Are you wearing GRAVEclothes or GRACEclothes?
Romans 6:3-5 says that we DIED with Christ, and that IF we died with Him,
we also ROSE with Him and we SHARE His resurrection life.
In other words,
we have been LOOSED from our GRAVECLOTHES: loosed from the bonds of death
and now walk in GRACECLOTHES because we share in His resurrection life
not because of anything we have done,
but because Christ TOOK our sin and GAVE us His righteousness.
[2 Cor 5:21]
In John 11 we read that Lazarus was DEAD.
When Jesus called him from the tomb, he was BOUND with GRAVECLOTHES
and Jesus commanded: “LOOSE HIM and let him go”
Did Lazarus desire to return to the grave?
No way! Later, we find Lazarus seated with Jesus at the table.
In Numbers 14:3-4 and 11:5 we read that after Israel was miraculously delivered from bondage in Egypt, they experienced great evidence of God’s protection and provision.
They were SAVED but they were not SATISFIED.
They hankered after the leeks, the garlic and the onions.
They lived a ‘BETWEEN LIFE’
DO WE EXPERIENCE A “BETWEEN” LIFE?
Do we live BETWEEN Egypt and Canaan
with fleshly desires, hankering after the things of the world?
Do we live BETWEEN Good Friday
and Easter Sunday
between the cross and the empty tomb?
Do we believe in the cross,
and even believe
that Christ rose from the dead
but fail to walk in newness of life?
Are we powerless instead of conqueror?
Do we live BETWEEN the empty tomb and fellowship with the risen Christ? Are we still clothed with graveclothes – evidence of our old, sinful nature –
or do we wear the graceclothes provided by Christ.
Do we fellowship with Him, drawing strength from Him,
discovering His will for our lives, living in His presence and following Him?
2 Corinthians 5:17
IF anyone is in Christ he IS a new creation.
Old things HAVE PASSED AWAY.
Behold, ALL things HAVE BECOME NEW.
Note: There is NO ‘between” It is “IF . . . Then”
It is “IF we are in Christ . . . THEN the old is GONE and ALL is NEW”
No in between!
O my Saviour, lifted from the earth for me,
Draw me, in Thy mercy, nearer unto Thee.
Lift my earth-bound longings, fix them Lord above;
Draw me with the magnet of Thy mighty love.
MEETING IN THE CLOUDS 
Such a great post. Thank you for posting it.
And thank you for stopping by my blog and reading my post. I appreciate it. Thank you.
Blessings and greetings to you from Hungary.
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Thank you my new friend from Hungary. I look forward to getting to know you.
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Dear Mentor Angela . . .I loved this, that there are no inbetweens, that it is IF . . .Then. :) And also that last line . . the magnet of His love. For me, it is so reassuring that there isn’t a gray area, an inbetween spot. God bless you and yours as you go all out for your Risen Lord!
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No grey area – so true. There are no grey areas with God. Our life with Him is a REALITY. How sad it is that so often *WE* choose to live in a grey area instead of in the brightness of His way! May we continue to walk in His light, reflecting His greatness to all we meet.
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Praying for you and your husband. Lord bless you.
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Thank you Rob. I appreciate you. We had to return a couple of days early because he had a problem. It is fixed now and the Pacemaker implant is still scheduled for Friday 20th.
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You mention Lazarus. Reading the passage in John recently I was reminded that once Jesus had brought him back to life the religious leaders planned how they might kill him. Now that’s what I call a bit dim! Somebody who had already risen from the dead could be quietened by death, er not with God at work.
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Praise Him that He chooses to use us and to work through us. May our lives constantly reflect this. Satan is unable to quieten us when our great God is at work.
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To coin the phrase of an old song, “I’ve got to accentuate the positive (Jesus) eliminate the negative (unbelief) and don’t mess around with Mr. In- Between (sin).” Thanks Angela!
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A great twist on it. Thanks. I’ll remember that.
