What a statement, Paul here writing to the Galatians explains the way that he lives. In this part of the letter Paul wrote to the Christians in Galatia, he is speaking about how he challenged his friend Peter on the way that he was living. So Paul is talking here about how we relate to the law of God, and how grace doesn’t cancel out the law, but that we are not saved by observing the law.

When Paul says this statement; “…I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” He is giving us a filter through which we must, as Christians, live our life. The fact that Jesus lives in you is the defining aspect of being a Christian, there is no non-Christian that has Christ living in them, and there is no Christian that does not have Christ living in them. So if the fact is that as Christians we have Christ living in us, why do we not live that differently to non-Christians? Many would say that the primary difference between Christians and non-Christians is that Christians don’t get to sleep in on Sunday morning.

I think that the place where we as Christians miss the mark, in this whole thing is not that we don’t accept the fact that Christ lives in us, but rather that we don’t live out the first part of this statement. “…I no longer live…” if we accept that Jesus lives in us, then we must believe that we have died to ourselves, you cannot be a Christian if you do not desire to die to yourself. It is impossible to live for Christ and to live for yourself, the call that Jesus has on every single Christians life is this; “Die to yourself, live for me, and be truly satisfied.”

So how do you die to yourself? Well this is a road that I want to walk together with you through these next few posts. I feel that this is the place in my own life that I am missing the mark, and as we seek together to die to ourselves, my prayer is that we will be able to live as if we really believed that Christ lives in us. I don’t have all the answers, and I don’t intend to pretend that I do, but I want to just share with you what I learn as over the next few weeks we actively begin to seek to live a lifestyle where one day (by the grace of God) we can say with Paul; “…I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”

Please feel free to comment, and share any insights that you have in this area of our Christians life, as well as any prayer requests. Pray for us as we pray for you.

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Faith in Jesus comes about because people hear the Gospel. People hear the Gospel, because other people tell them the Gospel, but why do people tell other people the Gospel?

Romans 10v17: So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

It says right here that their hearing is through the word of Christ… Huh? What is that, what does that mean? It is this, people preach, witness, evangelize, or whatever because Jesus has told them to. Jesus sends out His people, to spread His message, about His sacrifice, and His love… Don’t get it? Check this out…

Matthew 28v18→19a: And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”

Do you see it, this is known as the great commission, its Jesus sending us (that means you and me…) out to make disciples. What is the action word, what is it that we should be doing? GO!!! Jesus is there shouting to us and encouraging us, “GO you can do it, I will strengthen you, I have all authority in heaven and earth, GO!!!”

That’s what Romans 10v17 is saying, that hearing is through the word of Christ, and that word is… You guessed it; “GO!” He is sending you out to go and make disciples, He is sending you out to spread His message, He is sending you out to go and tell other people about what He has done for you. Remember a few verses before in Romans 10, where Paul reminded us about how people get saved? He said that everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved, but how are they going to know to call on His Name unless they hear about Him (Romans 10v13+14)? There are people around you in your everyday life that have not truly heard (or understood) the message of the Gospel, you have a unique relationship with these people, God has put them in your life for a purpose, help them to hear!

A final word on this, witnessing for a Christian should be as natural as swimming is for a fish, but for most of us it doesn’t feel like that. Some of the methods that have been taught to us make us feel like we have be a judge sitting on the bench passing sentence on the person that we are trying to witness to, other methods basically tell you just to be friends with them and live like a Christian, never talking to them. But what is witnessing really? Witnessing always come down to a conversation of some kind (remember they need to hear), it is you telling your friend about what Jesus has done in your life; why and how. You’re not a judge, you’re a witness on the stand, telling what Jesus has done in your life. What has He done in your life that’s worth telling about, that will make God famous?

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By being fully God and fully human Jesus Christ was able to meet our needs in the exact fashion that we needed our needs met. He came to earth and died on the cross and rose again. No human being could do that for us, only a conquering God who cares about His people.

