Nail Me Down

I nailed my flesh to the cross today. As I pounded the nail into the block, I felt heat rise in my face and tears threaten my eyes, spill over and slide down my freckled cheeks. I could almost hear the air behind my swing as the hammer slammed down. I missed. Swung again. It was blurry. The tears. The sea of faces obliterated by images from my life; the noise in the room caught in a capsule. In that moment, I heard nothing but the ding of the metal meeting metal, piercing wood. Shlap! Down clear to the block. There! Flesh crucified.

As I walked back to my seat, it seemed to take a dozen extra steps to get there, a bit of anger rushed in. So, I nailed that down too, in my mind.

What was I angry about? That no one ever told me this message before. That I had walked a lifetime as an incomplete being. That Christ didn't require a fancy salvation prayer, but a total crucifixion of our selves. No wonder I seemed so weak, so frail, even after a dozen years of following Him. I never nailed myself to His cross. I never died completely, only mostly. I was running a race with only one good shoe.

I nailed myself to the cross today. I am crucifying my flesh. When I am dead completely, Jesus LIVING in me will be all that's left. "I was the girl broken at His feet. And that's where He found me, and He gave me NEW LIFE." I AM a BRAND NEW CREATION. The old has DIED completely, ALL things have been MADE NEW, ALIVE IN CHRIST!

Verses to Ponder (taken from Sunday's message notes)

Romans 6:6 - We know that our old (unrenewed) self was nailed to the cross with Him in order that [our] body [which is the instrument] of sin might be made ineffective and inactive for evil, that we might no longer be the slaves of sin.

Galatians 2:19- It was the Law itself that killed me and freed me from its power, so that I could live for God.

I have been nailed to the cross with Christ.

1 Peter 2:24- Christ carried the burden
    of our sins.
He was nailed to the cross,
so that we would stop sinning
    and start living right.
By his cuts and bruises
    you are healed.