Divine Life – part 2

[cont. from part 1]

Then Jesus goes one step further.  He comes back to life.  And in so doing, we come back to life with Him, although now it is not we who live, but Jesus.  This is because we are still in Him, (and thus, He is in us, by the transitive property of John 15, check it out.)  And now we are married to Him, not to the law.  And that is a wonderful thing, because He is perfect.  And while the demands of the law still stand and we on our own can’t fulfill them, we’re married to the guy who can.  And just as a gold digging trophy wife knows full well, when you marry someone, you take their name and everything they have.  And you are one, and you share everything, and their possession is now your possession, and it’s not quite fair but it sure is great.  And so now that we’re married to Jesus, one with Jesus, in Jesus, whichever way you look at it, we have access to every grace, every perfection, every righteousness, ever weapon of spiritual power, every tool, all the access to the Father, and every good thing Jesus, who is perfect, has.  Colossians 3:1-4.
 
And when God looks at me, He doesn’t see Danny, because Danny is dead.  God can’t have a Danny in His Kingdom, because Danny is a sinner (just like he is a Weiss).  He sees Jesus.  He sees perfect.  He sees pure.  He sees sinless, righteous, ambassador, holy, set apart, shining shimmering Jesus.  He sees me, He sees a son.  He sees a coheir with Christ.  He sees the Holy Spirit inside of me, because it is inside of me, because it was promised to be inside of me when Jesus was glorified, and He has been glorified (John 7:39).  He sees a priest.  A living temple, the dwelling place of God Himself. 
 
This is who I am.  This is who I’m learning I am, who I’m learning He’s made me.  And He’s made you the same way, and all of us.  

 
And it’s amazing, because you’ll notice that all this time, I haven’t done anything.  And my identity is all these things that Danny isn’t, frankly.  I – Danny, the old Danny – was prideful, and competitive, and lonely and bitter and had trouble sleeping, and he was judgmental and he slipped into lustful thoughts all the time, and he was attracted to other guys and he perverted everything he touched, and he was impatient and harsh and very rarely did he think of other people.  But God doesn’t see those things, because He crucified them on the cross and He already paid the price they demanded, by dying.  And when He came back, I came back with Him, as none of those things, and I can walk now, one foot in front of the other, with boldness to approach the throne of God because He’s right there inside me, and He died so He could be there.  And it’s my choice if I pick up that old self or not, but frankly I don’t want to.  Man, I don’t have TIME to pick up that old self, when I think about the way He loves me and what He’s done for me.
 
Learning to walk like this has been a treat.  Thank. God.  
 
It’s been a hoot, it really has, this divine life, where Christ is in me and in front of me and He’s leading me and I’m following, and we all are because we all see that.  That’s all we’ve done, is see what He’s done.  When we walk we carry God around in us because that’s who He’s made us to be, a whole new life, a whole new light.  And we walk around Vietnam and we go to orphanages and old folks homes and amazing things happen.  Sheri finds the only Christian of 180 women in a matter of minutes, and prays for her, encouraging her, giving this woman her own Gospel bracelet.  We sit down to have a chat with old women during their lunch break, to help in any way, and they end up spoon-feeding us.  We roll around on the ground with Vietnamese kids, riddled with physical disability, and no one can tell because there is no deficiency in the Kingdom of God.  We join local youth worship services and our eyes our opened to the vastness of His family, the scope of His plan.  And it’s all great.

Tia – my new favorite woman.  I expected to be spoon-feeding her,
but she ended up spoon-feeding me, laughing the whole time

 
My old insecurities have no place in this life.  Comparison, competition, fighting to be heard, bitterness when things don’t go my way, sitting in pride, despair at rejection, isolation and alienation – they disappear until I subconsciously choose to pick them up again, because they aren’t who I am any more.  And the clearer I see this, the quicker I can drop them, and move on to the reality I’ve come to expect in this normal Christian life.
 
I love this life.  I love it so much, because it finally actually feels like I’m alive.  And I trust that feeling more than I’ve ever trusted anything. 
 
So come on, it’s great, trust me, and follow me as I follow Him.
Love,
Danny