come in

hey it's me, i'm back. lori's blog got me to thinking - surprise, surprise! something pastor dale said while we were praying before the tenebrae service on good friday. "without death, there can be no resurrection" and immediately i was convicted. i keep thinking about living in the Spirit and how reality is found in Christ and the radicalness of that all! and wondering why i can't seem to step out in that and live in victory over the sin in my life. so. it hit me that unless those things are DEAD in my life, there will be no true resurrection of a spirit-driven-filled life. colossians 3 says, "put to death, therefore....." and over and over in other places the bible tells us to be dead to the flesh. only when i actually kill my bad habits, my selfish attitudes, will i come to life and bear the fruit of the spirit! and so when we think about the finality of death, and the reality of death, we need to apply that to our sin. i needed to realize that the reason i couldn't seem to get rid of a lot of things in my life was that i wasnt' willing to kill them! i wanted to drug them, maybe incapacitate them, but not put them to death. God's spirit is all powerful to aid us, but it's totally our responsibility to put these things (listed in colossians 3 and other places) to death! galatians 2:20, "i have been crucified with Christ...and the life i now live i live by faith..."
i just needed to get that out and down in words. i agree with lori - it was a great weekend!