We are always on our journey, making decisions and taking steps in one direction or another.
Reality of the victory in Jesus Christ with each step.
Our lives become an evangelical tool.
Renew our mind to our identity
I don’t always do right, but I’m still the righteousness of God.
Ephesians 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
identity first, then behavior will follow.
now you are light in the Lord. Identity.
Walk as children of light. Behavior.
Behavior comes because of who we think we are
Jesus has made me righteous.
2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
I have to hold on to my identity in CHRIST,
Eventually that takes root and then you will see the fruit in my behavior.
Declaration
Dear Heavenly Father, please give me a revelation of the power of the Gospel today. From this day forward, may Your grace be the foundation of my daily relationship with You.
I declare that I will be free from guilt, condemnation, and a performance mentality. I declare that I abide in faith, abound in hope, I keep myself in the love of God. I will overcome all trials, I will persevere, and develop Christ-like character by His power.
Open my heart to see the hope of my calling, to know the inheritance that I have in the saints, and to understand the depth of Your power at work in my life. Release upon me a Spirit of wisdom, revelation, and enlightenment today.
Lead me into an encounter with You that forever changes me and deepens my love for Jesus. Illuminate the truth of Your Word as You prepare my heart to receive it.
Amen.
Change my heart
We are continually assimilating from our environment either true life from our Creator/Redeemer, or counterfeit “life” from the Deceiver, which is no life at all.
Changing our heart involves changing our
Thoughts, emotion, and will.
So that our actions to conform to the thoughts, emotions, and will of God.
No matter where we are or what we are doing, we are either
nourishing and strengthening our new life or
weakening and stunting it
These functions are continually active in our life.
So there is no aspect of our life that is not involved in our transformation.
Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
As the goal of our life is to live to the glory of God, this is also the goal of our spiritual transformation.
To constantly pay attention to our next step
always thinking about whether it’s along the path of life or along the way of destruction,
always thinking about whether we are glorying in the Lord with our lives,
takes a lot of thought and effort
It is humanly impossible.
Remember that it is only by God’s undertaking that we are in Christ
[30] God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. [31] Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the LORD.”
Jeremiah 9:24 But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the LORD.
Sanctification = Holy, Jesus has made me holy.
Not by our efforts – Abraham and David – Not that they deserved God’s favor, but rather they humbled themselves, walked in His path, and received it as a gift.
2 Corinthians 3:7–8 7 But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?
Ministry of death, written and engraved on stones = 10 Commandments
Walk of life
The spiritual growth of believers is a continuous process.
Scripture uses of the imagery of “pilgrimage” or a “journey.” To describe it.
A journey means that we have to take a path.
Just like no matter where we are or what we are doing, we are either
nourishing and strengthening our new life or
weakening and stunting it
The path we take is either
a walk before the Lord, one that is way of the righteous, the path of life
or a path that leads to death, even the ministry of death.
Proverbs 16:9 A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.
In the ancient world, especially among nomadic people, life was lived on foot.
They walked step by step along a “path” or “way” in search of food and water for their flocks and herds.
As a result, walking became a metaphor for the journey of life.
God’s way
We may be practicing the Christian life by relegating our spiritual walk to well-defined religious activities such as
church attendance,
Bible studies, and
personal times of “devotion.”
While these things are a must, “identity first, then behavior will follow.”
We cannot earn God’s favor to partake in the New Covenant.
Proverbs 16:25 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
The rest of our life is a journey that must be consecrated to the Lord.
whatever else consumes our time
is wrongly not considered to be part of this “journey”.
It doesn’t seem to matter or count towards our spiritual growth.
This is contrary to Scripture.
In God’s eyes, our journey includes all our life.
We are always on our journey, making decisions and taking steps in one direction or another.
Even when we avoid deciding about something, we are deciding, taking a step in some direction—no decision is a decision.
Thus our spiritual growth or heart transformation includes all of the activities of our life—work, family life, social life, recreation, physical exercise (if we do it), and so on.
Remember, there is no aspect of our life that is not involved in our transformation.
1 Corinthians 10:31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
As the goal of our life is to live to the glory of God, this is also the goal of our spiritual transformation.
Our sufficiency is from God
Competence, adequacy, capability.
Journey of life
We are called “to live [our lives] before God in such a way that every single step is made with reference to [him] and everyday experiences him close at hand.”
To each of us, God says as He did to Abraham centuries ago, “Walk before me”
Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.
Walking, however, is never simply walking per se.
It is always walking along a particular way/path.
We can walk along “the way of the LORD”
Genesis 18:19 For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.”
“The way of the righteous”
Psalm 1:6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Proverbs 8:20 I traverse the way of righteousness, In the midst of the paths of justice,
2 Peter 2:21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.
“The path of life”
Psalm 16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Proverbs 10:17 He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, But he who refuses correction goes astray.
“The good way”
Jeremiah 6:16 Thus says the LORD: “Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
“The way of the truth”
2 Peter 2:2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.
Wrong Way
The choice is ours.
Meaning, we can tread the alternative route
“The way of the wicked”
Psalm 1:6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Psalm 146:9 The LORD watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow; But the way of the wicked He turns upside down.
“The “dark and slippery” way
Psalm 35:6 Let their way be dark and slippery, And let the angel of the LORD pursue them.
“The false way”
Psalm 119:104 Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.
Psalm 119:128 Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right; I hate every false way.
The Eternal Journey
The point is that each one of us is on our own spiritual journey, always walking, always stepping, always moving along a path.
One path is like the “light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day”
Proverbs 4:18 But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.
while the other is a path of pain and grief and ultimately final destruction.
Psalm 1:6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Thus we need to pray for God to show us the way everlasting:
Psalm 139:23–24 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
Summary
The growth of believers as a continuous process is also underscored by Scripture’s use of the imagery of “pilgrimage” or a “journey.”
We are called “to live [our lives] before God in such a way that every single step is made with reference to [him] and everyday experiences him close at hand.”
The path of life
The false way
We are continually assimilating from our environment either true life from our Creator/Redeemer, or counterfeit “life” from the Deceiver, which is no life at all.
Renew our mind to our identity, hold on to my identity in CHRIST.
identity first, then eventually that takes root and then you will see the fruit in my behavior.
