October 1

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” —2 CORINTHIANS 5:17

Several years ago I wrote a book called, “Alive in Christ” with my purpose being how to find renewed spiritual power. As I was concluding the book, my young daughter came into my study and asked, “What has happened so far?” She obviously thought I was writing a story, and maybe I was. Maybe we would find glimpses of our own lives within the pages, but in our journey with Christ, it is a good question to ask. What has happened so far?

We neither want nor need to imitate another person’s experience, nor reduce God’s dealing with them to a pattern we would superimpose upon ourselves or on anyone else. When we look for a pattern, God normally surprises us by dealing with us in unexpected ways that will often leave us in awe. If we are burned out, frustrated and dissatisfied with no conscious communion with God, then we must get hold of the principle that lies behind every expression of Christianity.

It is Christ as our Lord who makes the Christian life work. He directs us and as we live in submission to His authority and obedience to Him, it is His Spirit as our life that enables us. He is our power and strength and we trust Him, stepping into every new day and every new situation with the conviction that the One whom we obey is totally able by His indwelling Holy Spirit to accomplish His purpose in us and through us.

If this is not yet your story, regardless of what you have been and wherever you have been, as a child of God you are a new creation in Christ, and He has planned your future. David writes, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16). Just before that he says, “If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast” (139:9-10). Do we trust God for this? Are we willing to let go of human logic and ability and depend on a God who created us?

The Christian life is a committed relationship with Jesus Christ and we cannot allow that to wane. All the resources we need are met in Him, not only for living but in all He has called us to do. 

Step out with confidence in Christ and together you shall make things happen.

PRAYER: Thank You, Lord, for making me a new creation and being in me everything I need to live a godly life.

TO REFLECT UPON: In what areas of my life do I need to depend on the Lord’s enabling more?