"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." II Corinthians 5:17 NKJV
Some of you may not know this, but I'm a hot rod fanatic. I love everything about it. From taking a plain jane looking car and tricking it out to where it doesn't even look like the same car. In 1994, my family and I moved to Southern Illinois to minister in a small farming community of six thousand people. It was so much fun driving through the countryside and seeing old classic cars sitting out by the barns rusting away. I'd get so excited that I would tell my wife, "Wow! Look at that!"
She would look at me like I had fallen off my rocker.. LOL .. because all she could see was a rusted out and broken down car. But I saw a fully restored car, with a custom black paint job, along with bright yellow and red flames, along with a fully custom and tricked out interior, and a motor that would make a NASCAR engine seem tamed. Then to finish it off beautiful tires and rims - of course the rear tires would be 17 inches wide, tucked inside the rear fender wells. What a beautiful car that would be! God is like that with us. The world may see a broken individual, but God sees a totally amazing and wonderful human being.
Today's passage of scripture, explains perfectly what happens to us once we have received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Everything about us begins to change. Jesus enters into us and begins to work on the "Restoration and Rebuild" of our lives. Just as I do a complete once over to note what area needs work, so does Jesus. He gives us the once over and makes notes of what areas He needs to send His restoration specialist - the Holy Spirit - to rebuild make better than before. Then the areas that don't need work, the Holy Spirit makes it stronger and better than it's ever been. It's like adding a turbocharger and a 500 horse power shot of nitrous to a Chrysler 426 hemi motor. So, to break it down for all of us to understand, once we ask Jesus into our hearts to be our Lord and Savior, we begin to change. Our change is the process of submitting ourselves to the empowering and restoration power of the Holy-Spirit. He works in every aspect of our lives. He looks into our lives and wherever we need work, He guides us through the process of renewal. For instance, if we need patience in our lives, He will bring us into situations where we learn to be patient. The "New Creation" process is not "BAM" and we are now that "perfect" person - I wish it was :-) - but it doesnt happen that way. Just as the passage says "old things have passed away" - the "old things" in our lives begin to fade away so that "all things have become new." Our attitudes and habits that aren't pleasing to God will fade away, so that all the "new things" which are pleasing to God will take root and begin to flourish in our lives. The exciting thing is that as long as we submit ourselves to God and are obedient to the leading, guiding and directing of the Holy Spirit, we will become the most awesome and incredible individuals for Jesus Christ. So, let's continue to submit our lives to the Holy Spirit so He can continue to make us into the "new creations" that God has promised we will become.
Have a blessed day in the Lord!
Brother Rick
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I absolutely loved this devotional, Brother Rick. It reminds me of a time when one of my loved ones was at the very beginning of her walk with the Lord. Broken down from bad decisions and beaten at her own misguided game of life (much like all of us, eh?), she cried in agony over the pain that followed the crucifixion of her flesh. As she learned to live life apart from her drug addictions she begged me to tell her why God would put her through the pain she was, at that time, enduring. "Change doesn't happen overnight," I gently told her as her tears became my own. The wall of sin we spend years constructing, God must tear down, but because He knows we couldn’t handle the destruction of every brick at once, He removes them one at a time. How completely considerate of Him to lead us slowly. I honestly hadn’t thought about it like this until I read your devotional today, so thank you for the enlightening message. I’m reminded of my own walk with Him and the slow process it has been, not for Him, but for me, to get from where I once was to the here and now. Though I’m nowhere close to where and who I want to be, I am, thankfully, miles away from the broken girl of my yesterdays. I look back over the changes and growth and imagine Him doing everything overnight. I would truly have been crushed under the pressure. Wow. I find myself suddenly grateful for His seemingly slow methods of change.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, in my own case I reached out to God for the first time in 2007. From that time until today I have gone through so many emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical changes. It has literally taken these last four years to get me from where I started to here with you all today. I still remember the nights I would go outside and look up at the sky with tears streaming down my cheeks. “God? Are you up there somewhere? If you exist, can you let me know?” were the doubtful questions I began asking. A short time later, my words changed to “God, I believe you’re out there somewhere, so can you help me?” In time they changed again, and then again, and then again. Today, they’re more along the lines of “Father, thank You so much for choosing me to serve You. Teach me Your ways and show me how to glorify You today. God, change me into the woman You’ve created me to be.” I wonder how overwhelming life would be if that first night God transported me to today, bypassing the last four years. What if our growth was instantaneous like that, rather than gradual? How utterly boring and uneventful that would be, not to mention overwhelming to the point of destruction. We simply could not handle the pressure from that kind of rapid transformation, and even if we could the adventure would be gone. It’s funny, until I read your devotional and began to write my response, I’ve always complained about the length of time involved in “change,” especially inner change, but here in this moment, I’m so completely grateful that He takes His time.
I honestly don’t have proper words to describe the impact today’s devotional had on me, so I’ll leave it as a most heartfelt thank you. Thank you for leaving me so inspired and grateful.