Living Life IN Christ Vs. Christianity...Is There A Difference? YES!

My heart is full this morning, compelling me to write and just share with you what I sense is taking place in the body of Christ!  Let me begin by sharing with you a recent conversation I had with someone....

I was having a deep conversation with a friend of mine and the question asked of me was "do you think I try to live a godly life?"  I had a few answers rise up in my heart, but I knew that this person actually answered their own question in their heart already.  As I shared my answers, the wheels began turning in my mind about Christianity as a whole, and how people "try" to look the part, but place such a demanding expectation on themselves to live up to "perfection" that they fail miserably, feeling defeated, judged by others, and ultimately giving up because of condemnation.  Yet the Word tells us, there is now no condemnation, for those who are IN Christ!  We are "grafted in!" 

"Grafted In"

Last night, I basically attended a "Jesus Party" at my home church - The Church at Whistling Pines.  The night was amazing to say the least.  God had begun speaking to me to share with the adults who had lost their childhood due to abuse, trauma, or the absence of a father, etc., and He wanted the youth to pray over those adults to inspire that childlike faith and ignite something in their hearts that would bring them to an experiential knowledge of Father God's passionate, crazy love for them!  See, Father God accepts us fully because of Jesus Christ!  He loves us passionately, even when we are at our worst!  God called those things that were not as though they were, and He SEALED it "IN CHRIST!"  

We weren't designed to follow the set of "Christian" rules and regulations that people have interpreted for our lives.  We weren't designed to get our check lists out to be sure we're measuring up!  I think that causes more failure in living a "Christian" life, as people refer to it, than anything else. 

We were designed however to live life "IN" Christ!  IN Christ, we are righteous!  IN Christ, we measure up because Jesus measured up for us!  IN Christ we have been given life and life abundantly!  IN Christ, we live through HIS finished work on the cross!  There is nothing left for us to do but receive what HE has given us!!!  

There are so many definitions of "Christianity" that sometimes it makes me want to throw up for lack of a better term.  The denominational barriers and religious rules/traditions that have been created by man - YES, created by man, set people up for failure!  Over the last months, I have seen "Christians" attack other "Christians" because they have faulty "perceptions" of someone else's walk with God.  Yet, their perceptions are clearly rooted in fallacy and insecurity.  I have seen others judged harshly and it makes me want to hurl!  In fact, I've been judged harshly by people because I may not be "acting" right in their eyes.  Well, let me just say, Jesus set me free from having to go to "acting" classes!  I'm not perfect, but Jesus is and I live "IN" Him!  

My heart is for people to live in the knowledge that they are "IN" Christ and are set free from all the do's and don'ts of the "Christian" life!  When you begin to experience God's perfect love for you, you can't help but live for Him!  There is nothing like His love!  Its pure, unconditional, non-condemning, it sets you free!!  Will others continue to judge you....YEP!  They sure will, but it will not matter. 

So, stop "trying" to get your life right to earn God's love or get yourself to a place of trying to feel worthy of His love!  Begin to live in the knowledge that His love is perfected in you already and watch your life change!  When you allow God to breathe life on the inside of you, it no longer becomes about a list of rules and regulations!  There is a shift taking place in the body of Christ and let me tell you, YOU WILL BE JUDGED by others!  Yet, IN Christ, God already made the ultimate judgement and HE said "IT IS FINISHED!"  

As Jared Gustafson said last night...At our worst, God was embracing us with His love!  We live by our identity in Him and what He says.  We do not live by what we see - the circumstances or situations that we may find ourselves in.  

You want to know who you are?  Look at the treasures of the Word and see what God says about you!  He said it "IN CHRIST!"  Stop trying to measure up in your life of "Christianity" and begin to live in the knowledge that you have been placed "IN CHRIST" and "IT IS FINISHED!"  

The Body of Christ is beginning to rise and take their place "IN HIM" and your life as well as the lives of others will change radically!!!  It's time.....

Living In the Finished Work,

TDahl

Redeeming Conflict

As I sit here this morning, my heart is reeling in so many directions.  In the last 12 hours, I've had a mountaintop experience and then hit the valley hard, within a very short amount of time.  Tossing and turning with a very restless heart, I opted to remove myself from bed and just confront the conflict going on inside of me. 

