My Best or Christ's Work?

Taken from the Web site of the Association of Exchanged Life Ministries, this is a synopsis of the exchanged life:

". . . How does one live the exchanged life? The first step is to realize that you absolutely cannot do it. That is, you cannot do it, but Christ who is in you can. John 3:30 gives us this injunction, 'He must increase, but I must decrease.' The key to gaining any Spiritual understanding, as Hudson Taylor discovered, is not our effort, but rather our submission to God's effort.

"The pitfall that claims many Christians is that we lose sight of the fact that Christ is our life (Col. 3:4) and that He desires to express His resourceful life through our unique personalities. We often go about our daily tasks using the power of our flesh, never talking with or depending on Him until something has us sufficiently confused or irritated. Paul was very candid about his own battle with the flesh (Rom. 7:14). We as humans typically carry on in this flesh-faith cycle until we encounter some crisis that is absolutely beyond our control. This process of breaking down our 'system' is God's way of giving us an opportunity to make a clean break from the cycle. By denying our flesh the power to manipulate our decisions, we leave room for Christ to sit at the controls (Phil. 2:14).

"Is the exchanged life, then, only a passive life? By no means! Scripture tells us that we are 'created for good works' and that we are to be continually in prayer and renewing our mind (Rom. 12:1-2), loving both our God and the people He has placed in our life. This is an active life founded on an intimate, submissive, yet bold relationship with God.

"You see, God has given us minds and hands for a reason. We are like the performers in an orchestra. If we wanted, it is certainly within our power to play whatever notes we choose. But in order for the symphony to be presented as intended, the best and most pleasing plan is to follow the sheet music that has been given to us (the Bible) and to look to the conductor for direction. He does not control our actions, but merely leads us in ways that our own earthbound perspective cannot conceive. The best performers are the ones who are so intently focused on the conductor's baton that their own playing becomes an afterthought.

"We cannot draw closer to God through our own power. It is only when we set our minds on the things that are above (Phil. 4:9) and submit ourselves to His leading that we will begin to realize and live these central truths:
Christ lives in me (Rom 8:9, II Cor. 13:5).
I live in Christ (Col. 3:3, I Cor. 1:30)."