We either invite in, or
shut out, God. Discipline
fails. God’s
Spirit, working in me, is a winning combination.
#1. God is
holy.
#2. Jesus
is God revealed.
The Holy Spirit does this.
#3. Jesus
is Lord and Savior—the heart of the gospel.
#4. Now
what? I
can become like Christ—Romans 8:29—predestined to
become conformed to the image of God’s Son.
Philippians
2—gospel in a nutshell.
It is preceded by this
statement (v. 5):
“Let this attitude be in you that was in Christ
Jesus....” The
passage culminates in verses 7 to 9.
Ephesians
4:22-24—true righteousness and holiness.
We need a compelling
vision for this life.
God wants to further His kingdom. “To be made
new” is equivalent to “to continually renovate” [like
a home].
Continuous efforts at
improvement, through the strength and guidance of the
Holy Spirit, fills the time between salvation
and heaven. What
God has produced in me is the only treasure that will
last through the cleansing fire of the Bema seat
judgment.
Philippians
2:12-13 says for me to perform
(actual meaning of the words, “work out”) my salvation
with fear (reverence) and trembling (total yielding to
the weight of His yoke--Romans
12:1-2), for it is God (the Holy Spirit) who
energizes me for effective effort. We must
decide to follow Him, just as we decided to accept
him. It
is often, and truly said, “If Jesus is not Lord of
All, He is not Lord at all.” Who can gainsay God? His ways
are above our ways, but we have the mind of Christ--back to Philippians 2:5 (see also 1
Corinthians 2:16).
Now, getting rid of
ingrained habits is liking moving a hill in order to
re-landscape. There
are four options when you move a hill.
1.
Don’t do it. (Try that for 3-4 years!)
2.
Move by hand.
3.
Use a shovel.
4.
Use a tractor/earth mover
We submit ourselves to
God—moving in the revealed position of righteousness
in Christ Jesus (Romans
3:22).
When we are “in Christ,” we are
in superhero mode
(think: the power of the tractor/earth mover). See 2 Cor 5:17-18 and Philippians 3:12-14.
__________________________________________________
~Blessings,
Mike