Bring It On!
"I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength."
-Phillippians 4:13
Well here we are. Another year, another contemplation of what it will bring. A day for assessing ourselves, thinking of what we need to change, hoping for the best. New Year's resolutions are really cliché, because most of us know they will last a few days or a few weeks or even a month or two, but that's it. We just don't seem to have the strength, determination, or will to 'get 'er done'.
As I began this first day of the year, I turned again to the book I am reading now, Forever by Paul David Tripp. The remainder of this post is a quote from this book. A paragraph of this quote refers to a period of time in the author's life when he and his wife dealt with a devastating accident their daughter was involved in. Read it, think about it, and consider who you really are:
"The apostle Paul says it this way in Galatians 2:20: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." Now, Paul isn't announcing his physical death, but is capturing an incredibly encouraging spiritual reality. He is no longer left to the resources of his own righteousness, strength, or wisdom. He is not left to figure out and cope with his circumstances on his own. He does not have to control people and situations in order to establish some kind of inner sense of security and well-being. He doesn't have to be a fortune teller, reading the future so he can be prepared for what's coming. He doesn't have to look to people and situations to get what only God can give him. No, he is freed from all of those things because of this one stunning reality: "Christ lives in me."
This reality has the possibility of radically changing how you think about yourself, your relationships, and the locations where you live and work. It has the possibility of altering the basic way you approach your life. Paul is saying that the life force that now energizes everything he is and does is no longer him, but Christ. Fasten your seat belt here; if you are God's child, Jesus really does live inside you! He comes to you with all the wisdom, strength, and righteousness you could ever need. The Bible has a beautiful name for this: grace.
Day after exhausting day of Nicole's recovery, Luella and I were comforted to know that we weren't left to the resources of our own strength as we walked with her through that dark time. When taken beyond the borders of our own strength and wisdom, we had hope because we knew Christ lived inside of us.
Knowing that Christ lives in us makes it possible for us to get up in the morning when circumstances are hard and the relationships around us are messy. We don't have to fear what things we'll have to deal with that are just around the corner. Our rest is not to be found in our understanding of everything in our lives or the sense that we have what it takes to face our trials. Christ is our rest, hope, courage, and motivation. Because of his amazing grace and his presence now living inside us, we are never alone, never left to live inside the boundaries of our own resources.
This truth has significant ramifications on how we live in the here and now, and yet masses of Christians simply do not know who they are or what they have been given. Every day you and I assess our ability to deal with what is on our plate. This personal assessment is an intensely human thing to do. It is what makes a little girl afraid to attempt to ride her new two-wheeler. She has assessed her ability to balance herself on the bike and move forward, and she has determined she is lacking. It is what makes the eighteen-year-old nervous as his parents drive away, having delivered him to his first semester at a university far from home. It is what a future bride does the week of her wedding or a future employee does the night before his first day at work. It is what the patient does who has been diagnosed with a chronic disease. We all constantly assess our abilities, and most of the time we don't realize we are doing it.
If you are a Christian but don't know who you are or what you have been given, you will search frantically for what you already have been given in Christ. You will look horizontally (to people and situations) for what you have already been given vertically. You will live a life of worry, timidity, and avoidance. Much of what you do will be motivated by fear. You will tend to assess your ability by thinking about how big the things are that you are facing and how well you've done in the past. These are not false means of personal assessment, but the problem with them is that, for a Christian, they are woefully inadequate because they do not take into account the radical reality that Paul so clearly proclaims: "Christ lives in me."
Here's the bottom line: forever not only promises us blessing in the future, but it also guarantees us the grace that we need in the here and now. This grace is not a set of things; it is a person, and his name is Jesus! Understanding that God's greatest gift is himself changes the way you live. If Christ lives inside of you, not only is it impossible for you to be alone, but it is also impossible for you to be left to your own resources of character, wisdom, and strength."
He's got this. He's got 2015, and all the problems, challenges, and blessings we will face. Let's live this year like we know this truth. Bring it on!
