Buried Alive

08/03/2004

I was in a bit of pain the other day-- not emotional pain, it was actually a physical pain. It was nothing serious, at least to most people, but it usually catches you off guard. Most of us fear it, but we don’t experience it too often...the pain I speak of was from a bee sting.

The last time I was stung by a bee, I was in England. We lived there at the time and my sister and I were out sightseeing. Since I am now allergic to a few things that I wasn’t allergic to in my youth, I was not sure about bees. I had not been stung since I was a child. We waited to see how I would react to it. No reaction, so we went on our way. I think my sister was more relieved than I was!

The other day I went out on a motorcycle ride. Jim was off at work, and I was out "practicing" my skill of riding. I was way out in the middle of nowhere, when I learned an important lesson when riding a motorcycle...keep your coat zipped up tight when passing a bee farm. I did not see the bee farm until my return trip, but I had experienced it!! I knew something had gotten inside my shirt, so I pulled over to let it out, but not before it let me know it had been there!

I thought bee stings hurt the minute they happened. I don’t think so now, since I saw this bee fly away before I felt any pain. Its life was over, but I will remember it "fondly." I once again wondered if I had become allergic to bees since the incident in England was at least 14 years ago. As I rode along, I checked my breathing...it seemed to be normal. All I felt was the sting...it’s kind of good to be riding a motorcycle when you are experiencing a bee sting, because there’s so much to distract you. The scenery, the wind, the noise...I was actually thankful I was not sitting still, thinking about the pain!

I’m not sure why I share this with you, but I’m sure that God will bring it all together somehow! I hadn’t planned on going for a ride, but I felt prompted to, thinking there was something God would teach me on the road to be included in this message. I wonder how a motorcycle ride and a bee sting are tied in, if they are...we shall see.

Another bit of news...we’ve moved our home! How many people can say that? We liked another spot better about a mile down the road in another RV Park, so we moved on Saturday. Just hitched it up and moved it on over. We have new scenery, new neighbors, new sounds and lights and what’s especially nice is the lawn and tree we have here. It cools things down a bit when the temperature rises here in Nevada in July. Normally we roll out our green lawn. It requires no water and no mowing. But in our new "neighborhood" we have real lawn, and we get to move the sprinkler around to keep it green. The good thing is, we don’t have to mow it.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all of life were that easy? If we don’t like something, just move, just leave it behind. Needing some shade? Move your home under a tree. Don’t wait 20 years for one to grow. Neighbors making you crazy? No problem, just pull your home in beside someone new. Maybe that’s why we see so many RV’s on the road these days, living on wheels has its advantages!

Life just isn’t that easy though, is it? But shouldn’t it be? Isn’t that what Jesus died to give us? An abundant and joy-filled life? Oh, He didn’t say we wouldn’t have problems, He just said He would be our way of escape. Our way of "moving our home" to a more comfortable spot, one with some shade on hot days, a light breeze in the afternoon when things have been hectic, or perhaps closer to a neighbor with an uplifting word when our spirits are sagging. He said He would never leave us alone, He would not only be with us, but He would live in us...do we really know what that means?

I had a life-changing moment the other day as I was reading a book given to me by my sister-in-law. This is what I read:
"For 33 years Jesus had a body. Why? He had a body to use to get around in. By virtue of his birth, life, death, and resurrection, He has purchased a new body: you and me. We are called the body of Christ. As He used His earthly body to get around in, He now uses us, His purchased body, the body of Christ, to get around in...As He lived in the Father, we now live in Him. As the Father lived in Him, He now lives in us."
("Rag Dolls and Plastic Horses" by Robert Hobson)

"As the Father lived in Him, He now lives in us." What’s so life-changing about that you might ask? We, as believers, have all heard this before. I certainly have...but this time it was different. God revealed something more to me, and I’m excited about it!! But let me take you back a few days...

During my prayer time the other day, it seemed my flesh was so thick, about as thick as you would find on a whale, although I think that’s called blubber. That idea could take me in a whole different direction about weight issues, but let’s save that for another time! That’s not what I’m talking about here! I’m talking about human flesh, the kind that hinders us sometimes, most times, from the realization of Jesus being alive and living in us in the form of the Holy Spirit.

