Early in my faith journey, I routinely lived as a defeated, easily-irritated Christian. I wanted to show my family the love and grace of Christ but often felt powerless against my selfish tendencies. More often than not, I was selfish, prideful, and easily-irritated. Others in my faith community seemed to be so much stronger, more faith-and-strength filled than I was, and I couldn’t understand why. Over time, I realized the root of my problem—and the solution. I was attempting to live a transformed empowered life in my own strength, something God never expects or wants us to do. I’d accepted God’s free gift of life through belief in His Son, but hadn’t yet learned to live in that reality. I needed to learn to yield to God’s Spirit in order to experience the life-changing power of my risen Lord.
Here are 5 ways God helped me live in the power of the resurrection.
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Jesus didn’t bleed and die so that we could try harder or follow a bunch of religious rules. That would merely be trading one type of bondage for another, and Christ came to set us free. To spark life into our deadened souls and break the power of sin.
In Matthew 11:28, Jesus said, “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (NLT). In context, He was speaking to those worn down by sin, self-righteousness and human attempts to reach God, and all the oppressive demands made by the religious leaders of that day. This was the “yoke,” or work the Pharisees attempted to place upon people. In contrast, faith, the work required by Christ, was easy and light and led from slavery to freedom.
Once we accept Christ’s gift of life, we receive the Holy Spirit to guide, teach, grow, strengthen, and transform us supernaturally. This was, in part, what Paul alluded to in Ephesians 1 when he wrote, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 1:18-20, NIV, emphasis mine).
That is incredible, life-changing, sin-conquering power.
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Shortly before His death, Jesus gathered His disciples close to prepare them for all that lay ahead. Watching and then grieving His horrific death, facing persecution themselves, and then launching the Church—perhaps the greatest assignment in all human history. If they relied on themselves—their own wisdom and strength—they’d fail. To overcome, they’d need to remain connected to Him. He said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
Gardeners will understand this analogy. Tomatoes and grapes cannot grow on their own, no matter how hard they try. The moment they’re severed from the nourishing vine, they begin to die. Similarly, our souls begin to shrivel when we live disconnected from Christ. As we spend time with Christ, however, and learn to yield to the Holy Spirit within, He grows His fruit—“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23, NLT). The more time we spend with Christ and heed His voice, the greater God’s influence within us.
Unfortunately, our rushed culture, personal distractibility, and prideful tendencies make it challenging to remain so vitally dependent on Christ. As a result, many of us rarely experience the full, history-making life God calls us to.
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A few years ago, our family sensed God calling us to foster a deeply wounded teenager who came from a rough background. While I knew the assignment would be tough, I was unprepared for how challenging the situation became. I wanted so badly to love this child well, to respond to his angry outbursts and harsh words with kindness, but I often found that my patience ran thin. Many days, I reacted in frustration rather than drawing near to God and responding with grace. I gave in to worry and fear rather than choosing to trust. And honestly, there were times—most of the time—when I simply felt overwhelmed and overpowered.
One afternoon, exhausted and fighting tears, I sought advice from a spiritual leader. “I’m not sure if I can do this,” I said.
He offered me a gentle yet knowing smile. “You’re right. You can’t. You need God.”
He wasn’t giving me some Sunday school answer. He was pointing me to my only source of strength made perfect in my weakness—the Holy Spirit. I was immediately reminded of John 15:1-5, where Jesus compared our relationship with Him to the connection a branch maintains with the vine from which it grows. “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing” (vs. 4-5, NIV).
This passage brings Galatians 5:22-23 to mind, which states, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
I realized I wouldn’t more consistently display all those godly traits by trying harder but rather by yielding to the work of God within. The more I remained connected and yielded to Christ, the more my life—and love—would resemble His. His resurrection power would flow through me similarly to how sap flows through the trunk of the tree to its branches and leaves.
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As a mom, wife, ministry leader, writer, and speaker, my daily agenda can begin to dominate every moment of my day and every piece of my heart—if I let it. But I’ve learned, I can’t live in “hustle” mode for long without becoming emotionally, physically, and spiritually defeated. To truly recharge, and therefore, live fully charged, I need more than a moment’s rest here and there or that quiet hour before bed. I need a full day filled with things like family and my faith-community, that bring me joy.
Therefore, I fiercely guard my Sundays. And while this can be challenging, like when I’m under a writing deadline, I’ve found those weekly times of rest increase my energy and efficiency for all my tasks Monday through Saturday. When I don’t take that time my health and focus suffer.
My pastor once described regular confession as cleaning out our heart valves. Living in a broken world, you and I experience numerous “offenses” throughout the day. If we’re not careful, these hurts can easily turn to bitterness, and bitterness grieves and hinders the Holy Spirit within. We’re also constantly battling sinful thought and behavior patterns. Sometimes, we’re alert to the ugliness lurking within. But it’s also easy to fall prey to self-deception. When that occurs, we begin to excuse, downplay, or justify unChrist-like behavior. As we do, our sensitivity to God decreases. We’re less able to hear His voice and sense His presence, and we begin to live increasingly disconnected from our Savior and power source.
To live in the power of the resurrection, we must invite God to purge our hearts of everything that harms and destroys while filling us with all that is good and right and pure. We begin by prayerfully ridding ourselves “of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, alone with every form of malice” (Ephesians 4:31, NIV). Then, once God empties us of everything that doesn’t come from Him, we ask that He fills us, completely, with the Spirit who raised Christ from the dead. (Romans 8:11.)
We were not created to live small, monotonous, defeated lives. God calls us to be life-changers and history makers—men and women so empowered by Him that our actions defy explanation. To reach this gospel-revealing state, our souls must connect with Christ and then remain connected, purified, and nourished by Him. That is when we begin to live in the power of the resurrection.
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