“But this is not the way of life that Christ has unfolded within you. If you have really experienced the Anointed One, and heard his truth, it will be seen in your life; for we know that the ultimate reality is embodied in Jesus!
And he has taught you to let go of the lifestyle of the ancient man, the old self – life, which was corrupted by sinful and deceitful desires that spring from delusions. Now it’s time to be made new by every revelation that’s been given to you.And to be transformed as you embrace the glorious Christ-within as your new life and live in union with him! For God has re-created you all over again in his perfect righteousness, and you now belong to him in the realm of true holiness.”
Ephesians 4:20-24
The gospel
The Turbulent, The Resistance, The Cure
We have a dangerous addiction within ourselves, it’s a drive to death, not a passive love, nor a steady hate,
It’s a fury; the addiction to ourselves.
It’s more work to truly love ourselves than to feed ourselves. For we are much too close to the eyes in our head and to the taste of our tongue.
We cannot see how fleeting our pleasures are or how pacifying our immediate wants can slowly poison our body and soul.
Like a sorrowful drunk whose body is rotten and lives only on poison, we feed the glutton and whore in ourselves.
The form of our addictions may vary, but they are all in need of a cure.
This cure cannot take form in the people around us. For, how many people are actually free from this illness themselves? Only the ones who find the true cure. These individuals may lead a path to Him but they themselves do not possess the cure.
The cure can only be Jesus Christ for He has beaten addictions by dying on a wooden cross. He wrestled it into the ground, into the grave, where He defeated it once and for all.
He now has a mirror in His hand, He can show you the devil’s lies, He can show you the rotting flesh of your addiction, He can show you the grave and where this all will lead.
Unless you embrace the true life, the opposite of this addiction, the selflessness that will result in the truth and love, that will burn away all decay, will never come to pass.
For this romance that He possesses is a romance of care, of tender hands, and heartfelt action. Through grabbing hold of Christ, you will be given eyes to see the broken you, the hands to tend wounds never seen, the tongue to taste the bitter from the true, and the mirror to see the true you.
The addiction will be broken and you will become what the human was to be, you will be given identity. You will be much more than a person, you will be the extension of the kingdom and take your place in His body.
Amen
