It is automatic, listen:
“He must increase, but I must decrease.” Jn 3:30 ESV
So the way we begin to act like this New Creation in Christ that we now are, is the same way we got rid of the air from that cup yesterday. We increase Jesus within and the old MMI person we were decreases automatically! This is not rocket science here. If I allow God to renew the way I think, then with less effort on my part, I will think more like Him and less like I used to. See? He MUST increase so that I WILL decrease! One effects the other for good. If I keep trying to change, instead of trusting that God will change me as I submit to Him, then I will continue to struggle with sin and the death symptoms that come with it. I will continue to get frustrated, be depressed, get confused, feel bitter, act out in anger…and so on and so on. My focus is still on MMI so I will be magnifying, reflecting my old way, instead of this New Creation Life within me. I will be still leaning on MMI, instead of on God, so it will be AS IF nothing has changed. See?
Here’s the truth. I do see this, and yet I still don’t do it right! Sanctification is a process. You and I are never going to get it all right, all the time…oh but man, when we do get it right! Life really does get abundant! The peace we have when others are saying awful things about us…the joy we remain in even in the midst of difficult situations…the sense of righteousness we have when all the world looks like it is losing its mind! It’s precious, my Friends. Growth is a process we will be in until the day Jesus takes us Home, or comes back, whichever is first. But just because we are IN the process does not mean we are reaping its benefits…more tomorrow…
Join me in memorizing 52 verses this year:
January: 1- Jn 3:16; 2- 2Co 5:17; 3- Jas 2:26; 4- Eph 2:10
February: 5- Jn 10:10; 6- Ro 6:23; 7- Rev 21:4; 8- Php 4:13
9- 1Pe 5:7
10- Jn 8:32
11- Dt 30:19
12- Jn 3:30
<>< Peace, Diane
