Kill It

20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 One of the hardest things for the Christian to do is to crucify the flesh on a daily basis. I'm sure you will agree that this will always be a challenge for us, right? Each and every day we must deny ourselves and have at the forefront of our being - what is it that God desires for me? We must admit that we don't always do that. Often we discuss and we plan what we want, what our goals are, what our interests are and what it is we plan to do. Of course God takes into account our desires and our needs - but He has already set a course out for our lives and the ultimate goal is that we please Him and glorify Him in all that we do. Paul stated that he had been crucified with Christ and that he no longer lives but Christ lives in him. His desire was that all of his ways, all of his desires, everything that made up his being would be crucified - nailed to the cross with Jesus so that the life that he was actually living, by faith, became a vessel for the exclusive use of the Master. The wonderful thing about this exchange is that God is not merely demanding that we become zombies with no interests, no desires, no plans - but that once we put His way above our own, once we seek to please only Him - He would be so gracious, so loving, and so merciful that He would loop back around and bless us with the desires of our heart that line up with His will for us. Crucifying our flesh - denying ourselves - Killing our flesh is a process that is necessary for God to use us to the fullest. Some of us are operating so far below the level of maturity, of usefulness to the Lord because we have not yielded ourselves to Him. We have not surrendered our will and our ways to Him because we have not been crucified with Him. Are you crucified with Him - has your flesh been killed -or are you standing at the foot of the cross, a mere spectator?