Almost a year ago, I had a life-changing experience that I would like to take time to share. Because it's almost been a year, I am often recalling it to memory as certain spring-time events remind me of it. It's a long story with a lot of lessons, so I am breaking it up in to several parts. Mostly, I want to retell this story often, as it is a testimony of God's faithfulness and I am so thankful to Him! This is part 1.
In April of last year, because of the Holy Spirit's prompting, I began studying the concept of "Christ in me." It began when I read 2 Corinthians chapter 5 during my daily journaling time and was struck by verse 12: "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" That verse then reminded me of another verse, Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." I was practically obsessed with this verse at the time - though I had read it and heard it many times throughout my life, for some reason it struck me in a new and powerful way. I couldn't get it out of my head. For the next few weeks, I continued to look at the Scriptures through this lens. 1 Corinthians 1:24 says, "but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." When I compared this verse with Galatians 2:20, this is what I saw:
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ (the power of God and the wisdom of God) lives in me.
What a concept! Is this true? Does the power of God and the wisdom of God really live in us? I began to write out a list of where I needed God's power in my life, and areas where I needed His wisdom. Then I went to Ephesians chapter 1, verses 18-22 and read of his "incomparably great power...that power is like the working of his might strength which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead..." The very same power that was strong enough to raise Christ from the dead is accessible to us - to rescue us, to redeem us, to bring new life! I then wrote in my journal the following entry:
1 Corinthians 1:8a "He will keep you strong to the end..."
v. 9 "God, who has called you into fellowship with his son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful."
Faithful means he is trustworthy. I can place full confidence in him.
What does it mean to put full confidence in Jesus; in the Father? What would that look like in my life if I responded to my circumstances (from) a position of confidence? What happens when (instead) I respond in fear, doubt or insecurity?
We are in fellowship with Jesus Christ our Lord, we are also in fellowship with one another - the body of Christ. We are not left alone to face our challenges with nothing but our own strength. As we begin to live lives of trust and confidence in the Lord, we find ourselves doing things we could not imagine before. We begin to operate in strength and stop obsessing over our weaknesses... Sometimes I think "I just don't have it in me." Yes you do! You have even more! Choose to live victoriously!
At the time, as I read and wrote this entry, I was thinking hypothetically about challenges. I wasn't going through anything particularly difficult at the time, but looking back I see it was God-ordained preparation for what was to come. I am now more aware of the importance of "paying attention" to what the Lord may be teaching me in any given moment. All of this was truly preparation for what was to happen next, because the next page in my journal was written a few days later from the hospital.
