In The Shadow of the Cross

Ripley loves playing with her shadow. I’ve noticed over the last six months or so that when I’m changing her diaper, she is lifting her arms up and looking at the wall where she sees her shadow. She laughs and waves her arms around. This past Sunday, I was walking behind her trying to get her to walk through the garage without stopping to touch everything and she kept looking at the floor. I was right behind her so instead of her seeing her shadow; she saw mine. Since my shadow is bigger; her shadow was lost in the middle of mine. I wondered then and still do if she thought “Wow, my shadow is huge!”

I’m reading through the book of Acts and am seeing the same men who less than a year before who ran for their lives standing with boldness and proclaiming Jesus Christ. It is awe inspiring when I read the accounts. The apostles don’t inspire me; it’s what God did through them that inspires me. What inspires me when I read is what God can do through people who are 100% committed to Him. The apostles did nothing on their own; they were only tools that God used to further His Kingdom. We, as God filled believers, must understand that whatever we accomplish for God on this green ball we call Earth is not us doing it; it’s God Himself who is doing it and we are the tools He has chosen to use.

When I teach and/or preach, I always ask God to have the group see and hear Him and not me. I stand before people in the shadow of the cross. The shadow I see before me is not my shadow but the shadow of the cross. When properly aligned, my shadow (me as a person) is lost in the shadow of the cross so when people see me; they are seeing the cross. That is my desire when I teach and/or preach and that is my desire when I walk through this life. My desire is to be lost in the shadow of the cross so I will never forget who is at work. It’s not my church; it’s not my ministry; it’s not my flock; it’s all God’s. He is the One who develop the plan to redeem me; He is the One who paid the sin debt on the cross by shredding His blood; He is the One who drew me to Himself and is leading me and indwelling me. It’s not me; it’s Him who accomplishes anything of worth in my life.

Ephesians 2:10 breathed new life in my ideal on what I’m doing for Christ. This passage encouraged me 6 or so years ago to walk without fear of failing. Because when I am walking with God and marching to the beat of His drum, I’m right where he wants me. I’ll close with the verse and I pray it encourages you;

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”