A Daily Crucifixion

Seated around the table as our meal came to an end, we engaged in the usual ‘Hi-point, Low-point’ experience sharing session (Must Read: Devi Levine’s ‘The Table Experience’. Thanks Devi). As it came to the turn of one of the little children we had over for dinner, she said her high point was when they had the Easter tale re-enacted in school. I asked her to share the story with the rest of us from her perspective. Her response had us doubled over in fits of laughter as she stated that Easter represented the day Jesus was ‘sucrified’! Barely able to contain his laughter, my son said to her that she didn’t pronounce the word right. Before he could correct her, she bounced on her seat excitedly and cried ‘I know, I know. Easter was when Jesus was ‘cruxtified’. Now we all literally fell off the table. I laughed so hard that my sides hurt. And don’t you just love children, she laughed merrily along with the rest of us. Eventually, we got her to pronounce the word aright, but several times over the next hour, one of us would repeat the word ‘sucrified’ and gales of laughter would once again ensue. That was certainly my high point of the day; those laughs did me a world of good I assure you!

In my more quiet moments since then, I have found myself reflecting on the word crucifixion; really trying to get a sense of what this word should mean to me in the daily realities of my walk with God.  The Scripture that kept coming to me was ‘I am crucified with Christ, yet I live. Yet not I, but Christ Who lives in me. And the life I now have I live through the Son of God, Who loved me and Who gave His life for me’.

I continue to be amazed at how the same piece of Scripture can speak different things to you that are ‘beautiful for every situation’. So in this case, I thought about how by confessing and truly believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; that He came to earth, went to the cross for my sake and rose on the 3^rd day; then I am truly crucified with Him. It was me that He took to the cross. It was my sin-nature that He needed to have nailed to that cross. It was on my past that He needed to nail the coffin lid shut. It was my future and eternal salvation that He needed to secure by His Blood. Jesus took me with Him to the cross......so, yet I live!  I live because it is Him who lives in me......   Do you get this sis? I mean, do you really and truly get this? He gave His life.... for you and I. Wow! Thank you Lord! 

The Easter festivities are gone now and we are back to the day-to-day grind of living. This is the space where our view of Jesus and what His crucifixion on the cross of Calvary really means, beyond the pages of the Bible and beyond our memorizations of Scripture. So, I live..... Yet I still have to contend with my flesh, with my will, with my emotions. I live, yet I still have to deal with storms, with mountains, with thoughts and feelings that continually strive to try and make the crucifixion of non-effect in my life. I live, yet I still struggle daily to deal with rather complex life issues – family relationships, business, health, finances, even my sense of identity........        Why would this be? Why, when Christ lives in me?

One of the tenets we hold fast to within Woman Act Now (www.womanactnow.com) is that for us to succeed in life and to achieve the dreams and purpose that God has lain in our hearts; we must learn to be fully-yielded to the leading of the Holy Spirit, fully surrendered to Him in every area of our lives. At a meeting yesterday something spoken by my sisters hit home hard. First, one said how she had come to realise even more clearly that she had a choice in every situation to either swim with the tide (surrender to what is acceptable to the world) which is the easier option; or to stand firm and swim against the tide (in accordance to the leaning of the Holy Spirit). In essence for her, her responses in the face of her challenges are one of her markers for how surrendered she is to the Holy Spirit. Deep!  

Yes, it strikes me that challenges bring with them opportunities for us to once again choose to crucify our flesh, our wills, our emotions, our intelligences, our pride, our self-confidence, our abilities, etc and once again allow the Christ that lives in us to shine through. It strikes me that we need to maintain a constant mental frame, backed by a commitment to our spiritual growth; that reminds us of the crucifixion all the time and not just at Easter. Christ went to the cross and shed His Blood for us once and for all. We, on the other hand need to daily crucify our fleshly selves, so as to make room for the Spirit within us to truly live, grow, guide and direct us into our divine destinies.

In today’s high pressure, intense distraction world, the realities of our being in the constant place of crucifixion of our flesh can appear quite daunting. With the best of intentions, we keep failing and falling. Have you noticed how you react first (ignoring the check in your spirit) and then regret later? Have you noticed how you decide and take action first, and only come back to the place of prayer when the outcome is not as expected? Have you noticed how you mentally reserve ‘going to God in prayer’ for major decision points in your life, yet don’t consider asking Him what to get your spouse for his birthday or what to wear to that all-important interview tomorrow? Hmmm! This Christina walk isn’t easy is it? But oh, how so worth it at the very end!

Nothing we can ever go through will compare with the trauma Jesus went through, just knowing what lay ahead of Him; so much so, that He sweated drops of Blood. Yet His Word also says to us that we have not yet strived unto death for anything in our lives (Thank You Lord!). Indeed, He does not even want us to have to strive. What He wants is for us to be fully present, fully yielded, fully obedient. In this place, He wants us to consciously crucify everything – thought, word, or deed; that does not align with His plans and purpose for our lives. In this place, resurrection power is able to flow through from the Most High and into our situations, challenges, dead or dying dreams and aspirations. In this place, He is able to resurrect the fullness of the glory that He imparted unto us once we made Him Lord and Saviour. Sounds like a glorious place to be to me!  

So sis, as you get back into the grind of life/work/family/et al today, I pray that these words minister to you. I pray that the Holy Spirit will impart a fresh anointing to do upon you. I pray that His presence will enshroud you. I pray that all your days, He will give you the ability to crucify anything that does not glorify Him, and that you will be a living testimony of the true meaning of resurrection power, IJMN.

Be blessed ..... for you surely are.