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When the Word of God, faithfully taught by the people of God and empowered by the Spirit of God, falls down, people become different. Lusting people become pure, fearful people become courageous, thieves become givers, demanding people become servants, angry people become peacemakers, complainers become thankful, and idolaters come to joyfully worship the one true God. The ultimate purpose of the Word of God is not theological information but heart and life transformation. Biblical literacy and theological expertise are not, therefore, the end of the Word but a God-ordained means to an end, and the end is a radically transformed life because the worship at the center of that life has been reclaimed.
–Paul David Tripp

God’s desire is for you to be changed.
Are you growing in Him in such a way that you are allowing Him in to do that important transformational work?

Are you reading God’s Word?
Are you connected to a church family?
Are you engaging with a small group of fellow believers who are helping to sharpen you spiritually?
Are you spending time communicating with God through prayer?

These are the key ways that God is going to transform you – and change those sinful behaviors & thoughts into God-honoring ones.

If Jesus is Lord, then the only right response to him is surrender and obedience. He is Savior and he is Lord. We cannot separate his demands from his love. We cannot dissect Jesus and relate to only the parts that we like or need. Christ died so that we could be forgiven for managing our own lives. It would be impossible for us to thank Christ for dying for us and yet to continue running our own lives.
–Rebecca Pippert

Who is in control of your life?
Who is your lord and master?
Is it yourself?
Or have you handed over control to the only One who can control your life without destroying it?

God gets less glory when every Christian talks, thinks, dresses, eats, and lives alike. That looks more like a dysfunctional cult than a real movement that brings glory to God. God gets glory when people who dress, eat, talk, and live differently join around the table for a meal with one heart.

After they have an authentic encounter with God, people who would not normally be caught dead in a room together greet one another with a holy kiss and call one another brother and sister.
–Ed Stetzer & Thom Rainer

That is the beauty of what the gospel does.
It takes us who are different and makes us a family.
I hope you appreciate and love your diverse family.

Sadly, there are those who do not.
And that failure to love every member of the body does not bring glory to God.

In a similar vein to yesterday’s quote & post regarding The Deeper & Thicker Life in Christ, today’s quote is from another author who expresses the same concern regarding our clinging to the things of this world instead of our clinging to the One who created this world and everything in it:

There can be no doubt that this possessive clinging to things is one of the most harmful habits in life. Because it is so natural, it is rarely recognized for the evil that it is. But its outworkings are tragic.

We are often hindered from giving up our treasures to the Lord out of fear for their safety. This is especially true when those treasures are loved relatives and friends. But we need have no such fears. Our Lord came not to destroy but to save. Everything is safe which we commit to Him, and nothing is really safe which is not so committed.
–A. W. Tozer

This quote reminds us of our difficulty of turning things over to God for His full and complete use. It is hard for us to be like Mary in the Bible, who poured out a gift to God that was worth a whole year’s salary. It is hard to sacrificially give our money for His use, when we want to use it for ourselves. It is hard to freely use our time and talents to build His kingdom, when we are so focused on building up our little kingdoms. And, as Tozer says, it is extremely hard to let our loved ones die, even if we know that they have a relationship with Christ. We don’t want to let them go. And yet, if we truly believe God and His Word, then we know that He will hold them safe for us. For those of us who struggle with our belief, we need to offer up the prayer of the man who asked Jesus to heal his son. He said, “If You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!”
And Jesus said to him, ” ‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.”
Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”

Father God, I do believe that everything is safe which I commit to You, and nothing is really safe if it not so committed. However, I also have moments of struggling with unbelief. So my prayer is the prayer of this boy’s father from 2000 years ago: I do believe, but often I do not believe enough. Help my unbelief. Help me overcome any and all doubts regarding Who You Are And What You Have the Power To Do.

We need to be striving toward the deeper and thicker life in Christ.

Though… it is possible to accomplish depth if we focus on spiritual disciplines and allow God to move us, over time, into greater depth with Him.
–David Goetz

Do you find that the chasing of the “good life” has ever been a hindrance to your spiritual growth?
Have you ever experienced the “doing” of good things that fed your ego and increased your pride, instead of increasing your spiritual depth?
I can answer an emphatic “yes” to both of those questions.

It is so easy to get so caught up in the pursuit of happiness. And that pursuit most always contributes to the detriment of my relationship with Christ.

My prayer for myself is that I will remember that this life is not my own, but was bought with a price… the price was Jesus’ life on the cross. Therefore, my life is supposed to be His to do with as He wills. And yet so many times I find myself back in the driver’s seat, not listening to Jesus’ urging me to let Him lead.

I want that deeper, thicker life in Christ, and I know that to get there it will take me saying “no” to many of the things that society encourages me to say “yes” to. But I also know that He is trustworthy and cares more about me than society does, therefore choosing His will and way is a much better option than continuing to chase after societies’ dreams. God give me the strength to choose well, and not let me flesh win out over my spirit.