We had a lovely quiet Christmas. We hope that all of you did too. I am excited because I finally received a book that I had ordered a long time ago. It is called A Gospel Primer for Christians. It is excellent. The bit of dying to self that I couldn't find is in this. So...to finish up that post on dying to myself. Here it is....
All Things Crucified
The gospel is not simply the story of "Christ, and Him crucified"; it is also the story of my own crucifixion. For the Bible tells me that I, too, was crucified on Christ's cross. My old self was slain there, and my love affair with the world was crucified there too. The cross is also the place where I crucify my flesh and all my sinful desires. Truly, Christ's death and my death are so intertwined as to be inseparable.
God is committed to my dying every day, and He calls me to that same commitment. He insists that every hour be my dying hour, and He wants my death on the cross to be a central part of my own life story as is Christ's death to the gospel story. "Let this same attitude be in you," He says,"which was also in Christ Jesus...who became obedient unto death, even unto death on a cross."
Crucifixion hurts. In fact, its heart-wrenching brutality can numb the senses. It is a gasping and bloody affair, and there is nothing nice or pretty, or easy about it. It is not merely death, but excruciating death.
Nevertheless, I must set my face like a flint toward the cross and embrace this crucifixion in everything I do. I should expect every day to encounter circumstantial evidence of God's commitment to my dying; and I must seize upon every God-given opportunity to be conformed more fully to Christ's death, no matter tha pain involved.
All Things Crucified
The gospel is not simply the story of "Christ, and Him crucified"; it is also the story of my own crucifixion. For the Bible tells me that I, too, was crucified on Christ's cross. My old self was slain there, and my love affair with the world was crucified there too. The cross is also the place where I crucify my flesh and all my sinful desires. Truly, Christ's death and my death are so intertwined as to be inseparable.
God is committed to my dying every day, and He calls me to that same commitment. He insists that every hour be my dying hour, and He wants my death on the cross to be a central part of my own life story as is Christ's death to the gospel story. "Let this same attitude be in you," He says,"which was also in Christ Jesus...who became obedient unto death, even unto death on a cross."
Crucifixion hurts. In fact, its heart-wrenching brutality can numb the senses. It is a gasping and bloody affair, and there is nothing nice or pretty, or easy about it. It is not merely death, but excruciating death.
Nevertheless, I must set my face like a flint toward the cross and embrace this crucifixion in everything I do. I should expect every day to encounter circumstantial evidence of God's commitment to my dying; and I must seize upon every God-given opportunity to be conformed more fully to Christ's death, no matter tha pain involved.
When my flesh yearns for some prohibited thing, I must die.
When called to do something I don't want to do, I must die.
When I wish to be selfish and serve no one, I must die.
When shattered by hardship that I despise, I must die.
When wanting to cling to wrongs done against me, I must die.
When enticed by allurements fo the world, I must die.
When wishing to keep besetting sins secret, I must die.
When wants that are borderline needs are left unmet, I must die.
When dreams that are good seem shoved aside, I must die.
"Not My will, but Yours be done," Christ trustingly prayed on the eve of His crucifixion; and preaching His story to myself each day puts me in a frame of mind to trust God and embrace the cross of my own dying also.
This convicts me on so many levels. It isn't about us at all, other than us dying to ourselves and doing what God wants, which is very often the opposite of what we want. I highly recommend this book it is a total of 97 pages that are well worth reading again and again in addition to your devotions.
"Not My will, but Yours be done," Christ trustingly prayed on the eve of His crucifixion; and preaching His story to myself each day puts me in a frame of mind to trust God and embrace the cross of my own dying also.
This convicts me on so many levels. It isn't about us at all, other than us dying to ourselves and doing what God wants, which is very often the opposite of what we want. I highly recommend this book it is a total of 97 pages that are well worth reading again and again in addition to your devotions.
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