Come out, is a cry from His Spirit to ours.
Come out and live from the inside out, in every aspect of our lives and in all that we do.
When we live from the inside out, we allow who Christ is in each of us to be clearly displayed.
This is a courageous thing in itself.
To allow the depths of who He is in you to be revealed.
Our innermost heart. Our spirit transparent and on display on the outside of us.
The world has taught us to live from the outside in. To hide the depths of who we are in an attempt at self-preservation and fear of rejection.
We form complex layers of characteristics for ourselves shaped and stitched together by disappointments and other relational dysfunctions.
We choose to display just a portion of who we are on the outside. Glimpses then escape to the observant eye, crying out for acceptance and recognition. It may be in the form of certain clothes, behaviours, language, life style patterns and emotions. We have been conditioned to conform by the worlds ever changing standards.
Yet what the world is crying out for is a safe place; a safety in love.
I remember as a child trying on my Grandpa’s spectacles. They were so blurred to me I could not see a thing. It used to be such fun putting them on and then bumping into furniture. However after a while if I hadn’t already been told off, id start to feel nauseous and would have to take them off anyway.
This is a parallel to us living from the outside in. All the world sees of us, is a distorted view, not a true image of who we truly are. This leads to suspicion and frequently we bump into each other, like me and the spectacles. How many of us have been betrayed and not seen it coming. We take this hurt and add it to our already darkened and distrusting perception of life. What we see, through the blurred lenses of our broken soul issues are distorted views of life and the world around us.
We don’t have to retreat and cower in self-focussed inadequacy because in Christ we have liberty by the Spirit. 1Corinth 15, says that
V43-44 “what was sown in dishonour will be reaped in glory, what was sown in weakness will be reaped in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body”.
We don’t have to live according to our past carnal identity. We have a new name and address in heaven and we can live from that inner reality outwardly on the earth.
Stewards of the mystery of His fullness. Christ is In us.
It is time to be who God made us and called us to be in order to reveal the expectation and glory of the age to come.
Our lives set ablaze can be beacons of hope and our liberty can set others free.
I really love what Nelson Mandela said in his inaugural speech in 1994 about letting our lights shine before all men and that..
“We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It’s not just in some of us it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear our presence automatically liberates others”
Our freedom can set others free.
How?
As we trust our Father and allow our spirits to stand up, to be at liberty on the outside of us and to no longer be ruled by the soul and the flesh. Then we welcome His covering of glory to rest. We are clothed and commissioned for ruler-ship.
It is a choice, to allow our spirits to stand up. Just as it is a choice to linger in the secret place of His Presence and to pursue the truth of what it means to be Born of God. It is a choice to take His word like a sword and use it to divide your soul and spirit. (Heb 4:12) These simple choices will empower you to live by the Spirit.
First Adam was a living being, but last Adam was a life giving Spirit. (1Corinth 15v45)
What a joy and a privilege that we are no longer naked and ashamed in first Adam, but we can be clothed in glory and giving life by His Spirit to all around us.
the first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth and as is the man from heaven so also are those who are of heaven.(1Corinth 15v47-48)
We can take the inner most truth of His love for us and be freely clothed in it. Just as Joseph’s coat of many colors identified him as a favored son. Displaying the freedom and favor of heaven by ushering the unseen into the visible.
Living out of our eternal reality on the earth.
Cocooned and secure seeing everything with absolute clarity. This is how He wills us to live all of the time so that others can then feel free to be themselves around you.
He empowered us with free choice and daily our choices can empower or disable us.
To bear the image of the heavenly or earthly – you choose
Inner reality or outward reality – you choose
Perishable or imperishable – you choose
To glow with the light, glory and truth of His fullness in you – He already chose you!
Come out!