Which side of the cross do we live from? Needing a Savior or walking with the Savior?

Jesus dying on the cross is everything to a believer. But it is only the starting point. It is the beginning of our walk with Him.

Because there’s the tomb. The empty one that we don’t talk much about except at Easter.

Everything in our Christian walk should come from the tomb. From the place of victory and power and new life.

But are we really living from that place? Or are we just enduring this life?

I see such a contrast between what believers say they agree with and how they live their lives.

When a pastor proclaims, “God is good!” and other rock solid truths, I see most of the church get amped up in agreement. There is wholehearted belief, but do they grab hold of the power of truth and walk it out?

I’m wondering if there is a disconnect between what we say we believe and how we actually live?

I have a friend who called some church leaders to her home for help. She said, “I keep reading about peace and joy in the Bible and I don’t have it. Why?”

That’s a very good question. And I think more of us might want to ask it.

Why are we not living in abundance? Why are we not the walking Good News to the world around us?

I wonder if in part we need to clean up some messes we’ve made. Repent for gossiping and complaining and the like. But I believe we wouldn’t trip into those traps if we really knew Jesus as best friend. As the lover of our souls. As a powerful God who has answers to our difficulties.

Why do so many of us live from frustration and lack? Why do we feel more like orphan beggars than beloved children of the King.

The answer lies in a lack of intimacy with Him. But do we really want that intimacy? Do we want to take risks and try doing greater things than He did (John 14:12)?

There is risk in loving people and opening ourselves up to rejection. But He took the rejection, so He is right there to comfort us when we are rejected for risking ourselves for Him.

I think we focus on the cross so much because we feel so unworthy and unrighteous. So we sit at the foot of that cross living in a state of continual repentance instead of walking out the freedom Jesus died to give us.

I wonder if we don’t truly believe or accept that righteousness is a gift to us (2 Cor. 5:21, Rom. 3:22). That we’ve actually been given right standing with God. We have it. It is not something to be earned.

But when we don’t understand that righteousness is a gift, we’ll struggle. We won’t grasp that it is about right standing (freely given, not earned), not right doing.

We need to start kicking the liar out of our lives and taking back the ground he’s stolen. Satan may have some holds on our lives, but he is a squatter need to evict.

Prayer

Father, help me to understand all that You’ve done for me and freely given to me. Help me to grab hold of the freedom that is mine. Help me learn to capture the lying thoughts that bring such negativity to my life. Show me how to appropriate your power in my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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