PRAYER + PRAISE
United with Christ in Death and Resurrected Life
- Adam Cole // July 20, 2009
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. —Romans 6:5-7
It’s an amazing process, in how the Holy Spirit in us, through Christ’s salvation in us, can turn us away from the things we once lusted for, the things that once held us captive and led us to do evil acts or have evil thoughts.
Though Christ’s victory over Satan was once and for all, ours is much more of a daily battle, one that we often fall short, just because of our human nature, our pre-programmed ‘old sinful selves’ that lead into ways that we are not happy of.
It can be frustrating, that even with our salvation, even though we pushed down so many vices that strangled us in our ‘previous’ life, we can still not meet the righteous standards that God has for us. We still find ourselves getting anxious, angry, impatient, jealous, over-fearful, not loving others in the unconditional way that we are called, and even lustful and greedy.
Paul stakes out a claim against these tendencies. Be alive in Christ, dead to sin, as the above passage states. Later he puts it this way (Romans 8: 10-11): 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Therefore, we must truly let the Spirit of Life dwell inside, and our old selves die. Pause for a moment, and breathe in the Spirit. Pause for a moment when you discover an err in your ways and let Christ take over.
We will never be perfect…but we have to continue to search for the LIFE that Christ wants to inspire in us.
Praise: That because of Jesus Christ, we can have victory over sin.
Prayer: That we let His Spirit dwell deep in us.
Prayer for Today: Lord, we thank You for another day, a day that You’ve sprinkled Your blessings upon. We thank You that You have elected us to follow You. We know that we are saved, but we are still so imperfect. Let us breathe in the Spirit of Christ, so that we may have dominion over everything that might lead us to against the tenants of righteousness that You have set out for us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.