This is divine vocation into which you have been redeemed, as "His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that you should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10) can only be fulfilled in the energy and power of the One who indwells you now by His Spirit, as He walked once only in the energy and power of the Father who indwelt Him through the Spirit. Of Himself He said, "I can of mine own self do nothing" (John 5:19), and of you He says, in John 15:5, "Without me you can do nothing."
How much can you do without Him? Nothing!
It is amazing how busy you can be doing nothing! Did you ever find that out? "The flesh everything that you do apart from Him "profiteth nothing" (John 6:63), and there is always the awful possibility, if you do not discover this principle, that you may spend a lifetime in the service of Jesus Christ doing nothing! You would not be the first, and you would not be the last but that, above everything else, we must seek to avoid!
So you discover that the life which you possess as a born-again Christian is of Him, and it is to Him, and every moment that you are here on earth it must be through Him of Him, through Him, to Him all things! "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1).
The Lord Jesus Christ claims the use of your body, your whole being, your complete personality so that as you give yourself to Him through the eternal Spirit, He may give Himself to you through the eternal Spirit, that all your activity as a human being on earth may be His activity in and through you; that every step you take, every word you speak, everything you do, everything you are, may be an expression of the Son of God, in you as man.
If it is of Him and through Him and to Him, where do you come in? You do not! That is just where you go out! That is what Paul meant when he said, "For me to live is Christ" (Philippians 1:21). The only Person whom God credits with the right to live in you is Jesus Christ; so reckon yourself to be dead to all that you are apart from what He is, and alive unto God only in all that you are because of what He is (Romans 6:1 1).
It is for you to BE it is for Him to DO! Rest fully available to the Saving Life of Christ.
From: The Saving Life of Christ. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House. ©1961.
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Hi Tripp,
ReplyDeleteI so enjoy your blog!
It is a most curious thing in the "re-birthed", it is the Holy Spirit that brought us to Him, our Salvation, not something we got, but Some-One we received.
And it is "only" the Holy Spirit that can make known to us this Christ, and it is the SAME Christ in all of the re-birthed. To the degree we will not heed the voice of the spirit of God..."In the day you hear My voice, harden not your heart-soul" we will live out of our soul.
In doing this we are on an endless pursuit of looking for something more. And miss out on Him being formed within us.
In Him,
Richard
Hello Richard,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you are enjoying the Blog!
Yes, for so long I searched for more,... only recently have I come to realize that the "Much More" resides/dwells within me. Christ In me/you,the hope of glory.
Grace to you, tripp
Hi Tripp,
ReplyDeleteI thought you might like to take a look at this blog entry from my friend Rick, aka MercyMan. http://acceptedinthebeloved.blogspot.com/2004/11/fruit-stuff_16.html
In Him,
Richard
Thanks Richard, I will check it out!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,tripp