Through Man Death, Through Man Life

Sometimes I talk to myself. I have whole conversations in the way I'd like a conversation to go. Never, does the conversation I had with myself, playing both the part of me and the part of the other person, go the way I imagined. You just can't be both parts of a conversation.

I find the same is true with God. I can't be both me and God in a conversation. I've got to ask God and let Him inform me. I've got to show up and, at some point, shut up. I can't hear God if I'm constantly telling Him what I want or what I need. There's a whole lot of listening in my relationship with Him.

That sometimes means middle of the night talks with Jesus. Usually He wakes me up for prayer. Sometimes He puts a song on my heart. All of the time, its Jesus. If I'm awake in the middle of the night, that has Jesus written all over it.

All over it.

Keep praying until your breakthrough comes
Keep fighting until your victory is here

I rather fight supernaturally knowing God will win my battle than to struggle in my human frailty.

I think one essential idea about "seek ye first the kingdom and all things will be added" is the idea that all things. That's all things He intends....not all things you want in this instant. God will change your mind or make it so that the thing He has for you is suddenly the thing you want. All things will be added or they won't. If they aren't....they aren't His best for you. Trust Him....He's faithful.

I Corinthians 15:3

For I passed on to you first of all what I also had received, that Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for our sins in accordance with [what] the Scriptures 

Sometimes I feel that way about this blog. There are very few things I won't say on here about my relationship with God. I tell a whole lot of the truth because 1. I love the truth and 2. The truth, from God, is love. I think telling the truth allows for a level of vulnerability that isn't often seen. My relationship with God lays me bare before Him so why wouldn't my devotional reflect that?
There are a few things I don't share and that happens mostly because I write it and I feel the Spirit saying "not yet." Not yet is an opportunity to do deeper work on a topic that Lord has pressed on my heart and I try to heed that. Nothing has ever been gained from my trying to be ahead of what God is doing.

I Corinthians 15:10

But by the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not [found to be] for nothing (fruitless and without effect). In fact, I worked harder than all of them [the apostles], though it was not really I, but the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God which was with me.

God is so amazing.
You know all those things you got over, got through, and got around? That wasn't you. That was favor! You didn't earn that! There was no transaction, no payment, no good behavior that could have made some of the situations I've been in work out for my good but God. Requirements for graduation got waved for me and yet my work husband is being held in graduate school despite having a master's coming in AND being smarter than I am? That ain't nothing but the Lord! The fact that this girl right here, who can't do math, is being considered for a patent for innovation? JESUS! I know...I know I'm not that smart but I also know the God has put me in situations to prosper that others haven't been in. I've seen the favor fountain of God gushing into my life for no reason. The reason is grace. Grace that is sufficient and endures and makes a way for me out of no what. Grace is more than I'll ever conceive of it. The idea of grace alone leads me to worship because I know....I know I haven't received what I deserve.

Even in the situations that were really hard, there was grace. How? Because the fact that I got out of it....with my mind and my spirit in tack? That's something some people don't get. Some people don't go through the same situations I've been in and come out without being damaged. Also....there something in there. In the hard spaces of life, part of the grace is that you can get so much closer to Him than you ever thought possible. David learned to worship God in the wilderness. He actually wrote 12 Psalms in the wilderness...in inhospitable undesirable conditions, David worshiped God anyway. I've been there...I've been in the wilderness and my worship, my sacrifice of praise encourage me. That was grace. Grace under fire, but grace nonetheless.

I Corinthians 15:13-14

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not risen;

And if Christ has not risen, then our preaching is in vain [it amounts to nothing] and your faith is devoid of truth and is fruitless (without effect, empty, imaginary, and unfounded

Do you believe? Do you? I do. I know that what I'm doing is only possible because Christ died for my sins and was raised from the dead. The cross is my access point. The cross tells me I'm more sinful that I know, but I'm more loved than I can imagine. The cross admits me to relationship with God...get this though. The cross admits me to relationship with God if I believe. Belief is required. But you know what happens if Christ isn't risen? There's not grace. I don't know about you but I need grace. If Christ isn't risen there's not grace and more than that we are still under the law. 

