Quit Trying And Just Be!!!

I ran across something I had written down on January 31 of this year. As I began to read it, I was amazed at the fact I had been thinking along this line again recently. So I decided to put my thoughts out here for others to read and see if it bears witness with any others. Here goes.

There should NEVER be a struggle to try to be a Christian, or a follower of Christ. See, the Scriptures say in 2 Corinthians 5:17, from the New American Standard translation, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." I have come to really enjoy The Message translation over the last 10-12 years, and it renders this verse this way, "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!"

I think many people who grew up in pentecostal/charismatic churches and beliefs, often have a tendency to think along the lines that when we got saved, or born again, that we became a better, improved version of ourselves. But really, that is just not true. It really is contrary to the scripture we just looked at. No, WE BECAME A NEW CREATION!!! WE HAVE A NEW NATURE, WE AREN'T THE SAME AS WE USED TO BE!!! I think here is where the struggle comes from. We like most of what we were before we gave our life to Christ, but we realized we needed a Savior. So we asked Him to come into our lives and save us so we wouldn't have to go to hell. We become this newer, improved version of what, or who, we think we are. And we are satisfied with this version. Mostly because we think we are now ok and we won't go to hell. But there is so much more to this ABUNDANT LIFE we have than just some of our vague thoughts we have about it! We must realize that it is by faith that we live in everything from God!

If you and I are struggling with our Christinity, trying to be a Christian, or a follower of Christ, it is because we don't really understand that we are a NEW CREATURE IN CHRIST! Not just a newer, improved version. A NEW CREATION BRINGS WITH IT A NEW NATURE. The struggle comes from trying to be something in our own strength that we have already been made to be by the exchange of our death for His life! We still think we have to DO something to become this NEW MAN. There is where we wrestle trying to become something God has already made us.

Look at the world around you and I. There are certain attributes to each creation of species in the world. NOTHING STRUGGLES TO BE WHAT IT IS! It's nature dictates it's actions and functions. A dog doesn't try to be a tiger. A cat doesn't try to be a chimpanzee. A bird doesn't try to be a fish. An ant doesn't try to be an elephant. The nature of each species in creation drives it to be what it is! Why would our NEW NATURE IN CHRIST be any different? We can live, function, act, and be, what this new nature, with it's own DNA inside, has created us to be! That is a NEW CREATION IN CHRIST!!! We don't have to work to try to be this NEW CREATION. We just ARE this NEW CREATION! You and I don't have to WORK to try to breathe, we just do. We don't have to try to feel, we just do. We don't have to try to see, we just open our eyes and do. Why? Because that is our nature as a human being. It is the same with our nature as the believer in Christ! WE CAN DO, BECAUSE WE ARE!!!

There should NEVER, NEVER be a struggle to be the NEW CREATION God has made us to be. Just live by the NEW NATURE that was deposited in you on that day you asked Him to come in. That deposit is called, "Christ in you, the Hope of Glory." (Col. 1:27)

I have a question for you. Do you have more confidence in what God's Word says about you, or in what you think about yourself? Remember, God isn't looking for the improved, revamped you. He is looking for the NEW CREATION He has made you and I to be!

Quit trying, and just be!