You can truly change. You can honestly be... set free. 

 You can be transformed. You can become something you are not, and actually become what you were called to be which was what God intended and designed you to be: Like Him. (Gen. 2:17) (Please note: I did not say you would ‘be God’, but you would be ‘like God’. We call that ‘godliness’) 

 It is not delusional dreaming or wishful thinking to believe that you really could be different, in a better way. 

 Being transformed by the power of God is not some unattainable goal wrapped up in poetic language or figurative speech. 

 We are not talking about spiritual ‘smoke and mirrors’ to trick you. It goes well beyond learning ‘church jargon’ and wearing pseudo-spiritual attire that gives you an outward appearance of being ‘sheep-like’ but inwardly, you know not much has changed. 

 And it is not about giving you a ‘brighter personality-paint-job’ either. 

 Peter described it as becoming a ‘partaker of His divine nature’. (2 Pet. 1:4) 

 Paul wrote that IF....IF...IF... anyone is ‘In Christ, he is a new creation’. (2 Cor. 5:17) 

 Romans 8:29 tells you exactly what the ‘finished product’ is going to look like: You were ‘predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” How else are we going to be able to ‘walk just like Jesus walked’? (1 John 2:6) (Not to mention 'love others', like He did.)

 And here’s the small print that you are not taught: This all is supposed to happen BEFORE...you ‘get to heaven’. (1 John 3:2 & 4:17; Matt. 5:8; Heb. 12:14) 

 That, my friends is a pretty powerful promise that sadly, so many people sitting on church pews today have been taught to 'aim for'...yet while having been conditioned to mostly confess and sing about it, have fallen so far short of ‘attaining’ it...for a host of reasons. 

 And one of the biggest of those reasons has been we were not taught the ‘full cost’ of how we experience this supernatural, God-infused transformation. You have to be ‘all in’. Which means you first have to die. There can be no ‘walking in the newness of life’ until there is a ‘putting to death’ of the old. (Rom. 6:4; John 12:24). 

 I’m sure you would agree that it would take some pretty impressive power to bring about this kind of transformation, would it not? Maybe that is why Paul alluded there in his second letter to Timothy that so many people in the last days, (that he describes as being ‘perilous times’), would have a ‘form of godliness...but deny the power’. (3:1-5). The traits or fruit he describes being prevalent there seem to be all those ‘evident deeds of the flesh’ (Gal. 5:19-21) that was supposed to be put to death. 

 That’s what Jesus came to do...lead us to die to ourselves...taking up our own cross as He demonstrated Himself. We have to follow Him...with our whole heart. He leads us to ‘die’, so that we might ‘live’. This is how you know who the true children of God are...they are ‘led by His Spirit, (Rom. 8:14) and His Spirit leads us to put to death...all the deeds of the sinful flesh nature. (Rom. 8:13; Gal. 5:24); and not just the ones you are willing to let go of. 

 This Christian walk of obedience, that means we ‘abide in Him’, is not some ‘Hokey-Pokey’ dance where we ‘keep one foot in and the other foot out’. My goodness we have tried our best to make that happen and have worn ourselves out with religious activity that leaves us so far short of becoming what Jesus came to do in us. (Matt. 7:21-23) 

 IF there was one single ‘key’ that guarantees this kind of divine transformation the bible speaks of, it can be found in the one statement made by Mary to the servants at that wedding who were desperately in need of more wine. She told them: “Whatever He (Jesus) says to you, do it!” (John 2:5). It is no accident that the very first miracle Jesus performed was changing water in to wine, and ‘good wine’ at that. (10) ;- ) IT as a miracle of transformation.

 Would you like to see an ‘encore’? – Give Him your whole heart. Be. All. In. 

 No caterpillar who fails to be fully cocooned will change in to what it was designed to become, which is a butterfly. (yesterday’s post) 

 Yes...the promise He offers is ‘abundant life’. (John 10:10). We all like to sign up for that. It’s that having to ‘die first’ that spooks most of us and we go looking for an alternative route. (John 6:66; Matt. 19:22) And there are many. (2 Cor. 11:2-4) That other path may be the wide one that Jesus said ‘many’ would be walking on, but seemingly unaware of what awaits them. (Matt. 7:13-14) 

 Ever notice how we all love to quote Jeremiah 29:11 regarding all these great plans God has for us...but we never want to talk about the follow up verses there that suggest we turn to Him with our whole heart. (12-14 & 24:6-7). Yeah...another reason why God’s people are ‘destroyed for a lack of knowledge’. (Hosea 4:6) 