As I was praying, my skin felt like a heavy winter coat that I just needed to shed. I wanted to be rid of it and allow Jesus to be seen in me. It seemed like it was almost possible to unzip the heavy winter coat of flesh that surrounded Him and uncover His Spirit within me. I didn’t want my flesh surrounding Him anymore, covering Him up...I believe these strange feelings were really God, preparing me to understand something more deeply than I ever had before. Something I thought I knew, but didn’t really know...Jesus is living in me!

Let me stop here and quote from Robert Hobson’s book again, because I think he explains this better than I can:
"If you are saying to yourself, ‘I know that Jesus is alive, and living in me. I learned that in Bible school. I was taught that at seminary.’ If you have approached the subject as an intellectual, spiritual concept that can be learned by our ability, then you have missed the point. You have missed the reality of discovering your new, real life. For if the Lord Jesus ever takes the cover off for you personally, and allows you to look and see the reality of His indwelling presence, you will never be the same!"
(Pg 66 "Rag Dolls and Plastic Horses.")

How can this be possible, you might be thinking? You get this, you really do...I hope you do! But, I’ve had to sort through this, and ask God for a clearer understanding of what the difference is. I was starting to experience something new about His indwelling presence, but what was it? Was Jesus taking the cover off for me personally? I didn’t even know something had been covered up in my relationship with Him.

And the church is his body; it is filled
by Christ, who fills everything everywhere
with his presence.
Ephesians 1:23 (NLT)

I knew Jesus lived in me, I knew Jesus worked through me, and that I was depending on Him daily for the strength and peace and joy that only He could provide. That part was clear to me. What I didn’t understand was that even though I had been crucified with Christ, and it was no longer I who lived, but Christ who lived in me, I was still wearing a great deal of the dead, crucified flesh. It was like a heavy winter coat that I would not part with. It was comfortable, it protected me, it was what I was used to, and I didn’t really want to give it up, not just yet.

It started to boil down to two types of knowing Jesus now, the:
I know Him – but I’ll keep the flesh just in case I need it.
Or,
I know Him – and His indwelling Holy presence as never before. Flesh be gone!!

We will cling to the old life, the dead flesh, for as long as we can, until it gets too uncomfortable, too painful, or too restricting for the movement that Jesus is calling for in our lives. It reminds me of Phil’s last day on this earth. I hope you don’t mind if I share it with you once again.

It was Wednesday evening and Phil was just returning to bed after a short walk to the bathroom and back. As he climbed back into bed, sweating profusely and so weak, he said, "Mom, I don’t want to do this anymore. This is too hard. Can we ask God?" I said we could, and we prayed together. Three hours later, God uncovered his spirit and let it fly away to heaven, leaving his dead flesh behind until Jesus returns. That’s all that was left in his bed, that heavy winter coat of flesh that had weighed him down, especially during his illness. He was ready to be rid of it and we asked God for what only God could do. He answered our prayer.

Most of us are healthy. Our bodies work pretty well, we’re not quite ready to give them up yet and God is not asking us to. He is still using them to do His Kingdom work here on earth. But what we sometimes forget is that we are not a body with a spirit, we are a spirit with a body. The spirit comes first, not the body. We communicate with God in spirit, we are filled with the Holy Spirit and He should be guiding us through our days, not our fleshly desires.

The Holy Spirit cannot guide us as well if we have buried Him alive inside of us. If He is covered up by all the pride, hurt, and "what about me?" attitudes, to name just a few of the hindrances in His way. If we have buried Him alive inside of us with a heavy winter coat of protection against the elements of life--He can be hard for us to find. Maybe that’s where "thick-skinned" came from? If we keep our hearts hidden deep inside, then nothing can "sting" us! Do we try to protect ourselves by zipping up our thick flesh until nothing is allowed in or out? We seem to like it that way.

