The Transformational POWER of Christ

What holds us back from the transformational POWER of Christ? Can we identify with this list?

©     Doubt that God can REALLY fix what is wrong in us

©     Fear of the unknown in Christ

©     Pressure from others to live in the world

©     Sin that we have not confessed before the Father

©     Anger that burns in our heart so hot that God doesn’t have much room

©     Bitterness that drives ANY kind of good we may desire away

©     Family that is NOT Christian

These are just a few of the things that keep us from believing in and trusting ON the ‘Transformational POWER of Christ’ and yet the Bible is FULL of the promises that are ours if ONLY we do that very thing. In fact in Ephesians 4:17-24 we are told the following:

 ¹⁷ So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. ¹⁹ Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

 ²⁰ That, however, is not the way of life you learned ²¹ when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. ²² You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

I find it interesting that Paul tells the Church at Ephesus that he ‘insists on it’ concerning what they must do to lead a transformed life in Christ! I love that. Paul was a leader, respected and known as one that was TRANSFORMED by the Lord! He was living out what God had said and desired so deeply that these Christians be able to have that same kind of transformational POWER, that he ‘insisted’ they get a grip!

He was giving them ‘Instructions for Christian Living’ and bringing to them a promise of what God had for them if they did so!

So often we hear it preached and taught about the need to be filled with the desire to follow after Christ in a hungry way that causes us to be made new. Maybe we should ‘insist’ on it and it would make a difference.

Apathy is eating away the core of Christian belief in our churches today. In fact, it is a growing trend and the really scary part of this condition of the heart is that it causes the promises of God to become minimal and teaches us to become complacent in ALL aspects of life! This is surely a tool of Satan because it robs Christians of the ability to really believe the Lord. It robs us of the ability to be TRANSFORMED in Christ! We have to work hard to keep it from happening.

Satan will use the very tools above that are listed above to make us feel like we are not ever going to measure up in Christ. If we feel we never measure up; then transformational POWER in Christ will never be ours.

I REFUSE TO LET THAT HAPPEN and YOU SHOULD TOO! We should all REFUSE to let Satan tell our minds that we don’t matter and we will never add up. Instead we ought to be hiding the Word of God in our hearts and minds and believe that God CAN transform us.

For every action there is a reaction. This statement is old and proven and it holds true even in Christian realms!

What is your reaction to the above points of why we can’t live out the Transformational POWER of Christ? Here are the exact opposites of what we listed out above. Here are the ways to LIVE out that TRANSFORMATIONAL POWER!

©     God CAN really fix what is wrong in our lives! (Ephesians 5:15) Be deliberate in the Lord! Live wisely.

©     If we truly believe that God is ALWAYS with us; we should have no fear of life!  We should find out what pleases the Lord (Ephesians 5:8-10)

©     When we are transformed in God we should have no problem not living like the world! (Ephesians 5:17)

©     We need to ask God for forgiveness of sin EVERY DAY! We ALL sin and need the forgiveness of the Father in order to be filled with Him! It should happen all the time that we are asking God to cleanse us from sin! (Ephesians 5:18)

©     Get rid of ANGER IN OUR HEART! It just keeps us from the Transformational POWER OF Christ! It does not do anything else for us! (Ephesians 4:26-27)

©     The goodness of God is Transformational! When we begin to replace bitterness with goodness we start to heal on the inside. It is medicine for our souls! We should DESIRE that instead of bitterness! Be deliberate in getting rid of bitterness! (Ephesians 4:31-32)

©     When we become a Christian it is an individual choice and as that; we are on our own journey before the Lord and if our family is not part of that; God calls us to be the LIGHT to them. (Ephesians 5:11) God will let the LIGHT we are living in expose itself to our family if they are living in darkness. He does this by us living in the Transformational POWER of Christ! They will see the truth through the Light shining in you!

The Transformational POWER of Christ is meant to be for every living human on this earth! God desires that we get close to Him and choose to live a different life; Transforming our minds and our hearts before Him! Put off the old self and transform your mind and put on the new self! That is what God calls us to!

To live out this life we have in the days we are living in; the only way to do that is by the POWER of Christ. We cannot do it on our own and it is my prayer that we begin to see the POWER of Christ and what it can do in our lives! Take the knowledge we have in Him and begin to live it out minute by minute and then hour by hour and then day by day and before we know it we have become TRANSFORMED in HIS POWER!

It Matters How We Live

Recently I have been involved in a Beth Moore Bible Study on the book of Revelation. While all the studies that she has are very Biblical and good; this one seems to top them all because it reaches right into the heart and helps us see the miracle of God in creating the world and how His plan is magnificent and how He will end it all just like He said. That is all so amazing to me.

The thing that reaches me though in this particular study is that the phrase that she uses over and over again rings so true in our lives as Christians. She says that "it matters how we live".

It really does matter how we live! If we are the Christian that God called us to be; then we are not playing a game; we are living out the testimony that God gives us in our lives. We are either living for Him or against Him. The measure of faith we have in our hearts matter!

Really, these are harsh words; because to follow Christ is difficult and takes a LOT of faith. How we live out our life MATTERS!

Here is a quote that I often refer back to and even wrote in the front of my Bible; "Victorious living is not an instant arrival - It is the pursuit of one victorious day at a time until we begin forming victorious habits in the Lord!"

How true this statement is! Once we become a Christian we do not instantly arrive! It is a work in progress in our heart and mind. Transforming us day by day. That is why it matters how we live! If we are not living out the life that God gives us; then we are not victoriously living at all! We are not sensing the Holy Spirit like we should and we do not have access to His Holy Power!

The Bible says in Psalm 121: 7-8 "The Lord will keep you from all harm - he will watch over your life;  the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore."

