The Exchanged Life

“I am crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

I shared this in a Freedom Fighter back in 2005. It is worth repeating as it is the heart beat of our Keswick message. The devotional was written by Dr. Henry Blackaby in his book, EXPERIENCING GOD — THE DEVOTIONAL (Broadman/Holman).

The Christian life is an exchanged life: Jesus’ life for your life!

When Christ takes control, your life takes on dimensions you would have never known apart from Him. When you are weak, Christ demonstrates His strength in your life (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

When you face situations that are beyond your comprehension, you have only to ask, and the infinite wisdom of God is available to you (James 1:5).

When you are faced with humanly impossible situations, God does the impossible (Luke 18:27).

When you encounter people whom you find difficult to love, God expresses His unconditional love through you (1 John 4:7).

When you are at a loss as to what to pray for someone, the Spirit will guide you in your prayer life (Romans 8:16).

When Christ takes up residence in the life of a believer, “all the fullness of God” is available to that person (Ephesians 3:19).

It is marvelously freeing to know that God controls your life and knows what it can become. Rather than constantly worrying about what you will face, your great challenge is to continually release every area of your life to God’s control. The temptation will be to try to do by yourself what only God can do. Our assignment is to “abide in the vine” and to allow God to do in and through us only what HE can do (John 15:5). Only God can be God. Allow Him to live out His divine life THROUGH you. He is the only ONE who can.

Allow this message from Dr. Blackaby to make its way into your heart today. Have you experienced the exchanged life, brothers? It’s the ONLY way to live. — Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s KESWICK

Digging Deeper: Proverbs 25; Numbers 9-11; Mark 5:1-20

Dig This Quote: Usually the root of all your fear and anxiety is embedded in a situation that created mistrust in your life. Mistrust wars against trust. Mistrust is determined to get you into a place of self-reliance so you miss God’s course of action for you that will overcome anxiety in every situation. – Chuck D. Pierce

Determined Digging: (Level 1) Psalm 28:7; (Level 2) Psalm 37:3-11

The Exchanged Life

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

The heart beat of the Keswick message is illustrated today from the writing of Oswald Chambers in MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST:

What understanding do you have of the salvation of your soul? The work of salvation means that in your real life things are dramatically changed. You no longer look at things in the same way. Your desires are new and the old things have lost their power to attract you.

One of the tests for determining if the work of salvation in your life is genuine is— has God changed the things that really matter to you? If you still yearn for the old things, it is absurd to talk about being born from above— you are deceiving yourself.

If you are born again, the Spirit of God makes the change very evident in your real life and thought. And when a crisis comes, you are the most amazed person on earth at the wonderful difference there is in you. There is no possibility of imagining that you did it. It is this complete and amazing change that is the very evidence that you are saved.

What difference has my salvation and sanctification made? For instance, can I stand in the light of 1 Corinthians 13 , or do I squirm and evade the issue? True salvation, worked out in me by the Holy Spirit, frees me completely. And as long as I “walk in the light as He is in the light” ( 1 John 1:7 ), God sees nothing to rebuke because His life is working itself into every detailed part of my being, not on the conscious level, but even deeper than my consciousness.

Brothers, Christ wants to live HIS life THROUGH you. Apart from that, you will fail miserably in living the Christian life. Allow HIM today to live HIS life through you. — Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s KESWICK

God’s WORD for YOU: Proverbs 14; Lamentations 3-5; Hebrews 10:19-39

Great Quote: I am inwardly fashioned for faith, not for fear. Fear is not my native land; faith is. I am so made that worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil. I live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt and anxiety. In anxiety and worry, my being is gasping for breath – these are not my native air. But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely – these are my native air. A John Hopkins University doctor says, “We do not know why it is that worriers die sooner than the non-worriers, but that is a fact.” But I, who am simple of mind, think I know; We are inwardly constructed in nerve and tissue, brain cell and soul, for faith and not for fear. God made us that way. To live by worry is to live against reality. E. Stanley Jones

THE EXCHANGED LIFE

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is not longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;
and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me
and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

The term the exchanged life may be applied to our theme verse. It is an expansion upon the truth of verse 19. A series of statements is given concerning my identification with Christ in His death and resurrection. As seen from God’s vantage point, Jesus died not merely for me but as me. In other words, I was identified with Him. The death He died was my death, since it was for my sin. Through it He cancelled my obligation to the law which condemned me. I have been crucified with Him just as really as the repentant thief – through identification. The implications of this fact continue to qualify my life.

Not only have I been crucified with Him, but I have been raised to a new life in Him. So that it is no longer my life but His. He is the source and the essence of it. The glorious truth is that He lives this life in me. The perfections of His life now reside in me. He wants to make this life visible through me. Just as Jesus in His earthly life became the visible expression of God in human terms, so my new life is to be the visible expression of His indwelling life.

It must be remembered that this exchanged life is not automatic. It must be lived on the basis of faith in the Son of God. This involves two things: trusting Him to do what He promises to do and yielding the control of my life to Him. Faith and surrender are keys to this exchanged life.
You may find yourself struggling to live a life for God. It won’t work! What does work is your surrendering to His life within. The surgical gloves designed for the hand of the surgeon can do nothing until they become identified with him and indwelt by his hand.

Other passages which deal with the exchanged life are Romans 6:1-8; Colossians 2:20; 3:1-3. Pastor William A. Raws was the grandson of our founder, William Raws, and served at America’s KESWICK for 55+ years

God’s WORD for YOU: Proverbs 29; Isaiah 7-8; Ephesians 2

Great Quote: Your arms, Lord, have no end. They encircle me, reach down and hold me, guide me on the way; Your arms, Lord, have no end, your arms of love and mercy and grace.

This year’s BINDING UP THE BROKEN-HEARTED: FAMILY AND FRIENDS ADDICTION SEMINAR is shaping up to be our best yet. You won’t want to miss it. October 8, 2009 8:30 AM -3:30 PM at America’s KESWICK. The $25.00 registration fee covers the sessions, materials, continental breakfast, lunch and snacks. Pastors attend free with 5 paid reservations. Every pastor, youth ministry worker, parent of a teen and loved ones of addicted family and friends should attend this seminar. Call today for your reservation 800.453.7942 or 732.350.1187.