Galatians 2:20
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Dead to ‘self’/ Alive in Christ. Paul knew the secret of contentment! He knew the secret of living was to die to anything that appeased the flesh and the pride of life. Nothing mattered but the Lord! When Christ transformed Saul, there were huge changes. Christ transformed his entire life where his choices, his desires, his passions, his motives and his vocation all did an about face that changed his destiny. It was a defining moment! A pivotal point! Such irony when a murderer stops brutally taking lives and becomes passionate for the preservation of life and the salvation of souls. It’s a God thing. There is no other power on earth so life changing as the power of the Gospel and the message of love.
Paul became a Christ one and Christ lived in Him to empower him … “To whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). It was Christ in him that was his hope for each new day, and it was Christ in him that gave him the power and perseverance to run the race set before him as difficult as it was.
To know Christ is to have His power within. To be empowered by Him. There is no need to run here and there in desperation to find Him because He dwells within. He is a close as a heartbeat! His presence is with us wherever we find ourselves. What a comfort to know He’s there in the hard times and in the difficult moments. He’s there in the rebukes, the heartaches, the criticisms, the disappointments and the discouragements. Friends, it’s this indwelling of His Spirit that gives us the power to live a victorious Christian life on a daily basis. It’s no longer ‘I’ that live but it’s Christ that lives in me. It’s not going to be anything we do, but it will be God in us that empowers us to make it to the finish line and enter glory where we hear Him say, ” Well done, [thou] good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”
Today, celebrate Christ’s victory over death. He defeated it! Our last and final enemy met it’s match with Christ’s death on the cross and His glorious resurrection. When we accept His salvation, we too are given this victory over death. He not only gives us the passion and the power to die to ‘self’ and live victoriously here, but He gives us the Hope of glory within to spur us on to our heavenly destination where Eternal life awaits when the curtains close on this physical life. Wow!! That’s a reason to rejoice. Are you rejoicing today in Christ’s victory? In your victory?
Hope and Healing In Hard Places 