on the way home. This was an amazing event for our family, but also for me.

Today’s reading is a description of how God made consecration to Him a reality for the person who wrote it. The writer used words like more light, no provision for the flesh, giving up all of self, having her will slain, and resting nowhere but in God. I don’t know what happened that revealed this to her, but it is definitely a NT norm:

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Colossians 3:1–10)

Looking back at many learning experiences, it seems that once God does an amazing thing in my life, without me even asking or thinking about it, I’m never the same afterward. One time one of our children took off with a friend in the middle of the night. They soon decided that was foolish and came home, but before that, the parents of the other child were numb with fear. However, my husband and I were oddly calm. We knew it was God giving us peace that was beyond comprehension. It made no sense to be calm, but we were a stabilizer for those other two people and not surprised when the two children walked in the door. This experience of God taking over made a huge difference. Since we learned He could do it, we now seek it when life throws us a giant-sized curve.

In the same way, I’ve learned what the Spirit of God can do for me in being responsible for a big event, just as the author learned what consecration is like when God makes it happen. It is His gift to show us the glory of putting self to death and putting on the new self.

Yesterday, a few of us were asked to do something scary. Experiencing God’s grace in other scary things takes the fear away for saying yes to this request. I’m trusting God to give what is needed to do the task, and also trusting Him for the others who claimed they are too inadequate for the task. May they discover that God knows we are not adequate; no one can do it without Him and feeling helpless is far better than having fleshy confidence. As John 15 says, without Him we can do nothing.

PRAY: Jesus, without You, I am as limp and useless as a glove without a hand. You give what is needed when it is needed. Forgive me for the times I try to do things in my own strength. Help my friends realize their need for Your power and boldness, and to recognize the difference between that and mere human confidence. Thank You Jesus.

Listening to God profits my life

God has taught me to read Scripture and listen for ‘rhema’ which means God speaking to my need for that day or even that moment. One of the things that help this process was an exercise taught to me by several mentors.

They said to read a passage and when something stops me (or hits me between the eyes!) then ponder it. What is God saying to me in that portion? How does it convict me of sin? What does it show me about God? About Jesus Christ? About the Holy Spirit? How does it teach me about life? Each time I did this, I was laying myself open to ‘rhema’ and God used these exercises to help me listen to Him and help me grow in my faith and knowledge of Him.

Some portions of Scripture are particularly helpful for such reading. They are rich in various ways. The devotional passage for today (which I have expanded to cover more verses) is one of those. Even though “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17) this passage bundles all those elements into just a few words:

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” (Colossians 3:1–10)

The very first phrase calls for personal examination. Am I really a Christian? Do I have the new life that faith in Him produces? If so, then I ought to be thinking a certain way and living a certain way.

The next part tells me why. I am dead to that old life and going back to it makes no sense. Then the passage gets specific. Am I struggling with any of these things? If so, I need to remember their end; God’s wrath! I used to live like that — and ‘rhema’ will tell me which ones need my special attention — but also remind me that these things are put off. Christ has changed me; I have a new life and my thoughts and behavior ought to show it.

This is God’s way of renewing, of teaching reproving, correcting and training in righteousness. He wants to complete or perfect me so that I am able to do everything and anything that He might ask of me. This is not about God being a task-master who cracks a whip, but God as a mentor, a life-guide, a life-changer. He wants me to become the very best person that I can possibly be and as I listen to Him, He shows me every detail of what to think, how to talk, and how to live, that will not only bring out the godliness He has put in, but will also be helpful to others and bring glory to His Name.

^^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, I cannot thank You enough for speaking into my life. You do it every day, sometimes more than once, and as I am learning to listen, I’m also learning to be more like You. I know how stubborn I’ve been, how blind, and often how deaf, but You persist and in that persistence, You are saving me and changing my life for good. Thank You, thank You!