Daily Devotional
Word of the Day
How Much of the Old Man is Still Alive?
Pastor Scott
Monday, February 08, 2010
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If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Colossians 3:1-2)
As Christians, it is no longer I that live but Christ that lives in me. And the life I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God. The ego "I" dies. The "I" entity is exclusively a vessel and a servant of the will of God. As we are being absorbed into the body of Christ, into unity and harmony with the Father, ask yourself, "How much of the old man is still recognizable in my life?" We all know that in us, that is in our flesh, dwells no good thing. That "no good thing" is you, the ego constantly wanting to rise up. This "rising up" is not overt rebellion. Yet many will scramble to the Word of God to justify leaving just a little bit of self alive.
There is no greater indication of the lack of death to self than thinking you have the right to put value on God's creation and those around you. For example, some of us are deceived into thinking that it is our responsibility as heads of our homes, as fathers and husbands, to dictate our wives and our children's lives. You are not the Lord. That lingering self will is the obstacle to the will of God being done in our wives and in our children's lives. When we stand as the Lord, it is because we think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. Who loves you, your wife, and your children the most? Then, very frankly, whose are they?
When we have truly embraced that death with Jesus we enter into the sanctified life. A sanctified life that demonstrates the spirit the Lord had - - having come not to do His will, but to do the will of He that sent Him, and to always do those things that please the Father. To choose your will is to embrace the wisdom of the fruit of the Garden of Eden. How many of you made decisions of even minor magnitude this last week, and it never entered your mind as to what God's will was? You just "knew" what to do. "I know what to do. I know how to do this. I know what to do on my job. I know how to be a husband. I know how to be a father. I know how to be a Christian. This is the way that I've always done it. This is the way that it's traditionally done." James say to ask, "Is this Your will? Father, is this going to bring the most glory to You?" Did you even consider the mind and heart of God? Paul says, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth" (Colossians 3:1-2). When we set our affections on the things above, it changes how our will, our attention, our time, and our energy are applied to the things earth. These things are then focused by the will of God