MAKING A NEW START

 

Put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.  (Eph. 4: 22-24) K

Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom. 13:14) KJV

 We can all make a new start no matter how old we might be! However far we have ascended, there is something higher; and however far we have fallen, it is always possible to make a new start. Why not take our place in the School of Christ and be taught by Him. 

 But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:  (Eph. 4:20,21) KJV

 "The old man" which we must "put off" is clearly our former manner of life. If we have not put it entirely away, let’s do it now by an immediate act of faith in the living Spirit. It does not take long for a beggar to put off his rags and put on a new suit of clothes, and it need not take a moment longer to put away habits and thoughts, ways of speech and life which are unworthy of the child of God. Do it now and look up to the Holy Spirit to keep renewing you in the spirit of your mind.

But more than this, let us "put on the new man," which is the life of Jesus Christ, that ideal which is in the likeness of God, and which the Lord created for us by His blessed life and death and resurrection. But to enable us to live this life we need the daily help of the Holy Spirit. He entered our hearts at the moment of regeneration, and has been with us ever since. We may not have realized His entry, but we believe it because of the assurance of 1 Corinthians 6:19:

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? KJV

 Also Romans 8:9:

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. KJV

 And Ephesians 3:16:

That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; KJV

 Wouldn’t it be great if we would begin every day, before lifting our heads from our pillow, to pray, "You are within, O Spirit of Christ, even though I don’t feel You."

If the Holy Spirit is not grieved, He will witness to our relationship with the Father; He will enthrone Christ as King of our life; will keep the self-life in the place of death; will give us a hunger for the things of God; He will give us power to tell others of the glorious gospel of Christ.

 In order to have a strong and blessed Christian experience, the one thing we don’t want to do is grieve the Holy Spirit. When we grieve thnd of over-reaching or fraudulent dealing, impurity of speech, or failure in love. We may be bound, so as not to be able to move our arms, by a number of cotton threads, just as if they were a strong rope. Why don’t we begin this day by taking extra care not to grieve Him with such inconsistencies?\

PRAYER

Fulfill in me, O God, those desires of goodness which You have created in my heart through Your Holy Spirit, and perfect your work of faith in me, so that Jesus Christ may be glorified in me. In His name we pray, AMEN

God’s Daily Promise

 Promise #1: I am the Lord your God and I never change.

 Malachi 3:6 (WEB)

“For I, Yahweh, don’t change;
therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed