2 Corinthians 5:17 If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.
This new person may not look different immediately on the outside, but inside, God has made him a new person in Christ. The new person has a new love in his life, The Lord Jesus; and a new book, the Bible; and a new companion, the Holy Spirit of God.
He brought me out of the miry clay
He set my feet on the Rock to stay
He puts a in my soul today
A son of praise, hallelujah!
Henry J. Zelley
There's so much we don't know. Though we don't doubt the hand of God on our lives, we don't always feel it. But what we feel is not the test of what we know.
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Scripture doesn't say that we know how God works, but that He does. Everything in every sphere is under the control of God. That's breath-taking. Every event of life for the child of God is either planned or permitted by God.
If we are to claim the comforting promise of Romans 8:28, we must allow God to fulfill the next verse in our lives. We are to be "conformed to the image of His Son". Only God can perform that in us, and we must let Him.
A new-born Christian is not reformed by individual efforts. Even if he or she could change themselves, they would mess it up because they would take the credit. The change believers so desparately need and want in their lives comes in the person of Christ residing within them.
Ephesians 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith . . .
1 John 4:4 Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.
Christ within gives us a desire for holiness, for God, and for heaven. It's not that we can't sin again -- we can. But we don't want to.
When I am weak, scared, and uncertain, that's when I feel the power of God's strength the most. Piercing dark clouds of fear, a ray of light forces its way, exposing my Lord ever so near with assurance.
2 Corinthians 12:9 . . . My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
God's unmerited grace is sovereign and sufficient to save, sustain, and strengthen us.
The apostle Paul wouldn't allow his weakness to take him out of the ministry.
2 Corthians 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
Sometimes God has to bring us to utter weakness so we will know His strength.