Here's the good news. Christ is risen. We are under grace. And I know for myself that I'm in relationship with God thus the veil was torn.  

I Corinthians 15:17-18

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is mere delusion [futile, fruitless], and you are still in your sins [under the control and penalty of sin];

And further, those who have died in [[b]spiritual fellowship and union with] Christ have perished (are lost)

We're back at "Do you believe?" Do you honestly believe that He died for your sins and was raised for the dead. That's a two parter.

1. He died for your sins. He carried them on the cross, all your inequities, your shortcomings, your failures, all the time you were wrong, all the times you were mean and cross with folks, every time you sinned against other and against yourself<----All of that went to the cross on Jesus's body and He was a full perfect and sufficient sacrifice.
Not only did He go, He went willingly. Yes, He asked if this cup could pass from Him in the garden of Gesthemane, but He also said "Not my will but thy will be done." If Jesus, who knew being fully man and fully God that He was going to suffer and die on the cross if He did the Father's will, still submitted Himself to it can I offer that we should have that same measure of faith? Jesus died knowing He's be raised and ascend to heaven. Jesus knew the plan ahead of time and knew what it what cost Him, briefly including relationship with the Father, and He did it anyway because He knew God would get the glory. If we had faith enough to believe that God would get the glory, even in our pain and suffering, and also that the end result would be amazingly edifying, might we have more worship in our trials and tribulations? Its just a question. I've failed at it a hundred times....but grace. I've failed to see how this awful thing could turn out to be good but I promise it has and it will continue to because God is constantly constant and consistently consistent.

2. He was raised from the dead. Jesus wasn't bested by death or the devil. What looked like a crushing blow to the Church turned out to be for the Glory of God. Jesus sitteth at the right hand of God Almighty. Now it matters that He sits at the right hand. Throughout the Bible, there are multiple examples of what the right hand of God means. It means power.

In Exodus 15:6 it says the right hand of the Lord is glorious in power and shatters the enemy.
In Isaiah 48:13 it says My right hand has spread out the heavens.
In Psalm 17:7 God saves by His right hand those who trust and take refuge in Him.
In Psalm 98:1 God's right hand andHis holy arm have wrought salvation.
In Psalm 138:7 God's right hand saves.
In Psalm 18:35 God's right hand upholds.
In Psalm 139:10 God's right hand holds.

The right hand of God is clearly illustrated as origin of power. Jesus sits to the right of God. Jesus is on the side of power because He took all the power of death and made a way for eternal life. It is through His death and resurrection that we know that resurrection of the spirit is possible. It is because of Jesus's example that we know that those in relationship with God are not lost forever in death but have everlasting life with Him.

You've got to believe both parts. Its got to be true that Jesus died for your sins and was raised again that you might be able to be in relationship with God and right standing such that your inheritance is that of Christ's which is to spend eternity with Him. The belief in this is critical to my faith.

I Corinthians 15:21-22

For since [it was] through a man that death [came into the world, it is] also through a Man that the resurrection of the dead [has come].

22 For just as [because of their [c]union of nature] in Adam all people die, so also [by virtue of their [d]union of nature] shall all in Christ be made alive.

All I need to know is that the people I'm relationship with really believe. I need to know that down to the core of who you are, you believe in Jesus and I'm good. You and me....one day we're gonna bump into each other at one of the great marathon worship session in Heaven. Adam may have wrecked the plan but God always had a way. God knew and made provision through Jesus to reconcile us to Himself. The essential part is that you've got to be in Christ. If you're not in Christ, I won't be seeing you up there. Y'all have got to get this together! I know for myself that I believe and I so want to see y'all again and worship with y'all. 

What I love here is that you can know. You can know without a shadow or a doubt or any reservation if you know your relationship and you've seen the fruit of someone else's. I know I'm going to meet my grandma. I know my love will see her love again. I know because I know they knew Jesus. The thing about Christianity is you either believe or you don't. Your belief write your ticket. 

I believe.

I Corinthians 15:28

However, when everything is subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also subject Himself to [the Father] Who put all things under Him, so that God may be all in all [be everything to everyone, supreme, the indwelling and controlling factor of life].

