THURSDAY June 24, 2021
Be Renewed
But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:20-24
Walk in newness of life and obey Christ! God desires to use our lives. He desires to do a tremendous work in us and through us. We now sit in the heavenly places, chosen of God, forgiven, and redeemed. Christ has filled us with His love, grace and mercy. In the light of what Christ has done for us, now step out in faith to serve Him. We are to be doers of the Word of God, not just hearers, as the Apostle James exhorts:
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does (James 1:22-25).
There are many people, who read the Bible and study biblical encyclopedias and commentaries, but it is stored knowledge that is stored in the mind; but it is not in the heart. Our lives have to be seen as genuine to others. If you are not a man or woman of truth, then you are not a genuine Christian.
In fact, people will be pushed away from Christ instead of toward Christ. Do not make people stumble. The fact that we are in Christ, which is our position, should motivate us to walk in purity of life (1 Thessalonians 4:1-12). We have the power of the Holy Spirit to walk in the newness of life––to have new habits. We do not have to be the same person we used to be now that we have come to Christ.
The difference between worldliness and godliness is a renewed mind.
~Erwin W. Lutzer~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!
