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Sunday, September 5 |
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| For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 6:23) | |||
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MY Life
The Lord has been showing me the truth about MY life and I wish to pass this onto you. This article is written from the personal perspective of MY life. When you see the word "MY", read it as if it as yourself and not me. I am writing about everyone. We all have our own life which we each personally call "my life" and which this article refers to as "MY life".
What is MY life? MY life is just that: MY life. It is much more than just my physical body. MY life is who I am day after day. MY life includes the interactions I have every day with family, friends, co-workers and others. It is physical, emotional, relational and spiritual. It is MY thoughts, MY plans, MY hopes, MY desires and MY dreams. It includes, for better or worse, the memories and legacy of MY past and how these shape MY life and how I see the world and how I interact with others. MY life is a rather complex and interrelated and influenced by many people and events from the past and the present. MY life is also heavily influenced by how I see the future in the next day, the next week the next year in both MY life and the lives of others. This is MY life.
The quality of MY life is quite dependent on so many different influences of people and events. MY life may be quite "handicapped" by events of the past. I may be quite worried about MY security, MY health or relationships in MY life because of events beyond my control or actions by people who are in MY life or who affect MY life. MY life may just simply want to enjoy the "good things of life". In some areas of MY life I may feel a responsibility to protect it and to improve it the best I can. I need to make things happen in these areas of MY life. In MY own personal life, I am responsible for what I think and how I act. I must think the right thoughts and make the right choices. As a follower of Jesus Christ, MY life should be pleasing to God. Praise Him that I am forgiven and cleansed in Christ, but I do need to still live in a manner where MY life pleases Him (or at least MY life pleases what I think pleases God. We will discuss this more later.). I need to pray, read my Bible, fellowship with other believers, etc., in order for MY life to please God. I may be frustrated at times (or most of the time) with my failings in each of these areas, but this is MY life and so it is MY responsibility to work on each of these areas and improve over time.
MY life is not just what I do but it influences and is influenced by many others as well. Whether it is brothers and sisters, mom and dad, a spouse, children, friends or co-workers, all these people influence MY life and are impacted by MY life. Generally, I desire improvement and growth for the people in MY life. For those who don't know Christ, I desire for them to come to know the Lord. I must pray for these people in MY life and witness to them so that I am doing MY part. For those people around me who do know Christ, it is MY desire for them to grow and mature in their faith. I must pray for them, speak to them and influence them in the best way I can with MY life. I can often be frustrated by the lives of those I care about in MY life and I know there is more that I could do to influence them. Often I regret the things I say or don't say or the things I do or don't do in the lives of those who are in MY life. I long for things to be better in their lives and in MY life, but frequently I am disappointed. Praise God for the good things, for the growth and for the hope, but I know there has to be more.
Do you see any of yourself as I have described MY life (not me, but you)? We all have "MY life". Do you see how we can feel so responsible for "MY life"? Do you see how we can either feel obligated to make things happen in "MY life", how we can feel victims of our circumstances and so we feel lousy about "MY life" or how we can just desire to enjoy "MY life"? We could be "successful" and so we actually feel good about "MY life" or we can feel frustrated or even depressed as we have failed to meet our expectations and the expectations of others concerning "MY life". Strange as it may seem, we may even feel that God is not pleased with "MY life". An overriding challenge we all face is how our circumstances seem to control whether or not we feel good about "MY life".
If your life, actually "MY life", happens to be good right now, what do you think will happen to "MY life" when things go bad? Will you feel good about yourself? I don't think you can because it is "MY life" and so I can only feel as good as "MY life" feels. If most of what I am about is "MY life", then I am only as good as the condition of "MY life".
This all sounds a bit discouraging so far. I don't seem to hold out much hope for "MY life". But wait. Maybe I can improve "MY life". Maybe I just need to change a few things and get better in a few areas and "MY life" will get better. Maybe I just need to pray more and read my Bible more. Maybe I will finally be able to set aside more time for the Lord in "MY life". Maybe there are some truths of scripture I don't know about and which are missing in "MY life". Maybe I just need to read more Christian books or get some teaching that I am missing. Maybe if I just keep doing the things I know are right God will just make "MY life" better over time.
