A COMMITMENT FOR LIFE

“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 ESV

I remember the first time I laid eyes on this scripture.  It was a moment I felt the Lord speak into my spirit, ‘Now you know who you are.’ I stared at it for a while, allowing my heart to settle down.  After reading and meditating on each sentence, I prayed and thanked the Lord for revealing this to me.  I felt I was being pulled into a deep relationship, and I knew this was my life scripture.  There was no turning back. This was now my journey here on earth.  That was just over five years ago. Today if I have a moment of doubt or a troubling day, I sit quietly and reflect on this verse and the day the Lord pulled this into my heart.  My problems don’t go away, but I am reminded of who I am, who I belong to and who is greater than my problems.  And in those moments, I feel His love pouring into me as I did back then.

This scripture is a beautiful reminder of what Christ did for us on the cross and how He transforms our hearts.  When we put our faith in Him and open our hearts to Him, we become more like Him.  We become so attached to Him that we no longer live as we lived before. He was crucified, so we are crucified.  Our bodies look the same, but our minds and our hearts are so different.  His peace settles into our hearts, and our desire to know Jesus more and trust Him bubbles up so beautifully inside. Our struggles don’t change, but our thinking is clearer as we realize we not only believe in Him, we believe Him and His Word.

I knew this journey would not be easy.  In a world that seems to be turned away from God and His Word, I didn’t know how I would react if I came up against criticism.  But I knew this was the path I wanted. I didn’t like my old self. There were a lot of dark areas in my life.  But now, feeling Jesus’ love for me gave me new life, a new longing to know Him and be more like Him.  I wanted to embrace Jesus with all I had in me. But I didn’t want to walk in fear, and I felt somewhat alone.  God led me to Isaiah 41:10. As I read this verse, I knew instantly God was with me; He would give me the help and strength I needed.  He also told me in Psalm 32:8 that He would instruct me, teach me and counsel me. So I realized that the life I live now, in the same flesh as before, I would live by faith in Christ.  As I center Jesus more in my life, I fall deeper in love with a longing to know Him more.

Around the same time as I found Galatians 2:20, I also found and fell in love with Romans 8:38-39.  As I read these words in Romans, I pulled apart each aspect of the verse…death, life, angels, rulers, the present or things to come, powers, height, depth and anything else in all creation; I thought, “wow God, you really didn’t leave anything out.” The detail of this scripture left me in awe. I thanked God for His love so pure and for how He puts guards up against anything and anyone that will try and drive a wedge between us.

Now I live by faith in the Son of God, WHO LOVED ME AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR ME.” So I grab onto those moments of what He has done.  I own them, and I believe He loves me more than I can imagine. But I also marvel at the fact it’s for everyone and not just today…everyone yesterday and those in the years to come. One time…once for all.  His love, the love of our Jesus, never fails.

So, I know who I am in Christ.  I know I have been crucified with Him.  The Me of yesterday stays in yesterday.  Those days that I lived in believing and trusting the things of this world are behind me.  I now live by faith in the One and the only One who could rescue me, give me new life because He loves beyond the words I could ever imagine writing or saying.

My sin has been nailed the cross.  The One who paid my debt lives in me…guiding, teaching, correcting and loving me. I’m not perfect, but I know the One who is, and I want to know Him even more.  His name is Jesus Christ, the Lord and Saviour of my life.

Precious Jesus, there are no great words to say thank you for all You have done.  I pray that when we look at the cross, we feel Your love so deep inside, and we always remember it was by Your stripes we are healed. We remember as our sin was nailed to that tree, the weight of our sin was lifted from us as it rested on You.  I pray we always hear Your cry, “FATHER FORGIVE THEM.”   And I pray we always remember that we now have a relationship with our Abba and Your Holy Spirit lives within us because of this beautiful gift of life.  As we go about our days, Lord, we focus on the reason for this beautiful gift… “FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON…” Thank You, Jesus.  There are no perfect words, but we give you our imperfect hearts.  We love You…. Amen