June 29
CHRIST LIVETH IN ME
Daniel W. Whittle, 1840–1901
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ liveth in me. (Galatians 2:20)
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). One can almost hear the apostle Paul exhorting the carnal Christians at Corinth with these strong words. How important it is that believers realize with conviction that their earthly bodies are the residence of the living God! Such an awareness should cause us to have an earnest concern for the proper care of our bodies. It is also the motivation we need for Christ-like living—to allow His perfection to be demonstrated in our mortal flesh.
Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord, Oh, to be lost in Thee;
Oh, that it may be no more I, but Christ that lives in me.
—C. H. Forrest
The evidence of true conversion is the growing awareness of Christ within us as the Holy Spirit confirms this fact with our human spirit (Romans 8:16). As we mature in the Christian faith, we appreciate increasingly the biblical truth of the glorious identification and security that are ours: God is in Christ, Christ is in us, and we are in Christ. Nothing can ever defeat or destroy such a divine union.
The author, Daniel W. Whittle, was a most interesting individual. He joined the Illinois Infantry during the Civil War and rose to the rank of major. For the remainder of his life he was known by this title. Following the war he returned to Chicago and became treasurer of the Elgin Watch Company. In 1873, however, he resigned this high position and under D. L. Moody’s influence entered the evangelistic ministry. He was unusually successful as an evangelist as well as the author of a number of favorite gospel hymns, most of which he wrote with the pseudonym “El Nathan.” “Christ Liveth in Me” first appeared in Gospel Hymns #6, which was published in 1891.
Once far from God and dead in sin, no light my heart could see; but in God’s Word the light I found. Now Christ liveth in me.
As lives the flower within the seed, as in the cone the tree; so, praise the God of truth and grace; His Spirit dwelleth in me.
With longing all my heart is filled, that like Him I may be, as on the wond’rous thought I dwell that Christ dwelleth in me.
Refrain: Christ liveth in me. O what a salvation this, that Christ liveth in me!
For Today: John 17:22, 23; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Galatians 2:19–21; Ephesians 3:16, 17; Colossians 1:27
Live with the confidence of an indwelling Christ who promises to help you do all things through His strength (Philippians 4:13). Sing this musical truth—
Kenneth W. Osbeck, Amazing Grace : 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications, 1990). 196.
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