TRANSFORMED FROM THE INSIDE OUT !

TRANSFORMED FROM THE INSIDE OUT ! "If I'm so the 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 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 likeness is absolutely perfect, there is more to you than your spirit. You are 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 you (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. Then as your mind is renewed to what has taken place within you, your soul is changed. However, if you have not received the revelation of this fact, then the devil can you your mind and body against you. And, as you increasingly grasp your true identity in Christ, 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 transfigured into His very own image in every increasing splendor and form degree of glory to another.... 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 live in defeat for years, feelings as much a loser as they were before they God 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 churches. 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, and Amy's in the belated influence I was born again on my 18th birthday in the Harris County Jail. But I didn't find out I'd been made the righteousness of God until 10 frustrating years later. At the time, I was listening to a sermon by Kenneth E. Hagan on and all real to real tape record. I got so excited I almost kicked a hole in the concrete wall in a prison cell. For a guy with a pass like mine 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, planet the seed of God's WORD within us, and we were spiritually reborn. What happened in us spiritually is much the same thing that happened in the Virgin Mary physically, when she conceived Jesus. Just as THE WORD became the supernatural sperm seed in her body and brought forth Jesus into the world, THE WORD of God in planet in our human spirits brings forth Jesus in us. We are born again in His likeness, "not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by THE WORD of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." (1 Peter 1:23).