Changed from the Inside Out....... When you believe in Christ, Christ works a miracle in you. You are permanently purified andempowered by God himself. The message of Jesus to the religious person is simple: It’s notwhat you do. It’s what I do. I have moved in. And in time you can say with Paul, “I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).If I’m born again, why do I fall so often?Why did you fall so often after your first birth? Did you exit the womb wearing cross-trainers?
Did you do the two-step on the day of your delivery? Of course not. And when you started towalk, you fell more than you stood. Should we expect anything different from our spiritual walk?But I fall so often, I question my salvation. Again, we return to your first birth. Didn’t you stumble as you were learning to walk? And when you stumbled, did you question the validity ofyour physical birth?
Did you, as a one-year-old fresh flopped on the floor, shake your headand think, I have fallen again. I must not be human?Of course not. The stumbles of a toddler do not invalidate the act of birth. And the stumblesof a Christian do not annul/ end his spiritual birth.Do you understand what God has done? He has deposited a Christ seed in you. As it grows, youwill change. It’s not that sin has no more presence in your life, but rather that sin has nomore power over your life.
Temptation will pester you, but temptation will not master
you. (Romans 6 v 12-14)
What hope this brings!Hear this. It’s not up to you! Within you abides a budding power.
Trust him!Think of it this way. Suppose you, for most of your life, have had a heart condition. Yourfrail pumper restricts your activities. Each morning at work when the healthy employees takethe stairs, you wait for the elevator. But then comes the transplant. A healthy heart is laced within you. After recovery, you turn to work and encounter the flight of stairs—the same flight of stairs you earlier avoided.
By habit, you start for the elevator. But then you remember. You aren’t the same person. You have a new heart. Within you dwells a new power.Do you live like the old person or the new? Do you count yourself as having a new heart or old? You have a choice to make.
You might say, “I can’t climb stairs; I’m too weak.” Does your choice negate the presenceof a new heart? Dismiss the work of the surgeon? No. Choosing the elevator would suggest only one fact—you haven’t learned to trust your new power. It takes time. But at some point you’ve got to try those stairs. You’ve got to test thenew ticker. You’ve got to experiment with the new you. For if you don’t, you will runout of steam.Religious rule keeping can sap your strength.
It’s endless. There is always another class to attend, Sabbath to obey. No prison is as endless as the prison of perfection. Her inmates find work but never find peace. How could they? They never knowwhen they are finished.Christ, however, gifts you with a finished work. He fulfilled the law for you. Bid farewell to the burden of religion.
Gone is the fear that having done everything, you might not have done enough. You climb the stairs, not by your strength, but his. God pledges to help those who stop trying to help themselves.“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of ChristJesus” (Phil. 1:6.) God will change you from the inside out.
Have a blessed day
His Love and mine
Thank you Louise!!!
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