The Power of His Resurrection

It's Coffee Time today and I thought I'd share what the Lord has been teaching me lately.

I don't know about you, but in my spiritual life I have seasons where I know that God is really unloading His knowledge and revealing Himself to me. This very often happens in the summertime, probably because I am more free in my schedule to spend longer times with Him. I usually feel like what He begins to share during the summer usually comes to a clearer understanding in August and I have a new perspective/focus that I can carry with me through the school year. Could this be because I'm a homeschool mom? Who knows.

Well, by looking back in my journal to last summer I see how God was clearly speaking to me about obedience. I was kicking, screaming and generally trying to find my own way to please the Lord...anything but sacrificial obedience! Then the ball dropped. I had a cardiac event on August 19th, which was basically a heart attack without damage to the heart. I knew it was a wake-up call about my health and that God was definitely letting me know that HE was in charge, but I tried my best to trivialize the event. I spent three days in the hospital. The night I got home I pulled an all-nighter to complete registration paperwork for our American Heritage Girls' group in time for the next day's festival. Can you say denial? I have been living on MY terms far too long.

The Lord gave me so many responsibilities for this school year that I KNEW He was trying to get me to see my failing self-sufficiency and my need for Him. It would be too much to handle on my own. My innate desire is to do my very best (perfection is such an ugly term), but I have failed on all fronts to live up to my expectations. It's now been 7 months since the cardiac event in August and it's finally dawning on me that I can not do "it." I can not live a victorious Christian life in my own power. Duh! The Lord used a health scare and overloaded schedule to finally help me get to the end of myself. I'm sure I will not be able to stay in this place of humility, but God will help me. Of that, I'm sure.

Anyway, I am studying The Tabernacle on my own. Well, with Beth Moore. Today two verses struck me to the core and I'd love to share them with you. The verse for today was

Deuteronomy 23:14:

"The Lord Your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that He will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you."

As a Christ-follower God's not going to desert you in your sin, but your fellowship will be hindered. A Holy God can not commune with a rebellious person. He moves in my life to protect and deliver me from my enemies (which is mostly myself!), but I have to be obedient!!

Beth also shares the tool to live in that obedience. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (human) but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."

Whew! How many times have I read those verses and not seen the deep truths to live by? I have been warring in my flesh to obey God ON MY TERMS most of my life. The times when I'm truly allowing Him to reign have been so sweet that I long to go there again. We can not use human weapons to live victoriously. Only God can pull down strongholds and reveal our erroneous thinking and pride. If it doesn't match up to the Bible, it's not from Him! Only when I walk in step daily, hourly, moment-by-moment according to His Word and not my own vain thinking can I be obedient and live a victorious life. I'm really not all that interested in how Angie wants her life to go; I want the life He has planned for me. I have a feeling it will knock my socks off! Why would I want to miss that? Just because I want to deceive myself by thinking I'm in charge? No thanks.

Actually Philippians 3:9-11 sums it up pretty nicely just in time for Easter:

"...and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."

I want to purpose this morning to live dead to self and to trust in the power of His resurrection!

What a blessed people we are to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the power that it brings to live a life that pleases Him apart from our sinful selves. Do you feel immeasurably blessed as we lead up to Easter? I hope so.

If you don't really know what I'm talking about, but are interested in knowing more, please, email me at: angie@creativityltd.com. Becoming a daughter or son of the King at Easter would be an awesome celebration!