Today's Reading:Old Testament: Joshua 3-6
New Testament: Romans 7
Focus Verses: Romans 7:21-25
21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Insight:
Knowing what a righteous life is and living it are different things. It is a miserable thing to recognize sin and yet feel trapped by it. Only Jesus can save me from this predicament. My surrender to Christ began my journey of transformation. To be holy, I must become holy.
Response and Action:
Even after I surrender to Christ and embrace his way for my life, I struggle with putting off sin and becoming like him. It is one thing to know what is right and to want to do it; it is another to overcome the habits and inclinations of my body. Many of my failures and sins have nothing to do with what I believe or think; many patterns, reactions, habits, reflexes, and inclinations have been established in my body and life through years of formative experience. This old formation needs to be transformed by the power and grace of God.
O God, I delight in your truth and the ways you would have me live. It will take your guidance and power for me to overcome the patterns of sin that have been well established in my life. My will is to do your will. Help me to draw upon your grace and strength as I make every effort to bring my body and life-patterns into conformity with your commands. It's a wretched situation to know and desire your will, and yet see a different pattern in my habits. How can I be delivered from this personal contradiction? Through, Jesus! Thank you for the hope of transformation that I have because of the presence and help of your Spirit. Amen.
Proverbs: 3:5-6
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."
Resources:
Revolution of Character: Discovering Christ's Pattern for Spiritual Transformation
by Dallas Willard and Don Simpson
