Good morning! Have you ever felt like you wanted to improve in a certain area of your life and no matter what you try to do, nothing seems to change? Maybe you feel like this right now. One area of my life that I have always wanted to improve upon was the way I react when I feel that I have been wronged. But it could be anything… maybe you want to stop a bad habit, maybe there is something that continues to be a temptation to you and you keep giving in, or maybe there is something else you don’t like about yourself that you really want to change. Whatever it is, be encouraged today – God loves you and His love is unconditional!
When we bought our house thirteen years ago, it was move-in ready, but not everything was perfect and exactly the way we wanted it. The driveway was lumpy and in need of repair, the landscaping was not the prettiest and needed some TLC, the chain link fence still has the old aluminum slots in it, there was no pool, the shed was falling apart, and the list could go on and on.
This is much like our lives when we come to Jesus! We come with all of our baggage, all of our failures, all of our mistakes, and all of our imperfections. Our attitudes are not right, our theology isn’t all right, our behaviors still resemble the behaviors in the world, and our motives are still pointed towards ourselves. I apologize if I’m offending anyone – I know for me – I was a mess (still am sometimes LOL). The truth is, when we come to Jesus, none of us live the way that God desires – we can’t apart from Him!
After moving into the house, we began to change things as we had the time, energy, and finances to do so. The first thing to change was the landscaping. We removed vines that were wrapping around a tree in our side yard, we removed the ugly, overgrown bushes from in front of the house, we cleaned up the flower beds to get them ready for new plants. When we were done with the landscaping, it was still a little discouraging because we worked so hard to make such a little change, and then our eyes were drawn to something else that needed to be improved. It never seems like the work can be done fast enough to satisfy the picture we have in our minds.
The same can be true in our lives. We read God’s Word to receive instruction and ask for His help in applying His truth to our lives, but when we look in the mirror (and take time to think about the progress we are making) it seems like we are not taking the big strides that we had hoped for. This can be discouraging, and even if we see an improvement, there are still so many other imperfections in our lives that we begin to feel overwhelmed.
The other day I was looking up something on Google Maps and wanted to see something specific near my house (but of course I got sidetracked LOL). I went to the feature where you could look back at street views that Google has stored from previous years. When I went back to the year we bought the house and flipped through the few years that were available – what a DIFFERENCE! I almost forgot that we used to have a tree right next to the driveway that came down little by little with every passing storm.
The point is that we don’t always see the changes that are taking place in our lives while were in the middle of the transformation, but when we take a step back and look at the big picture – WOW, what a difference!
Be encouraged today to take it one day and one moment at a time. Continue to remain in God and be teachable. Consistency in spending time with Jesus will bring transformation. There is a portion of scripture in 2 Peter 1 that encourages us to add one thing at a time; check it out!
“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2 Peter 5-8
The verse starts out “for this very reason.” This is talking about avoiding corruption from the ways of the world. The Bible encourages us to add to our faith one thing, then another, then another… It’s like building blocks that don’t look like much until the entire creation is completed.
And there is a promise here if we continue to build upon the small changes that the HOLY SPIRIT (not us) makes in our lives – we will be effective and productive in our knowledge of Jesus! We will produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit and experience a close, intimate relationship with Jesus!
Wow, this gets me fired up this morning just thinking about the excitement of being TRANSFORMED and experiencing an even deeper relationship with God! Be encouraged – if you are spending time with God – you WILL grow! Take some time to look back through the years and see the difference He has made in your life! If you have not experienced a relationship with Jesus yet – there is no better day to start than today! I am praying for you!
Heavenly Father, You are incredible! Thank You for the transformation that has taken place in my life! Thank You for taking this broken man and putting the pieces back together like only You can! Help us to be consistent in our daily walk with You and encourage others when we see the godly changes taking place in their lives to fuel them to continue in the times when they are discouraged. In Jesus Name – AMEN!
Be Transformed 