Having perceived that Christ, having been roused from among the dead, is no longer dying. Death is lording it over Him no longer, for in that He died, He died to sin once for all time, yet in that He is living, He is living to God.
Paul to the Romans 6: 9-10, Concordant New Testament
It is said that it takes around thirty days to develop a good habit. Whether that is true or not, there's no mistaking that consistency breeds new behaviors. When I first began my fitness journey, I agonized over the fact that an extra day of two each week in the gym would take away from time which could be spent doing something else. More often than not, what it took me away from were the behaviors which got me to where I was in the first place. The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. I've lived that. These days, when people ask me what it is that keeps me motivated to do what I'm doing, my response is that I don't want to go back to who I was before (Not caring for that temple which is of the Lord) {Paul to the Corinthians (1) 6:19-20}. I was all about myself. I did whatever made me feel comfortable. Often that included things which God definitely didn't want me doing. I never want to go back to that place. These days I live in a new reality of walking in the Lord each day. The apostle Paul speaks to this in Romans, albeit as he mentions the death of Christ Jesus to sin {Paul to the Romans 6:10}. I know in my heart that Jesus lives on today. He has died that our sin would be no more, but it is His life now that I share in Him. For as He is living, He is living to God. As I am living, I am living to the Father in Christ Jesus. There is no other way which I can describe my life as I am now. I live each day in union with the Father and the Son {Johns Account 14:20}. I believe that it is this realization, given by the Father, by which we come to know that we are living to God. Our life, our focus, is on the Father in Whom we live.
Now he who joins the Lord is one spirit
Paul to the Corinthians (1) 6: 17, Concordant New Testament
Our traditional vows of marriage speak to the truth of the two becoming one. We're told that a man shall join unto his wife and that the two will become one flesh {Genesis 2:24}. Paul warns that the man who joins with the prostitute will become one with her as well {Paul to the Corinthians (1) 6:16}. So it is that when we are in union with the Father, we are one with Him. We are living to God. Granted, the truth of our union with the Father, despite being scriptural, is one of the most difficult truths to fathom for a lot of people. Perhaps this is why I did not realize my own union in Him until it was revealed by God in me. Too many times, we allow the background noise of culture and misguided church teachings to sway our own knowing of who the Father is. I believe that in our hearts we know the truth that we walk in God (This is a topic for another time). I have found myself more and more to be filtering my own actions and decisions through the eyes of the Father. Knowing that I am in Him, I conduct myself as such. Jesus knew and lived this in His life. For Him there was no other way. He lived to God. This is also the knowing which I live in.
"That they may all be one, according as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world shall be believing that Thou dost commission Me"
Johns Account 17: 21, Concordant New Testament
~Scott~
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