Inside Out part 3
Real change comes from the inside out. It has to. Because the issues of life flow out of the heart. And the only real change that needs to take place, took place 2,000 years ago when Jesus gave us the circumcision made without hands; the circumcision of the heart. When the flesh--of human effort--was cut away and God's heart was revealed in our chests! When the hidden man of the heart stopped hiding! That's why I always say it's not about what you do, it's about what you believe. Because what you do FLOWS from what you believe. I think it's pretty tragic that so many people believe all of the lies that the world tells them. "You're not good enough." "If you want to be accepted you have to do this, this, and this." "You're different, you don't fit in, so you need to change." None of that is true, but we fall for it hook, line, and sinker. And then we try to change. To earn that acceptance that we so desperately crave. We bang our heads against the wall and end up with a headache. Because no matter how hard you try to be someone you're not... at the end of the day you are who you are. And that's not a bad thing. That's a good thing. Because you are who God created you to be. It's when you try to be someone you're not that the frustration mounts. It's when you try to "change" instead of walking in the change that took place when the old man died and the New Man rose again. Because, like I said, there's only one real "chage" that needed to take place. It wasn't the change from "evil to good." Both good and evil are on the same tree. It was the change from death to life! Colossians 2:13 says it like this, "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses." See, we WERE dead. Because we were uncircumcised. Because we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to DO in order to BE. Works of the flesh. Guys... works don't work. JESUS finished the work, and now we can rest! Jesus drew us into Himself when He was lifted up on the cross. And He planted Himself in us when He was buried. When He died, we died (the second death). And when He was buried the old man was buried. And when He rose again, we rose again! To walk in newness of life! To experience the change that comes from the inside out! And what's the difference between death and life? LOVE! If you know and believe you're loved, you can love others. And to live is to love. To love is to live. What's inside comes out. Or, more accurately, what you BELIEVE is inside comes out. When you know you are loved... when you believe love is inside... it comes out. And you experience the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of Jesus as He lives His own life in you, and through you, and as you! Not trying to be someone you're not, to get something you don't have... but sharing what you do have by being who you really are!