Verse: I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20
As believers in, Christ we have been crucified with Him and are new creatures. are still men and women but we do not live like the world. Christ says in John 17:14, “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world”.
Because we now live for Christ, we are different. We still face the same temptations, trials, and fears everyone else does but we are living for Christ and avoiding falling into sin. In a culture that loves the indulgences of the flesh, it can be very lonely at times to walk the “straight and narrow” while everyone else lives in sinfulness. If anything, this shows us how important it is to live in a Christian community. To be plugged into a church and to have a believing spouse we can run to.
Though the Christian community, church, family, and a battle buddy (accountability partner) are all extremely important, we need to know that Christ did not just leave us hanging when He ascended. Rather He sent us the most powerful thing of all to fight off the evil one, and resist in the time of temptation.
On Pentecost Christ sent down the third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit to indwell us. Though this one spot of a devotional does not give us enough space to scratch the surface of the doctrine of the trinity, we will talk a little bit about an aspect that having God in us means.
It is very hard for me and you to walk the Christian life when we are engaged in battle every day. With Christ, in us, we have the strength to fight off the evil one in the time of temptation. We can not overpower Satan on our own or in our strength. But God lives in us! And He is all-powerful! Satan cannot stand against our God.
This is where having Christ in us is so powerful. Because we have been raised with Him He dwells in our hearts and does the work of sanctification in us. We cannot by human will change our hearts. Sure we can become “better people”, but we will never be able to do a work in our hearts like Christ dwelling in us can. He is the one who intercedes on our behalf to the Father and works on our behalf making us more like Him. We need to surrender our lives to Him and follow His calling.
We need to feed our souls a constant diet of scripture so that in the time of temptation the Spirit can pull them out and use them to battle the darkness. He is the one who gains victory and we can have the confidence knowing that He will never leave or forsake us because He is within us!
Written By,
John Cooper Jr.
Godly Grunt 6
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