Nancy Taylor Tate
A verse that I love, reflect on, and pray into is Romans 6:4, where we are told that “as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
I think of the power which raised Christ Jesus up from the dead. Then I think of that same power now living and working in me. It is by that same power that I now live! That is pretty awesome when you really, really think about it! What great power, strength, and divine enablement we have available through Christ, right inside us, as we learn to draw on it!
Often I think of this power as it relates to the heights of an overcoming life. But there are also truths I pray into when I am tired or being pressed beyond what it seems a day can hold.
Within the blood of Jesus was the power of an endless life. The grave could not hold Him! The eternal Spirit of God was able to dwell in Him because He was spotless, without sin. As believers in Christ Jesus, we have been saved through faith. Now that same Spirit dwells in us through grace.
Everything that exists in time has a beginning and an end. But that which is eternal has no beginning or end, nor is it subject to time. To quote Andrew Murray, “What is eternal has no beginning and knows no change or weakening, because it has in itself a life that is independent of time.”
As our faith takes hold of that which is eternal, to again quote Andrew Murray, “It will manifest itself in us as a power superior to all the changeableness of our mind or feelings, with a youth which never grows old, and with a freshness which does not for a moment wither.”
John Hyde, better known as “Praying Hyde,” spoke of an understanding God gave him of 2 Timothy 1:8, which speaks of suffering hardship with the Gospel according to the power of God. He said that once he understood he had the power of God to draw on for all his need, he seldom felt tired though at times he had little sleep because of time spent in prayer.
My dad shares on some of these same truths in his teaching on Communion, which can be found on our website, www.wadetaylor.org. (For an audio message, go to Messages to See and Hear, then click on “Communion.” For a written teaching, go to Articles by Wade Taylor, then click on “The Lasting Value of Communion.”)
This same Spirit, that raised Christ up from the dead, the eternal Spirit of God, now dwells in us!
We can draw on this powerful newness of life throughout the day. It is also good to set aside times to become quiet and receptive in His presence, as we also spend time in worship, prayer and His Word. As we yield to Christ’s resurrection life and power within, we can receive, body, soul, and spirit, all that He has made available to us in Christ Jesus.
The same power that raised Christ up from the dead is the same power by which we walk in newness of life! May we draw on His resurrection life and power, that we might walk worthy of His calling on each of our lives.