 Yesterday, I left off describing in detail just how...we ‘put to death’ the deeds of the sinful flesh nature. This is the ‘boot camp’ we all must walk through if we expect God to ‘clean us up’ before He empowers us to influence the world around us. (Luke 4:14; Acts 1:8) 

 When we first come to Him, we are a mess. Our hearts are corrupted and defiled and there is ‘no good thing in us’. (Jer. 17:9; Mark 7:22-24; Rom. 7:18). I know we don’t like to address this part about our old nature, but we are talking about ‘unclean spirits’ that operated in us. (Eph. 2:1-3). They are those ‘Canaanite nations on the land’...that need to come off. Call them ‘spiritual germs’ if you like, but they need to be dealt with, if you want to be made whole (John 5:6). That is what Jesus came to do. (Acts 10:38; 26:18). And just like Joshua led the Israelites in to the promised land where those wicked nations would be dealt with ‘one at a time’, so does Jesus lead us to put to death all the misdeeds of this sinful nature that is tied up in our inner being, or ‘heart’. 

 As I shared yesterday, the Holy Spirit will begin to shine light of conviction and exposure in your heart/life with areas He will begin to deal in. The best thing for us to do is not argue with Him, or try to justify or explain or make excuses for...like what Saul did (1 Sam. 15). (Post from a few days ago) 

 When you truly have come to a place of complete surrender, there is the acknowledgement of His Lordship over your life, and you ‘do what He says’. (Luke 6:46) 

 Do you struggle with irritability...or anger or impatience? Many do. It reflects the nature of Satan, not God. It is the ‘wrong fruit’. Quit trying to blame your parents for ‘being this way’. Just agree with God...confess it...renounce it...and turn (repent) from it in your heart. In that very moment that you do, it is then that by faith, the blood of Christ is ‘applied’ to that area in your life. And that ‘spirit of anger’ or ‘impatience’ has to go. This is the effect that the ‘wonder working power of the blood of Christ’ has in us. That ‘influence’ is removed in the same way the Canaanite nation was removed from the land’ and you ...go in and ‘possess that territory’. 

 You will most likely experience this peace and rest that will come over you and reside in you as you ‘possess the land’ that He is ‘giving you’. Thank Him for it. Spend some more time taking in and feeding on His word that you may be nourished and strengthened and encouraged. I would even suggest steering away from mindless stuff that would want to divert your focus and attention. Remember, we are encouraged to ‘set our mind on things above’. (Col. 3:1-2) 

 But don’t let your guard down. (1 Pet. 5:8-10). There will be some ‘tests’ in your future. Jesus clues us in on this fact there in Matt. 12:43-45. James did too: (1:2-4). Why do we ‘count it all joy’? Because it’s an opportunity to demonstrate to God that we love Him...more than we do that spirit or sin of anger, impatience, etc. The test will most likely come in a setting where it usually cropped up previously...in a traffic jam or a supermarket or with the kids at home after a long day...or...yes...even with your spouse.  

 And you don’t have to face this battle alone. Jesus knows what it is to be tempted in every point that we are tempted. (Heb. 4:15). He is willing to come to your aid in your time of temptation and testing.(Heb. 2:18). He encourages us to ‘come with confidence before His throne of mercy and grace to receive help in our time of need’. (Heb. 4:16). Yes, it requires humility to ask for help, does it not? And who is ‘grace’ given to? (James 4:6). So we submit to God in this moment of testing, and we ‘resist the devil’ who then has to flee’ (James 4:7). 

 We can take note that all the brethren suffer like this as we follow Jesus. (1 Pet.5:9). And during this time of testing, you will experience a divine grace that will ‘show up’ and empower you to stand in the battle as you resist...but there will most likely be a ‘bit of suffering’ in the flesh as you deny it. This is how you ‘put it to death’ once and for all. Now look what Peter writes there in vs.10...’after you have suffered a while, the God of all grace will come and perfect you, establish, strengthen and settle you”. (Might check out 1 Pet. 4:12, then, to vs. 1-2) 

 And if you think that folks who ‘work out in a gym’ experience a rush of endorphins when they are done lifting, wait until you feel this rush of the Holy Spirit that comes as you experience victory in this area that has plagued you and bound you for years. ;-). 

 This is how we ‘grow in the Lord’ and how we ‘possess the land’ so that God can bless us as we fully obey and follow Him. I’m telling you...this is life changing as you are ‘conformed in to His nature and likeness’. (Rom. 8:29). Anything less...is simply empty form...that 'profits you nothing'. (1 Cor. 13:1-3)