Radical Transformation

When Almighty God moves into a life, we can expect a radical transformation. The speed at which this occurs depends on our willingness to totally surrender to His will.

Our spirit is immediately changed, brought from the state of death in sin to alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:1). The next step is sanctification in our soul, which takes a lifetime for most people (1 Corinthians 6:10-11; 2 Corinthians 5:17).

We come as we are, and jump up on the operation table of God's grace; so that His Word can separate our soul and spirit (Hebrews 4:12). We facilitate the process as we actively decrease, so that He may increase (John 3:30).

God calls us to die daily to our fleshly desires and to work out our own salvation; but at the same time He makes it clear that it is His Spirit that actually does the work (Philippians 2:12-13; Ephesians 4:22-24).

God created us to imitate Christ and to walk in true holiness by repenting of every sin. We cooperate as the Spirit sanctifies us. We live, move and have our entire being in Him (Acts 17:28).

He forgives us and calls us to submit to the Spirit as He transform us into the divine nature of Christ (2 Peter 1:4). We mature spiritually and this conversion consumes every area of our life (Galatians 2:20).

We relinquish our cares to Him, because He really does care for us (1 Peter 5:7). We stop worrying and walk in His peace. When we pray, we give thanks for all that God already did in our life (Philippians 4:6-7).

Jesus encouraged us not to work to attain the things of this world that rust and spoil; but to seek food that endures throughout eternity (John 6:26-27; Isaiah 55:2). We long for Him like the deer panting for the water brook until we joyfully experience His presence within us every moment of the day (Psalm 42:1-2; Acts 3:19).

Prayer:

Father God, You made it possible for us to eat the body and drink the blood of Jesus Christ (Psalm 34:8). Taking Him into our being and consuming Him in an intimate relationship where we two become one. This provides us with eternal life now, and You will also raise us up on our last day on earth in order to dwell with You for eternity (John 6:34). 

Only You can satisfy our longing and fill our hungry soul (Psalm 107:9). Your Word gives us milk as new born babies (1 Peter 2:2). Jesus is the Bread of Life on which we feast as we mature (John 6:35). Then, like Jesus, our food is to do Your will every moment of our life (John 4:34). Prepare our hearts, lead us, fill us with Your presence and Spirit and provide for our every need as we make the radical transition from worm to butterfly.

Thought for the Day:

In Christ, His whole body fits together in perfect harmony, supporting one another, growing together spiritually, loving one another as Christ loves us, and all of us functioning in the ministry into which He calls us. - Ephesians 4:16, 2:10

I do not Feel God's Presence - The Main Reason

 

There is a big difference between Conviction and Conversion in a person's life. I want to explain the difference to you in case you may have been convicted, but never converted.

If we say that we are saved, but our life is not transformed, and we do not feel His Spirit within us or see a difference in our thoughts and behavior, we were convicted, but not converted.

Believing in our mind is not enough, because even Satan believes and trembles” (James 2:19).

There are many examples of good people in the Bible who thought they were saved, but they never had a personal relationship with Jesus. (Matthew 7:21, 25:11; Luke 6:46, 13:25). 

Satanic strongholds in our life may keep us struggling with our walk with the Lord. Maybe God told you to stop doing something that grieves His Spirit, but you are still doing it. Then, you will not feel God's presence (Psalm 32:3-5).

Possibly, you are more interested in what God can do for you, rather than what you can do for God. Your motive in believing may be to change your circumstances, but God calls us to first change our heart and obey Him (John 14:15, 23).

We cannot save our self, we need God to save us through Jesus' sacrifice on Calvary's cross. God is not our servant, but we are His servants.

He is not the granter of our wishes or requests, we serve Him whether He gives us what we ask for or not, because He is God and He is worthy.

Prayer:

Sincerely pray, giving ALL of your life to God and holding nothing back for yourself:

"Lord Jesus, I do not want to live my life as a slave to myself, sin or Satan. I ask You for Your forgiveness and that You save me completely. I relinquish my sinful nature to You.

"I dedicate my life to You. I submit my life to Your Holy Spirit to live within me, to change me from the inside out and to direct me through each moment of my day. Please keep me away from anything, which might take Your place in my heart. In Jesus' name and for Your glory. Amen."

