LIVING BY DYING
"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain." - John 12:24
Nothing really can come out of this 'sit-tight', 'my right' kind of life, if we don't lose our ego, if the pride in us does not die - if we don't kill the self esteem that is attached only to achievements and education - we will not really be productive spiritually.
A deadness to self, a deadness to strife and a deadness to carnality is needed to be awakened unto full spirituality. The man who has not died to sin, cannot operate fully in righteousness, the good that can come out from such a person is just crisis management and if not well managed the undead sinful man, will ruin the spirit man.
This is not to discard the place of achievements, but to point us to the reality that we cannot rest our living on things that will die when we are dead. We cannot allow things that cannot live beyond this earth to hinder our spiritual growth that will take us beyond this life.
Some struggle not to die because they fear they would be taken for granted. Some struggle to kill pride because they think it will be mistaken for stupidity. Some don't even want to kill lust, because they think they won't be romantic enough for their spouse...
Brethren, the Christain race is a sentence of death of the old man. He who refuses to die will not live!
COME TO THE SLAUGHTER
"Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead" - 1Cor 1:9
No one wants to die yet we all want to go to heaven, we are naturally made to treasure our lives, we respond fast in defence to save our lives, that is why a contemplation of suicide can be said to be a mental case or defect. But we who are of the faith must begin to kill the old man who wants to resurrect. In fact anyone who desires for Christ to live inside must seek to kill the flesh and its lust.
Paul said they had a sentence of death in them, they walked in the consciousness of killing the old man. This is achieved when we have a conflict and we want to prove tight when we can seek peace, we would be put to test in that regard. We would be tested in the act of revenge and mercy, if mercy prevails we have dealt a blow to the old nature.
I pray for an understanding of this rare truth today, this isn't a call to dogma or stupidity but a practical living of the life Christ has called us unto.
The world is going crazy with conditional love, and pretentious bliss of a good life. But the old man still screams loud everywhere, we are no longer merciful, we would rather fight in courts than on our knees, in fact we have taken this lawlessness spiritual, we kill the enemy through prayer and refuse to be dealt with as the Lord wants to bring His nature alive in us.
"He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." - John 12:25
Your rights and perceptions, are not relevant either in hell or heaven, your degree that you have rested your esteem on here will not be relevant, possession cannot even be talked about - all these you have allowed to live at the expense of Christ in you.
There are times God will indeed make us pass through difficult times to make us see the vanity of these things, yet many would not learn, they wouldn't perceive - they love the walls they have built around them, they cherish the terms and agreement they have drafted with life. It is my life they say, and I choose to do what I want with it.
Although you will find justification for all your stand and right in the Scripture, yet you would do well to know that the life of Jesus is the model we are to attain. Humble to core, with rights and powers, yet so merciful and compassionate. The flesh is indeed in conflict with the spirit. If we don't address it with obedience and a prayerful life in submission. We will run into errors.
NO LONGER I THAT LIVE
"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 Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." - Gal 2:20
He that is not crucified with Christ cannot live a Christ kind of life, though we live this life by faith but it doesn't rule out the workings of the God in us...There is a working out of our salvation. If we do not work it, we cannot faith it too, as faith without work is dead.
The life of Christ will preach the Lord Jesus more than the profession of our mouth, though we must preach. If the life of Christ is the life we live by faith - the reach of Christ would be more effectual. Let us begin to desire that we don't live our old man again.
I am not talking about fruits that cannot be counterfeited.
If I stop living, Christ starts living. If there is a struggle with me, I'll pray for a compelling and constraining of the spirit. This life of Christ has to be more pronounced in my life. It is when we are crucified that we become a picture of Him.
"knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin." - Rom 6:6
Sometimes, a new creation starts struggling with a living past that refuses to go away, if the truth of this Word doesn't come, such creation would have no proof to kill that past. No matter your past, if one comes to Christ, the old man is dead by faith. But it doesn't rule out the place of work, though we cannot be justified by works solely, we cannot be justified without works either.
