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| Death to Self |
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Think about all the baggage we carry around with us everyday. I mean some of us just have loads to carry. Now when I say baggage what I'm really referring to is sin. Some of us have been carrying sin in our lives for years. There are lots of reasons why Christians carry sin even after they have been told in the word that they are dead to it. For some it may be because well, they like it. It's something that's been a part of their life for so long that they couldn't imagine being without it. It could be a bad habit that makes them feel good like drinking too much or smoking. How about pornography, there are millions of people out there caught up in that sin. A sin that is nothing more than gratifying the flesh now. Another reason Christians continue to carry sin is because they don't realize they are sinning. They don't spend enough time in the word to let God show them all the things in their life that needs to go. Finally the last reason I want to mention is because some Christians have battled the same sins for years and for some reason they can't seem to kick it. They have been told that they are dead to sin and that it has no power over them but if you talk to them they will tell you that they feel anything but dead to sin and they can't see how it doesn't have any power over them when all they do is sin again and again. For years I struggled with this. I felt like I would never be able to live victorious in my life in Christ. But that's where the cross comes in. You see when Jesus died on that cross he endured a lot of pain for you and for me. It's up to each Christian to learn and understand how much of a price was paid for them. Jesus was punched, whipped, slapped, spit on, mocked, ridiculed, made to carry his cross and nailed to it. He was despised and rejected, His own friends deserted him, His Father turned his back on him, He was all alone in his pain. Something else about the cross that we don't think to much about is that it was pitiless. nobody pitied Jesus when he hung on that cross, the soldiers mocked him, the thieves beside him insulted him, the pharisees still didn't believe him. If they would have they would have taken him down and we would still be in our sin. The last thing we need to know about the cross is that it was permanent. When somebody died on the cross that was it. They were gone, there would be no bringing them back. Now take these three things about the cross and apply them to your sin nature. Take what sin you struggle with to the cross and remember that it's going to be painful. Some of that stuff you have been carrying for a long time, it's a part of you, you love it and God wants you to leave at the cross. After you place it on the cross remember that the cross is pitiless. They didn't pity Jesus, don't pity your sin. If you do you risk taking it back down off the cross. Remember it's going to hurt placing your sin on that cross that's part of the sacrifice the last thing you need now is a pity party over it. If you start to feel a pity party coming on forget about it and move on. Lastly remember that the cross is permanent. When your sin was paid for on that cross it was permanent, it's dead and should be treated as such. You really, really have to convince yourself that it's dead. And just like you can't bring a person back when they die your sin nature should be treated the same way. You have to really convince yourself that their is no way it can come back. You see the problem is we still think that sin is our job to fight yet we forget that it's already been conquered. There is no fight left, the battle is over. We really are dead to sin. The problem is we spend to much time worrying about whats been killed and not about who won the battle. Lets face it the more we focus on Christ, the more we get in the word and live like we mean it. The less likely we will sin. Jesus said he came so that we could have life and have it more abundantly. You get that? He wants us to have life and he wants us to live for him. We are not slaves to sin unless we want to be. We are not slaves to Christ unless we want to be. The one you spend more time focusing on, being with, and doing things for...that one will be your master.
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Posted by Robhev on 2009-03-26 10:05:33 | Rating: | Views: 82
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