Thursday, October 9, 2008

A Life of Becoming

The following comes from In Touch with Charles Stanley. Very good piece.

October 9, 2008
A Life of Becoming 2 Corinthians 4:7-18

"Probably the greatest obstacle to understanding God's purpose for
brokenness is this: Most believers think of Christianity as something we do. We
pray. We read the Bible. We go to church. We sing hymns. We give money. We do
and do--and assume that's the Christian life. It's not. Authentic Christianity
is about becoming rather than doing. The life of faith that God designed
involves receiving Jesus into our hearts and allowing Him to change our habits,
mindset, beliefs, interests, and concerns so we become more and more like Him.
Realizing this will change our perspective on the heartache we must endure. You
see, when we recognize that the Christian life is about Jesus' persistent work
of "re-creation" in our lives, then the role of brokenness makes more sense.
It's the process God uses to strip us of things that have become, or may one day
become, an obstacle to our growth. The Lord also uses this tool to address
issues we may have declared "off limits" to Him, such as unhealthy behaviors or
relationships that we rationalize. God doesn't want to be Lord of most of your
life; He wants to be Lord of all of your life! So He zeroes in on areas of
self-will and self-sufficiency to remove everything within us that relies on
"self." He uses brokenness to remove those inclinations so that we can live
moment by moment, day by day, in full dependence on Him.Open your heart, and ask God to reveal any selfish strongholds. Let Him break unhealthy behavior
patterns."

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