Identified or Simply Interested?

I have been crucified with Christ . . .
—Galatians 2:20

The inescapable spiritual need each of us has is the need to sign the death certificate of our sin nature. I must take my emotional opinions and intellectual beliefs and be willing to turn them into a moral verdict against the nature of sin; that is, against any claim I have to my right to myself. Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ . . . ." He did not say, "I have made a determination to imitate Jesus Christ," or, "I will really make an effort to follow Him"-but-"I have been identified with Him in His death." Once I reach this moral decision and act on it, all that Christ accomplished for me on the Cross is accomplished in me. My unrestrained commitment of myself to God gives the Holy Spirit the opportunity to grant to me the holiness of Jesus Christ.

". . . it is no longer I who live . . . ." My individuality remains, but my primary motivation for living and the nature that rules me are radically changed. I have the same human body, but the old satanic right to myself has been destroyed.

". . . and the life which I now live in the flesh," not the life which I long to live or even pray that I live, but the life I now live in my mortal flesh-the life which others can see, "I live by faith in the Son of God . . . ." This faith was not Paul’s own faith in Jesus Christ, but the faith the Son God had given to him (see Ephesians 2:8 ). It is no longer a faith in faith, but a faith that transcends all imaginable limits-a faith that comes only from the Son of God.

3 things I absolutely cannot stand:

1. How 5 or 6 people walk slowly side by side through the halls at Mac.
2. Stupid drivers like the one I encountered today....I was changing lanes and as soon as I put my blinker on, the idiot behind me decides he'd like to change lanes real quick and get in front of me. So as I was moving over, he gets right beside me and honks his horn like crazy as if I were running him off the road. Then I just marveled in astonishment at the stupidity of this guy as he changes back to the lane we started from!!! Grrrrr. I seriously wanted to run over the guys head!! I am not a hostile person normally I assure you.
3. How many people get so caught up in the politics of the the church, that they forget what and Who it's all about. Many are so rigid and hellbent on how they feel things should be done, they're not allowing themselves to hear God and His plans....There are some people who've forgotten we are all part of the Body of Christ and committies aren't formed to make all the decisions for the Body but rather with the Body. And it really does frustrate me how lately people in the church are so concerned about the politics, they forget why they were made. In more secular terms...like how the seperation of church and state was formed to keep the government from telling people how and who to worship but now-a-days people are twisting it around to mean there's no place for God in our courtrooms, schools, and press. It hacks me off. "Jesus said to them, 'Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand.'"-Matthew 12:24-26 (NASB). In the same way, the church divided against itself cannot stand.

P.S. Go here!! http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/lyle_24/myhero.html

I am a disciple of Christ

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I'm finished with low living, sight-walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lifted by prayer, and labor by power. My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problems recognizing me - my banner will be clear.

I want all I am to die, so all He is can come alive

Til everyone I talk to hears His voiceAnd everything I touch feels the warmth of His handTil everyone I meetSees Jesus in meThis is all I wanna be I wanna be mistakenFor JesusI wanna be wrapped up in Jesus. So much that it's as if I weren't even living but Him living through me. I hate myself. I hate the sin. I hate the hold I think the sin has on my life...but it doesn't have a hold on me!! The Bible says that we are no longer slaves to sin...we've been released from the "past code" through Jesus Christ. So it's only my selfishness and pride pulling me down.
Romans 6:6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, [ Or be rendered powerless] that we should no longer be slaves to sin–
Romans 7:15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Ephesians 4:22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;