Loudmouth in the corners getting to me
Talking about my earing and my hair
He ain't read the sign that says I've been to prison
somebody better warn him before I knock him off his chair
~Long haired redneck~ David Allan Coe
I recently congratulated a dear friend of mine on his birthday by reminding him that he had survived one more year of putting up with me. Seems pretty appropriate for those that know me. Many of us cannot claim that we are perfect Christians. On the contrary, we often let our words slip and speak our mind when circumstances warrant such a reaction. I once heard a pastor I knew unleash a stream of all sorts of verbal venom on someone who had cut him off on the highway. Yes, this was the very same guy who a few days later was preaching from the pulpit about forgiveness. Double standard? Not that I can see. See, I know exactly how irritating and obnoxious that I can get a times. I speak my mind and I rarely apologize. Yeah, I've heard that such behavior is not Christian like, and yet I still do what I do. Is this a matter of knowingly behaving badly? Or, is it as simple as forgetting that person we really are inside? In order to speak to this we need to understand who it is that we truly are deep down. We understand that God created man in His own image {Genesis 1:27}. We also understand that He breathed into us the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}. From the dust of the ground to a living, breathing being, God has been a intimate part of our existence from the very beginning. Still think that obnoxious behaving runt is really who you are? Well, the apostle Paul may disagree with that belief. It was Paul who described very well the man who he knew he really was. Was he that persecuting official who chased down the early followers of the church of Jesus? Nope. Paul understood that he had died and put away such things. The man Paul truly was...was Jesus {Galatians 2:20}. That's right, it was Jesus who was living in Paul.
With Christ have I been crucified, yet I am living; no longer I, but living in me is Christ. Now that which I am now living in flesh, I am living in faith that is of the Son of God, who loves me, and gives Himself up for me.
Galatians 2: 20 ~ Concordant New Testament
Paul also nailed it on the head when he described knowing Christ in us as the "Mystery among the Gentiles" {Colossians 1:27}. Indeed, I have struggled with my own knowing of Jesus in me from time to time. It is not simply a belief in Jesus, it goes much deeper than that. Believe me, there are plenty of long haired hippies out there who claim to believe in Jesus. Yet, when they behave badly the immediate response is that they are somehow a wicked, sinful person. Yes, I've been there. There is nothing worse for a believer than the hamster wheel of knowing Jesus one moment then being in His crosshairs the next. But we were never intended to live our lives in fear of the impending judgement of Jesus {1 John 4:18}. He's not there simply watching over us until we screw up. This belief is part of the lie that we are separate from God. Friends, how is it that we can be separate from He who created us from the dust of the ground? This is a fools errand and we are anything but. It is no wonder, therefore, that Paul took to referring to a life in Christ Jesus as a mystery. Of course, it does not need to be that way. When we encounter those moments where we behave badly, we understand that it does not in any way exemplify who it is that we are inside. Of course, having a deeper knowledge of Jesus in us may just help us head off more than a few of these bad behavior moments as well.
To whom God wills to make known what are the glorious riches of this secret among the nations, which is: Christ among you, the expectation of glory.
Colossians 1: 27 ~ Concordant New Testament
~Scott~
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