It is not uncommon for some people to put on and take off religion like a shirt, a dispensable convenience / inconvenience.
Even within Christianity, those who put on and take off Christ like a shirt, is observing only a religion. Christ deserves a relationship. We cannot put on and take off a relationship at will, unless it is a unilateral relationship which then is no longer a relationship by definition.
I have been challenged to see it slightly deeper. Inside of me is Christ – the Holy Word says Christ lives in me and Christ in me is the hope of glory. I ‘died’ the day I was baptised in the water and when I came out of the water [a lake in upstate New York], I started living for Christ, more exactly, Christ’s presence ie the Holy Spirit within my spirit will lead me through life’s journey – trills, spills and ills – to bring glory to God.
So, for me, it means I cannot strip off anything because if I have the attitude of take off / put on, it would be my own skin that I am taking off. God does not need me to strip off my ‘skin’ because He made me unique – there is only one of me throughout all of creation.
I have not been incarnated; I have not lived many lives in many forms in previous eras; I was never another woman, another child, another somebody; I am the one and only – one time occurrence of me - whom the Heavenly Father sees as the apple of His eyes [according to the Holy Scripture].
I have such a rich inheritance because my heavenly Father has called me daughter and Jesus has called me friend. I share the inheritance that Jesus has ie all of heaven’s storehouses. I only need to ask the heavenly Father, according to His will and for His glory, He will give the resources to me. According to the Holy Scripture, those who fear God and walk with Him, will lack nothing.
I know where I am heading, I know the race I am now running [not the rat race], I know what my life’s purpose is [to glorify God wherever He places me] and I know me [as God takes me from revelation to revelation].
I therefore make every effort to live life without regret, richly, and to bless as many people as God places before me. Money, fame, rewards, and all material things are incidental as God gives. I do not need to renounce them or practice detachment because God gives them as He sees fit.
As long as Christ lives in me and I am the unique vessel of His glory, the journey will be blissful. Sad to say, the ‘old me’ who is supposed to have died when I was baptised, shows up whenever the ‘ground is conducive’.
If I continue to feed the spirit man with Holy Scripture, walk with the Holy Spirit and stay away from entertaining desires of the flesh, the ‘old man’ in me will starve and be ineffective. The reverse is also true.
If I spend more time feeding the flesh, ie reading or seeing junk, chasing after worldly pleasures, being in places where the influence is undesirable – luring the flesh, being angry, bitter, jealous, and moving in selfish ambition, etc., then spirit man will starve and the material / physical me will take over. Then Jesus in me will be dishonoured.
If a friend willingly and insist on taking the indictment and punishment on my behalf while I walk free though I am the guilty one, I would honour that friend the rest of my life. Jesus did just that. Whether I know it, acknowledge it or appreciate is immaterial because it was done just the same. [Just like the fallen tree in the forest, whether we heard it falling or not cannot change the fact that it had fallen. Ignorance is no contender for reality.]
So, I choose to honour Jesus the rest of my life, and I will occasionally mess up but I will always have Him inside me – because it is my only skin that can be stripped off.
Even within Christianity, those who put on and take off Christ like a shirt, is observing only a religion. Christ deserves a relationship. We cannot put on and take off a relationship at will, unless it is a unilateral relationship which then is no longer a relationship by definition.
I have been challenged to see it slightly deeper. Inside of me is Christ – the Holy Word says Christ lives in me and Christ in me is the hope of glory. I ‘died’ the day I was baptised in the water and when I came out of the water [a lake in upstate New York], I started living for Christ, more exactly, Christ’s presence ie the Holy Spirit within my spirit will lead me through life’s journey – trills, spills and ills – to bring glory to God.
So, for me, it means I cannot strip off anything because if I have the attitude of take off / put on, it would be my own skin that I am taking off. God does not need me to strip off my ‘skin’ because He made me unique – there is only one of me throughout all of creation.
I have not been incarnated; I have not lived many lives in many forms in previous eras; I was never another woman, another child, another somebody; I am the one and only – one time occurrence of me - whom the Heavenly Father sees as the apple of His eyes [according to the Holy Scripture].
I have such a rich inheritance because my heavenly Father has called me daughter and Jesus has called me friend. I share the inheritance that Jesus has ie all of heaven’s storehouses. I only need to ask the heavenly Father, according to His will and for His glory, He will give the resources to me. According to the Holy Scripture, those who fear God and walk with Him, will lack nothing.
I know where I am heading, I know the race I am now running [not the rat race], I know what my life’s purpose is [to glorify God wherever He places me] and I know me [as God takes me from revelation to revelation].
I therefore make every effort to live life without regret, richly, and to bless as many people as God places before me. Money, fame, rewards, and all material things are incidental as God gives. I do not need to renounce them or practice detachment because God gives them as He sees fit.
As long as Christ lives in me and I am the unique vessel of His glory, the journey will be blissful. Sad to say, the ‘old me’ who is supposed to have died when I was baptised, shows up whenever the ‘ground is conducive’.
If I continue to feed the spirit man with Holy Scripture, walk with the Holy Spirit and stay away from entertaining desires of the flesh, the ‘old man’ in me will starve and be ineffective. The reverse is also true.
If I spend more time feeding the flesh, ie reading or seeing junk, chasing after worldly pleasures, being in places where the influence is undesirable – luring the flesh, being angry, bitter, jealous, and moving in selfish ambition, etc., then spirit man will starve and the material / physical me will take over. Then Jesus in me will be dishonoured.
If a friend willingly and insist on taking the indictment and punishment on my behalf while I walk free though I am the guilty one, I would honour that friend the rest of my life. Jesus did just that. Whether I know it, acknowledge it or appreciate is immaterial because it was done just the same. [Just like the fallen tree in the forest, whether we heard it falling or not cannot change the fact that it had fallen. Ignorance is no contender for reality.]
So, I choose to honour Jesus the rest of my life, and I will occasionally mess up but I will always have Him inside me – because it is my only skin that can be stripped off.
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