Skip to main content

Living It Out

What does it mean to live out a resurrected life? Remembering is an essential element of following Christ. It is the motivation for taking the Lord's Supper, it is the activity that allows me to apply the words "It is finished," and it is the practice that provides a supernatural reality check whenever I have cause to doubt. The discipline of remembering is actually a unique opportunity. No other religion or philosophy can remember as we do. When doubts or difficulties arise the Christian simply has to remember who they are. Everyone else has to remember what they need to do. This is only possible in Jesus the Christ. This is the key to unlocking all of those passages in which Scripture speaks of life, abundant and free.

At any given moment I can remember what was accomplished through Jesus and I can experience revival. As a Christian, I can remember that He has given freely (at a terrible cost) so that I can receive and not have to earn. I am not a product of my circumstances, I am not the label assigned to me by family, peers, coworkers, or culture. I am one of God's people, precious in His sight, living for eternity every moment, and as brothers & sisters we carry the answer to all of Creation's groaning as we serve the Kingdom. Even the parts of my life I'd like to forget now serve His purpose as my testimony reveals the glory of God. Remembering is no longer painfully loaded with regret but powerfully imbued with hope. Only Jesus has the ability to transform in this way.

When I remember what He did for me I allow His death to remove all defensiveness, offense, aggression, and low self-worth. As the weight of my sin and that way of former living is dropped, I can pick up the baton that was meant for me. Jesus told us to carry on His work as His disciples and the first generation of disciples knew this work was the ministry of reconciliation. My pursuit is to do unto others what He has done for me, and reveal to them what has been revealed to me. In Christ, I am a new creation. I have been set free to care about others. I have been given proof that God has a purpose for who I am in this place and time. Everything else has been dealt with, and all that is left is for me to live in the light of what He has done. No matter what happens, I can remember that my future is secure. What a joy and what a gift is today! I simply must tell everyone I know about this resurrected life.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

All In Good Time

Where does my help come from...and when will it get here?! I have a fairly predictable struggle in my faith walk when it comes down to the timing I would prefer versus the timing of God. Mostly this revolves around my own comfort and desires but there have been occasions when God's timing has cause me deep pain and sadness. Still, I trust Him. In the those times of real struggle I place my hope in what Jesus has already accomplished, and then cast my gaze to what the Bible reveals of the final victory. The greatest resource for my peace is not found in a distraction or a pleasant feeling but in the reality of Christ's death and resurrection. Knowing God was able to bring about the salvation of all in that way, I renew my faith in that great and glorious day yet to come. Sure, my anticipation grows with every look ahead but my temporal peace also increases even in the midst of calamity. Still, I trust Him. This statement is not a mantra or religious chat I use to calm myself i...
Post a Comment
Read more

In the Moment

I need times of transition. This is something that I have discovered about myself and my daily life. I have a difficult time jumping from one thing to the next, especially if I have spent a significant amount of time dedicated to a single focus. To contextualize what I am talking about let me say that on any given day I come up with a new list of three things to accomplish and I add these to my "daily six list." Those six are the things that I have prayerfully decided upon in order to keep myself accountable and effective in my calling and purpose. Applying both of those lists to my routine has taken a lot of time and discipline to include as an every day reality, but to talk more about that would be a blog of a different color. I usually don't need a transition between each of those nine daily items as they are similar in focus and the mental/spiritual/emotional preparation is the same. However, when I go home I need a time of transition to adjust my focus so that I ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Friendship

Friendship is a loaded concept. This past week I've been challenged by the parameters that I place on this kind of relationship when compared to what I see in Scripture. Last Sunday, the sermon looked at the fact Jesus referred to us as friends and Ty pointed out the conditional nature of that friendship as Jesus said, "You are My friends if you do what I command you" (John 14:15 HCSB). Living in covenant with my God means that I am walking in friendship with my Creator, Redeemer, and King. In our culture we embrace labels and often apply them to ourselves and others as the definition of identity. When I think of Jesus, I don't connect our friendship to His identity. He is, "I AM" and I relate to Him as a friend when I follow His life giving instructions. That got me thinking about my other friendships. Do I identify people by the level or kind of relationship they have with me? The Bible shows friendship to be a covenantal relationship yet I usually only ap...
Post a Comment
Read more