Good morning…
How do we grow up into our Christlike true self? We follow in the faithful footprints left by Jesus as he walked his short lifetime on this dusty earth.
We listen to Jesus’ constant encouragement: “Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8, AMP). Eventually, we mature as our brother matured: Jesus grew strong in mind and body. He grew in favor with God and men (Luke 2:52, NLV). Over time, our Christlike nature grows strong in our soul and expands into the world.
As we are empowered to do the very work of God, our lives silently say, day after day: “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? I am not speaking the words which I am saying to you from Myself, but the Father abiding in Me is doing His works” (John 14:10, DLNT). Our true self abides in God as God abides in us and the Spirit of God overflows from our lips. Even when life hands us our darkest hour, we struggle to surrender, just like Jesus did: He said, “Father, if it’s your will, take this cup of suffering away from me. However, not my will but your will must be done” (Luke 22:42, CEB). Daily we exchange our short-sighted will for God’s eternal will.
The law of “good Christian living” loses its grip as the breathtaking life of the living Christ takes us over, mind and body: The Law has no power over me. I am dead to the Law. Now I can live for God. I have been put up on the cross to die with Christ. I no longer live. Christ lives in me. The life I now live in this body, I live by putting my trust in the Son of God. He was the One Who loved me and gave Himself for me. I say that we are not to put aside the loving-favor of God. If we could be made right with God by keeping the Law, then Christ died for nothing (Galatians 2:19-21, NLV). Because Jesus died once and for all of us, the light of Christ now turns on in us.
It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!
So don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!
This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him! (Romans 8:12-17, MSG).
How do we grow up into our Christlike true self? We follow in the faithful footprints left by Jesus as he walked his short lifetime on this dusty earth. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7, NIV).
…Sue…
P.S. If you want to explore more deeply the root system beneath your true self, touch on the “Past Blog Posts” button below and review God’s teaching this one of a kind week.