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Reblogged this on Freedomborn…set free and commented:
We would like to share with you about Angela one of our special Blogging friends, yes I know you have heard that before but our friends are all unique and Special in their own way so we will continue to Spotlight one of our friends each week as we have been doing , thank you for those who went and visited them they really appreciated your encouragement………..
Angela is very close to our heart but not just because she is an Aussie, many of you have had the same impact regardless of where you live, Angela apart from being a very Loving, and caring person which she has shown to both Ron and me but she is also a person who you can’t help but to respect, she has Life wisdom and also Godly wisdom, a wonderful combination, her age is indeed a blessing. Angela’s Love, Commitment and Devotion to the Lord and His Children is 100% so as we Spotlight her and her Ministry with her Blog, we are not only being obedient to the Lord by uplifting and encouraging Angela in her aim to continue to promote Godly Truth but we’re also through her Ministry bringing Glory to God ……. Thank you Angela, your friendship in the Lord means a great deal to us, we are family we are one.
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Thank you, Anne. You honour me and humble me. My work here is only possible because of the work the Lord has done and is doing in me, so I give Him the praise.
I am back home – two days earlier than planned, because Myles had a problem. It is OK now and the Pacemaker implant is still scheduled for Friday.
I am trying to catch up here again.
Angela
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Welcome home Angela, so good to have you back with us, we have all missed you, but don’t feel pressured one day at a time. So pleased Myles is stablised again and with the Pacemaker implant things should settle down for him and he will feel stronger.
Praying for you both Christian Love Ron and Anne.
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What a great question. I will be borrowing it. :)
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You are welcome. I have a mental picture of the ‘put off’ and ‘put on’ of Ephesians 4,
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We LIVE within the Risen Lord! We LIVE because of what Our Lord did to defeat death and the grave between Good Friday and Easter morn! HE LIVES; we believers LIVE!
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Yes, Granbee, we live because He lives and we live victoriously because He made it possible. How sad it is, though, that sometimes we ignore that amazing resurrection power that is ours, and go about things in our own strength. How grieved He must be, but He gently convicts us and draws us back to Himself, continuing His work in us.
What an amazing God!
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not because of anything we have done,
but because Christ TOOK our sin and GAVE us His righteousness.
Thank You, Jesus!!!
And thank you, Angela, for the timeless reminder :)
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I will ever be amazed at the extent of that exchange – my sin for His righteousness!
What an awesome exchange!
What an amazing God!
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Angela, Just as you say…. “Do we fellowship with Him, drawing strength from Him,
discovering His will for our lives, living in His presence and following Him?” The key to a victorious Christian life is spending time with Him, in His Word and in prayer. What a blessing it is to have communion with Him. Lord bless you and you husband
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Hi Rob. Yes, it is the key to victorious living, but I’m afraid that too often we live as if He is not risen. We know He IS risen and we rejoice, but we need to put faith into action. We need to live in HIS resurrection power. The more we fellowship with Him, the more our automatic response will be to walk with Him and to yield EVERY thought and action to His will.
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Thank you, Angela
I like the idea of graceclothes … This paints a very beautiful word image. I think I will keep this in my mind as I drift off to sleep.
Blessings
ann
P.S. Thanks for the award :-)
P.S.S I found your subscription button :-)
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Thanks Ann. I think of the “put off” and “put on” of Ephesians 4 and other places and think of throwing off the garments of the grave and gladly putting on those of grace.
We serve an amazing God!
PS Yes, I found the button – not the one I was looking for, but I guess it works.
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Thank you Angela a powerful message which is always so when it’s God’s Truth, we can’t live the Christian Life in the flesh only as we walk in Christ Jesus and when we do, we walk in Love and Love can be no other way but righteous.
1 John 3 No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous.
Christian Love Anne
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Thanks Anne. The Bible tells us what an extremely powerful enemy we have in satan and all his forces, but this causes us no fear, for we are also told – and know from experience – that “Greater is He who is in you, than he who is in the world” and that when we submit to God and resist the devil, the devil will FLEE from us.
Truly we serve an awesomely power God who delights to deliver us from evil.
What an amazing God!
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