Owned by Identity, Bought by a Savior - Crosswalk the Devotional - January 25

Truths observed at the intersection of faith and life by Crosswalk.com editors [Crosswalk.com Logo]( Crosswalk: The Devotional [Devotionals]( [Newsletters]( [e-Cards]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Owned by Identity, Bought by a Savior by John UpChurch You are not your own, for you were bought with a price ([1 Corinthians 6:19-20](. Arguments about "identity" should end at this verse. For non-Christians, it’s meaningless noise. For Christians, it’s everything. We own nothing from our hair follicles to our toenails. Every drop of cytoplasm, every hormone, every spark of our synapses was paid for in full. Christ didn’t die for the “good” parts or the parts we let Him have; He wanted all of us. That’s why it makes no sense for us to justify what’s natural or what makes us happy or what satisfies us. To do so breaks us into pieces, compartmentalizing where we will and will not surrender, what we will and will not hand over to Christ. But the choice isn’t ours. The price paid was for the whole shebang. The heart loves to mass-produce idols, and identity works just as well as anything else. Deep inside, the hammers of what’s just and fair and right beat in time with our resistance to surrender. We know who we are, and we can’t change. But the possibility of change is completely beside the point. Even if no change comes before the perfect does ([1 Corinthians 1:10]( even if the desires never stop, we have no room to act on them or justify them. We have no ownership in ourselves. Not even a partial vacation stake. It all belongs to Jesus. Christ urged us to follow Him with the heavy weight of lumber slung across our shoulders ([Mark 8:34](. That image is one of ownership. Why else would we take up humiliation and hardship to struggle after a bloodied Lamb? It isn’t an image of coercion, but of willingness. Just as the Messiah surrendered Himself to be crucified, we crucify ourselves to admit surrender. [CONTINUE READING →]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( You May Also Like: [10 Things Your Husband Really Doesn't Like]( Kimberly Wagner I don't know a single wife who doesn't sometimes do things her husband doesn't like. I hope I don't sound too harsh today; I just know how easy it is to slip into a disrespectful attitude that morphs into ugly treatment of those we love most. I’m challenging all of us to set aside any of these things that are a common tendency in marriage. Common, but so destructive. And they are so “not” God glorifying! The reason for this blunt po [CONTINUE READING →]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [10 Things You Need to Know about the Number 666]( Dr. Roger Barrier The number "666" is the number of the name of the coming Antichrist. Giving a number to a name is called "gematria," which is the Greek practice of adding up the letters in someone's name. Here's what else you need to know about the "number of the beast". [CONTINUE READING →]( [Crosswalk.com Logo]( [Read about Salem Web Network]( | [Unsubscribe From This Email]( [Email Preference Center]( | [View in Browser]( © 2020 Salem Web Network. All rights reserved. 111 Virginia Street, Suite 500, Richmond, VA 23219. This email is never sent unsolicited. You are receiving this email because your email address, {EMAIL}, is signed up to receive newsletters, updates, and special offers from Crosswalk.com - The Devotional. [Link](