Singing the song God placed within you is another way of saying, “Be the Message” God has given you. As believers, our lives are to ring true…the words we say are to be expressed in the way we live. The indwelling Spirit provides the power for this to take place. As Oswald Chambers expresses it:
“Pentecost did not teach the disciples anything; it made them the incarnation of what they preached…”
Colossians 3:9 states it as “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self…” We are new creations when we receive Christ as our life. To live otherwise–to live like the world or live out of our personal preferences is a lie.
But we were shaped and designed before we came to know Christ. Living the abundant life Jesus died to provide us requires that we learn our design and seek to understand how to apply the Truth of God to our unique life. The Holy Spirit fills and heals our hurts as we dig into the Word and find the balm we need as an individual.
Understanding and wisdom are buried in the Word of God. Spending time in it–and making effort to apply it to the past and the present is key to living the Christian life. Transformation in Christ is a beautiful thing!
We all enjoy great make-overs! When we come to Christ, the make-over begins. Before Christ, we live life on our terms doing the best we can with what we have. Coming to the Father through the Son is the only way to become all we are designed to be. God knows our design and our purpose. We must get to know Him in order to fully realize ourselves.
God loves diversity…it is His plan that not a one of us are the same. Although everyone of us is made in the image of God, we have been uniquely crafted for purposes only God knows. Every life in His sovereign care….even the things we do not like about our lives have been allowed for a purpose that can be great if it is infused with the Spirit of God. The answers each of us long to have are treasures buried in the Word of God. Seek God in His book and He will bless you and use you to help others who are seeking as well.
Treasure the work God is doing in you. Believe He is doing the same in others. We are all imperfect representations of the Gospel Message. God knows we are all made out of
dirt–we make things pretty muddy sometimes. But He is capable of working with dirt…He loves to do it. Simply live with integrity. Be the Message God has placed within you and refuse to be sidetracked. You need not be perfect…don’t ask others to be either. His power is made complete in our weakness.
Don’t fret. Where you have hurts, seek God. Where you have joys, seek God. The goal of every prayer should be to know God more…the goal of every moment of life is the same. Let your life be a prayer that keeps you in constant communion with God.
In John 17, Jesus prayed for his disciples–then and now. His passionate plea was for unity. His plea echoes in the hearts of Christians even today but fear, self and ignorance conspire against us. We don’t know how to find unity; it is an elusive concept that often seems impossible. There are a couple foreign words that help us put in words the essence of His prayer–and the longing of our hearts.
Coram Deo is a Latin phrase that means living in the presence of God, under the authority of God, for the glory of God. Living in unity with God flows out of choosing
first of all to live in His presence, under His authority and for His glory. The other is a Greek word, perichoresis. This beautiful word conveys unity in diversity–it speaks of the distinct personalities of the Trinity indwelling one another…none losing its distinction but all wholly united.
Coram Deo & Perichoresis are Jesus’ desire for us. We don’t lose our identity as we grow spiritually–we find it in greater depth and breadth. The transformation process that began at salvation continually grows as we live and breathe in Christ–with others doing the same.
Heartsong Ministries 