The Transformation Process
For the past week I've been dieting. I've gained about 5lbs, that's my limit, so I wanted to lose the excess weight, especially before the holidays. On day five I began feeling weak, light headed and had a bad headache. I had only lost about a pound so I began wondering, what's the point? This couldn't possibly be worth the results. Almost a week of sacrificing and I've lost 1 measly pound! I do low carb and as your body begins the transitioning process from burning carbs as fuel to burning fat, you feel pretty awful. They call it carb flu. It's difficult when you know a simple bite of a candy bar will suppress the cravings and make you feel better. I overcame the temptation that night and ate what I was supposed to. The next morning I stepped on the scale and lost 4 pounds! Simple determination caused the results I desired. Ok... this is not me bragging about my weight loss, but as I saw the results of my endurance on that scale it of course triggered a devotion.
As we determine to draw closer to Jesus and eliminate sin from our lives, the enemy always turns up the heat. You'll be tempted in more ways than you could possibly imagine. The only hope for positive results is to seek Him with more fervor than ever before, because He is you're only plan of escape. At this time you'll be confronted with a choice... to partake in a little bit of sin... just enough to satisfy your urge... therefore continuing the repetitive cycle of self destructive behavior or clinging to Jesus with every ounce of your strength. You'll soon find that as you begin to make the right choices, the day will come when you'll see incredible results and the grip the enemy once had on you in this area will be broken. Oh, there will be more battles to win and more weakness to overcome. As you continue to seek Jesus and build yourself up in His Word, you'll find that your desires begin to change and line up with His.
Yeah, there's some tough moments as you begin transitioning from finding your temporal satisfaction from the world to finding complete eternal fulfillment from your relationship with Christ, but you must have tenacity and desire His will for your life above your own, then trust Him to do the rest as He changes your heart into one that's chasing after His!
It's not about how strong you are or how much will-power you have, but how much of your life are you willing to surrender to Him. As you hand Him the broken and messed up pieces, He can change it into a thing of beauty!
Hebrews 12:1-4 (NLT) Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people;then you won’t become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.
Romans 8:5-14 (NLT) Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will.That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God.The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature,.you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
