A Changed Life!

In our Church meeting this morning at Belgrave South Baptist church the speaker spoke of the book of Romans Concentrating on Romans 8:5-17 on the subject of The Holy Spirit. As he spoke the Holy Spirit intervened and revealed to me the following from this reading in the New Living Translation:

Recovery is based on or choice to have faith in God and put our trust in Him and live changed lives or not too: In Step 3 we make a decision to turn our will and life over to His care. We need to daily consciously make a decision to follow His ways and allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through us in order to achieve healthy sustainable sobriety.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (New Living Translation)
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

• When we honestly and vigorously take Step 3 we become a new person
  

Romans 8:12-14 (New Living Translation)
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters,you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

• I we want to truly live changed lives and have God remove our defects of Character we must be obedient to the leading of The Holy Spirit in our lives, otherwise we will relapse.

Romans 8:16 (New Living Translation)
For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children

• Through faith we are changed and when the holy Spirit joins our spirit we not only get what we need to live new lives but He also affirms us as God's children and as such we should behave like His children with changed attitudes - changed actions and as a result Changed lives.
  

Romans 12:2 (New Living Translation)
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

A New Year! New Beginning! New Life

2 Corinthians 5:17
Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!

Becoming a Christian is not making a new start in life; it is receiving a new life to start with.”

—Anonymous, from Men of Integrity, (September/October ‘99).

The hope of New Life begins with Jesus-

Matthew 1:21

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.
Jesus means "The Lord Saves" Jesus came to earth to save us because we can't save ourselves from our sin and it's consequences.

The hope of new life is guaranteed by Jesus' resurrection -

Romans 6:5

If we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.

We can enjoy our new life in Christ as we are united with Him in His death and resurrection. Our evil desires, our bondage to our dependencies and our live for for sin died with Him. Now resurrected with Him through faith we have unbroken fellowship with God.

The hope of new life is freedom from bondage to our dependencies -

Colossians 2:13-14

When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ's Cross.

Before we believed (Steps 2&3) and committed our lives to God our nature was evil. We disobeyed, rebelled and ignored God. In recovery, living our new lives God has crucified the old rebellious nature and replaced it with a new loving one. God doesn't take us out of the world or make us robots - we will feel like going back some times to the old life. The difference now is that through faith we are equipped to cope with whatever comes our way.