Tag Archives: Christ in me

Spiritually Nuclear

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A month ago, I entered into a new relationship with a male companion. His name is Charlie, and he fills my heart with love and joy, makes me laugh, stretches and tries my patience, thoroughly thwarts my freedom, and has totally upended my predictable daily routines. He whines when I leave and bounces for joy when I return. My personal space is no longer mine alone, but those deep brown eyes completely melt my heart.

This summer I’ve undertaken another, infinitely more life altering, journey that was sparked by something Dane Ortlund wrote:

“We have a domesticated view that…has downsized the glory of Christ in our hearts. Have you reduced the Lord Jesus to a safe, containable, predictable Savior…? Have you treated what is spiritually nuclear as a double-A battery?”[1]

I sometimes find myself lured into the trap of this small-box thinking and lose sight of the blazing glory and spiritually nuclear power that inhabits me. Those small thoughts constrain the experience and expression of Christ’s life and is spiritually debilitating. It leads to doubt, worry, hopelessness and the hamster wheel of performance, which is exactly where the enemy wants me.

God…has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.[2]

We are ordinary, unremarkable, imperfect vessels that contain unspeakably great treasure – Jesus Christ, the radiant glory of God. Containing such splendor and power is staggering and transformative. It changes everything from how I view myself and my circumstances to how I approach my daily challenges and do what He calls me to do.

The God of unlimited possibilities and fullness of life inhabits our frail and flawed humanity. We’re meant to pulsate with the resurrection life and power of Jesus Christ for the praise of His glory…even when these vessels are broken, suffering and dying. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

He is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us. The vessel may be weak, but the power within is spiritually nuclear. That divine power never diminishes but inwardly renews us day by day until the end and on into eternity.[3]

[1] Ortlund, Dane. (2021). Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners. Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

[2] II Corinthians 4:6-7, New Living Translation.

[3] II Corinthians 4:16-17

10 Words

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Last week a string of words grabbed me and embedded themselves in my mind. They’re found in II Corinthians 13:5. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you? There’s a tone of imploring in those 10 words.

Pam, do you not realize that I, Myself, am in you?

I know this. I lived most of my life knowing this. I’ve talked about it, and I’ve pondered it with wonder. I catch breathtaking glimpses of it, but it’s beyond comprehension and so easily slips through my brain cells. Then one day, God puts it in front of me again and takes me a little further.

How much do I really grasp that Christ Jesus Himself is alive in me? How much do I apprehend of His life and power? How deeply do I comprehend and experience the nearness of His Presence? He walks in the inner garden of my soul and wants me to join Him in conversation and in relationship in every moment and every movement.

O my soul, know this well, know this deeply, know this every moment of every day that Christ Jesus is alive in me!

He is in me as I go about my day. He is in me as I eat and drink, as I run, as I create, as I care for my grandchildren, as I drive the freeway, as I shop and wait in lines, as I surf the internet, as I clean my house and mow my lawn. There is nothing in my day in which He is not a part of and fully present.

I do not realize deeply enough the ramifications of the core truth that Christ Jesus is in me. In great love for my soul, Christ joins Himself to me and puts Himself in me to move me into a place of blessing that I have not yet known.  To move me into that blessed place of unbroken union with Him who gave all to become all in all in me. To move me to a deeper place of self death, absolute dependence upon Him and absolute trust in Him. He puts Himself in me to draw me closer to Himself and to do and be more in me than I could ever imagine.

God, keep reminding me and taking me further.