Are
you in Christ?
Is
Christ in you?
Many
of us call ourselves Christians without realizing that this means that Jesus
Christ actually lives inside of us, and through us, and that we are instructed
to live in Him.
Our
flesh is merely the clothing we wear in this world, the tent we reside in. We
are spirit beings, made in the image of our heavenly Father, created to reflect
His glory, while being one with Him. Until we recognize this, we give more
importance to our flesh, often denying our spiritual needs. Our soul dictates
what we do and the decisions we make. Our soul is made up of our mind, our will
and our emotions. Just as God is three parts, with innumerable facets, so are
we. Most of us recognize God as God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. He
is Spirit (the Holy Spirit), made flesh (Jesus) with a mind (the Father) that
knows everything.
To
yield ourselves to God, we submit our spirit to His, we give ourselves to His
authority, but also to everything else that He is. We essentially hide
ourselves in His identity by allowing Him to reside within us.
Can
you imagine “pulling Him out of you” when you want to do something you know He
wouldn’t approve of? Sort of setting Him aside so He won’t see… that conjures
up a funny picture.
Once
we’ve invited Him in, we “take Him” everywhere we go, to do everything we do. Not
that He isn’t always there seeing everything that goes on in the first place,
but now you’ve invited Him to go along.
When
I look for contentment and fulfillment outside of Jesus, that’s when I sin.
When I feel that my life is lacking in some area, and even if I don’t recognize
what it is that I’m lacking – I need to be looking for it in Christ, or I’m
creating my own god to worship and love; a false god.
Where
have you been looking for fulfillment?
I
am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me
you can do nothing. – John 15:5 NIV
I
have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— John 17:22
NIV
I love the word picture you gave when you said, "Can you imagine “pulling Him out of you” when you want to do something you know He wouldn’t approve of?"
ReplyDeleteI see myself saying, "Okay Jesus, I want to sin, even though I know I will be sorry later, but I don't want you to be a part of me when I do this so I'm going to reach down in my mouth and grab your Spirit that resides in me and pull you out and put you in a closet while I do this sin. I'll get back to you later and we can work on getting you back inside when I am done with this sin thing."
It really is a funny picture.
OH MY GOODNESS, Helen, I learn SO much from u. U are inspiring to me & I swear that any questions I have in my mind u somehow answer them for me. Thank U for keeping God alive in my heart & soul! I love u & please continue your awesome work of God. <3
DeleteThank you ladies, for coming to read what I'm sharing. You bless me, and I'm honored.
ReplyDeleteYes, Diane - it's a pretty funny word picture, that's pretty much what I pictured when I wrote this!