Those that know me, know that I'm a very open book.  I want to share my life experiences with others because I truly believe we learn from each other.  We become better when we choose to become a student of life, rather than a know it all.  Don't get me wrong, there are areas where I'm well versed and have experience that affords me the opportunities to teach others.  There are also those areas in which I must look for those opportunities to find a teacher for my own life!  I believe that is how God set it up!  We are not islands unto ourselves, we were created to need others! 

My life is so different now than it was 6 months ago.  God prepared me for 2 years for the huge shift that took place in my life nearly a year ago.  What I didn't expect is the huge wounds that would come with that shift and the conflict that came into my world as a result of following God.  While I can handle conflict, I do have a very difficult time with conflict, because I'm actually quite a sensitive individual. I care very deeply for people and its hard for me at times to intentionally put up a wall because wisdom needs to be exercised.  You don't wear your heart on your sleeve for just anyone!  When you do, and betrayal takes place by those who should have known your heart better than anyone, you tend to recoil your heart in what I call self preservation.  I personally do not want to live like that!!  I don't want to live in "protection mode"  because I was designed to live with an open heart!  This is where it gets tricky though.  

Have you ever felt you're paying for someone elses character flaws?  In other words, if someone hurt you in the past, you live with a filter of that experience and then make someone else pay for that hurt.  It's like you attach that hurt to every person that comes into your life.  I'm so glad that I have partnered with God for nearly 20 years to eradicate that from my own life!  I'm not the skeptic I once was, however I am able to use wisdom and protect my heart from those who have hurt me in the past, and in the present, not make another person pay for the sins of someone else.   It's not people we need to fear, its their unresolved pain that we simply need to understand!  I'm not saying to live with an open heart with someone who has hurt you, but I am saying, seek to understand and remove the personalization from it.  When someone hurts you, its not about you, its about them!

I know conflict is a necessary part of life!  It creates growth and I also believe it creates opportunity. 

As I revisited the pages of my "Storyline" workbook this morning on "conflict." Donald Miller stated the following..."God wants us to redeem conflict. He wants us to display courage and hope in the midst of challenge. He wants us to be humble and allow conflict to change our character. And He wants us to conquer conflict, to tame it, and bring order to chaos."

 

Bringing Order To Chaos

As I enter into this next chapter of my life, I'm putting into practice the very things I became a student of for the past several years.  The page of my life has turned and I've entered into a relationship.  God prepared me for many years and surrounded me with strong relationships so I could see how they should be.  Now I get to put into practice, those very things I took the time to gain knowledge in.  See, I just didn't sit around for 20 years and not invest in my heart!  I read books on relationships, had friendships with married couples who had absolutely AMAZING marriages.  I asked questions, did research, and gained a wealth of knowledge and at the same time, worked on my heart so I could be open and prepared to embrace a relationship if that is what God had for me. 

 

While I do not know where the relationship I'm in will go, I do know that I'm incredibly fascinated with how God is showing up through this experience.  There are areas that I want to put my walls up and I force myself to take them down.  There are times I get defensive and I try to slip into "protection mode" and Father God calls me out every time!  There are times when I feel absolutely overwhelmed and I just step back to breathe and process things in my heart.  And although I've traveled "relationship" road a few times, I can say I've never built a relationship like the one I'm taking the time to build right now.  It's not clouded by pre-marital sex that can lead to mistaking lust for love.  It's the real deal!  It's taking the time to explore the heart of another individual.  It's opening your heart and living authentically before another, who you know deep down has the capacity to rip your heart out one day, and going for it anyway!  It's confronting the fear of being hurt and choosing to plow through it one step at a time.  It's allowing someone else into the sacred places of your soul and taking risk and confronting the conflict that comes with it!  It's working with God to redeem the conflict in my heart - displaying courage and hope in the midst of that incredible challenge!  It's humbling myself and allowing that conflict to change my belief system, thus changing my character for the better.  It's conquering the conflict, taming it, and bringing order to the chaos that lives deep within me!  It's beautiful and challenging and adventurous.  It's the way my life was meant to be lived!

 

TDahl