New Nature, Not Rehab
A fresh pan for a new recipe, a picture of living from the new life Jesus has given.
Devotional Credit: Days of Heaven on Earth by A. B. Simpson
Photo Credit: Unsplash
The old patterns do not bend toward God. They resist. Romans 8:7 says the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God, it does not submit to His law, and it cannot. That is why self-improvement projects, no matter how sincere, keep running into a wall. The flesh does not graduate. It only doubles down.
A. B. Simpson points us to the better news. The Father does not patch the old life. He unites us with Jesus in death and resurrection, so that the old person in Adam is crucified with Him, and a new person rises in Him. This is not cosmetics. This is creation. If anyone is in Jesus, there is a new creation.
That lifts a quiet hope. You are not asked to train a rebel mind to love holiness. You are invited to live from the new heart that God has already given you in His Son. Education has its place, but it cannot turn hawk into dove. Only union with Jesus does that, and He has done it.
So we rest the weight of today on Him. We set our minds on the Spirit. We present ourselves to God as those alive from the dead. We do not talk ourselves into victory. We draw from the One who lives in us. Simpson’s line of thought helps me say to a friend, I am not asking you to try harder. I am pointing you to Jesus, who already lives in you, and who is able to express His life through you, right where you stand.
Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I remind you that you are Mine, and you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, since My Spirit dwells in you. Your old self was crucified with Jesus, so you are no longer bound to sin’s mastery. I did not ask you to repair the old. I united you to the death of My Son and raised you with Him, so that you may walk in newness of life.
Set your mind on Me. Life and peace flow there. Present your body to Me as one who is alive from the dead. I work in you to will and to do My good pleasure. As you abide in Jesus, you bear much fruit, not by strain, but by His life flowing through your union with Him.
You have put off the old person with its practices and have put on the new, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of the Creator. You died, and your life is hidden with Jesus in God. When Jesus, who is your life, appears, you also will appear with Him in glory. Until that day, walk by the Spirit. Those who belong to Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Count this true, and step forward from it.
I am with you. I indwell you. I am faithful to complete what I began. Yield to Me in the small moments and the large ones alike. I lead. You trust. Jesus is your life.
Real-Life Analogy
Think about a saucepan with sugar burned onto the bottom. You can scrub until your arms ache, you can soak it overnight, you can change soaps, but the scorched layer stays. Then someone brings a new pan, clean, bright, ready to use. The answer is not better scrubbing. The answer is cooking in the new pan.
That is life in Jesus. The Spirit of Christ lives in you, and the Father has placed you in His Son. When impatience rises during a long checkout line or a tense meeting, resist the urge to fix yourself with more scrubbing. Quietly turn to Him and say, Lord, I entrust this moment to You. Live Your patience and kindness through me right now. Then step into the next sentence, the next look, the next choice, drawing on Him, not on strain. He supplies what He commands, and He does so from within.
Prayer of Confidence
Father, thank You that in Jesus my old person was crucified, and I now live by His risen life. Thank You that Your Spirit dwells in me, leading me into life and peace. I gratefully present myself to You today as one alive from the dead. I affirm that Jesus is my life, my wisdom, my righteousness, and my sanctification. I rest in Your complete provision and walk forward, trusting Your indwelling presence to express the life of Jesus through me in each conversation and task. All glory to You.
Scripture References for the Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture Section
Romans 8:7-9. Romans 6:6. Romans 6:4. Philippians 2:13. John 15:5. Colossians 3:9-10. Colossians 3:3-4. Galatians 5:24. Galatians 2:20. Ephesians 4:22-24. Titus 3:5-6. Ezekiel 36:26-27. Colossians 2:20. Colossians 3:1-2. Romans 12:1-2. 2 Corinthians 5:17.