Though for the Day:

If we are double-minded in our prayer for salvation, and not sincere, nothing will change; we are still lost in sin for eternity. - John 3:18, 5:24; Hebrews 3:19

Communicating Strong Emotions

Read: Ephesians 4:21-32

“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.” - Ephesians 4: 15

In times of communication, God recommends that we are quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger (James 1:19). Anger is actually a God-given emotion used to protect us from injury, but not to inflict injury on other people. Anger is a flag to let us know that something is wrong. The feelings of anger in our soul inform us that someone else’s behavior is offensive to us. God cautions us, however, to be slow to express it, and to guard against crossing over into sinful behavior with this possibly volatile emotion (Ephesians 4:26).

After conversion, God taught me to articulate my emotions with rational words rather than to curse at the person hurting my feelings. However, even after I eliminated profanity from my vocabulary, I still exploded in anger when someone’s words or behavior caused a fearful or insecure reaction in my soul. I used excessive anger to protect myself from perceived injustices. My anger struck hot and quickly like a volcano, and I left just as many deep scars behind in my wake.

God has an alternate plan of action for us. Rather than to explode in anger, we can rationally communicate to the other person that what they just did or said is not acceptable to us. People will behave toward us in the way in which we teach them to treat us. If we allow others to abuse us - verbally, mentally or physically - we are inviting more of that same behavior into our future. However, we can develop a habit of using premeditated wording to express our feelings, rather than to use hasty, angry words to verbally attack the offending party.

Rather than to respond with anger, I learned to say:

“I feel afraid when you …”
“I feel like you spend more time with …. than with me. I need more of your attention.”
“Thank you for your opinion, but I do not agree with you. Can we agree to disagree?”
“I will walk away if you say/do that again.”
“I think that you misunderstood the meaning behind my words/actions. Let me further explain to you how I feel (or why I took that action).”

In the face of confrontation, I still make it known in no uncertain terms that the offensive behavior is not acceptable to me. However, I attempt to respond with a confident, businesslike and resolute manner rather than to erupt in anger. Even in the face of a verbal onslaught, I state my feelings more clearly with firm, calm words rather than with angry, irrational ones. My husband and I even use a notebook to write out our feelings to one another. This way we do not speak off the top of our head and potentially hurt one another. It is easier to think before we write than it is to think before we speak!

Some people may never learn to accept what we say; and they may never change their behavior towards us. These people are not safe. We need a firm boundary between them and us. It is better to steer a wide path around such people who tend to abuse us, rather than to constantly put ourselves in harm’s way. When we take a step back and look at their actions from a spiritual frame of mind, we can pray for them and also about our response to them. Then we can speak firmly, but kindly in the face of any imposition from them or any attack from them against us.

Through practice, I learned to stand up for myself without hiding behind fierce anger and coarse words as protection against what I perceive as an assault (Ephesians 5:4). God encourages us to live at peace with everyone (Romans 12:18). We cannot ever control another person’s actions or responses towards us, but we can put distance between an abusive person and us. We do not need to overreact and divorce the person or end a friendship, but we can separate and work on reconciliation between us through counseling and calm discussions.

I also now take my hurt feelings to the Lord before I talk to anyone else. He helps me to forgive the offender and to pray for their blessing, whether they ever respond positively to me or not. How they feel about me or what they think of me has no bearing on who I am or on my relationship with my Lord and Savior. In reality, His opinion of me is the only one that really matters.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, help me to put away slander, malice, coarse words and explosive anger. Remind me to use positive words to communicate how I feel and how I want to be treated. Help me to speak up for what I want and need without resorting to using negative emotions or exploding in anger. 

Thought for the Day:

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” - Proverbs 25:11

Convicted, But Not Converted

Read: 1 John 2:3-6 

"Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us.' But he answered and said, 'Verily I say unto you, I know you not.'" - Matt 25:11-12

There is a big difference between Conviction and Conversion in a person's life. I want to explain the difference to you in case you may have been convicted, but never converted. Satanic strongholds in our life may keep us struggling with our walk with the Lord, but we may also be hindered because we do not have a personal relationship with the Lord.