If we have to be practical as most people clamour for, we have to start asking ourselves if the old man is really dead. We need to start asking which life are we living, we need a constant decreasing that He should increase. Anything apart from this, is a wish and deceiving of ourselves.
Christ wants to really live in us and through us, but it will have to be on His own terms and that is a crucified life indeed. Don't be deceived almost everything we profess by faith will become practical. This your 'I am righteous and holy' is going to be made practical...this is why we need to allow the Spirit to compel and constrain us; so that Christ might live in us.
A NEW BEING
"For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." - 1Cor 15:53
We are fast approaching a time when it will be our nature to live like the heavenly being, complete without sin. We need no longer need to do any form of work to be like Jesus, we won't even need to 'faith' it because we would have been changed.
A man who lives to put to death self and the old man in its entirety now in this present world, is possessed with the hope of being changed into a new being. We are applying faith now, because we are in this house of clay we inherited; but when mortality puts on immortality - it would be bliss to just be like Jesus by default.
Brethren, we need to practice and live that life from here, yes, but we also need to be excited about what we will be changed into. I can't wait to leave this mortal house of clay that is always in conflict with the Spirit. I can't just wait to be liberated from the struggles of emotion that wouldn't want the Christ life to be supreme. We need to know that the man will be dead completely.
"And as we have borne the image of the man of the dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man." - 1Cor 15:49
When the rapture happens, we will bear another image, those of us who have crucified the flesh here can be rewarded with a brand new being. I do not think it is just about changing of the body but I think of the total being.
We would begin to think like Christ, have His feelings and be on the same note at all times with Him without fear of errors. We could become these things here, but this body made of dust will limit us.
God has a good plan for us and we must love it.
CONCLUSION: There is a process of the Christain faith before we get to heaven. We must come to take a sentence of death of the old man, allow Christ live in us through faith and the workings of the Spirit; then we can inherit the incorruptibility of Christ in heaven.
God bless you and I love you
© Akinsuroju Femi
Nothing really can come out of this 'sit-tight', 'my right' kind of life, if we don't lose our ego, if the pride in us does not die - if we don't kill the self esteem that is attached only to achievements and education - we will not really be productive spiritually.
A deadness to self, a deadness to strife and a deadness to carnality is needed to be awakened unto full spirituality. The man who has not died to sin, cannot operate fully in righteousness, the good that can come out from such a person is just crisis management and if not well managed the undead sinful man, will ruin the spirit man.
This is not to discard the place of achievements, but to point us to the reality that we cannot rest our living on things that will die when we are dead. We cannot allow things that cannot live beyond this earth to hinder our spiritual growth that will take us beyond this life.
Some struggle not to die because they fear they would be taken for granted. Some struggle to kill pride because they think it will be mistaken for stupidity. Some don't even want to kill lust, because they think they won't be romantic enough for their spouse...
Brethren, the Christain race is a sentence of death of the old man. He who refuses to die will not live!
COME TO THE SLAUGHTER
"Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead" - 1Cor 1:9
No one wants to die yet we all want to go to heaven, we are naturally made to treasure our lives, we respond fast in defence to save our lives, that is why a contemplation of suicide can be said to be a mental case or defect. But we who are of the faith must begin to kill the old man who wants to resurrect. In fact anyone who desires for Christ to live inside must seek to kill the flesh and its lust.
Paul said they had a sentence of death in them, they walked in the consciousness of killing the old man. This is achieved when we have a conflict and we want to prove tight when we can seek peace, we would be put to test in that regard. We would be tested in the act of revenge and mercy, if mercy prevails we have dealt a blow to the old nature.
I pray for an understanding of this rare truth today, this isn't a call to dogma or stupidity but a practical living of the life Christ has called us unto.
The world is going crazy with conditional love, and pretentious bliss of a good life. But the old man still screams loud everywhere, we are no longer merciful, we would rather fight in courts than on our knees, in fact we have taken this lawlessness spiritual, we kill the enemy through prayer and refuse to be dealt with as the Lord wants to bring His nature alive in us.
