BE RESURRECTED!

“For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.”
Romans 6:4 NLT

We often think of resurrection as what will happen to us after we die and Christ returns. However, we miss out on understanding the amazing power Father God has given us in Christ, if we do that.  Read Romans 6:4 above, and notice that the death that Paul refers to there is not physical death, rather it is death to our independent striving, our own way of doing things.  It means we completely surrender all that we are, both good and bad, to the God who saved us from eternal death and separation from him.

I like the way Paul illustrates a vital detail in that transaction.  In Galatians 5:24 he writes, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.”  We nail them to the Cross.  It is our choice to crucify our old sin nature. God will not force us to do it.

It is also important that we understand that, in doing so, God provides the way to access all the power that raised Jesus from the dead, for us to use in overcoming the obstacles in our daily lives.  If we choose to believe him and give him our old natural sinfulness and allow his power to work in us, God cleanses us and gives us a totally new, different way of living.  A way of living without grunting and striving, but rather one that relies on the Holy Spirit within us.

Where do you need that resurrection power to work in your life today?  Come to the Cross of Jesus, acknowledge your complete dependence upon him and his finished work there.  Surrender what you are struggling with to him.  Nail it to the Cross and declare it dead.  Then, receive the new life, the power that cleanses you, frees you and fills you with peace and joy.  It’s that easy.  Remember God’s Word tells us that we please God, not by our own power, but by trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us.  Let’s learn to love the Cross and access the power available to us. We find it there by simply believing and trusting God.

Pray with me: Father God, thank you for saving me and desiring me to be free, cleansed and filled with your love and joy.  Holy Spirit, teach me to access your power at work in me, that resurrection power promised to me.  Lord Jesus, I submit every dead, sinful thing in my life to you, and nail it to the Cross.  By faith I trust that you will bring new life, peace and power to every broken place in me.  In the powerful, compassionate name of Jesus, I pray.  Amen.

Dear friend, may you grow in your understanding and trust in the resurrection power that is at work in you.   As a result, may you grow in your love and intimacy with your Father God who loves you so dearly that he sent his Son to die in your place, so that you could experience revived and restored, new life today.   Amen.
Mary Sumner
April 12, 2019