Crucified faith!
Verse for Today: Thursday, December 27, 2012
Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer
live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in
the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
It is a divine miracle that we
live and at the same time we are dead. We were dead in our sins and trespasses,
but God made us alive with Jesus. Once we start living in Christ, we get
ourselves crucified and declared dead. This means that all our faculties die in
Christ and the power of Christ live in us to exercise His will, priorities,
likes and dislikes through us. When this truth becomes a reality in us, we
would not be seen, but Christ will be seen in us. We will have Christ’s
characteristics exemplified in all our actions and attitudes. So we live by
faith just as Christ lived here on earth. We follow the perfect will of the
Father as Christ did. We will have no anxiety just as Christ who lived in
perfect peace of mind. We live to satisfy ourselves with the manna of the Word
just as Christ did with the words which came from the mouth of God. We pray to
the Father just as Christ prayed to the Father. We love all whom Christ loves,
without loving the evil things they do. We possess the spirit of a servant just
as Christ was the perfect servant in utter humility. We seek after the lost
just as Christ came to the lost in this world. But all of these Christ-like
characteristics grow in us as we abide in Christ and continuously get our
fleshly desires, priorities, likes and dislikes crucified with Christ. The new
life in Christ that we live daily is a life of utter and absolute faith in the
power of Christ to accomplish His purpose in and through us. The world abhors
the crucified life which is understood as weakness. But the crucified person lives by faith in the
power and energy of Christ. The crucified person carries his cross and walks on
Calvary Road in the footsteps of Christ with the desire to exemplify His
character, behavior and attitudes. He enjoys the despising, mockery,
resentment, rejection and isolation that the word grants him and considers it
his privilege to be called a fool for the sake of Christ.
Dear reader, are you experiencing
a crucified life on a daily basis with all its inconveniences, pain, misery, shame
and reproach? Are you adequately surrendered to the extent to which your
natural instincts are crucified and killed? Have you crucified yourself with
all your desires, wants, likes, dislikes and priorities? When you thus get
crucified, you will tread on the road to a spirit-filled life which will give
you the Christ-like attitude and a deep desire to live by faith. You will soon
realize that living by faith is costly because it leaves all the eventualities
in life to God to rule and overrule. It is taking risk to follow the path of
faith which doesn’t guarantee any success according to world’s standards. It
means that you are willing to accept pain, tears, shame and setback that God permits
in your life without grumbling. The life in Christ makes you bold to face the
unknown future and be willing to accept anything that God sends you without
questioning it. Apostle Paul lived such a life of faith without fixed
itinerary, programs, schedules, comforts or permanency in anything. It did not guarantee
a place to sleep because Christ had no place to lay His head. There was no idea
when and from where the next meal would come. There was no expectation in such
a life of faith except the way the Lord would lead moment by moment. It was a
life full of misunderstanding and distortions which he willingly endured for
Christ. Today we are challenged to take the bold walk of faith with the cross
on our shoulders, enduring the shame and the reproach of Christ.
Galatians 6:14 – May I never
boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ through whom the world has
been crucified to me, and I to the world!
Thought for Today
The life on the rugged cross produces faith that walks forward holding
Christ's hands.
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