lifefullyinhabited

¹¹ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of^[a] his Spirit who lives in you. ”  Romans 8:11.

The Monday after Easter is always a letdown.  All the excitement is slumped on the floor in a heap like the peeled off Easter dresses.  The empty tomb, the Hallelujah Chorus, the delicious Easter dinner, the candy-filled Easter baskets; it all turns into “ho-hum” on Monday morning.

Yet, if we look at Romans 8:11, it proclaims that the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies.  The Spirit who raised Jesus had some awesome power.  To raise a dead body to life took some mighty power.  Power that I find hard to comprehend.

And that same Spirit is living in me.  With that same mighty power.  Not just on Easter Sunday, but everyday.

Now, I don’t need any raising from the dead.  But I could use a little bit of that mighty power.

If I become willing to ask for His power to work in me, that becomes my new definition of  “willpower”.

So often, when trying to change something in my life, I’ve tried to stir up the old willpower.  Buck up and suck it up.  Steel my mind for the grim battle that confronts me.  Dig in for the long haul.

Okay, that lasts, for me, until about noon.

Maybe I’m weak, maybe I don’t have what it takes, maybe I don’t have any discipline.  Maybe I’m lazy.

Maybe I’m just human.

I’ve stared down a lot of Monday mornings with grim determination.  I’ve struggled through the battles and lost most of them.

This year, I’m changing strategies.  It’s not all on me anymore.  I’m asking for His mighty power to work in me, that same power from that same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead.

That’s some willpower that I think will last through the lunch hour!

On Good Friday we cried, on Easter Sunday we rejoiced, but on Easter Monday, we conquer victoriously!