Jude AgbayaniIf you’ve been reading my posts, I hope that I have been able to impart the encompassing theme of my blog. I have clearly defined my purpose as Christian blogger when I wrote Purpose-driven blog.
I’m hoping that you, the reader, could view God differently and learn to love Him and His Word (the Bible). I have searched for answers all my life, searching for something to fill the void in my heart but nothing or no one ever filled that emptiness. Only Jesus did!
As a Christian writer/blogger I make myself vulnerable to criticism, judgement and ridicule by those who do not agree with I post or what I stand for. I may come across as self-righteous or too preachy to some and I get that but that’s their perception. I don’t need to defend myself or edit my personal experience just to please one person. I cannot disregard what Christ has done in transforming my life and others as well. My goal is not to please men but to please my God because I know He has called me to write for Him and make Him known.
Whew! Had to get that off my chest! 🙂
If you’re already a follower of Christ, meaning at one point in your life you you have acknowledged that you are a sinner, like me, like anybody. And that no matter what you and I do, we cannot connect with God because of this great barrier called SIN. We cannot wash away our sins, we think we can but the truth is, that’s an impossibility. No amount of religious practices, good works or church membership will be enough to satisfy a HOLY God.
Knowing that we cannot save ourselves and admit that we need someone to save us, a Savior. Only a perfect man can save us. Only one man can bridge the gap between us and God. There is only one way to God and that is through Jesus. He says so in John 14:6 ” I am the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE. NO ONE comes to the Father except through me. “ Only Jesus can truly remove the filthiness in our hearts. It’s not what we do but it’s what Jesus did for me and you.
5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at ]the proper time. 1 Timothy 2:5-6
If you’ve accepted this truth, humbled yourself before our Holy God and admitted the reality of who you are, then and only then will you realize how much Christ sacrificed to connect you with the Holy God. If you have believed that only Christ can do the impossible thing with such an amazing love, then you are on your way to a new life in Christ.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17 ” Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come.”
This is where real transformation begins. The self-absorbed, proud and sinful self moves away inch by inch to the this old spirit because a new Spirit, which is the Spirit of Christ, now occupies the throne that you’ve been reigning all your life. The old you struggles to unseat Christ on the throne but if we wholeheartedly obey, we will be at the feet of this throne.
The heart transformation cannot be completed overnight. Even the best heart surgeons takes hours to repair, replace or restore an old, worn-out heart. Now that you have this new life in Christ, He will do perform an open heart surgery in you. But we have to be patient as well as wholehearted obedience is not developed by one simple prayer. It is a constant battle between doing what you want and doing what God wants. Time is not the primary obstacle but the willingness to obey.
When you surrendered to Christ, have you counted the cost? Have you considered that changes that will take place in your life and the lives of the people around you? Are you willing to withdraw control and allow God to change you? Are you willing to obey?
Oswald Chambers in one of his devotions asks, “What might happen if you and I intentionally allow God to change us rather than spend time trying to change our circumstances?” I thought for a moment and came up with a list. I know there is more to be added in the list as the days go by.
- I’d love his word more. I’d long for it every moment. It’s like water that quenches my thirst. I’d die without it.
- Id be discerning of his leading and not be hasty in making decisions. I’d be more patient and wont be relying on my emotions but depending on Him because He sees the big picture.
- Id be surrendering all I am, all I have, all my desires to him in exchange for his wisdom, his grace and his humility.
- I’d be more compassionate, extending love to those who are difficult to love.
- I’d be responding and not reacting to people and circumstances. I’d pause, take a step back before I open my mouth.
- I’d be joyful despite insurmountable trials. I’d be confident not of what I can do but because the hope that comes from Him lives in my hear. He knows what I am going through. He allows it for a purpose either to prune me yet provides a way out for too for the weary soul.
Again, God is not after what we can do for Him. In fact, He does not need us. He is an all-powerful God, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Before the world began, He was there and when this world has long gone, He will still be in existence. That’s why we cannot come to Him and show off our achievements, what we did for other people, what we did for the church because He knows our intentions. He sees the motives of our hearts better than we do.
But all God wants is a heart that is fully surrendered to Him. A humble and repentant heart that will forsake everything just to follow him. A heart who longs to obey the awesome, forgiving God.
“Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul”
Deuteronomy 10:12
How about you? What might happen if you spent more time allowing God to change you and less time trying to change your circumstances? I would love to hear you speak from the heart.
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