TRANSFORMED FROM THE INSIDE OUT INTO THE IMAGE OF CHRIST !

TRANSFORMED FROM THE INSIDE OUT ! "If I'm so a spiritual giant then, why do I still deal with so many of the same struggles I had before I was born again ?" Because the part of you that was re-created is your spirit----or what the Bible calls the inner man or the hidden man of the heart. God is a Spirit ! Therefore, we are spirits created in His image and His likeness. Your spirit is the real you. In the Bible, it is often referred to as the heart [soul] because it is the core of who you are. It's the life and power center of every human being. Although your spirit has been reborn in the image of God and His likeness it is absolutely perfect, there is more to you than your spirit. You are a three-part being: you are a spirit; you have a soul; and you live in a physical body (1 Thessalonians 5:23) mentions each of those parts individually: and the very God of peace sanctify your (spirit) wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice, the spirit is listed first, then the soul, and the body last. There's a reason for this. The power of the new creation works from the inside out; not the outside in ! It starts in your spirit and soul. Then as your mind is renewed to what has taken place within you, your soul is changed . Why Because that part of your mind, which is your soul didn't get born again, we have to do what the apostle Paul tells the Roman Christians to do ! (Romans 12: 1 and 2). However, if you have not received the revelation of this fact, then the devil can us your mind and body against you. And, as you increasingly grasp your true identity in Christ Jesus, your thoughts, words, actions and outward circumstances reflect that identity. (2 Corinthians 3:18) describes the process best. It says that as we continue "to behold [in THE WORD of God] as in a mirror the glory of THE LORD, [we] are constantly being transformed into His very own image in every increasing splendor and form degree are levels of glory to glory.... That is why it is important for you as a believer to have a thirst and hunger for the Word of God. Believers who don't see in the mirror of THE WORD of God who they are in Christ, can and live in defeat for years, feelings as much a loser as they were before as they see themselves In Christ Jesus saved. I know because I did it ! I had no idea I'd became a new creature when I was born again. Although I love Jesus with all my heart (spirit), I experience very little victory because I was dragging my pass with me everywhere I went----and my past was a very heavy load. As a child, I'd been told by religious people that I'd never amount to anything. They made me so mad, I wouldn't have anything to do with them or what is called church. But, even so, I believe what they said. I figured if I was such a good for nothing, I might as well live like the devil; and that's what I did for years. Thanks to my praying grandmother and mother, as well as my mother's sisters influence I was born again in August on my 18th birthday in the Harris County Jail. But I didn't find out I'd been made the righteousness of God until 4 frustrating years later. At the time, I was listening to a sermon by Kenneth E. Hagan on the TV. I got so excited I almost kicked a hole in the concrete wall in a prison dayroom. For a guy with a pass like mines to find out that old things have passed away, and all things have become new----that's good news ! Of course, it's not just good news for people like me, it's vital information every believer needs to know. All who want to operate in the fullness of THE BLESSING must understand what really happened to us when we were saved. We need to realize that the Creator Himself--- the Holy Spirit--- hovered over us, watered THE SEED OF THE WRITTEN WORD OF GOD within us, and we were spiritually reborn. What happened in us spiritually is much the same thing that happened to the Virgin Mary physically, when she conceived the spoken word that was delivered to her by the angel. Just as THE WORD became the supernatural sperm seed in her body and brought forth Jesus into the world, THE SEED OF THE WORD OF GOD is planet in our human spirit brings forth Jesus out of us. We are born again in His likeness and His image, "not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by THE WORD of God, which lives and abides for ever." (1 Peter 1:23).