Christ in Me?

Another new thing that came into our lives when we repented and confess our sins and became born again is that:
2. Christ lives in us. But wait, I knew that. You knew that, right? We were told that Christ lives in our hearts. But what does that mean?
Christ did not change who He is when He came to live in us. He is the same Jesus who died for us and resurrected and ascended. He is the same Son of God who we say we live for, who we say we love,  who we say we believe in.
So why is it that a lot of the time our lives does not reflect that truth? Why is it that we seem to endlessly struggle to make that a reality in our lives. Then, sadly, we have come to the point of justifying this struggle. We say, "I am only human" or "Everyone makes mistakes" or "God understands, He made me and loves me".
All those statements are true. But, do we see Christ like that? When Christ came to live in us, He came in all of who He is. He didn't adjust to our imperfection.
Gal 2:20 says, 'I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.'
Our old life/self/nature died when Christ died on the cross. That same Christ lives in us when we were born again.
We shouldn't be struggling to live for God, because Christ in all His glory and victory lives in us, and He runs things. Well He supposed to. If we are still struggling,  then He is not in control.
Let us ask God to teach us to deny ourselves and follow Him. To learn what it means for the old me, my self, to have died with Him on the cross. May He open our eyes to see our new life in Him and that we allow Him to mold us and conform us so we live a life that reflects that He lives in us. Always. Not just sometimes. Not struggling, but in Christ complete victory.

All Things New...

So, 2 Corinthians 5:17 continues with 'behold, all things have become new'.
God accepted me as the creature/person I use to be, and through His Son Jesus Christ, I am a new creation/creature/person. Awesome!
For the first time in my life, in the past few months, I learned what all is included in the 'new things' the scripture talks about.
1. I have a brand new heart
I no longer have a heart that is hopelessly bent towards evil, selfish, fleshy living anymore. (Yeah, that got me too. The Bible clear states that all actions and thoughts that are not of Him is evil.)
God took away that heart through Jesus Christ, made me born again, and gave me a heart that is able to freely walk in obedience to Him.
Awesome!
How does that play out in my life?
I want to do what God wants me to do now. I no longer want my way, even if I might find it hard and challenging to let go of my way. In Christ,  I am able to not only be obedient,  but desire to be obedient.
Ezekiel 36:26 puts it well, (Message) I'll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I'll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that's God-willed, not self-willed.
I have a heart that is God-willed. Whoop!
All of this happened when I confess my need for Christ, confessed my sins, and repented. God did the rest.
I must say that if you are still acting like you used to before you gave your heart to God, then I encourage you to check if you truely repented. God always meet a repentant heart with forgiveness and mercy.
My life now, as I choose daily to walk in obedience to God, will reflect that I have a new heart and that I truly repented.
Did you know all this? Let us walk as if we have a new heart. Let us produce fruit that shows we have repented. Let us ask God daily to teach us to walk accordingly.
Amen.