Nevertheless, I Live

Scripture Reading: Galatians 2:20
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

Nevertheless, I Live

Father God, we give you all the glory and we ask that you revive us again. Lord, we need a Holy Ghost revival personally in our lives and corporately in our churches. Let your Holy Spirit come and have His way.

Are you born again but still alive to the sins of your past? Are you born again, but still entrenched in your old realm: on top of every gossip, every scandal, every development? You cannot be on an airplane traveling to your destination and still be listening to conversations at the airport. You are either in flight or you are still on the ground. If you have taken off, you have been crucified with Christ and the life you live now is totally in Him. Being crucified yet alive is only possible through the leading and working of the Holy Spirit. You must crucify the works of the flesh in your life if you truly want to be led by the Holy Spirit, to experience the blessings of Sonship, the blessings that are in the Word of God. You need to say to yourself, “I must die to my flesh, to all the things that hold me down.” Only when you are dead, finished with all the madness of your past, will you truly live.

Paul experienced this death. The one persecuting Christians, the one holding the garments of those who stoned Stephen, the zealot, the Jew, Paul who was well-known in high society had died. He said he was crucified with Christ; nevertheless, he lived. He was indeed alive; that is how and why he could write all he wrote for our benefit. The Paul who wrote it was not the old Paul. That Paul died.

Unless you first die to yourself, your culture, and the sins that easily beset you, you cannot be led by the Holy Spirit. Anyone who wants to be led by the Spirit of God must be ready to surrender to Jesus and die to self. That is why we call accepting Jesus a born-again experience. That old person dies and you are born as a new creature without condemnation. Through the Holy Spirit, God can then lead you to a new destination, away from your old ways. If the past comes to you demanding that you return to your old ways, respond by saying, “There can be no demand on the dead, because I already died and the person you are seeing is now alive only in Christ Jesus.” Your sins were nailed to the cross and the past is finished. Indeed, you died with Christ at Calvary and the life you now live is for Christ Jesus.

Are you crucified with Christ or are you just living your life in the way that suits you? Are you born again but still living in past sins? O living God, we need grace to die to the flesh and to live in Christ. living God, pour out that grace in us in Jesus’ name.

Prayer Points:

If you have never given your life to Jesus, then you are not crucified with Christ. Pray with me, “Lord Jesus, I surrender my life to you. I confess and forsake my sins. Cleanse me from my sins with the blood of Jesus. I agree to be crucified with Christ so that I will be resurrected and live that life in Christ Jesus to the glory of God.”

Father God, you have said in your Word that as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God and we know that the sons are joint heirs with Christ Jesus. We know that the sons inherit all the blessings, but we are not walking in that revelation because we have refused to die. Lord, give us the grace to die to self. Give us the grace to be crucified with Christ and nevertheless live in Christ.