I Die Daily

"I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily." 1 Corinthians 15:31

Everyday can be a struggle if we allow it to. Being righteous is not an easy task. It is an ongoing practice of relentless faith. When Paul wrote to the people of Corinth, he told them that he was not worthy to be called an apostle because of his persecution of Christians, but it was by God's grace that he was who he became. He even went on to say that he had worked harder than any of the other apostles, but it was only through God that he was able to. He took none of the credit and he acknowledged that he was a sinner saved by grace and that his work was not in vain.

Let's backtrack for a second. I came to this chapter in the bible today because of a conversation that my bestie and I were having. We talked about forgiving ourselves for our sins. We are truly the hardest to forgive because we know exactly who we are. Even when we know God forgives us and the people or person that we have wronged forgives us, it is so hard to forgive ourselves. I always say that I am my worst critic. We talked about how being a true Christian requires dying to self not once or twice, but DAILY (sometimes hourly depending on the circumstance). When we die daily we say okay God, I'm not perfect but I trust in you. I surrender all to you. Less of me, more of you. One other thing that we talked about was how can you effectively surrender if we don't know what God is saying to us. God speaks through his word so how do we surrender and trust him if we don't even know what his guidelines are. Sooooo, to completely surrender we have to know him, we have to know his word, and we have to communicate with him (through prayer or just talking). This builds confidence and character within ourselves.

After our conversation I went for a walk and during that walk I just prayed for God to show me how to surrender ALL and to be disciplined enough to study his word. I immediately thought, Lord, just don't let the pain and suffering that Christ endured FOR ME, be in vain. Let me be a willing vessel, surrendering all to him. Dying to who I am and what I think and totally relying on the word of God for joy and peace within my life. After my walk, I came home and picked up my netbook to look at the scripture that said I die daily. When I began to read Corinthians 15 chapter, the same thing that I had been thinking and talking about earlier was the same thing that Paul was saying to the people of Corinth. "I am not worthy,but by the grace of God I am who I am and Christ death was not in vain." I'm just elated that God has the power to come so quickly and confirm what I was thinking and speaking just minutes earlier. If we just surrender all, the possibilites are endless. I am thankful to be on the receiving end. I'm not worthy, but by the grace of God I am who I am. Christ death for me will not be in vain.

On top of dying daily, this scripture from Lamentations makes me smile, "It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him." Lamentations 3:22-24