Maybe the problem with "MY life" is circumstances. It seems when things around me are going "good", "MY life" is "good" as well. Maybe I just need to do a better job of controlling the circumstances around me. Maybe I should change jobs. Maybe I should consider changing churches. "MY life" is not really satisfied with the church I am at so maybe going to a different church would open up new opportunities for "MY life".
What is the real hope and real solution for "MY life"? Will "MY life" ever really get better? Do you really think a change we make is going to improve "MY life"? Do you really think things are finally going to get better for "MY life" and you just need more time? If you still think you can make "MY life" better, then your time would probably be better spent doing something else besides reading this article because I am here to tell you that God has no intention of helping you improve, satisfy or fix "MY life" (your life). That's right. God does not accomplish His purposes in "MY life". God accomplishes His purposes from His Life and in His Life. He is the source of Life and Life is to be found nowhere else. This means "MY life" is really just something we have carried forward through the strength of our sinful flesh and it really is no life at all. Consider Jesus' opinion of "MY life":
Does it sound like He promises to fix "MY life" and make it better? He says nothing of the sort. In fact, He plainly states that we are to lose "MY life". He doesn't offer to improve it. He says we need to lose it. Do you see the profound nature of this truth? If you wish to protect, improve, guard, change, satisfy or modify "MY life" you are not following the Way of Christ. You are following your own way. You are following the way of the flesh. You have been deluded to think that it's all about "MY life", even as you strive to do great things for God and sacrifice for others. If you do these things in the strength of "MY life" then it is all worthless and will be lost. What is the solution for "My life"? We must take up our cross and consider "MY life" dead in Christ.
"MY life" and its influence will never completely go away, but we will see its influence progressively fade away as we yield to Christ and let it die. It will pop up at various times, but we must recognize the evil and deception of "MY life" and always recognize the only remedy is death through the Cross of Christ.
For example, as you go along through life you may find your mind distracted or consumed by various worries and concerns. Other times you might shrink back from ministering to others because you "need a break" or you don't want to be inconvenienced. Still other times you will be consider a secret temptation because you "deserve" it. These are just a few examples of "MY life" coming to the surface and trying to assert its influence. You can choose to yield to the desires and demands of "MY life" or you can, by faith, yield to Christ and consider "MY life" dead. You don't need to fix "MY life", please "MY life" and you certainly cannot overcome or control "MY life" by the strength of your will and effort. You only need to rest in Christ and the wonderful truth that "MY life" is dead.
Do you see that your life is in Christ? In Him and Him alone is Life. He has redeemed us and saved us from "MY life". "MY life" is a thing of the past. I am His and He is mine. I am a bondservant of Him, not a slave to "MY life". We are children of God. We are His children. What an incredible truth.
This is a whole new way of living which is different than much of what you will hear in Christian circles today. We are always looking for ways to improve "MY life", but there is no hope in that line of thinking as it is not from Christ. The truth of Scripture will come alive as you see it His Life in you and not "MY life" for Him. It may seem that striving to please God is always a "good thing", but we can never please God with "MY life". God is pleased with His Son and He is also fully and completely pleased with all who are in His Son. What an incredible freedom we have as we recognize that I no longer need to maintain, fix, follow, satisfy and repair "MY life". We are complete in Christ and we have His life.
Where do we go from here? We now know we must reject "MY life" and its subtle deception which only brings death to us. We can now expend our energies towards knowing and learning about our Life in Christ rather than striving to fix or please "MY life". There is much to learn as we begin this journey, but it is the only journey where you will know the true peace and joy in Christ. It won't be easy. "MY life" doesn't give up without a fight. It is not ours to fight, though, but only to yield to the finished work of Christ.
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