December
18, 2003
BE
RENEWED IN THE SPIRIT OF YOUR MIND
"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 4:23, 24, NKJV).
"Christ
was a faithful reprover... To all things untrue and base His
very presence was a rebuke. In the light of His purity, men
saw themselves unclean, their life's aims mean and false.
Yet He drew them. He who had created man, understood the value
of humanity.
"In
every human being He discerned infinite possibilities. He
saw men as they might be, transfigured by His grace - in 'the
beauty of the Lord our God' (Psalm 90:17).
"All
defects of character originate in the heart. Pride, vanity,
evil temper, and covetousness proceed from the carnal heart
unrenewed by the grace of Christ.
"It
is by the renewing of the heart that the grace of God works
to transform the life. No mere external change is sufficient
to bring us into harmony with God. There are many who try
to reform by correcting this bad habit or that bad habit and
they hope in this way to become Christians, but they are beginning
in the wrong place. Our first work is with the heart.
"The
Scriptures are the great agency in this transformation of
character. Christ prayed, 'Sanctify them through thy truth:
They Word is truth' (John 17:17). If studied and obeyed, the
Word of God works in the heart, subduing every unholy attribute.
The Holy Spirit comes to convict of sin, and the faith that
springs up in the heart works by love to Christ, conforming
us, body, soul, and spirit, to His will.
"Let
us not spare ourselves, but carry forward in earnest the work
of reform that must be done in our lives. Let us crucify self.
Unholy habits will clamor for the mastery, but in the name
and through the power of Jesus we may conquer. To him who
daily seeks to keep his heart with all diligence, the promise
is given, 'Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord'
(Romans 8:38, 39).--God's Amazing Grace, p.
223.
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