Crucifixion time...

As I was sitting here getting ready to write, something a good friend told me earlier this week popped into my spirit. She said, “Just because things change, doesn’t mean you did something wrong.” When she initially said it, I brushed it off because I didn’t immediately connect with it for what it was: a word of correction. Isn’t it funny how we all have habits that are so much a part of us that we don’t recognize when they can be detrimental? I’m super resourceful, a planner and a fixer. If you tell me that you need a TV, I’ll send you a couple of places that are having sales within a few minutes. If you say to me “I need to get away!” I will have some ideas within seconds and email them to you. I can create an itinerary like nobody’s business! Google was created for me! That’s not necessarily bad, right? But it also takes me a while to adjust when things don’t go according to the plan that I’ve come up with. I will worry about the smallest change and how that will affect the plan until it gets fixed or someone tells me that it’s ok. Where are you going with this, Ebony? It’s a pretty simple answer actually- It’s time for a crucifixion.

I often ask God why I have to tell all my faults for the world to see. He told me that through my transparency someone else can get set free.  I can admit to not being all that agreeable at the beginning…lol…especially since my mama reads this! But anyway, here we are at a crucifixion this morning. Are you wondering who the unlucky person is? It’s you and me. We are coming to the end of another year and it was a long one! Though it seemed to pass quickly at times, there have been some real struggles and hard times this year. Things we didn’t expect to happen…happened. Things we hoped would end… didn’t. People we tried to shake… wouldn’t leave and the ones we didn’t want to let go of, went away. Now it’s time to kill those things that have been holding us back. We cannot take bitterness, anger, hurt, and pain into 2013. It’s time for a crucifixion.

This is a real crucifixion too and when it’s finished, we’re not going to resurrect any of the things that we kill today. Paul told us in Galatians 5: 1 to “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” (NKJV) In other words, if Christ has set you free, don’t go back and pick up the dead stuff. Christ went to the cross so that we could be free, so why do we continue to walk around in bondage? And often times, it’s not the big things that kill us. It’s those little things that we allow to grow into big things. It’s just like me getting caught up with things that I can’t control. If I allow my frustration, when things don’t go according to plan, to turn into anger or cause me to cuss someone out because they didn’t do what I wanted, I’ve turned a benefit into a negative.  So…I’m putting that hyper control up on the cross today. What do you need to kill?

This is not to say that you won’t struggle. The struggle is real but it doesn’t have to consume you. We can no longer allow unforgiveness, anger, frustration, etc. to keep us from our blessings. We can’t get to the new life of post-resurrection unless we kill the old stuff first. 2013 is going to bring promotion for some of you. It will bring new life to others.  But I refuse to let it bring 2012’s issues! Paul said, “For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor...I have been crucified with Christ; it is no 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.” (Gal. 2: 18, 20 NKJV)

We have to consciously leave those dead things behind and live out our new Christ centered lives. I’m not going to be the same Ebony in 2013, I want you to see Christ who lives in me. How about you? Let’s really nail this stuff to the cross. Are you ready…ok here we go! Ummmmm…anger? You’re keeping me from the righteousness of God! (James 1:20) You’ve got to die! Hey, bitterness! No longer will I be withheld from God’s forgiveness because of you! (Matt. 6: 14-15) Here’s a nail for ya!  Oh yeah…control…didn’t forget about you! I heard God tell me to be still and know that HE is God. (Ps. 46:10)So I don’t have to handle it all anymore! It’s crucifixion time!

As you finish out 2012, my prayer for you is that you leave everything that hinders you on the cross. I pray that the load gets lighter each day as you kill off those things and begin to walk in newness. I see your sleep improving, the smile coming easier, and the joy of your salvation being restored! May the God of peace, cover you as the old passes away and the new comes!

AMEN…