Carrying the Death and Life of Christ

Last night, as Michael and I were having our weekly meeting with some friends, the Lord spoke more answers to my random musings regarding the problem with pain in relationships. Oddly enough, (Ha! more like by God’s ordained appointment) we had some renewed discussions on the opposites of things and not being able to know one thing without its opposite also in view. Good and evil, black and white, darkness and light, etc. These things came up without my mentioning anything about what I had just written regarding the pain of relationships. Through our discussions, we were all reminded (again, as we often are) that all things are out of God, as it says in 1 Corinthians 8:6:

“For us there is one God, the Father, out of Whom all is, and we for Him,

and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom all is, and we through Him”

God even tells us Himself that He is the Creator of ALL things, as it is written in Isaiah 45:5-12:

“I am YHWH, and there is no other; Except for Me, there is no Elohim…there is no one apart from Me; I am YHWH, and there is no other. Former of light and Creator of darkness, Maker of good and Creator of evil, I, YHWH, make all these things. Drip down from above, heavens, and let the skies distil righteousness; let the earth open up, let salvation bud, and let righteousness sprout together with it; I YHWH, I create it…I Myself made the earth and created humanity on it; I, My hands stretched out the heavens, and all their hosts have I instructed..”

Some of the Scriptures that the Lord made to stand out to me through last night’s discussions were Paul’s writings in 2 Corinthians 4:6-12:

“…for the God Who says that, out of darkness light shall be shining, is He Who shines in our hearts, with a view to the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Now we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the transcendence of the power may be of God and not of us. In everything, being afflicted, but not distressed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not perishing—always carrying about in the body the deadening of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body. For we who are living are ever being given up to death because of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

We carry the treasure of Christ in our frail, decaying, and marred human bodies, so that the awe-inspiring power of God will be revealed for what it is and from Whom it is. Enlightening man to the truth that great and majestic power does not come from our own selves; we are not great, GOD is great! Daily, we carry around with us death that life may also be revealed! (There are those opposites again.)

Pondering all of that, I realized that I should have also noted in my previous musings, that not only have I become more sensitive to the pain of relationships, but I have also become more sensitive to the JOY of relationships. The joy is fuller than ever before, hence, I also feel the pain in greater depth. I long for joy, and pain is difficult to endure. When I wrote a couple of days ago, I wrote in the midst of wrestling with pain, so I spoke of pain. A few posts before that, I wrote of the great joy in my home church experiences and relationships because I stood in the midst of an experience of joy.

Joy and sorrow; all part of our life on this earth. There’s more that has become a bit clearer this week that I hope to write about, but that is for another time…

May God continue to hold and shape my heart in His most capable hands…