Having been created for His pleasure (Revelation 4:11), separated from Him by our sin (Romans 5:12), and provided for through the substitutionary atonement of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21), we are redeemed as we place our confidence and trust in that work at Calvary (John 3:16). There is great encouragement to our hearts in His 2 Corinthians 5:17 promise of thus being a "new creature" in Christ". He promises us there in that 2 Corinthian passage that old things are passed away, and that all things are become new.

With the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God, nothing will ever be the same again! Those things that we used to love have lost their 'glamour'; those things that we formerly detested now take on an attraction that is unexplainable, except for the fact that God declares we have become a new creation in Christ Jesus.

What is the practical process by which this change is demonstrated in our thoughts, actions and words? Matthew 5:16 teaches us that as we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Ephesians 4/22-24 show us that the renewal of our mind enables that new life of victory. His perfect peace, described in Isaiah 26:3, floods our hearts and minds, unless that intimate fellowship with Him is broken by an involvement in former habitual sins.
What a blessing to know immediately when we have violated the heart of God by the absence of His promised peace, and be able to make it right by repentance, restitution as needed,and restructure.

Our mind is renewed by the cleansing Word of God.  Reading it , studying it, meditating on it and praying it prepares us to apply it. All to the glory of God!

(C) 1993 N.A.Collins - Copy permission limited to one personal file copy

In our desire to live in ways that please God, we sometimes have a tendency to simply "make things right", "turn over a new leaf, "fulfill a resolution" or any number of intentions.

Last week we addressed the growth dynamic of LEARN, CHANGE and GROW as seen in 2 Timothy 3:16.
This week, I want to focus om how to recognize a recurrence of spiritual defeat in the midst of spiritual victories.

When progressing on the road to spiritual maturity, there come those moments that might be described as a 'dark cloud', at which time there is a significant awareness of a loss of that perfect peace God promises His children in Isaiah 26:3.

What precipitates that change? If we look again at that passage, the conditional promise for perfect peace is two old - salvation and a mind stayed on the Lord. Therefore, when there is a violation of Scripture, the very heart of God, it is predictable that the sweet intimacy is short-circuited, and peace is absent.  What a blessed instrument for making practical assessment!! The external symptom might be fear, or discouragement, or discontent....but the internal cause is that of losing sight of the character and nature of our wonderful God.  Peter reminds us in 2 Peter 1:9 that when we 'forget that we have been purged from our sins', we are blind, and cannot see afar off.

What are the biblical steps for resolution of that conflict?

Without question, we must recognize our violation of the heart of God and seek immediate REPENTANCE.

Thereafter, as indicated, RESTITUTION must be employed, thus satisfying God' s plan of loving God and loving  our neighbor. Then comes the follow-through of RESTRUCTURE - a specific plan for walking in the Spirit,and thus not fulfilling the lust of the flesh, seen in Galatians 5:16. Having accomplished biblical change, as described, we again move forward on the road to spiritual maturity as we LEARN, CHANGE and GROW.

May God help you today on your spiritual growth road!

(C) 1993 N.A.Collins Copy permission limited to one personal file copy