Since last August when Bill & Paige Loveless came to NMC to share the Christ is Life message I have been praying through Gal. 2:20, I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Needless to say, when Missy shared that her favorite subject to speak on was our identity in Christ – I was totally excited to hear what the Lord had to say through her at our Blooming In Christ retreat.

I have been asking the Lord to explain to me what it means to die to myself. . . I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live. . . but Christ lives in me. I began to imagine two power sources – the main one and the back up generator. I realized that I had been living with myself as the main power source and Jesus was my back up. He wants to be my total power source. With Him, I don’t need a back up! One of my favorite authors, Jennifer Kennedy Dean explains new life in Christ as “Jesus in a Jennifer suit” or in my case, “Jesus in a Jacque suit.” The truth is if we have received Christ, we are a new creation – not renewed but brand spankin’ new!

But what about sin? I was so thankful Missy broached this subject. Sometimes I think that as Christians we think we shouldn’t sin so when we do we don’t tell anyone because we think somehow we haven’t “arrived” or worse, maybe we are not really saved. Satan loves it when we think this because that leaves our sin in the dark – growing like crazy and driving us crazy! If we could only “get” that when we confess our sins to one another, it brings them into the light and they can be dealt with. Sometimes it’s as simple as asking a friend to pray with you. You may need to admit you were wrong and ask for forgiveness. The point is there is a real battle – remember when the Apostle Paul shared his heart from Romans 7:15, “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.”

Missy shared that the more we refuse our flesh – the weaker it gets and the stronger our faith grows. We have a choice not to obey the desires of the flesh! I loved the prayer she shared, “Lord, I believe I am a new creation, and in my mind and heart, I want to live for You and obey You. I am going to take a step of faith and turn away from what my flesh wants. Lord, I know this pleases You but I also know that I don’t have the ability to pull this off. So I am relying on the power of Your Holy Spirit to enable me to walk in the direction that You want me to go.”

Hallelujah – the flesh will lose power if I resist it – this is a supernatural act of God in me! Missy told us that the amount of fruit will be determined by how much we choose to walk in the Spirit – being receptive to Him. The next time you see me, ask how I have resisted my flesh lately? I need friends to be accountable to. I want to surrender and allow His FRUIT to be displayed in my life for His glory! And I know you want that too – let’s encourage one another!
Blooming Together, Jacque