“For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and that not yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works
lest anyone should boast. For we are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand that we should walk in them.”—Ephesians 2:8-10
God extended His grace to us while we were sinners; He
saved us from a death sentence, pulled us out of darkness and gave us a fresh
start. This wonderful gift of unmerited mercy
is what has canceled our debt and sets us free.
And yet, there is more of this supernatural grace that stays with the believer from the beginning of their new
life to the time we enter into our eternal reward; it is with us day-after-day
and makes it possible for us to live. Grace is why believers can have a spiritual transformation. Do you need a spiritual transformation today?
Are there areas in your life that need to be re-shaped?
Ezekiel 36:26-27 helps us to
understand how God spiritually
transforms us by giving us a new heart.
“I will give you a new heart and
put a new spirit in you.” Although
this prophetic word was given in the Old Testament it is fulfilled in the
New. When we are born-again, God takes
our old heart out and puts in a new heart.
Throughout our lives we continually are learning how to live with this
new heart because it is the heart of Jesus living on the inside of us. Through thinking about the modern concept of
a surgically heart transplant, we can grasp an understanding of the concept of
this new heart being in us.
Grace is the word that the Scripture uses to
describe God’s commitment to change us—to transform
(re-shape) us into the image of Christ.
So knowing that means I can not
change me—I can only cooperate with God who changes me. To help illustrate this point, in some
public toilets there are special automatic faucets. You extend your hands toward it, and without
twisting any knobs, the water come out to wash your hands, and as long as you
keep your hands under the faucet the water comes out. Grace
is like that; as long as we keep extending ourselves to God through faith and
trust in His Word, He is at work transforming
us into the image of Christ.
Prayer—Father
I thank You that You are continually at work in my life. Lord I surrender this area of
________________ in my life to be transformed by Your grace at work in me. Lord, I trust You to show me how to cooperate
with Your transformation in, Jesus Name.
Amen.