I think this is why so many Christians become defeated in their life after they receive Christ. They feel like they did not 'arrive' on the day of Salvation and things only got harder from there! We are not living out the promise of God in believing that he will keep us from all harm! He will watch over our lives and He will watch over our coming and going FOREVERMORE!

When we get saved; it is IMPORTANT to begin right away living out the promise of God. To live each day in victory until it becomes a PATTERN! Over and over again; praying and asking God to forgive sin in our lives and reading His Word...washing our souls in the things that He wants us to know so that He CAN transform us.

The Word of God is FILLED with promises to the believer who chooses the path of walking victoriously every single day of their lives! When we begin to live that out; the peace and strength rain down on us and we are able to see with eyes of faith the love of God and apply it all to our lives. One victorious day after another until we are changed.

It takes 21 days to form a habit. Take the next 21 days and begin to apply the Word of God to our lives; living each day in victory until living in victory becomes the habit of our heart! It really does matter how we live.

Here is a promise from the Word to apply to our hearts for the next 21 days: Deuteronomy 6:5-7 "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

Can you imagine how transformed and victorious we would be if we REALLY applied this great truth to our life for 21 days? To read the Word of God daily and talk about it and tell our kids, our spouse and our families. To talk about the Word at home and when we are going somewhere and when we lie down and when we get up? THIS is how we get to be victorious people in the Lord! THIS is how we begin to change and transform our lives and THIS is the way that we develop a sense of love for those who don't know this great truth!

So you see it does MATTER HOW WE LIVE! It is the most important decision we will ever make with our lives.

This life we live now will not last forever; so we should be a people that believe God and follow after Him! Begin today to change your life and LIVE LIKE GOD INTENDS because it does matter how you live your life!

Don't You Just LOVE A Secret!

I just don't know ANYONE who does not just love hearing a secret! Ever wonder where secret telling came from?

As I focus on the Life of Christ during this Easter Season, I realize as I read the Gospel of Christ; Jesus shares many secrets with the disciples and gives them knowledge that later in life they are going to use over and over again to win souls to the Lord.

In the Parables Jesus would tell a story to the people that relate to the day so that they can understand what He is saying and tie it all into how much God loves them and wants them to believe. Later, when it is just Jesus and the disciples, they ask Him what He means in these Parables and He shares the background of the stories He is telling.

What a beautiful picture for us! Jesus explaining God's Plan to these 12 so that they understand what they are really receiving when they receive Christ!

In Mark chapter 4 Jesus shares the Parable of the Sower and afterward in verse 10 the disciples ask Jesus about the Parables and Jesus shares these profound words: "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you."... Jesus goes on to teach the disciples to share the Truth of God with others. To share the SECRET with as many as will hear.

He does the same for us! Jesus wants us to share the secret of our faith. What makes you hang on to Jesus today? He wants you to share that with someone who needs to hear. That is the whole point of the Gospel. What has Jesus saved you from? Has He healed you? Has He given you something that no man can take? Has He carried you through the worst time of your life? These are things that we should be sharing with as many people as will listen! The beautiful story of how God saved you is YOUR story and secret to whisper to someone who is hurting or needy or just doesn't feel loved.

What powerful lessons we have to learn from the Savior! You see, even in Biblical times; Jesus KNEW people loved a good secret and to Him; the best secret of all is what God has done for us!

Paul also knew the secret and shared it everywhere he went! Philippians 4:12-13 says "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." 

You and I can do EVERYTHING through Him who gives us strength! What a powerful secret to know! We have been given the greatest gift and Jesus calls it a secret ONLY known to those who know Him.

We have an ability to share the GREATEST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO US in a mighty way...are you sharing the secret today?

The LOVE of God Through The Cross

When the Easter season arrives I am always mindful of Jesus and what He has done for us. I spend extra time in the four Gospels walking down the roads with Jesus and imagining what it must have been like living those three and a half years with Him.

He took twelve men and taught them everything that would help them be who He said they were. It is a beautiful picture of us. This is the picture of us because we can see who God says we are too! Jesus spent so much time teaching these twelve how to respond, how to capture the POWER of God, how to heal, how to know who needs Jesus, how to love unconditionally and the list could go on and on because the Love of God is never ending!

The picture of God is never ending because His plan has ALWAYS been to redeem mankind since the beginning of time. Every thing in the Word of God is woven together with Love and it is wrapped up in His Son Jesus.

As I read through the Gospels I get a birdseye view of the different aspects of Jesus through the eyes of these four different men who were inspired of God to write Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Matthew announces Jesus as King, Mark presents Him as Servant, Luke focuses on Him as Man and John highlights Him as God. Jesus is our perfect model in each of these roles.

In John 8:12 Jesus says "I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

He taught twelve men to follow close after Him, depend on Him, love Him and find their joy in Him. He wants to teach us the same things. The Gospels are our model on how to live victoriously in Jesus Christ!

Do we believe that today? Are we depending on Jesus to teach us how to live and how to help others?

The life of Christ ultimately leads to the Cross where He redeems mankind forever and it is such a significant point in the history of the world that we simply MUST take the time as Christians to especially remember during this season what has been done for each of us!

The Bible says in John 15:16-17 "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you ..."

Jesus CHOSE us! What a beautiful thing! I hope that today you KNOW who you are in Christ and what He has done for you! Spend some time reading in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Find out just what Jesus did for us and let Him wash over you in such a way that you feel the Mighty Rushing Power of the Lord!

"When we look into the face of the Almighty God; we see His Glory; but when we look at the Cross of Jesus Christ we see God's HEART for us!"

I pray that today you see the Love of God through the Cross of Christ!