We are Free
So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:11
God opened my eyes to this in a way that I never understood before. For awhile now I have been understanding that there is incredible potential for the Christian to do anything because of who God made us to be. To be a Christian is to be indwelt by the Spirit of the God (John 14:17, Rom. 8:9). Literally that means that God is living in the Christian and the Christian’s body becomes the temple of the Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16). If God has taken up resident in our lives as Christians then God can do through us anything that he did through Jesus and greater things (John 14:12).
I have been learning that to walk in the Spirit is simply a choice by faith to allow the Spirit to fill us and lead us. When we are lead by the Spirit, we will not gratify the desires of the old sinful life (Gal. 5:16). I have been realizing that the Christian life is impossible to live by our own effort, it must be the life and living presence of God flowing and working through our life. This is what I believe Jesus meant when he talked about our need to abide in him (John 15:5).
But it hit me in a way today that I had never grasped before. If Jesus is living in me by the Spirit and his life is at work in me, then I am dead to sin when I am walking in the Spirit. It has no hold on me. There is nothing that can hinder Jesus living in me. He is greater than everything, nothing can hold him back. I am completely free from sins hold… it has no power to control me or influence me unless I choose to give it the opportunity. This is what Paul was trying to say in Romans 6.
The mistake we often make is to interpret scripture based on our experience and reduce it to what we experience. We think that it is impossible to be completely free from sins grip in this life because we have never experienced life without the war of conflicting inner desires. But Paul was saying that we can be completely free because Jesus is living in us with all his power. It is no longer me living but Christ living in me (Gal 2:20).
This is the path to revival. Understanding who lives in us and all that he is able to do. When we choose not to hinder his working through us by choosing to sin, then he can begin to move in power through our lives and do anything he wants. Do not believe the lies of the enemy who will say that this cannot be so. Do not reduce the power of God to the limits of your previous experiences. Do not choose to love the pleasures and comforts of this life and quench the working of Gods mighty power through your life. Cast off the sins and things that so easily entangle us, and release your life to be used by God to accomplish incredible things for eternity in the years ahead. Reckon yourself dead to sin. Jesus has freed you by coming to live in you. Choose now to surrender all to him and let him guide you.
For more insight into how to practically release your life;
www.transferableconcepts.com.
Labels: Jesus, Revival, Spirit-filled
Simplicity of Revival
Revival (a genuine encounter with God) is simple. We can draw closer to God at any time if we will humble ourselves (admit we have done wrong and are transparent) and pray and seek Gods face (with hunger and sincere desire) and turn from
our wicked ways (repent). 2
Chron. 7:14
God invites people to enter into a deeper relationship with Him. God wants to be a father to us as His children. He wants to guide us, provide for us, and protect us. He sends his Spirit to live in us to convict, teach, and draw us to Himself.
This is how the Spirit of God revives us:
- The Spirit convicts you of sin.
(The Spirit guides you in to the truth and reveals what is hindering you from having a close relationship with God.)
- You confess your sin.
1 John 1:9 - If you confess your sin, God is faithful and it is right for God to forgive us (because Jesus died to pay the death penalty sentence for everyones sin) and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
- Repent
You turn from the sin and choose to obey God. Turning back to God and being renewed in your relationship with Him is this simple. The hard part for many is making the choice to love God more than the thing that has turned them away from God.
- You are forgiven by God and cleansed of all unrighteousness.
If you admit you are wrong in the current matter that God is convicting you of, God will cleanse you not only of that sin but will cleanse you from all unrighteousness. When God forgives you, he cleans the slate. He keeps no record of wrongs (1 Cor 13:5) and removes your sin as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). Once you are forgiven, you are completely clean before God and can approach God with confidence because you are now made righteous in Christ.
- You are filled with the Spirit
God is concerned with the choices you are making right now; once you confess a sin and repent, God no longer remembers it (keeps a record of it). Once you confess and repent, you are restored to a right relationship with God enjoying full access to His presence and being filled with the Spirit of God... until the next time you choose to sin.
- Be accountable to not return to your sin and be enslaved again.
Once you have returned to a whole hearted relationship, the key is continuing in that relationship and not falling back into sin (selfishness). Many Christians experience times of closeness with God, but then soon fall back into long periods of living for themselves. When God has guided you into the truth and you see a pattern of sin (selfishness) in your life that keeps pulling you away from God, it is critical to ask others to help you keep from returning to that habit.
But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. Hebrews 3:13
It is this willingness to humble yourself to admit your struggles to others that marks revival. When we come to the place where we are more concerned about doing whatever it takes to be right with God that we nolonger care that we may look bad to people around us, then we are in the place God can set our lives on fire with His Spirit.
Labels: accountability, God, Revival, Spirit-filled
