09
Making Wise Choices To Grow
Richard WaialealeEphesians 5:15-16 (NIV)
15 Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise,
16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
Just being a Christian doesn't guarantee growth and transformation, it’s not automatic.
There is a process of growth that God wants to work in our lives.
God has a process that begins by grace -- it's a gift -- but it also continues as a gift.
Picture it this way: Let's say I have an old coat and a new coat.
God says, "I want you to take off the old and put on the new." Before you become a believer in Christ, you don't have the power to do this. But once you become a believer you have the power to make a choice.
Once you become a believer you're going to find that the old way starts to become more and more uncomfortable. It just doesn't fit anymore.
You've got to get it off. It doesn't fit.
God is saying, "You've got this old way of living, of talking to people -- take it off. I've got a new way for you to talk to people. It encourages them. Put that on."
Take off the old, put on the new. It's God's new way of living.
God's promise says: "I want you to look like Me on the inside. I want to give you My character. I want you to look like Jesus Christ on the inside." AND, slowly but surely, God changes us.
The new is God’s wisdom.
When I have Jesus on the inside and I begin to put on the new coat of being more Christ-Like - I begin to see things as Jesus see them. Talk to people as Jesus would talk to them. Think and feel about people as Jesus would. When all this growing in Jesus comes together, all of a sudden I start to walk and talk like Jesus.
That’s growing in the grace of God.
And no matter what’s happening around me, I make the wise decision to be like Jesus.
Lord thank you for your leadership principles today. I pray that I can be inspirational, full of enthusiasm, motivated to be optimistic and it all comes natural because Your Word transforms my mind - Lord I love you and thank you for everyday You have given me in Jesus Name. Amen.
