{"id":31244,"date":"2021-03-21T03:30:20","date_gmt":"2021-03-21T10:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=31244"},"modified":"2021-03-19T15:44:05","modified_gmt":"2021-03-19T22:44:05","slug":"march-21-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2021\/03\/21\/march-21-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"March 21, 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cI have been crucified with Christ; 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 for me.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>Galatians 2:20<\/p>\n

It\u2019s My Life!<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Walk His Way Revisited<\/em><\/p>\n

My kids were raised to know and walk in the ways of the Lord. But at some point, each of them rebelled against the teachings of their childhood. I vividly remember many years ago when one of them wanted to go camping with a certain group of other kids. My husband and I knew we could not allow this because of the influence the group had wielded in my teen\u2019s life in the past, and we stood our ground. This teenager, completely swallowed up by the frustration of being told \u201cno\u201d to this plan, came unglued and yelled, \u201cIt\u2019s MY life!\u201d<\/p>\n

I can remember this frustrating time in my own life, when I still lived at home but desperately wanted to become \u201cmyself.\u201d With hindsight, what I really wanted to do was exactly what I wanted to do without anyone telling me what that should be. I wanted \u201cfreedom to be me.\u201d<\/p>\n

I wish I\u2019d cared what God\u2019s Word says on this topic.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy life\u201d really isn\u2019t my life, at least not in the way I wanted it to be. \u201cMy life\u201d doesn\u2019t belong to me. \u201cFor you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God\u2019s\u201d <\/em>(1 Corinthians 6:20). My body and spirit belong to God, Who paid a dear price with the life of His Son.<\/p>\n

He has taken up residence within me in the form of the Holy Spirit. I now share space with Him. We share a bedroom, so to speak. I can\u2019t draw a line down the middle, as I would with a sibling, and say, \u201cThis half is mine, and that is Yours.\u201d No, we share it all. What\u2019s mine is His; what\u2019s His is mine.<\/p>\n

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I can\u2019t just live for myself. Romans 14:7-8 tells us, \u201cFor none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord\u2019s.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Of course, this is the point. At that moment, my teenager did not want to live for the Lord, but only for the momentary pleasure of gratifying self. And haven\u2019t we all been there ourselves a thousand times?<\/p>\n

Our lives include the Lord, but also all the people who love us, all the people who have participated in making us who we are today, and all the people God has planned for us to interact with in the future. Our life includes the people God has put in our path that we are called to bless, help, comfort, pray for, and do good works for. If I live for myself only, I am turning my back on all these people, and thus on God\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n

Our lives aren\u2019t our own. Our actions today will affect us and others for a long time to come. Be alive to Him and dead to self.<\/p>\n

Christ, You purchased us with Your blood, and thus we belong to You. Help us walk in that knowledge. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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