Christ Lives in Me

DAILY READING

Galatians 2:20

REFLECTION

Getting Plugged In

by Mary McGinnis

Last week, I had to apologize to a friend. There were tensions that had arisen which had escalated. Finally, this friend had to tell me some uncomfortable truths. 

The "truth telling" conversation we had by phone haunted me for days. I felt so ashamed and embarrassed. I knew there were things that caused this situation that were outside of my control, and I wanted to keep blaming THAT SITUATION and make excuses for my own actions. Yet, my conscience would not rest. Finally, I made the decision that I had to call my friend and apologize, take ownership of what I had done and ask for forgiveness. 

How does this relate to today’s passage? One of the reasons I was struggling with picking up the phone and apologizing was because accepting responsibility left me feeling vulnerable, open to shame, and the possibility of loss. Admitting I was wrong meant the loss of my self-imposed image of “being right,” the loss of respect, the loss of feeling like I had it all together, and perhaps even a loss of a friendship. It was a kind of dying to myself. 

And believe me, in those days between the “truth telling” phone call and my apology, the Enemy had plenty to say to me about how unworthy, foolish, and shameful I was. I kept hearing, “How could I have let this happen? You are such a mess up! You are hopeless.  Why bother?”

Yet, the loving voice of Jesus kept knocking on my heart. “You are my child!  I love you! I have forgiven you. I died for you! You don’t have to hide or self-protect. You can entrust yourself to me.”

This gave me the courage to step into what I knew the Holy Spirit was prompting me to do! Apologize and know that even if things were NEVER made right in this relationship again, my hope would hold firm in the new Life in Jesus.  His power lives in me. 

Just like a light cannot be illuminated until it is plugged into a 220-volt outlet, today’s verse (Galatians 2:20) reminds us where our power comes from!   

This quote from Martin Luther says it beautifully:

“Faith connects you so intimately with Christ, that He and you become as it were one person. As such you may boldly say: ‘I am now one with Christ. Therefore, Christ’s righteousness, victory, and life are mine.’

On the other hand, Christ may say: ‘I am that big sinner. His sins and death are mine, because he is joined to me, and I to him.’” (Luther)

Thank You Lord Jesus for loving me and giving Yourself for me, as sinful and unworthy as I am.  Teach me to plug into this assurance each day as I walk out this life.  Remind me ever day that it is no longer I who live, but You, the victorious, resurrected Lord of ALL, who lives in me! 

Prayer Practice

Breath Prayer – Take 2-3 minutes today to pray a simple breath prayer. Get somewhere quiet and relaxing. Breathe in deeply, and then breathe out fully. As you breathe in, ask God to fill you with His presence, grace, love, peace, etc. Consider using the list of spiritual fruit in Galatians 5:22-23. As you breathe out, offer to God the things you need Him to take from you – sin, doubt, shame, anxiety, fear, etc. Pray this way for just a few minutes, trusting God to work, and then begin reading today’s Scripture.

The hammer and the wedge

"Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called ..."  1 Peter 3:9

A wedge is a tool forged for the purpose of division.  Together with the aiding and abetting hammer, it separates into two that which once was one.

I think of a wedge as the implement of choice in the devil's figurative tool box.  Hell-bent on division and destruction, he seeks out the freshly wounded, those of us who have been hurt, cheated, slandered, betrayed ... severed by a piercing blow of the wedge and hammer in the hands of another.  Finding new victims, Satan then offers to lend his favored tool to us, sometimes as an overt challenge, perhaps in a subtle whisper in the ear of the soul, or by imperceptibly nudging it over so that it quietly appears at our feet.  The hammer is always thrown in for free.

The allure then is to tightly wrap one hand around the wedge and, with the hammer firmly in the grip of the other, strike back with a blow that severs our assailants even further.  If the distance between us is lengthened, great!  If they are wounded in the process, so be it.

Of course, we don't stop at retaliation.  No longer trusting, we take indiscriminate swings that cause other divisions, as well.  Our victims, in turn, stoop down to pick up the wedge and hammer we left behind.  And so it goes "in the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air (Ephesians 2:2)."  And so it goes with our sin nature.  

But in effect, Peter races to the scene in today's text like a policeman, saying, "Drop the hammer!  Put the wedge down!"  He reminds us who we are: called to be a blessing.  

But how?  If our sin nature is inclined only to sin, how do we refrain from repaying evil with evil, and how do we bless those who hurt us?  These three scriptures speak truth, power, light and life to the situation ... 

"Do not offer the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness (Romans 6:13)."  Herein lies our directive: to yield every facet of our being as means of righteousness.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20)." Herein lies our power to choose: we have a new nature – Christ in us – that is not enslaved to sin.

"... we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)."  Herein lies our means:  the discipline to live in our new nature and to subject our thoughts and actions to the lordship of Christ in us.

Blessing those who wield the wedge and the hammer:  to this, we were called; to this, we are empowered.