But what are we missing? The best part of life!! The abundant life Jesus wants us to have, the same life He had when the Father was in Him as He walked this earth in that heavy coat of flesh. The difference is, we miss out on the intimacy with the Father that Jesus had because we hide in our flesh and we bury Him in it. Jesus did not. He allowed the Father to live in Him and to use His body to do His Father’s will, freely.

Many people won’t ride a motorcycle, because they are scared of them. I understand that, I felt the same way. They were much too dangerous, the safety of a car suited me just fine. Then Jim got his motorcycle, and I found myself riding on the back for quite a few years. Now I actually have my own, which requires getting past another whole new "fear factor" when out on the road. I am not a great rider yet, I’m not even a good rider yet. I ride...but I need practice. But the other day out on the road, things starting coming together. Yes, even after being stung by a bee. I started to lean into the turns just a bit more, I started to pick up some speed coming out of the turns, and I started to really experience what it felt like to actually ride a motorcycle as they are intended to be ridden, not being as timid as I have been in the past. It was fun! I was outside of the confines of a car, experiencing something I really never thought I would have the guts to do. It’s a part of life that has been opened up to me because I got past the fear factor and gave it a try.

Our Christian lives lived in the flesh are much the same way. We would rather stay within the confines of the "car," where the elements are not so dangerous. Oh sure, we could get into an accident even in our "car," but we have seatbelts and air-bags and metal all around us. A nice thick layer of protection before we are ever "touched." But what are we missing?...besides bee stings! Are we missing out on life the way it is intended to be lived with the thrill of the lean in the turns, and the acceleration coming out of them? Are we missing the feel of the road and the places we could go if not for the "price" of fuel? Are we limiting ourselves under our coat of protection? Never opening the gift of the abundant life that He is offering to us because He lives in us?

If you’ve ever seen the show, "What Not To Wear," it might help to understand this concept better. If we step into the 360-degree mirror for inspection, we will find that who we are in Christ is hidden under garments that we have chosen for our lives, garments that don’t reflect the joy and the hope that should be ours. The true inner life we say we have in Jesus Christ is hindered because we won’t give up the old "wardrobe." We like it, it’s what we’re used to and we really can’t see ourselves any other way. What Stacy and Clinton do on that show for those in the 360-degree mirror, God can do for us. The difference is they strip away the old, and make the person new from the outside in. God strips away the old and makes us new from the inside out. Instead of starting with clothing and hair and make-up, He starts by filling us with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit then starts to work on our inmost being and works His way out into our life, until the day comes when our flesh is not to our liking. It’s not so comfortable any more, we are really ready to trash it and live the life that Jesus Christ is calling us to because the flesh only seems to get in the way.

I don't understand myself at all, for I really
want to do what is right, but I don't do it.
Instead, I do the very thing I hate.
Romans 7:15 (NLT)

The problem is, it’s not as easy as a new wardrobe or buying a motorcycle instead of a car. We cannot do this with human hands, with human effort. Only God can change us. Without surrender and submission, without God’s uncovering, Jesus will remain buried alive in our lives! We can still hear Him, He can still work through us, we can still be saved and be going to Heaven, but we will miss the very best part of our relationship with Him, the reality of the intimacy of His indwelling presence.

It says in Matthew five that, "Jesus went up on the mountainside with his disciples and sat down to teach them." He taught them the Beatitudes. He taught them, and us, how very blessed our lives will be when we realize our need for Him. He wants that for us, because He has experienced, the "lean in the turns and the acceleration coming out of them," and He doesn’t want us to miss it!! He lived this life with His Father inside of Him, directing Him and helping Him. He now wants to do the same for us.

Do we have to get to the place where we’ve had enough? Where we get past the fear of perhaps getting "stung" and are willing to open ourselves up to God’s design for our lives, no matter what? Phil got past the fear of dying because his flesh was not serving him well anymore. He’d clung to it for as long as he could, and then he was finished with it. We have to get past the fear of dying to ourselves and realize our flesh is not serving us well anymore when it gets in the way of what the Living Christ inside of us wants to do in and through our lives.

