Thursday, November 23, 2023
Attempts at Changing Oneself is a Recipe for Failure
If we are trying to change ourselves it fosters pride and failure. If Christ changes us He gets the glory and the change is real and permanent.
Philippians 2:13
"13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to desire and to work for His good pleasure."
"10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
Ephesians 2:9-10 "…9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life."
Those who think they can be the best version of themselves they are depending on themselves to become good.
Those who know they are without the ability to change their own character are the ones who can grow because Christ will work in them.
Philippians 2:12-14 "12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose. 14Do everything without complaining or arguing,"
When we work real hard to be a good person we are elevating ourselves above God, taking on the job only He can do.
Romans 12:3
"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you."
We cannot save ourselves and we cannot change ourselves. It is a work of Christ that changes someone into a new creation after they express their sinfulness and desire to be changed by Him.
1 Corinthians 15:10
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
2 Corinthians 5:17
"17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new [a]creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
We cannot make ourselves a new creation nor can we make ourselves better people. God must do it all through the Holy Spirit when someone becomes born-again.
If someone says they are a Christian but nothing in them has changed and they even regress over time, they have not been transformed by Christ because they are attempting to do in themselves that which only God can do.
Stop attempting to be a good person in your own efforts and begin trusting Christ to change you. The more you try to change yourself the more phony and weak you become. Everything you do will be based on how good you think you are doing without Christ.
When the change in us is done by Christ it is constant, authentic, and always involves love for Him and everyone else.
Relatives in the Water During the Flood
Many many relatives in the water during the flood were Noah's family. This is how it will be in the end days. Those of our own families will claim to be Christians but hate us and hate God while claiming they are "Christians" more of an idea than a relationship with God.
They will cry out to us to pray for them to be saved but will not trust in Christ to save them. They know we have a special "in" with God so their hope is that we will put in a good word for them.
No one will slide into heaven on someone else's coattails. No one else's righteousness will be accounted to us except Jesus Christ.
When the biological family does not follow Christ they are no longer our family. It is only those who have trusted Christ who are our family. We are members of the family of God, we love our brothers and sisters who have trusted Christ.
The reason we often feel no connection to bio family anymore is that they may claim to be Christians but have no interest in Him or His word and are even embarrassed to speak or hear His name.
It is only born-again believers who can love one another the way Christ loves. They love to speak about the Lord and His principles. They even yearn for fellowship with one another around the Bible.
John 13:34
"34 I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another."
There is no hostility among born-again believers as there are often among "Christian" family members. We are living in a Christless Christianity, a culture full of man-made rituals and demands that God never made without affection for one another.
2 Timothy 3:3
"3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,"
One-upmanship rules the day in almost every gathering. Pleasure takes the place of prayer and praise and anyone who would suggest turning to these things to worship God will be seen as a fanatic and ignored or worse, demeaned in some way.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
"4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant. 5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, 6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
God says we; "endure all things" meaning we put up with rejection and mocking without becoming like those who torment us because we love Christ. We don't hate those who torment us we just have no connection to them emotionally or Spiritually.
We cannot change others and often we are silenced but the most important rule of thumb is to not allow ourselves to become like those who hate God through our responses. When we fail we confess it to God, get up again and carry on doing better than before. It is personal Spiritual growth we need and cannot happen without trials.
James 1:2 "2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance."
Once you have picked yourself up, and dusted yourself off you can begin again better than before. We are a work in progress and cannot advance in our growth without trials and failures.
1 John 1:9 "9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
God will not leave us without help.
John 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I said to you."
Christ-Like Love or Obligation?
When we do things out of obligation it is all about the feelings we have about ourselves more than love and devotion for those we serve.
God hates this kind of self-exalted worldly love. It always has expectations attached, it is not selfless but reward-oriented thinking rather than a desire to be a blessing to those we serve without praise or expectations.
As we move through life we would rather not be served by someone who wants us to owe them something for their service. We ought to be grateful for all God has provided and those He has sent to care for us, however when anyone does good deeds out of obligation they will never show the love that develops a deep and loyal relationship.
Matthew 15:7-9 "…7 You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: 8 These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. 9 They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’ ”
Just as God hates obligatory gifts or canned lifeless praise to gain something for oneself, so too, we feel empty and sad when someone serves us without empathy and kindness.
Isaiah 29:13
"Therefore the Lord said: "These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men."
We are made in God's image, we have been given many traits that mirror God's heart even if we don't recognize them. We have the sense within our minds of justice, empathy, kindness, and devotion, that have been perverted by the fall of man. Now all these qualities God placed in us have become self-centered based not on serving others but rather on doing things that make ourselves look good with the expectation of continual adulation for doing them.
John 12:43
"43 for they loved human praise more than praise from God."
When we have the mind of Christ we do our good deeds to please God not to be praised by others and it won't matter if anyone else notices.
Matthew 6:2
"2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward."
After the fall of man all the good traits God placed in mankind became perverted to revolve around self instead of around Him.
The only way to overcome this self-oriented thinking is to become born again. When Christ changes us into a new creation we lose that need to be praised by men and desire the companionship of God more than anything else in the world.
The world no longer has any pull on us. The world will apply pressure to become like it, the more we resist the more we will be treated disrespectfully with contempt. But glory be to God we are not affected by this monstrous pull to go back to the ways of the world. The more we resist the world the stronger we will become.
When we look to this world for validation we will be disappointed and saddened continually, but when we look to God for everything we will be full, but not of ourselves, we will be full of the peace, grace and joy of Christ continually no matter what comes against us.
Isaiah 29:13
"Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:"
Acts 8:18-24 "18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,
19 saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could acquire the gift of God with money!
21 You have no part or share in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.
22 Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart will be forgiven you.
23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of unrighteousness.” 24 But Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”
There are many "Christians" who believe they have God's approval by their good deeds. In their minds, the deeds alone afford them the confidence they have pleased God, but the truth is that when the deeds are done to gain something for self they are worthless and even a stench in the nostrils of God.
The Pharisees were enraged with Christ for pointing out their hypocrisy and self-promotion. They even wanted to kill Him for exposing their tendency to love the praise of men.
Matthew 12:13-15 "…13Then Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored to full use, just like the other. 14But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. 15Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them all,…"
The Pharisees hated the goodness of Christ because it exposed them for what they were, liars and hypocrites desiring only their own glory. Christ took away from that glory showing the foolishness of the Pharisees in thinking their own glory was the aim of "religion." There was no light in these religious leaders, only domination and contempt for those who did not elevate them as special.
"Religion" always detracts from a relationship with Christ. Following a set of rules to feel safe and personally glorified has always been detestable to God.
Galatians 5:16-26 "16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."
May we seek the Spirit of Christ within us to become like Him.
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