If we say that we are saved, but our life is not transformed, we were convicted, but not converted. Conversion starts our conformity into the image of Christ. He renews our minds and changes our behavior daily. If after a few months, you are the same person you were before praying for Christ to be your savior, you are not converted; you are not born again; you are not saved.

Believing is not enough. “You do well to believe in God. Satan also believes...and trembles” (James 2:19). There are many examples of good people in the Bible who thought they were saved, but they never had a relationship with God. (Matt 7:21, Matt 25:11, Luke 6:46, Luke 13:25). 

One way to know for sure if you are saved is because Born Again people cannot live in sin (1 John 2:3-6, James 1:12-16, 1 John 3:7-10). Therefore, if you continue to live in sin, as these verses all clearly state, it shows that you belong to Satan. If you were born again into the family of God, you would not make a practice of sinning. You could not keep on sinning as a way of life. You might fall into sin once, or even twice, but then your heart would break and you would run from sin, because you would realize that you are breaking God’s heart with every sin (John 5:18-21).

Sometimes people, places, things or even animals take the place of God in our heart. You form an unholy physical tie and/or “soul” tie ~ with your mind, will and emotions ~ with that person or item and you dishonor yourself and your family and the family of God (Eph 5:1-7, Heb 10:26-31, Rom 6:1-4).

If you are an authentic Christian, you could walk away from sin, sometimes with the help of counseling, and serve God, because the power of sin would be broken in your life by the power of Christ's sacrifice on the Cross. If, by your own admission, you are still a slave to sin and addicted to it, you are not Born Again by the Spirit of God. This proves that sin’s power was never broken in you because you did not completely surrender your life to God through Salvation.

In the same way that God can heal your broken heart, He can also save your soul, if you completely surrender to Him. Every part of yourself that you hold back from God is controling your life. You have to give Him ALL of you. If there is an unholy soul tie keeping you addicted to this sin, you are giving Satan permission to wreak havoc in your life through your lack of willingness to surrender this area of your life to God. Do not try to keep control of any part of your life, surrender it all to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

You see, at some time in the past you got convicted, you said the sinner’s prayer, you went to church, you talk to God and He continually tries to draw you to Himself, but there was no transformation in you. You are not living a converted life. You are not yet saved from the power of sin. According to these verses, your lifestyle proves that you are lost and going to hell. If anyone tells you differently, they are deceiving you and they do not love you enough to tell you the truth.

However, there is good news! You can repent right now. You can walk away from sin, give God control of every part of your life, and ask God to forgive you and change your heart. Then you will have a converted life. If you are double-minded in your prayer and not sincere, you will change nothing by praying a prayer, going to church, serving in a ministry, talking to God, getting baptized or even tithing your income. You will just be doing good works, and that does not get you into heaven (Eph 2:8, Rom 6:12-14, Matt 5:27-30, Rom 7:13).

If you are a child of God, He will discipline you when you live in sin until you repent and change your ways. You will understand that you are nailing the nails back into His hands with every sin you commit. You are shoving that crown of thorns back on His head by your sin. You are sticking the sword in His side again by your sin. You are hanging Him on the cross to die again by your sin. You are also setting yourself up to sin unto death (1 John 5:16).

There is a difference between reaping what you sow and being disciplined by God. If you live in sin and reap the results, God is not disciplining you and bringing you back to Himself, or pruning you to bear more fruit, because you are not yet His child. God is drawing you to Himself right now, but if you harden your heart against Him over and over, you will stop hearing His voice after a while. You will turn a deaf ear to God and become totally sold out to sin. You will continue to live as a slave to Satan. Do you really want to do that?

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I do not want to live my life as a slave to myself, sin or Satan. I ask You for Your forgiveness. I ask You to save me completely. I relinquish my sinful nature to You. I dedicate my life to You. I submit my life to the Holy Spirit to live within me, to change me from the inside out and to direct me moment by moment throughout the day.

Thought for the Day:
We are saved, not to sin but to serve.





Many thanks to Tonia Neil for the use of her photo...