God is in all things. I think sometimes we think God isn't in the wilderness. Sometimes we think God isn't in the uncomfortable places. God isn't with us when we're suffering or struggling. Dare I say He's closer then. God's never been closer to me than when I thought I wanted to go be with Him. Now that's my person walk, but I knew He was present. The thing about His presence, for me, is that that doesn't change my situation. One thing about that time was I was constantly seeking Him because He was the only one with answers. I asked Him all types of questions.  God's presence won't necessarily change what you're going through but if you seek Him, He'll hold you in the fire. He'll hold you in the storm...if you let Him.

I Corinthians 15:33-34

Do not be so deceived and misled! Evil companionships (communion, associations) corrupt and deprave good manners and morals and character.

34 Awake [[f]from your drunken stupor and return] to sober sense and your right minds, and sin no more. For some of you have not the knowledge of God [you are utterly and willfully and disgracefully ignorant, and continue to be so, lacking the sense of God’s presence and all true knowledge of Him]. I say this to your shame.

So this leapt of the page at me. Its a rough one. Its rough because, in my life, evil doesn't look like red horns. In my life it often looks like something that's slightly off. It often looks like something that's 75% true but there's that 25% in there that just ain't right. And sometimes I overlook it or just ignore it but its right there! And I'm just like "Really Jesus? Why does my level of conviction have to be so high?" Even in this moment I'm thinking about standards God has put on my life and I'm like "dang..." but I know its for my good. I trust that if He gives me boundaries, they not only keep me in but keep craziness out. 

God has to shake me out of some things because we can get comfortable doing things that don't edify ourselves or glorify Him. That shake can be gentle if I'm willing to change what I'm doing but its definitely been harsh. In my relationship, the more I'm wrong and the longer I'm willfully wrong, the harder the consequences of doing whatever I'm doing get. He'll wake me up if I'm not woke. Trust me!

I Corinthians 15:36

You foolish man! Every time you plant seed, you sow something that does not come to life [germinating, springing up, and growing] unless it dies first

So I don't know much about botany  (even thought I took it and passed it! S/O to Shipes and that unnecessarily hard botany class!) but I do know a little about growing things and by things I mean humans. When you think about a baby, it grows from the joining of a sperm with an egg. Most people just see the beautiful baby and forget a little thing called the placenta. The birth of baby is the beginning of the death of the placenta. The organ that has kept baby alive and comfortable all this time is dying. Its function has been served and its generally expelled and considered biohazardous waste. The seed planted (the baby) comes to life from the exact same structure that the placenta was also formed from. They are of the same origin, the blastocyst, but one part lives and one part dies.

I also think that this is very much like spirituality. I didn't get to this place in my relationship with God without dying to a few things first. There were things I just couldn't do and have this relationship. Being reborn in the Spirit means something. For me it means holding myself to a certain standard. It means leaning not on my understanding but trusting God. It means instead of trying to fix something for myself, praying about it and waiting on God. It means waiting on God. There are parts of me I can't indulge: the selfish, the vindictive, the vengeful, the mean, the lustful. I wouldn't be this alive in Christ if I wasn't this dead in my flesh. And I get it wrong all the time...ALL THE TIME. My God is so gracious unto me with new mercies every single day. I'm still striving though because I know the more of Him in me and the less of me in me, the better my life will be!

I Corinthians 15:44

 It is sown a natural (physical) body; it is raised a supernatural (a spiritual) body. [As surely as] there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.

Man was created in God's image. God says "Let us make mankind in Our image." I know God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit which is why He said Let US make then in OUR image. Humanity has spirit  and mind and body. Though our minds can't compare to God's we have mind, we have body as Jesus did, and then we also have spirit. Spirit is interesting because we have spirit with a little s and then the Spirit big S can also live in us and move through us. Humanity is very interesting.

I Corinthians 15:46

But it is not the spiritual life which came first, but the physical and then the spiritual 

 Before I knew God consciously, I knew myself. This is one of the reasons I'm so profoundly moved by my God because I know me. I've been with me a long time and I'm not that awesome but God in me...unstoppable!

