A New Heart For A Old Disposition

Open to the Light that already fills the room.

Devotional Credit: My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers, “The Disposition of Sin,” Romans 5:12
Photo Credit: Unsplash

Sin did not just produce a list of bad actions, it introduced a deep bent inside humanity that says, I belong to myself. Oswald Chambers puts a finger on that inward claim. He reminds us that Jesus did not come to polish our morals. He came to deal with the root, the inward posture of self-rule. That is why the cross is not a motivational poster. It is God’s decisive act to address the source beneath every deed.

Chambers aims our eyes under the surface. People can be outwardly clean or obviously broken, yet the same inward disposition can be at work, the claim of my right to myself. Only God can touch that level. We cannot perform surgery on our own spirit. The good news, Jesus has already done what we could never do. At the cross He carried the human story into judgment, and in His resurrection He opened a new way to be human, united to Him.

This is not God punishing all for one man’s slip. It is the story of the many shaped by one head, first Adam, then the second Man, Jesus. In Adam, the bent entered. In Jesus, the cure arrived. From a corporate salvation lens, the Father offers all people a new corporate Head. Those who receive the Son share His life and standing. We are not invited to climb toward God by personal achievement. We are invited to participate in the new humanity that lives from union with Jesus.

So the crisis is not whether we have ever done wrong. We have. The crisis is whether we refuse the Light when He draws near. Chambers points here with urgency. Light has come. The question is whether we step into it. For those who do, there is no condemnation. There is a present life of abiding in Jesus where His Spirit displaces the old claim of self-rule with a new center, Jesus within us.

Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture

I search the depths you cannot reach, and I speak life where you cannot operate. In Adam you inherited a bent toward self, yet in Jesus I bring you out of that old domain and into the kingdom of the Son. I place you in Him, and I place Him in you. I do not patch the old. I make you a new creation, and I write My law upon your heart.

The cross has addressed the root. In Jesus, sin was condemned in the flesh so that My righteous life would be expressed in you who walk according to the Spirit. You are joined to the Lord, and you are not under the tyranny of the old claim. Consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Present yourself to Me, and I work in you to will and to do My good pleasure.

I am not inviting you to self-improvement. I am inviting you to abide. As you set your mind on the things above, where Jesus is, I animate your steps on the ground below. When the Light shines, do not hide in the shadows. Walk in the light. Confess quickly when you wander, and I cleanse and restore. I am the Spirit of adoption. I bear witness that you belong to the Son. I lead you, not by fear, but by life and peace.

Remain in Jesus. Draw from His life. I empower what I command. I am in you for this very purpose, that the life of Jesus would be seen in your mortal body, not by your resolve, but by My presence at work as you trust Me.

Real-Life Analogy

Opening the curtains in a dark room does not create the sun. It simply lets the light that already exists fill the space. The room did not work harder. The light did the shaping. In the same way, the Spirit of Jesus already dwells in you. Abiding is like pulling the curtains wide. You agree with the truth, you stop clutching the fabric of self-rule, and His light fills ordinary moments.

A simple practice for today. When you notice irritation rising during a stressful conversation, pause the inner rush, not with a checklist, but with trust. Whisper, Lord, I yield this conversation to You. Live Your life through me right now, in my tone and my words. Then proceed with honesty and kindness as His life expresses through you. No white-knuckle effort. No pretense. Just open curtains, and let the Light do what the Light does.

Prayer of Confidence

Father, thank You that in Jesus the old claim of self-rule has been dealt with at the root. Thank You that I am united with the risen Lord, and Your Spirit lives in me. I agree with You today. I am dead to sin’s rule and alive to You in Jesus. I lack nothing for life and godliness because You have already provided Yourself. As I move through my appointments, my work, and my conversations, I receive Your presence as my source. I rest in the righteousness of Jesus, the cleansing of His blood, and the power of Your Spirit who works in me to will and to do. I thank You that there is no condemnation for me in Jesus, only Light to walk in and grace that trains me to say no to ungodliness and yes to Your life within me. Amen.

Scripture References for the Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture Section

Romans 5:12, Romans 5:17-19, John 3:19, Colossians 1:13-14, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ezekiel 36:26-27, Hebrews 9:26, Romans 8:1-4, Romans 8:9-11, 1 Corinthians 6:17, Romans 6:6-14, Galatians 2:20, John 1:12-13, John 3:3-8, John 12:46, 1 John 1:7-9, Titus 2:11-12, Ephesians 2:1-9, Colossians 3:1-4, Philippians 2:13, John 15:4-5, Romans 10:9-10