03/18/2021
Have we truly died with Jesus Christ? Have we died to sin, and found a new and renewed life with Him, or are we still hanging on our cross, and struggling to hold onto the life we were meant to lay down? Frequently believers who have confessed their sins, and been baptized into death with Christ, find themselves holding onto the remnants of their old life, and who they once were. It is hard to face suffering, death, and to let go of that last breath so that we can die to this world and be resurrected with Jesus into the next. So every Christian needs to honestly ask himself... am I truly dead with Christ, resurrected into a new life, or am I continuing to hold tight to a certain season, or vestige, of my old life?
“Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.”
Romans 6:8 ESV
I love the spring and fall seasons; there is something about crisp mornings, and cool days that absolutely invigorates me. Interestingly these seasons are both about transitions of life. Spring is a time of renewal and new beginnings, when what was dead comes to life again, and fall of the year is a time when a life that reached maturity during the summer is dropping its seeds, leaves, and preparing for the death that winter brings. Do these two seasons quicken your spirit as well?
“So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil.”
Deuteronomy 11:13-14 NIV
We have seasons in our faith just as there are seasons on the earth. We come to life in God and Christ in our spring, grow strong in our belief and faith during the summer, gather our seeds and the fruit of our faith as we entrust them to the Lord during the fall, and then rest dormant in the storehouses of the faithful during the winter where we wait on Jesus to bring us by the bushel to God’s table. This is the way of our spiritual life. We come forth and sprout in the spring rains, we grow tall and strong in the summer sun, our seeds, and fruit ripen and grow heavy in the cool fall rains, and we are harvested, and die, in the winter with the promise of a new life to come... to be lived in the mystery of eternity.
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”
Ecclesiastes 3:11 ESV
In physical death some who die do so quickly, dying within the span of a single breath, but many lay on their deathbed for days as their mortal body fights for each successive breath, and their soul is released reluctantly. Yet, inevitably the body does breathe its last, and the soul meets Jesus.
As Christians we can experience a similar struggle in our spiritual death. We want desperately to die with Christ, but the old person, the one we desire to leave behind, struggles mightily to maintain his hold on us, and we just can’t seem to exhale that last sin tainted breath. This is a struggle that God will help us with if we will only pray for Him to do so. This is a moment when we witness the fullness of His amazing grace, when our heart opens to the divine, and the Lord has mercy on us through Jesus. If any of us are wrestling with their old self, and needs help right now, then reach out in prayer like so many souls have done before you. Ask God to dress you in His armor, and then watch as He slays your adversary... saving you, and redeeming you, as His beloved child.
“because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.””
Romans 10:9-11 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Son Jesus, and for the seasons of our lives, and faith, that we walk with Him. Thank you for hearing our prayers when we wrestle within ourselves, wishing to die with Christ, so that like Him we can be resurrected... perfected in Him, and made righteous in your presence. See us through the seasons of our faith Father, and let our transformed selves be without blemish, and washed clean in preparation for your table. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who sees our faith, but also any remnants of sin, and makes a way for us through your Son to throw them off. We praise your name Lord for the grace, and mercy, you show us in the midst of our worldly struggles. Hear our prayers Holy Father as we pass through the seasons of our lives, and faith. Remove every obstacle from our way, and the rotten fruit from our baskets, during this time of fall harvest. Prepare us through our faith in Jesus for the winter of our lives when we will wait on His return, and for our renewal in your presence in the New Jerusalem that you have built for us. Watch over the seeds we formed, and the fruit we produced that the workers have gathered into your storehouses... may they each bring forth a continued bounty for your table.
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 ESV
Rich Forbes