Quiet Reflection

 

2/27/2021

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

I spent a long time today in a quiet state of reflection. Sometimes seemingly minor interactions with others set us on a new path of thought that ends in trusting God and releasing more areas of our lives over to Him. This morning, God revealed an area of my life that needed even more submission to Him. I thought I was doing a pretty good job, but nope, He made it abundantly clear that I still have work to do.

It really struck me today that the work of the soul is between me and the Holy Spirit. God is the only one who truly understands where I am in my journey, and how far I have to go. The issue is ALWAYS self. ALWAYS. When I get my spiritual order of importance out of whack—God first, others second, me last—I leave room for the destroyer to enter. The evil one wants me self-centered. After all, isn’t that the root of my sin nature? The destroyer doesn’t want my spiritual roots secure and strong, he wants my self-centered roots fully entrenched in the earth. It is a cycle of self that must be broken, but that can only happen by my complete abandonment to Jesus. It is this cycle of self that destroys relationships, and does not yield to the Father.

What are my weapons in this war of the self? The same ones that I must use in any spiritual battle: unwavering faith, prayer, confession, securing the Armor of God around me, and wielding the Sword of the Spirit. When I lose my grip on any of these critical elements, I am doomed to fall back into self, sin, and the crazy-cycle. God alone, and no one else, can help me die to self. I must decrease and Jesus MUST increase. Luke 9:23 “And He said to all, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”