A Surrendered Life

 

Once we are Born Again, we are one Spirit with Christ who dwells within us (1 Corinthians 6:17). He strengthens us to continually overcome the sinful desires and evil spirits that threaten and tempt our flesh (1 John 5:4; 2 Corinthians 2:14; Romans 8:37).

Every time Satan finds something to use to tempt us to sin, it is an idol in our life. These remaining secret unconfessed and unsurrendered sins still dwell in us, which the Spirit has not yet brought to our attention.

We brought those idols with us from our old life and they are still causing issues now in our new life (Genesis 31:34; 2 Corinthians 5:17). God calls us to willing lay down these secret sins as His Spirit draws them to our attention.

He will complete the work He started in our soul, just as He did in our spirit and will also do with our future immortal body (Philippians 1:6). Daily, He carries out His work of perfection until there is no longer any entrenched sin in our body or soul.

We simply enter Christ’s rest each moment of our day and submit to His Spirit’s mercy, grace and direction (Colossians 1:27, 2:2). As we walk in the Spirit moment by moment, we will never fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5:15-25).

Then, God’s Spirit and the divinity of Christ within us renovate our thoughts, choices and emotions from carnal ones to those, which are spiritually minded (Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:23).

Prayer:

Father God, without You in our life we are hopeless and undone (John 15:5). We thank You for giving us Your Spirit to perfect us day by day. We thank You for Jesus’ life and character that overcomes unrighteousness within us and presents us as a spotless Bride (2 Corinthians 4:7).

As we mature spiritually and enjoy a deeper and more intimate relationship with You, we will more clearly see Your purpose in our life. We learn to rejoice during trials and times of difficulty, because we know that patience is having her perfect work in us and seasons of great victory follow seasons of spiritual battle.

Thought for the Day:

Rather than box with the winds of adversity, we embrace them; the Bible has current answers for us regardless of the questions that plague our mind, if we will only take the time to search them out.

Transformed into the Mind of Christ

As the Holy Spirit perfects us, instead of looking at trials with a carnal mind, we view them with the mind of Christ. God’s divinity within us turns any trials into a momentary and light affliction (2 Corinthians 4:17).

Most people spend more time believing that God is going to give them what they want and do not have, rather than in focusing on His will for them moment by moment throughout each new day.

The more we look to the future, the more we waste the present. When we view our present trials as part of God’s will for us, we find Him in the midst of them (Romans 12:2).

Jesus asks us to separate our self from the human realm of life, even while we still live in it (John 15:19). We physically live in the world, but we do not belong to any part of it (John 17:14-15).

We find this place of spiritually mindedness by realizing that our humanity is dead in Christ, and we no longer live, but Christ lives in and through us (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3).

Jesus already overcame any negative aspect we could ever experience in this life, and He dwells in us with all of the power of our triune God (John 16:33).

We walk in His victory as we experience each trial as a new adventure, which God brings our way. God uses these trials to transform us out of the earthly sphere into His spiritual Kingdom (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Prayer:

Father God, You gave us the life we have, just as it is right now. You want us to allow You to shine through us in it, rather than for us to wait around for something we think we need. Help us to learn to be content in Your provision for our daily needs, rather than wanting something different or more (Philippians 4:11).

Remind us to focus on what is eternal rather than on that which is earthly, because reality is only found in You. You do not promise us tomorrow; so help us to give You all of our self in this moment, without holding back anything or worrying about the future in any way.

Thought for the Day:

When we love the things of this world, we do not have the love of the Father in us. - 1 John 2:15

Meekness and Grace

God's Spirit slowly transforms our life in Christ from one stage of glory to the next until we have the mind, character and nature of Christ in us (Romans 1:1, 6:18).

We are no longer slaves to the negative attributes of our human personality, but we are free indeed (John 8:36). We grow in meekness and grace in order to live in total surrender to the loving hands of the Master Potter (Isaiah 64:8).

God's Spirit teaches us to draw near to God and to resist Satan's temptations, so that he has to flee from us (James 4:7). We no longer live as slaves to sin, dancing to the beat of Satan's tune.

We are free to live in Jesus' holiness and righteousness, which He exchanged with us for our sin (2 Corinthians 5:17). We no longer live in habitual sin (1 John 3:9), because Christ poured out His love for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8).

God reconciled us to Himself through Christ's sacrifice on Calvary's cross (Colossians 1:20). He molds us into a spotless Bride for His Son. We end up as a glorious Bride without any blemish or wrinkle (Ephesians 5:27).

As we maintain our daily focus on Christ, He authors and completes our salvation in spirit, soul and eventually in body (Hebrews 12:2; James 1:4). We live in union with Christ and we purpose to further God's Kingdom in the earth (Luke 2:49).

Like Jesus, we can do nothing from our own strength, wisdom or resources. We need our Father, our Savior and their Spirit. We are one with them now and throughout eternity (John 5:19, 10:30).

Prayer:

Father God, Jesus has Your mind and through His presence within us, we share Your mind as well (1 Corinthians 2:16). Our union with You increases and deepens as we keep our mind on You (Isaiah 26:3). Help us to repent of our dependence on our human wisdom and understanding, which limits our usefulness in Your Kingdom.

We want to walk away from our humanity, including our goals and good works, and embrace Your divinity within us. Teach us to follow Your Spirit as He guides us through every step of our day until we learn to acknowledge You in all of our ways (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Thought for the Day:

We can learn to fellowship with the Trinity and to listen to God’s Spirit within us as we put on the mind of Christ and accomplish His will for each moment of our life.