Sanctified in Christ
"But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you." - Romans 8:10 – 11 (NIV)
I heard a speaker one time say we need to memorize power packed scriptures. I believe Romans 8:10 – 11 is one of those power-packed scriptures because understanding the truth of the words changes everything about the way we live our lives. Christ in you! What? Christ in me? There is incredible power in understanding those words.
Christ in me enables me to overcome fear.
Christ in me provides me with daily purpose.
Christ in me defeats my self-doubt.
Christ in me provides my value and acceptance.
Christ in me fills me with courage.
Christ in me gives me wisdom for my decision making.
Christ in me protects my heart from harsh words.
The list goes on.
When we truly understand that Christ lives, dwells, makes His home in us, then we understand that Christ goes with us, He’s always present, He enters every situation, every circumstance with us. This truth changes how I live my life.
Several years ago, I was early in ministry and had that twenty something aire of being “all that”. You know what I mean. I was in full-time ministry. I was living my calling. I was in the center of God’s Will. “All that”. I really thought I was something because of what I did for a living. My husband and I were at a church revival type of meeting and there was a special band playing. We loved their music so we went up to them after the meeting to introduce ourselves. We were talking with one of the guys and the conversation came around to what we each did for a living. He told us that when he wasn’t playing in the band, he worked in the photo shop at the mall. I told him that I was in full-time ministry. I’m sure my head was the size of a basketball as I said it, and growing bigger by the minute. And then he said these words that began to really challenge the way I thought about what I did. He said, “That’s really cool. We both work in sacred places.” I said to him, “What? I think you heard me wrong. I work in the church but you work in the photoshop. I work in a sacred place, you work in a secular place.” And he said, “No, you’ve got that wrong. You work in the sacred world and I work in the sacred world. Both of our work worlds are sacred. You see, the photoshop is sacred because Christ lives in me, so when I step in the door, Christ steps in the door. My presence there with Christ in me makes the secular sacred. There’s no such thing as a secular world for me if Christ is in me.” Mind blown. Not only did his words knock me down about 1000 pegs, but it firmly implanted in my heart and mind the power packed into the Romans 8:10 – 11 scripture. If Christ is in you, and He is, then you have the presence of the Holy Spirit living in you and that is power; power to change the world you step into, power to change the relationships you are in, power to change the environment and culture of the world you live in. Power to change, power to live free, power to be alive!
This is the power packed message of Easter. Christ died and rose again so that we might have Him living inside of us, giving us His purpose, filling us with His power and fulfilling in us His promise. This Easter season, may you walk in that truth and live with that understanding.
Robin Smith is one of our Refres{her} bloggers. She has a passion for equipping people to see their strengths and to lead with their unique God given gifts. She has spent the last 15 years in higher education, focusing on developing student leaders and equipping students with the skills they need to be successful in the pursuit of their education and careers. Robin has recently transitioned out of higher education to pursue her heart’s passion to help equip women coming out of trafficking as the Program Director at Refuge for Women Las Vegas. Robin serves on the Ignite Life board, volunteers with Refresher for Women and Refresher Girls and teaches the evening class of Speaker's Workshop. She loves to teach the word of God and empower people to live victoriously on their journey with Jesus. Robin and her husband Homer have been married for 31 years. They enjoy God’s creation by hiking, walking, or simply enjoying the sun with a good book. They have two children, Jenna and Ryne, three grandchildren, Alex, Dylan and Vincent and 1 cat - Cedar.