Change for God?

What about you is not Christlike? Can you do anything to change yourself and if so, what? In your own power you can do nothing to change yourself; however, if you allow the Lord to have control in your life and to work out His will in you, then you will not only be changed but transformed! But how do you allow the Lord to work His will in you? By yielding to the Holy Spirit, by focusing on Him throughout the day, by allowing Him to renew your mind as you read the Word, by persevering no matter what the season to follow His guidance, and by obeying His commands: by daily bearing your cross and following the Lord. Continual surrender (yielding and submission) to the Lord requires a daily decision, not just a single decision.

Giving Everything to the Lord

            This great bearing of your cross and following the Lord, surrender, results in the “purging” of the flesh, which is your evil, natural nature. It takes determination, perseverance, the fear of God, and love in order to daily bear our cross for Christ. It is a hard process (Matt. 7:13-14), it hurts our flesh; yet Christ’s burden really is light and His yoke easy compared to the weight of carrying our own sin.  But beware, the penalty of not daily carrying your cross and following Christ is backsliding; because without daily carrying that cross and following Jesus, you will drift, even though you may continue to attend a church. Carrying your cross daily is a mark of your personal commitment to the Lord and following the Lord daily is an assurance of the relationship that you have with Him. After you have run the race, daily having taken up that cross and followed the Lord, you will receive the eternal prize! (1 Cor. 9:24-27 & 2 Tim. 4:6-8)

Real Christianity isn’t something you live sometimes; and it isn’t just a mindset that you develop as a result of looking toward CHRIST as the supreme authority, standard, and model of the way that we should live our lives, as well as, listening to His Spirit; instead it is all those things in addition to daily bearing our cross and daily following the Lord.