ON YOUR MARK

On Your Mark

“From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.” — Galatians 6:17–18

“A mark without movement is just a memory.” — PG

Every believer should have been marked by their encounter with Jesus. But not every believer is on their mark. Life marks you. Pain marks you. Success marks you. Culture marks you. Family marks you. Experiences leave impressions. Scars tell stories. But being marked and being positioned are not the same thing.

A runner can wear the uniform and still be out of place. They can have the number on their chest and miss the starting line. They can stretch, bounce, and look ready, but if they are not on their mark, they are not aligned. Your mark positions you. It does not just explain you.

Paul ends Galatians by declaring, “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” Marks are not decoration. Marks are direction. The question is not what is on you. The question is where that mark has positioned you. Are you on your mark, or is your mark just on you? There are marks that sit on you and marks that send you. False marks sit. True marks align.

First, the mark of the flesh.

The mark of the flesh sits on you but never positions you. It explains behavior but never produces calling. It gives identity language without kingdom direction. We make provisions for our flesh more than provisions for His presence. If the flesh defines you, you will live reactive instead of positioned.

Paul writes about those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh. The flesh marks your impulses but never your assignment. A person led by appetite cannot stay on their mark. The flesh pulls you out of position before it ever pulls you into sin.

The works of the flesh are obvious. That is the word Paul uses. Obvious. Flesh is loud. It announces itself. Esau let appetite move him off his mark. Samson let desire pull him out of position long before Delilah cut his hair. David stepped off his mark as a king before Bathsheba ever stepped onto the scene. The mark of the flesh is really the mark of sin.

Second, the mark of religion.

Religion places marks that look like readiness without true positioning. Religion loves visible marks but ignores spiritual alignment. You can look marked for God and still not be on your mark with God.

Religion puts a mark on you. Presence puts you on your mark. Paul exposes those who boasted in outward marks while lacking inward obedience. Religion marks appearance. Presence aligns identity. Performance can keep you busy and still leave you out of position. You can be active in church and absent from your assignment. 

Actions void of relationship is religion. The Pharisees were marked publicly but misaligned internally. Saul before he became Paul had impressive marks but was headed in the wrong direction. The older brother in the parable stayed home but never stood in the Father’s heart.

Religion creates movement without alignment. It produces activity without authority. And if we are honest, too many people are religious and not saved.

Third, the mark of the beast.

Revelation speaks of a mark that determines allegiance. It affects the marketplace. It governs buying and selling. It is not just a symbol. It is positioning. It is identity formed by systems that assign marks and control direction.

The anti Christ spirit is about misplaced positioning. It tells you where to stand, what to align with, and who to bow to. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot sit at both tables. Compromise is simply standing on the wrong mark.

And then there is the mark of His presence.

Paul says he bears the marks of the Lord Jesus. Those marks were not tattoos of preference. They were scars of alignment. His scars told you where he stood.

Isaiah encountered the coal from the altar. It did not just cleanse him. It positioned him. “Here am I. Send me.” Presence marks you and then positions you for purpose. The evidence of presence is alignment.

Presence does not just touch you. Presence places you. Scars from encounter become coordinates for calling. Moses was marked by glory and positioned as a leader. Jacob was marked with a limp and positioned in identity. Peter was marked by encounter and positioned as a witness.

Jesus said you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses. Power is the mark. Witness is the position. Many believers have marks of encounter. Fewer believers are standing on their mark of assignment because of that encounter.

Jesus did not mark us for a memory or a spiritual moment. He marked us for movement. Are you on your mark? Or is your mark just on you?

Live This Out Loud

Turn On: “Encounter Live” by Mercy Culture and proceed through the rest of this blog.

Ask the Lord to reveal any area where you are marked by experience but not positioned by obedience.

Examine whether your daily decisions are led by flesh, religion, or presence.

Before making a major move this week, pause and ask, “Does this align with where God has placed me?”

My Prayer

Holy Spirit, I come to You in the name of Jesus, and I ask You to align me. Remove every false mark that has kept me reactive instead of positioned. Crucify the flesh, dismantle religion, expose compromise, and mark me with Your presence. Place me exactly where You have called me to stand, and give me the courage to remain there in that place, but also, in Your presence. Amen.

May the Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times more than you are, and bless you as He has promised you. — Deuteronomy 1:11

Marked By His Presence,

-PG