Living With Jesus In Control
(Galatians 2:20 NKJV) "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Jesus -The Person Within
You
Jesus dwelling in me is not just a thought in my head or a feeling in my heart. Jesus is not an idea. Jesus is a person. Jesus in me means that a whole person called Jesus Christ of Nazareth is living in me. Jesus does not come to me in bits and pieces but as a whole person and if I am to recognize Him then I must recognize Him as a whole person. Jesus in me is not a "doctrine about" something abstract but a "dwelling within" of God.
The new life within me
is described in terms of something intensely personal taking residence in my
flesh and spirit. The Bible speaks of it as Christ in me, a new man, and a new
creation begotten of God , born of the seed that is the Word of God. The descriptions
are always that of a whole organism. I don't just have the mind of Christ but
also the will of Christ and the emotions of Christ dwelling in me.
Have you
ever experienced the "high" of leading someone to faith in Jesus Christ? This
high is Christ in you rejoicing. It is a joy that comes from the Spirit and
which surpasses all worldly joys. Have you ever found yourself with a courage
and determination that seemed quite uncharacteristic for you? This is Christ's
will living in you and manifesting itself through you. Have you ever found yourself
recalling Scriptures in an almost amazing way at "just the right time".
This
is the mind of the Christ working in the power of the Spirit of God.
The Pharisees knew a great deal about God but they did not know God in the way we are talking about here. They knew bits and pieces of God and fitted Him into a jigsaw puzzle. However they did not get a vision of God. Their jigsaw puzzle was without the picture on the box. You need to "see the face of Christ" to make sense of the jigsaw puzzle.
(2 Corinthians 4:6 NKJV) For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Determine to know Christ as a whole person. Determine to meet Him not just to know about Him. Determine to see His face and to let Him dwell fully in you. Do not abide in " notions about Jesus" - abide in Him. Know Him as you know your spouse - through experience and time as well as words and ideas. Know His actions, his ways, His preferences. Know Him as a whole person.
Jesus In Control
Previously we saw that Jesus in us is a whole person not just a concept in our heads. Jesus in me has a mind, emotions and will. Jesus in me is a whole new life in me. How then do I "put Jesus in control" ? I have found that it is possible to consciously ask Jesus to live through you and that He will do so. Try this experiment - at the beginning of the day pray "Lord Jesus may Your will be my will, Your thoughts my thoughts, Your feelings, my feelings, Your objectives my objectives today. Replace my fleshly thoughts, feelings and desires with Yourself. May my lips only speak gracious words that are from You." Then just go out and live your normal day without thinking twice about it or checking up to see how you are going.
At the end of the day sit still (if you can) and note how extraordinarily different the day has been from your normal days. You will find that it is more active and more peaceful and full of good things. You will find that you seldom get done what you planned to do but you certainly get done a lot of what God planned to do. You will sit down puzzled thinking "how did I do all that" and you will feel very good about it. When Jesus in you takes over it is great fun! You don't lose your personality when Jesus in you lives through you. In fact I become more lively and extroverted. The "life" God has always wanted me to have is living in me and I feel 100% alive! Out of this life flows blessing. You "accidentally" bless others as you go through the day.
Its not complicated, difficult or theological. All it requires is faith that Jesus IS in you and WILL live through you. He longs to. "but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Believe He is in you and
ask him to live your life for you. This is not irresponsibility or a cop out.
We cannot live our lives. Paul gave that up for an exhausting bad joke. He gave
up living His own life and just relied 100% on his death and resurrection with
Christ Jesus.
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live,
but Christ lives in me".
Instead of trying to keep a dead man alive he let him
die at the cross where he had been crucified with Christ. Paul "died" when he
was converted on the Damascus Road. By the time he wrote Galatians he had learned
the full meaning of that death. We don't know when Paul fully realized that
he was dead to sin and alive with Christ - but he learned it and relied on it.
If you are a Christian you don't have to "be crucified with Christ" all over
again. You just have to learn how to rely on that and how to live in the power
of the resurrection. Paul says "therefore present yourself..." (Romans 6:19,
12:1 etc) and this is what the above prayer does. It presents the parts of your
body and person to God to be used as instruments of righteousness by the indwelling
Jesus. It is a powerful and effective prayer because of the truths it is based
on - not the words it uses.
When you pray it believing Christ is in
you as a whole person, that He wants to live His life out fully and exuberantly
and that God has commanded you to present yourself to Him each day. That's the
core of it. Give Jesus you hands, feet, lips, will, imagination, feelings, thoughts
and ask Him to move through you and in you in all these areas. Then watch out!
Prayer
Thank you Jesus that I have been crucified with you, that I am no longer under the burden of having to live my life. You have come to live in me as the very source of my life its feelings, thoughts, and imaginations. So now Lord Jesus I present myself to You for You to live Your life fully, powerfully and abundantly through me. Let my emotions be Your emotions and my ideas Your ideas and the plans I make may they only be Your plans from Your heart and mind. May my lips speak not from me but straight from You with words full of graciousness and truth. I present my body to You. May your life animate the members of my body so that they do your will and move to Your command . Lord give me the faith to go out there and do things knowing that You are going to live through me. Let me not doubt or waver. May I not become passive and fearful but bold and confident of Your presence in me. Lord Jesus I want to encounter You as a Person not an abstraction. To do that Lord I need to let You live wholly through me. I trust You to do this now. Dwell in me abundantly Lord Jesus! Amen.
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