The flesh only seems to get in the way when we fully realize who Jesus is in us and the power of the Holy Spirit. Our flesh seems heavy because we try to carry our own lives around each day, expecting way too much out of our own abilities and talents. That is not what Jesus is asking us to do. He is only asking us to make our lives available to Him and He will do the rest through us. Mr. Hobson goes on in his book to say, "It isn’t that I have to somehow arrive at a point of usability. It isn’t usability, it is availability. Why did God use that particular bush in the desert to speak through to Moses? Was that the only bush that had been to college and seminary? Was that the only bush that was qualified to be used, or had learned how to be effective for God? What nonsense! God used that bush because that was the bush that was available. It was simply that."

I love that! God used the bush to speak to Moses because it was available. When we think we need to be something we are not before we can serve God, we can think of that bush! It didn’t even have the ability to speak, but God spoke through it. When we think we don’t have the right words, or the right education, or the right attitude even, we can just make ourselves available to God, and let Him do the rest because Jesus lives in us! That’s all we need! Dead flesh is for dead works, we don’t need it!! We need Jesus!

I think this is what God showed me in my prayer life the other day that started me on this journey of revelation. I had come to the end of my flesh being any protection at all in my life, of any use to me and only a hindrance to the Spirit-led life, except to be used as His body. "And we are his body." (Ephesians 5:30 NLT) Almost in frustration, I prayed "God, please take this flesh away so that I can serve You without constraints." God is answering that prayer by uncovering the living Christ in me as never before!

It’s all part of the process of "What Not To Wear." Oswald Chambers puts it this way; "It is not true to say that God wants to teach us something in our trials...He wants us to unlearn something...to simplify our belief until our relationship to Him is exactly that of a child." (My Utmost For His Highest July 29th)

Will we get "stung" as we shed the dead flesh of protection and live with Jesus uncovered in our lives? Yes, we will be attacked at times because of our faith, but it doesn’t have to throw us off course. If you’d asked me before the "bee incident" if I would have crashed should a bee or any other insect fly into my shirt while I was riding, I would have told you that I probably would! But I didn’t! We fear what we have not experienced because we think we know... In the trials we "unlearn" what we thought we knew and begin knowing the truth as never before!

God brought me once again, in His perfect timing, to the book "Rag Dolls and Plastic Horses," that I have had for almost two years. In the past, I started to read it, but put it down, only to start to read it again, and then put it down. I believe He was waiting until I was "finished" with my heavy coat of flesh that felt so comfortable---and until I was ready to have Him do a "reveal" of the living Christ in me as never before.

We will not break fully free of these bodies that imprison us until we are called Home to Heaven. Jesus knows what it feels like to wear one of these bodies around, and when He ascended into heaven, He left the weight of His earthly body behind. He then sent the Holy Spirit as our comforter and helper because He knows how much we need Him. He knows how heavy life can be. This flesh can be a pain! He knows what it’s like to be tempted and to feel hurt and to be persecuted among all the other fleshly things we have to deal with. I’ll bet when He walked this earth, He longed for the freedom of heaven that awaited Him. He had been there, He knew exactly what to expect, and it was the greatest gift ever offered to man when He came here to die for us after we had turned our backs on God in the garden. We don’t deserve it, but He did it anyway because He loves us!

And He has not left us. He still loves us, and He said He’d stick this life out with us by living in us! Let’s not miss the thrill of the "ride" through life while we are here, not after everything He has given us through His death and resurrection! And I’m not talking about everyone going out and riding a motorcycle, please!! Don’t miss the message here!! Life is a ride, each day has its ups and downs and twists and turns. We can lean into them, and pick up speed as we come out of them, feeling the exhilaration that can only come when God has paved the road ahead of us. We can do that when we come into the full realization that Jesus Christ lives in us and we’re excited about that! It’s where the true journey of a joyous life begins.

If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it.
But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life.
Matthew 16:25 (NLT)

Seek the abundant life under that heavy coat of flesh!!
It’s there!!
It’s the very life of Jesus Christ alive in you!!

Enjoying the journey,

Diane