Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

This verse is so totally familiar that I almost didn’t write on it, but it is familiar for an excellent reason: it is extremely powerful. Anyone who gets the truth of this verse worked into their spirit and soul is immune to any attack of the devil. After all, anyone who has died is immune to any and all temptation. Pain is also irrelevant. We inhabit our bodies for a while, and for that interval we are subject to all sorts of things. However, when we are in Christ the hold of our flesh over us is loosened, and we can walk in what He has accomplished for us. That’s not to say that the influence of the flesh is totally gone, it’s that we are no longer bound by it. Paul used this image of death in a good way in Romans 6:11, where he tells us to “Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Sometimes that takes a lot of faith. If we are focused on our faith, we will find that we never have enough. If we focus on the One in whom we believe, we find that His grace is indeed sufficient for us. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

I am in the middle of an unexpected practicum in this, having thrown my back out somehow yesterday. Pain can be quite a distraction! However, as I told my wife, this gives me a rather intense empathy with the pain she has every day with her Parkinson’s Disease. I am reminded that the origin of the word, “excruciating,” is “to be crucified.” As I go through this, I need to remember that I am already crucified with Christ, as this verse says, so these temporal distractions are just that, temporary, and I don’t have to pay them so much attention. That is indeed easier said than done at times. My respect for my wife, and for others who live with chronic pain, is going up steadily! Rather than focus on the pain part of it, I need to focus on the living part of it, as she obviously does. As a pastor, I am constantly dealing with people who are focused on their emotional pain. That is just as debilitating as physical pain, if not more so. There too the cross of Christ is effective, when received and applied by faith. I need to teach people the truth of the old hymn, “Jesus paid it all; all to Him I owe.” I need to let this verse be fully operative in me so that it may in turn be operative in others.

Father, thank You for this Word, and for the circumstances that made me open to receive it. I ask for wisdom in receiving Your healing, but even more I ask that You enable me to retain the spiritual lesson You’re giving me, so that as I become a more perfect expression of Christ, more and more people would be drawn to faith, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!