Does Jesus live in you?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

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.
(Galatians 2:20 (NIV))

What do you think of when you think of being crucified with Christ?

It is so easy to skip over hard questions such as this and simply think to yourself that you know what it means, but do you truly know? Are you able to articulate to yourself and to others just what this means to you? If you were asked to stand up in front of a group of people and answer this question, could you? If you were standing in front of the Lord and He asks you this question, what would your answer be?

We all know the standard answers to what this means, but that is only the beginning of what should be a personal response. Just as no two individuals are the same, I honestly believe that if we truly looked at ourselves and came up with our own personal response, no two responses would be the same.

It is said that when Jesus was on the cross, each one of us was on His mind. We know without a doubt that He died so that we could have salvation, but did He think of each one of us down to the individual sins that we have committed? Did He say, “I’m doing this so that Joe can be free from the power the enemy has over him and his addictions?” Did He say, “I’m here so that Mary can have freedom from the shame of her past?”

If Jesus thought of each one of us by name, what did He take to the cross on your behalf?

This is your personal response!

How can you express your thankfulness for the specific sins that He was crucified for?

Have those sins been replaced with Jesus living in you?

If you can give testimony of a personal response, then you should be able to boldly claim that Jesus lives in you! If Jesus lives in you, then you know exactly what Jesus took to the cross on your behalf. Jesus took all of our sins upon Himself when He went to the cross. The price that He paid was great. He did not walk away from the cross carrying anyone’s unpaid sins. The price He paid covered them all so that we can boldly proclaim that we have been crucified with Christ!

Does Jesus live in you?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Is your decision obvious?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”
But the people said nothing.
(1 Kings 18:21 (NIV))

Elijah built an alter and soaked it with water to the point where it would not burn in order to show the people that the Lord was God.

The priests of Baal pleaded with their “god” for hours and nothing happened. Elijah had patience. He knew what would happen. Elijah had faith. Again, he knew what would happen. He knew that the priests of Baal would fail miserably no matter how much time he gave them. He also knew that the one true God would prevail even against seemingly impossible odds. With this in mind, Elijah called the people to make a decision based on the outcome of the days events before they even happened.

The decision was obvious. After God came down and consumed the wet offering, it was impossible to come to any other conclusion. They chose to worship God.

Have each of us come to that same, logical conclusion? We may not have seen the first hand evidence as presented that day, but we have proof of more evidence than these people ever had. There is enough evidence, if you choose to accept it, that there is a God and that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to atone for our sins. If God can consume with fire a thoroughly soaked alter and sacrifice, He can perform an act of salvation through the death and resurrection of His Son. The only difference is the question. God is asking each of us, “How long will you waver between the two options? If you accept Jesus as my Son, accept salvation. If you do not, accept the consequences.”

What do you accept?

Copyright 1998 – 2014 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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