Skip to main content

Christ In You

My husband and I had dinner the other night with some dear friends. Our conversation didn't exactly meander to the topic of God. It was more like it burst into it with both guns blazing, although now, I can't stop my thoughts from meandering back to one simple phrase that our friend said: Christ in me.

Several years ago I went through a season of reading the works of some Christian mystics, desert fathers and mothers as they are sometimes called because they separated themselves from their culture and lived in the desert to more effectively spend time with God without the distractions of city life. I read quite a bit of Jeanne Guyon. She obviously loved God deeply, and I learned a lot from her writings, but there was one phrase that she couldn't seem to emphasize enough, and it always bothered me - look within yourself to find God (sounds a little new-agey, doesn't it?) Honestly, the thought has been repulsive to me. It's so contrary to our modern Christian thought. We want to look outward - toward others. Besides, if I look inside myself, all I find is me along with all my faults and failings. Nope, I'm not really into the whole look-inside-yourself thing. I'd like to get away from me and onto God and others. That is, after all, more spiritual, isn't it? 

Enter - our dinner conversation and these scriptures that have assailed me since:
As the truth of Christ is in me ... - 2 Corinthians 11:10; Or do you not realize this about yourselves - that Jesus Christ is in you? - 2 Corinthians 13:5; ...but Christ who lives in me. - Galatians 2:20; Christ in you, the hope of glory - Colossians 1:27

This past Sunday, our pastor (coincidentally of course) spoke about the Holy Spirit living in each of us.

Christians are so good at over-spiritualizing life and everything in it. We're afraid to say "I" want to do this or "I" did that. It sounds so self-centered - and who wants to be (or sound) self-centered? We think that "I" is exclusive of "God" and that "God" is exclusive of "I." Either we make a decision on our own or we follow what we believe God is asking of us. It's one or the other: God's will or mine (and never the twain shall meet). We can't seem to grasp that when Christ is in me, I'm not alone - ever, and if I'm not alone, if Christ is truly in me, then He speaks to me and through me. If I have a dream or a passion for something, there's a really good chance that it's God, that what I want is not exclusive of what God wants for me (obviously I'm not talking about anything immoral or sinful).

As these thoughts swirled around within my cranium this week, I found myself strengthened, empowered even. Could it be true? Is it possible that in everything I do - EVERYTHING - I am not alone? Is it possible that because God lives in me, He's the one who has placed certain desires, certain dreams, in my heart? Is it possible that because He lives in me, I can talk to others and trust that He is speaking into their life? That I can hang out with friends and co-workers and not mention His name but know that He is with us? All because He lives in me? Is it possible that Jesus spoke truth when He prayed in John 17, "I in them and You in Me . . . ?"

So consider your life, your dreams, what you love. Now consider that it's not just you but Christ in you.

Comments

  1. Now that's what I'm a talkin' bout! deb

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jesus and I both like this post Lori! Keep it up!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Every post I read of yours, I wish you lived next door and we could continue the conversation...
    Thanks for sharing so much of me, I mean you, I mean Christ in you.
    kisses!
    Con

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lady, I actually think more often the other way, of sorts, that everything I do well is God in me coming out. Especially a "good idea"... I do know they aren't mine.. Keep up the thought provoking posts.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tricia's Return (my first ICL assignment for 13-17 year olds)

I stormed down the hall and slammed the door. I’d had enough! Dumping my books out of my backpack, I began shoving in clothes – anything I could grab. I dug through the junk on the floor of my closet and found my stash – my life’s savings. I shoved it on top of my clothes. In the midst of this frenzy, I heard a soft knock on my door. "Tricia?" It was my mom. “What now?” I couldn’t keep the anger out of my voice. She was just going to launch into another tirade. Her list of my shortcomings was endless, and I didn’t want to hear them anymore. I didn’t open the door; I climbed out my window, backpack in tow, grabbed my bike and took off for the bus station. Jeremy didn’t know I was coming. He’d be so surprised. I couldn’t wait to see him! We’ve been together for a year; but since his family moved to St. Louis four months ago, we haven’t seen each other. We haven’t even been able to talk much He'd made the varsity soccer team; and with all the games and practices, he hadn’t h...

How Do You Wait?

The barren one is now in her sixth month.  Not one promise from God is empty of power  for nothing is impossible with God. Luke 1: 37 The Passion Translation I've never thought that much about Elizabeth. Gabriel speaks here to Mary - the mother-to-be of none other than GOD Himself! Who has a thought to spare for this side character in THE story of divine visitation? God come to earth. Wow. Talk about a headline for the New York Times! Why does Gabriel even mention Elizabeth? I don't know, but I'm glad he did.  I read these verses with a different perspective this morning.  "The barren one." Elizabeth is now past childbearing years. It's not a secret. Everyone in her community knows she's barren (it's obvious). The life part of her life is over. There is no hope for her to have her dream - a life like her friends have. She's different from her family, her neighbors. In a time when children are everything, she has nothing.  And now it's too late...

Rethinking My Rightness

I used to label myself as a conservative Christian. Used to. Lately, I'm almost ashamed to even be called a "christian" (that lowercase "c" is on purpose). It seems that over the last eight to ten years, being "christian" has become more about being right than about being Christ-like. It's more about enforcing a perceived level of moral behavior that has nothing to do with a person's heart (what was that Jesus said about a "whitewashed tomb" in Matthew 23:27?). Being "christian" has become more about power, control, and supremacy than it is about loving your neighbor or your God. I'm deeply saddened by the current "christian" focus on the sins of others (LGBTQ anyone?), by the lack of humility, by the pain inflicted (knowingly and unknowingly) on those who are unlike us. I've recently seen the ugliness of my own whitewashed tomb. I don't like it. I cried to see that my heart contains such haughtiness an...