I Corinthians 15:48-49

Now those who are made of the dust are like him who was first made of the dust (earthly-minded); and as is [the Man] from heaven, so also [are those] who are of heaven (heavenly-minded).

And just as we have borne the image [of the man] of dust, so shall we and so [g]let usalso bear the image [of the Man] of heaven.

I appreciate the way Paul is expanding this thought. Back in 44 he started with we are body and spirit. Body came first and I think that's purposeful so that we could know exactly how desperately we needed a Savior and how helpless we are through the flesh. Then we get to 48 and 49 where Paul clearly lays out the idea that we are both human and spirit. I belong to Him so the scripture is saying that not only am I human and thus weak through the flesh but I am also spirit and strong through Christ. I love that juxtaposition because its so important to remember that even in this practice, I'm still nothing and He's still everything. 

The indwelling of the Spirit is so vital to my existence. The belief in Jesus and God is what makes all things beyond what I can see, possible. If I didn't believe, that would be my measure of faith and that's where I'd be operating. I'd have no help and clearly, humanity is helpless. My goodness...Moses was on the mountain a little too long and he came down to find them worshiping a cow?!?!?! Aren't we like that? Jesus takes what we consider to be too long to do something and we start acting up. I'll raise my hand and say that's been very true in my life. I'm thankful to say I am recovered but it was a long road. And the first step on that road was realizing that I was weak and I needed Him more than I could even articulate. And so apropos Total Praise comes through the good Pandora. Lord, I will lift my eyes to the hills from which cometh my help!

I Corinthians 15:54-57

And when this perishable puts on the imperishable and this that was capable of dying puts on freedom from death, then shall be fulfilled the Scripture that says, Death is swallowed up (utterly vanquished [h]forever) in and unto victory.

O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?

Now sin is the sting of death, and sin exercises its power [i][upon the soul] through [j][the abuse of] the Law.

But thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory [making us conquerors] through our Lord Jesus Christ.

So when you belong to Him, that which would have passed away become immortal. I'm talking about spirit. When you're born anew in Christ in spirit, you join with Him in the resurrection and you will be with Him in paradise, worshipping and glorifying God forever. What Paul has led us through is all the ways in which we are human like Adam and fallible but also how we are like Christ in that we are born of a woman but can also be born of the Spirit and if we are, we too are heirs. The thing about that that is you've got to belong to Him. 

Belonging matters, You can't go to heaven cause you want to, cause you think it would be nice, because you're a good person, because your mother had faith or your grandmother had faith. We get to eternal life by our own faith alone. Death loses its sting because it no longer permanently separates us from God. Prior to Jesus's death on the cross, there was no one to intercede on our behalf. Through the law we were guilty of sin and the wages of sin are death and separation from God. Think about it. God is holy....that which is holy cannot exist in the same space as the unclean but by the Blood of Jesus we are made righteous and in right standing with God.  Jesus came that we might have life, through His death and passion, and live with Him in Glory. 

Now death has lost its sting...or has it? Its no longer a permanent casting out of our spirits away from God but what it is still is the absence of that person in our everyday lives. My mother's mother died when she was 19 and she still cries if she talk about her. Its been 38 years. Grief is a real thing. I am by no means saying that because we will see folks again we should be fine today. Fine would be absurd. From what I've read about death, losing someone requires that we learn the world without them. Its a process. Many people are still in process. 

What I know about God is that He can be whatever you need, if you let Him.

I Corinthians 15:58

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be firm (steadfast), immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord [always being superior, excelling, doing more than enough in the service of the Lord], knowing and being continually aware that your labor in the Lord is not futile

The Bible is literally saying "Do your best!" In all things, I try to serve the Lord with excellence. I don't succeed most of the time out of my own abilities but through the Spirit, I'm kind of awesome. It matters. What you do for God matters. What you do with God will change your life. Its changed mine! Nothing, done for God, is for not. Every heartache, every time you've been broken, every mountain top experience, every mediocre day, every joyful triumph, and every sleepless night....the labor I do for God matters and God honors sacrifice. Remember, Jesus is seated at His right hand. Sacrifice....then glory.