Strength In God - Abiding In Himনমুনা

Have you ever noticed that Christians still battle the flesh (the old sin-nature)? Unfortunately, this is not always hard to miss. The great news is that when you died with Christ into the new law of the Spirit, you were given His Life and His Spirit! You were made new but the old way of life can still creep back in. It shows up in our behaviors and thoughts. Is there a sinful behavior that you are still participating in or have given up on overcoming? Are you ready to surrender this to God? Ephesians 4:22 says to, "Get rid of, throw off, put to death, do away with your old life, nature, or flesh.” Why? Because we are new creations! Your former life is rotten, dead, and stinky. It doesn't belong to you anymore. So, keep it out of your new life and follow Jesus wholeheartedly. Through the Holy Spirit, we have access to God’s nature and His power to overcome our flesh. You and I can diligently try our best to “be good” in our own power. We will fail every time with self-effort. But you and I can always overcome through the Spirit (Romans 8:13). Always. When I (Amy) was seven, I accepted Christ as my Savior. I clearly remember my ‘new nature’ (the Holy Spirit) changing me. My desires and thoughts were different. I suddenly wanted to please God and not my selfishness. I began to hate sin and love people. I was a witnessing machine! I shared Christ at the bus stop, in my home, on the phone, at recess, wherever lost people were. Not because I had to. I wanted to. I cared so much. Through my teen years, I had tremendous struggles because I began to follow the ungodly lifestyle of my peers. Peer acceptance became more important than my Father’s. Over the course of two years, God’s Spirit gently and lovingly drew me back to Him. On November 19, 1989, my prodigal heart came home. I was brought to repentance through my own misery and God’s kind conviction. Since that November, I have yearned to wholeheartedly follow the Spirit more and more. God is still on the job of refining and perfecting me. I am so thankful for His patience, aren’t you? God is amazingly faithful! The Holy Spirit will complete in you what He began. Let Him have all. [Illustrations included in this devotional are not visible in this view. Illustrations are only supported in the Bible App for iOS, Android, and at Bible.com]