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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.

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