Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.--2nd Corinthians 5:17
Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,
There is just no way I can possibly do this verse justice or even begin to speak to its magnificence. (But of course...you know...I will try).
The key to the verse is "in Christ." I AM IN CHRIST! I am a new creation...the Holy Spirit has given me new life. It is not a new leaf so to speak...it is a new life I walk in. My master is no longer the God of this world but is the Lord Himself! He is my strong tower. He is my shelter. He is my refuge. He is my security...He is my forgiveness...He is my acceptance...He is my hope....He is my future assurance and my inheritance. He is my Ark of Safety when I pass through the waters. In Him, the bible tells me, I live and move and have my being. He is my covering...He is the Becoming One...He becomes whatever I need! I (ME!) have Him living inside..I participate in the divine nature of Christ. This treasure lives in my earthen vessel. I am now set free and am no longer a slave to my past or to sin. In fact, because I believe, my past and everything else in my life now works together for good. Goodness and mercy follow me and whether I live or die, I am with Him. I am always with Him.
My old values, beliefs, loves and plans are gone. My old man can still put up a fight and will to the day I die, but I am no longer enslaved to him. He no longer has control over me. I am set free from the bondage of the past. I can walk in holiness and newness of life.
This newness of life did not go away a few days after I was saved...this newness of life continued and was and is a constant reality for me. Why because my position in Christ is secure. There is nothing that can separate me from Him. When I forget or allow something from my past to take hold and gain a foothold in my life, my Lord is so gracious to show me that it no longer has the power to hold me and keep me from walking with Him by His Spirit. He graciously reminds me of my position in Him and all that that means. I have His power living inside me and as I surrender to it, I can do all things through my God who gives me strength. I face nothing...nothing without Him. He is always there...nothing can separate me from Him. I no longer live for the temporal. I can live for the eternal. I can walk in those works He has prepared for me. I can walk according to His plan. I can face life with no condemnation and look forward to living with Him in glory because I am in Him!
There is a notation in my bible next to the following verses...it was and is my prayer for myself and each one of you...my daughters.
"For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,"--Colossians 1:9-13
Love
Mom
