Offered As Alive, Not Improved

Morning light on a new day, a picture of being alive to God

Devotional Credit: Abide Above, Miles Stanford
Photo Credit: Unsplash

A friend leaves a simple reminder on the table, present yourself to God as those who are alive from the dead. Romans 6:13. Miles Stanford helps us slow down long enough to notice the order that Scripture gives us. First, we come to know what God has already done in Jesus. We died to sin with Him. We were made alive to God with Him. Only then do we present ourselves. Consecration is not polishing the old you. It is offering the new you that God has already raised with His Son.

Stanford points out that many of us rush to consecration without understanding its content. We volunteer the old self with its instincts and resources. We offer our natural wisdom and grit to Jesus and ask Him to use it. Scripture will not let us do that. The little phrase as alive from the dead shuts the door on consecrating the old man. The cross has already dealt with that man. God is not asking for a tune up. He is asking for a living sacrifice that He has already made alive in His Son.

Knowing, reckoning, presenting. That is the divine order Stanford highlights. We know what God has done. We reckon it true of us in union with Jesus. We then present ourselves, not to earn life, but because we share His life. The focus shifts from what we renounce to what we now embrace. We are not defined by what we left behind. We are formed by the One we turn toward.

So the call today is simple and beautiful. Set your mind on things above. Turn toward the Risen One. Present yourself as already alive to God. The Spirit takes it from there, shaping us from the inside as we behold the glory of the Lord. Thank you, Miles, for putting the spotlight where it belongs, not on our effort, but on Jesus, our life.

Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture

I remind you that you were co crucified with Jesus, and I have made you alive together with Him. Your old man was addressed at the cross. I do not ask you to consecrate what I have already put off in Him. I invite you to present the new creation that I birthed when I raised Him and seated Him above every power.

Know what I have said. You are dead to sin, and alive to God in Jesus. Reckon this true in the moment you face temptation, pressure, or praise. Present yourself to Me, not as a worker trying to become clean, but as My beloved, already clean because of the word I have spoken. I work in you to will and to do for My good pleasure. Your part is to yield, to trust, to abide.

Turn your gaze to where Jesus is, at My right hand, and set your mind there. As you behold His glory, I conform you to that image. The life you live in the body, you live by the faithfulness of the Son of God. You are not left to manage the flesh with rules. I lead you as one who shares His resurrection life. Present your body to Me as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, which is your reasonable worship.

Do not be occupied with what you renounced. Be occupied with the One you received. Forget what lies behind. Reach toward what is ahead. As you trust Me, I write the life of Jesus into your responses, your words, your quiet choices. I am faithful. Remain in the Son, and you will discover that His life is the wellspring of your day.

Real-Life Analogy

Think of a phone that has received a major operating system update. You do not keep patching the old version once the new system is installed. You begin using the device within the new environment, trusting its services to handle tasks the old system could never manage. In the same way, the Holy Spirit indwells you with the risen life of Jesus. You are not refurbishing the old operating system. You are living from the new.

Try this today. If a tense conversation surfaces, do not lean on old strategies to protect your image. Quietly turn toward the Lord who lives in you and say, Lord, I entrust this moment to You. Express Your gentleness and truth through me as one who is alive to God. Then proceed, expecting Him to speak with grace and steadiness through your words and your pace.

Prayer of Confidence

Father, thank You that in Jesus I have died to sin and am alive to You. Thank You that the old man was crucified with Him, and that I now share His risen life. I present myself to You today, not to earn acceptance, but because You have already made me accepted in the Beloved. I agree with Your verdict, I am alive to You. I set my mind where Jesus is. I rest in the Spirit’s faithful work to shape my steps, my voice, and my responses. This is my reasonable worship, offered with gratitude and joy in Your Son. Amen.

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

Romans 6:6, 6:11, 6:13. Romans 8:9–11. Romans 12:1–2. Galatians 2:20. Philippians 2:13. Colossians 2:12–13. Colossians 3:1–3. Ephesians 2:4–6. John 15:4–5. 2 Corinthians 3:18. Ephesians 1:6. John 15:3. Hebrews 4:9–11.