-Phillippians 4:13
Well here we are. Another year, another contemplation of what it will bring. A day for assessing ourselves, thinking of what we need to change, hoping for the best. New Year's resolutions are really cliché, because most of us know they will last a few days or a few weeks or even a month or two, but that's it. We just don't seem to have the strength, determination, or will to 'get 'er done'.
As I began this first day of the year, I turned again to the book I am reading now, Forever by Paul David Tripp. The remainder of this post is a quote from this book. A paragraph of this quote refers to a period of time in the author's life when he and his wife dealt with a devastating accident their daughter was involved in. Read it, think about it, and consider who you really are:
"The apostle Paul says it this way in Galatians 2:20: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." Now, Paul isn't announcing his physical death, but is capturing an incredibly encouraging spiritual reality. He is no longer left to the resources of his own righteousness, strength, or wisdom. He is not left to figure out and cope with his circumstances on his own. He does not have to control people and situations in order to establish some kind of inner sense of security and well-being. He doesn't have to be a fortune teller, reading the future so he can be prepared for what's coming. He doesn't have to look to people and situations to get what only God can give him. No, he is freed from all of those things because of this one stunning reality: "Christ lives in me."
This reality has the possibility of radically changing how you think about yourself, your relationships, and the locations where you live and work. It has the possibility of altering the basic way you approach your life. Paul is saying that the life force that now energizes everything he is and does is no longer him, but Christ. Fasten your seat belt here; if you are God's child, Jesus really does live inside you! He comes to you with all the wisdom, strength, and righteousness you could ever need. The Bible has a beautiful name for this: grace.
Day after exhausting day of Nicole's recovery, Luella and I were comforted to know that we weren't left to the resources of our own strength as we walked with her through that dark time. When taken beyond the borders of our own strength and wisdom, we had hope because we knew Christ lived inside of us.
Knowing that Christ lives in us makes it possible for us to get up in the morning when circumstances are hard and the relationships around us are messy. We don't have to fear what things we'll have to deal with that are just around the corner. Our rest is not to be found in our understanding of everything in our lives or the sense that we have what it takes to face our trials. Christ is our rest, hope, courage, and motivation. Because of his amazing grace and his presence now living inside us, we are never alone, never left to live inside the boundaries of our own resources.
This truth has significant ramifications on how we live in the here and now, and yet masses of Christians simply do not know who they are or what they have been given. Every day you and I assess our ability to deal with what is on our plate. This personal assessment is an intensely human thing to do. It is what makes a little girl afraid to attempt to ride her new two-wheeler. She has assessed her ability to balance herself on the bike and move forward, and she has determined she is lacking. It is what makes the eighteen-year-old nervous as his parents drive away, having delivered him to his first semester at a university far from home. It is what a future bride does the week of her wedding or a future employee does the night before his first day at work. It is what the patient does who has been diagnosed with a chronic disease. We all constantly assess our abilities, and most of the time we don't realize we are doing it.
If you are a Christian but don't know who you are or what you have been given, you will search frantically for what you already have been given in Christ. You will look horizontally (to people and situations) for what you have already been given vertically. You will live a life of worry, timidity, and avoidance. Much of what you do will be motivated by fear. You will tend to assess your ability by thinking about how big the things are that you are facing and how well you've done in the past. These are not false means of personal assessment, but the problem with them is that, for a Christian, they are woefully inadequate because they do not take into account the radical reality that Paul so clearly proclaims: "Christ lives in me."
Here's the bottom line: forever not only promises us blessing in the future, but it also guarantees us the grace that we need in the here and now. This grace is not a set of things; it is a person, and his name is Jesus! Understanding that God's greatest gift is himself changes the way you live. If Christ lives inside of you, not only is it impossible for you to be alone, but it is also impossible for you to be left to your own resources of character, wisdom, and strength."
He's got this. He's got 2015, and all the problems, challenges, and blessings we will face. Let's live this year like we know this truth. Bring it on!
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