#jesus changes us

So if we then have been risen with Christ, we ought to have the mind of Christ, setting our minds on things which are above (Colossians 3:1), and not on that which is of this world. We must be spiritually-minded, and we can achieve this by mortifying the deeds of the flesh. Now, God knows that we are human and that it is in our DNA to live our lives contrary His will. He knows that we are prone to sin, and therefore, He doesn’t expect for us to cleanse ourselves by our own good doings; He doesn’t require that we make our own selves righteous because He knows that we can’t. It’s why He gave us His Son, Jesus Christ who says, “4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:4-5). We can do nothing apart from Christ, but through Him, we can do all things (Philippians 4:13). Jesus is who changes us; Jesus is who amends, justifies, and reconciles us to God; Jesus is who transforms us; Jesus is who cleanses our hearts; Jesus is who renews our minds by shifting the way that we think, helping us to set our minds on the things which are of Him: “Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8). God won’t ever tell us to do something and expect us to accomplish the task by our own doing. He knows we’ll hopelessly fail without Jesus each and every time. Our part is to simply abide in Him and in HIs love and as a result, we’ll become more like Him and less like the world.  

Nothing will ever move until you make a move.

I don’t want you to change for me, who am I?

Change because you desire better for yourself,

This morning at 5:02 am, I woke up from a spiritual attack that came in the form of something I haven’t experienced for a really long time. I laid there in bed for a moment shocked, scared, and angry all at once. But I also felt unclean and really disgusted. After coming to my senses, I quickly got out of bed and began to pray and rebuke.

I opened up my Bible app and found that it was already opened to Genesis 35. I didn’t know what I was about to read. I just knew that I needed to. And the Lord spoke immediately 2 verses in, giving me this:

Genesis 35:2

King James Version

2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:

“Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments.”

I immediately begin to repent for the idols that I’ve allowed myself to become defiled with— strange gods that I’ve been putting above God (social media, food, my phone, entertainment, laziness, and everything else that I know I’ve been giving so much of my time to). And then I asked God,

“Lord, how do I change my garments? What does that look like, and where do I even start?”

I don’t believe that I came across this scripture about changing my garments by coincidence because the moment leading up to the attack, in my dream, I heard my brother say, “Nene (what my family calls me) needs to change.” As soon as he said those words, I was attacked and it literally felt as if my soul was departing from me to hell. I for real thought I was about to face death. I couldn’t move or speak or do anything but only lay there hopelessly, fighting my hardest to call out “Jesus!”

I didn’t just stop at verse 2, but I kept reading until I ended up in Genesis 37 where God gave me a second scripture:

Genesis 37:29

King James Version

29 And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes.

“Rent His clothes.”

It’s hard to explain but I felt like God was trying to show me something and that He wanted me to look up what it meant to rent one’s clothes. I’ve always come across people doing that mostly in the Old Testament, and I had an idea of what it meant. But I believe that the Lord wanted to deepen my understanding of it. And so this is what I found:

“The tearing of one’s clothes is an ancient tradition among the Jews, and it is associated with mourning, grief, and loss... More important than outward shows of grief are true sorrow for sin and genuine repentance of the heart. The prophet Joel relayed God’s command: ‘Rend your heart and not your garments’ (Joel 2:13). The One who sees the heart requires more than external ritual. And the command came with a promise: ‘Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity” (Joel 2:13; cf. Psalm 34:18).’”

Through all of this, the Lord gave me the answer to my question about how to change my garments:

“If to rent your garments means to rent your heart, to change your garments is to change your heart. “

In other words, it’s to return your heart back to the Lord. He’s calling us to return our hearts back to Him— our first love.

———————-

Joel 2:13

King James Version

February 2008

There was a 10 x 4 room, ceiling cut low.  A man lied on the cold hard floor in a sleeping bag, trying to protect himself from the winter air coming through the ceiling.  The closet he was in, went directly to the attic, causing a heavy drift.  A pile of syringes was in the corner, yearning to be used.. but the man was not using them.  He was sick.  He couldn't afford his drugs that day, and his body was making him pay for that mistake.

Twitching and moaning, he stayed, curled up in a ball alone, when he heard a noise.  It came from the attic.  Tiny feet running across the floor... like a child.  Convinced a child was stuck in there, he grabbed a flashlight, and strained himself will all his energy, to get up and check out the noise.  Sounds getting heavier, he knew he heard them now, and he moved closer to the attic door.

Upon opening the door, he shined his light and saw two yellow eyes, looking up from across the room, and quickly moving toward him.  He shut the door, heart pounding, and flew downstairs, two at a time.  His roommates were in the living room, and he began ranting about a dead girl in the attic that tried to kill him.  All were torn between being tired of his drug induced antics, and laughing about how absolutely ridiculous he was being.  They followed him upstairs and he grabbed a knife before they reopened the door.  Seeing nothing in the room, the man stepped forward and shined his light along the wall, where the two eyes stared up at him.  His roommates by his side, he took a step closer.  It was a raccoon.  

October 16, 2012