If we read Revelation 19 we see a picture of Jesus, the Word of God standing victoriously over death and sin. Jesus Christ means business when it comes to sin. He hates it so much that He has declared war against sin and what it does to the lives of the people He loves. Jesus Christ has conquered death and as a result sin has no hold on those who follow Jesus. Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He is God who is fighting for your freedom.

So as God Jesus conquered death and sin but why come to earth and be fully human? It’s simple… He did that because He loves you!

By limiting Himself on earth He was able to have a relationship with people, he became approachable and real. How many people would feel that the Jesus we see in Revelation would identify with them on a personal level? But Jesus came to earth so show us he cares about us, each and every single one of us. In living a human life we are able to comprehend the idea of having a relationship with Jesus that is like a relationship with a brother or friend.

By being fully human and fully God He has the power to free us from the sin that enslaves us and still be the saviour that stands by our side, like a friend would in a time of need.

We can feel Jesus Christ because He wants us to feel Him.

That’s how our lives are changed. What he did for us as ‘fully God’ allows us to enter into a relationship with Him. That relationship, the human aspect of God, leads us along a road where Jesus brings us closer to holiness, to loveliness, to gracefulness, to self control, to patience, to freedom.

Is your life spinning out of control?
Are you wanting to grow more?
Do you feel stale in your walk with God?
Well the good news is that JESUS IS YOUR LIFESAVER!!

What happens when we enter into that unique relationship with God?
We change into the person God designed us to be.

FREE FROM SIN – FREE IN HIM

This video shows you some of the testimonies of people in a church in the United States . These people have entered into a relationship with a God who has the Power to conquer death but who is still very interested in you as a person because He knows what you are going through.

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Easter is here this week! Such an important time in our Christian calender because it is when we remember what it was that Jesus Christ did for us when He died on the cross and rose again. The country acknowledges the occasions by pronouncing the Friday and Monday public holidays and this means that most people look forward to Easter.

My concern is that for the last few years of my life Easter lost its meaning because I had lost the magnitude of what God had done for me. So this Easter I wanted to focus on Jesus Christ, who he was and what it means to follow Him.

Lets look at John 1: 14 – 16

¹⁴The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,^[a] who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ” ¹⁶From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.

Jesus Christ is Fully God
At the beginning of this chapter we see that Jesus Christ is the Word of God, he was God and was with God at the beginning (vs. 2). In fact is was through Jesus Christ that creation came into being (vs 3). Jesus Christ brings with Him the light that brings life to all men and He is the vehicle that God chooses to reveal His truth and grace to mankind.

Now this is a lot to take in but the basics are simple: Jesus is God, We see creation because of Him and He is the embodiment of God’s grace and truth to man.
If you have time over the next week meditate on this aspect and person of Jesus Christ. To understand the Godly nature of God will open up the doors to a greater faith and a deeper walk with God.

Jesus reveals the truth and grace of God by coming to earth. This leads us into the next point:

Jesus Christ is Fully Human
This man Jesus Christ was born of a woman just like everyone of us. He had an earthly father named Joseph and He learnt the trade of His father by becoming a carpenter. He lived like any other child lived in those days, experiencing life in the same way as any other person did.

Jesus was not void of emotion, He was angry when he drove the merchants out of the temple (John 2:12) , He knew what it meant to be cast out and misunderstood (Luke 8), He had people around Him who appreciated Him (John 12), He understood physical pain through the crucifixion, He knew what it meant to feel fear in the Garden and how to stay focused as He finished His prayer with “but not my will but yours.”
Jesus Christ was completely human because He chose to limit Himself on earth to experience life the way we experience life.

I would like to ask you to contemplate these two aspects of Jesus Christ over the next week as we come close to easter. Next week we will look at why Jesus did this. Why come as fully man and fully God?

We will release the next devotional on Saturday in time for Easter Sunday. I pray that God blesses you richly as you gaze into His face.

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