Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2: 20 (NLT)The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me…”
Psalm 23: 1-4 (NKJV)“But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
II Corinthians 12: 9 (ESV)“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
John 3: 16-17 (NIV)
Our son Nathan’s sensitive heart heard the screeching coming from the street water drain in front of his house. Calling the fire department to help, three firemen promptly arrived and used their crowbars to remove the storm drain cover. One then descended underground to rescue a scared, still screeching, tiny, four-ounce kitty.
With two now grown rescue kittens, and one grown rescue puppy still in their home, after nursing the newest rescue kitty to better health, Lynda and I, with only puppies ever in our home, offered to keep him, our first kitty ever.
We named him Emet (the Hebrew word for “Truth”) and hoped for the best.
Emet now weighs a slender, healthy, and highly active eight pounds.
Last week during our Tuesday morning Impact for Living Devotional call-in for friends calling in from all around the Nation, I borrowed a phrase from Rick Warren’s book, “The Purpose Driven Life,” when he said in his opening line— “It’s not about you.”
Funny, but that is also a lesson you quickly learn being around a new kitty.
He does what he wants to. Jumps up on newly cleaned kitchen counters.
He will not come when you call.
He does not really seem to care if you are in the room—but if you are, you become target practice for his next jump.
Clearly— “It’s not about you.”
A good reminder, though, for the life God created us to live—with Him, for Him, and for others in the world around us. It’s not about us, but about Christ touching the world through us.
A good reminder for us to learn about and watch through the pages of God’s Word, the journey, and actions of the life of Christ we are called to follow.
A life which touched, lifted, healed, restored, and loved every life who came before Him, helping them to be all they were created to be.
It was not about Him as He went to the Cross for us—but it was about you and me.
It was not about Him as He rose to life, leaving an empty tomb—but it was about you and me.
And today, when we have asked Jesus Christ into our lives as our Savior and Lord, assuring our place one day in Heaven forever with Him, it’s not about us—but all about Christ living through us.
All about Jesus Christ touching and lifting the lives in the world around us, through our hands, our feet, our eyes, and heart—through every part of our very lives.
It’s not only not about us, but as the song “Yet Not I, but Through Christ in Me” by CityAlight reminds us, it’s through Christ in us. Reflecting, living, and loving the world through the Christ Who we have asked into, and committed our lives to follow.
A few words of their song remind us—
‘What gift of grace is Jesus, my Redeemer.
There is no more for Heaven now to give.
He is my joy, my righteousness, and freedom,
My steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace…
To this I hold, my Shepherd will defend me,
Through the deepest valley, He will lead.
Oh, the night has been won, and I shall overcome.
Yet not I, but through Christ in me…”
It’s often the tiniest blessings in life which remind us of what our lives should be about.
It’s not about us. The “Truth” (Emet) is that it’s all about our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ—living through us.
It’s about Christ living through you and through me—touching, lifting, healing, restoring, and loving the world around us—one life at a time.
Or as CityAlight says it— “Yet not I, but Through Christ in Me.”
In His Name–Scott
You will be so blessed, as you listen to, and begin to live out, this powerful song, “Yet Not I, but Through Christ in Me,” sung by CityAlight.
