There is only one person who
can live the Christian life. Yes, it can be lived,
but only by the Lord Jesus Christ.
To live the Christian life you
must have the right one living it. The Christian
life can be lived by Christ. It is His life, and it
is exclusively His to be lived only by Him.
Have you found yourself ever
trying to live the Christian life and feeling like a
failure? The reason is it can only be lived in
complete dependence upon Christ.
The Christian life is an
exchanged life. It is lived in dependence upon
Christ. You exchange your life for Christ’s life.
That way He lives His life in and through you.
The apostle Paul explains, “I
have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer
I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the
Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me”
(Gal. 2:20).
Your life can pulsate with the
living wonder of the Son of God living His life in
you as you appropriate it by faith. When you do
every demand upon you is a demand upon the Christ
who indwells and infills you by His Spirit.
Is there any demand upon Christ
that He cannot fulfill? Are you inadequate to meet
some pressing need or demand? You may be, but Christ
is not.
The demand is not on you, but
upon Christ. Therefore, let your life be an endless
exercise of faith in drawing from Christ all He
desires of you. Do you need patience, wisdom,
unconditional love, and strength? You can draw it
endlessly from the One who lives and abides in you.
This is the secret to living a
life that overcomes temptation. The apostle Paul
tells us the more you draw from Him by faith, the
less you live in the flesh. “But I say, walk by the
Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the
flesh” (Gal. 5:16). When you walk in the Spirit, the
life of Christ will flow through you.
There is the constant need for
the believer to abide in Christ. Has Christ become
your place of refuge? Do you return to Him
repeatedly? Have you made it a habit to dwell in His
presence through faith in Him, the reading of His
Word, through repentance and repeated filling of His
Spirit, through love and obedience to His Word as a
vital witness of His saving grace?
How have you come to know
Christ in an intimate love experience? We must learn
to live moment by moment in His holy presence.
You abide in Him as you walk by
faith in Him by believing Him for all He wants to do
in and through you to reach this world with His
message of love. Is He waiting upon you to trust Him
so He can share more of Himself with you?
You abide in Christ as He
communicates to you through His Word and as you
respond in prayer. Make it a habit of falling on
your knees when He speaks to you through the
Scriptures. The Holy Spirit takes the Word of God,
interprets it, and applies it to you. Make this your
daily habit. Only then does He reveal Jesus to you.
You abide in Christ by
immediately confessing every sin that the Holy
Spirit makes you aware of, and appropriating by
faith the cleansing blood of Jesus. You maintain
that intimate love relationship by confession,
cleansing and yielding to His lordship in your life.
You abide in Christ by being an
obedient witness to the One who lives in you. Pray
daily that He will lead you to where He is at work
in the lives of people around you. Do everything
Christ asks you to do in His strength and wisdom. In
doing so you exchange your life for His life so He
can give expression of His matchless life through
you.
Then when Satan knocks at your
door let Jesus answer it. “Greater is He that in
you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
Since Christ is in you, you are
full of God. Let Him live His life in you. He gives
expression of His life in us by releasing it through
us. When He releases His life through you, you are
changed in the process.
Abide in Him, and He will abide
in you.
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author's written consent.
Unless otherwise noted "Scripture quotations taken from the NASB."
"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE" © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://www.bible.org/. All rights reserved.
Wil is a graduate of William Carey University, B. A.; New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Th. M.; and Azusa Pacific University, M. A. He has pastored in Panama, Ecuador and the U. S, and served for over 20 years as missionary in Ecuador and Honduras. He had a daily expository Bible teaching ministry head in over 100 countries from 1972-2005. He continues to seek opportunities to be personally involved in world missions. Wil and his wife Ann have three grown daughters. He currently serves as a Baptist pastor and teaches seminary extension courses in Ecuador.
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