"He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." - John 12:25
Your rights and perceptions, are not relevant either in hell or heaven, your degree that you have rested your esteem on here will not be relevant, possession cannot even be talked about - all these you have allowed to live at the expense of Christ in you.
There are times God will indeed make us pass through difficult times to make us see the vanity of these things, yet many would not learn, they wouldn't perceive - they love the walls they have built around them, they cherish the terms and agreement they have drafted with life. It is my life they say, and I choose to do what I want with it.
Although you will find justification for all your stand and right in the Scripture, yet you would do well to know that the life of Jesus is the model we are to attain. Humble to core, with rights and powers, yet so merciful and compassionate. The flesh is indeed in conflict with the spirit. If we don't address it with obedience and a prayerful life in submission. We will run into errors.
NO LONGER I THAT LIVE
"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 Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." - Gal 2:20
He that is not crucified with Christ cannot live a Christ kind of life, though we live this life by faith but it doesn't rule out the workings of the God in us...There is a working out of our salvation. If we do not work it, we cannot faith it too, as faith without work is dead.
The life of Christ will preach the Lord Jesus more than the profession of our mouth, though we must preach. If the life of Christ is the life we live by faith - the reach of Christ would be more effectual. Let us begin to desire that we don't live our old man again.
I am not talking about fruits that cannot be counterfeited.
If I stop living, Christ starts living. If there is a struggle with me, I'll pray for a compelling and constraining of the spirit. This life of Christ has to be more pronounced in my life. It is when we are crucified that we become a picture of Him.
"knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin." - Rom 6:6
Sometimes, a new creation starts struggling with a living past that refuses to go away, if the truth of this Word doesn't come, such creation would have no proof to kill that past. No matter your past, if one comes to Christ, the old man is dead by faith. But it doesn't rule out the place of work, though we cannot be justified by works solely, we cannot be justified without works either.
If we have to be practical as most people clamour for, we have to start asking ourselves if the old man is really dead. We need to start asking which life are we living, we need a constant decreasing that He should increase. Anything apart from this, is a wish and deceiving of ourselves.
Christ wants to really live in us and through us, but it will have to be on His own terms and that is a crucified life indeed. Don't be deceived almost everything we profess by faith will become practical. This your 'I am righteous and holy' is going to be made practical...this is why we need to allow the Spirit to compel and constrain us; so that Christ might live in us.
A NEW BEING
"For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." - 1Cor 15:53
We are fast approaching a time when it will be our nature to live like the heavenly being, complete without sin. We need no longer need to do any form of work to be like Jesus, we won't even need to 'faith' it because we would have been changed.
A man who lives to put to death self and the old man in its entirety now in this present world, is possessed with the hope of being changed into a new being. We are applying faith now, because we are in this house of clay we inherited; but when mortality puts on immortality - it would be bliss to just be like Jesus by default.
Brethren, we need to practice and live that life from here, yes, but we also need to be excited about what we will be changed into. I can't wait to leave this mortal house of clay that is always in conflict with the Spirit. I can't just wait to be liberated from the struggles of emotion that wouldn't want the Christ life to be supreme. We need to know that the man will be dead completely.
"And as we have borne the image of the man of the dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man." - 1Cor 15:49
When the rapture happens, we will bear another image, those of us who have crucified the flesh here can be rewarded with a brand new being. I do not think it is just about changing of the body but I think of the total being.
We would begin to think like Christ, have His feelings and be on the same note at all times with Him without fear of errors. We could become these things here, but this body made of dust will limit us.
God has a good plan for us and we must love it.
CONCLUSION: There is a process of the Christain faith before we get to heaven. We must come to take a sentence of death of the old man, allow Christ live in us through faith and the workings of the Spirit; then we can inherit the incorruptibility of Christ in heaven.
God bless you and I love you
© Akinsuroju Femi
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