It is great to say that we need to have a relationship with God. This daily devotional reviews how we get there.
To read devotions in the Redo for Godliness series, click the appropriate button below.
After conversion, it is important that we build a relationship with God. Considering God is a spirit, that might be confusing to some.
We grow our relationship with God by navigating the Sanctification Road.
How Do We Get to Godliness?
- God doesn’t want us playing at godliness. He wants us to be godly (Transformed to Love).
- God will not accept just an outward conversion. He is expecting our character to be changed (Transformed to Love).
- We have to remember that God is working with what we are, but that He is trying to get us all to the same place — pure like Him. God has to start with what each of us are and where we are (Attributes of God: Purity).
- We don’t have to do anything for salvation except accept the gift. However, sanctification has aspects of being, doing, and suffering. The being is believing in the doctrines (Transformed by Persistence).
- In order to accomplish our redo, we have to give God the priority in every area of our lives. It also means growing in the three sides of godliness (Starting Anew: Redo for Godliness).
- God knows our level of commitment in getting back to being in His image. He knows if we are genuine in our efforts — or if our motivations are skewed (In Whose Image Are We Made: God’s or Abram’s?).
• Only God can make us godly and righteous. To do that, we have to seek God (What Is the Power That Can Make Us Godly?).
• God will show us where we need to grow to be like Him. However, He wants us to make sure we are always looking for those growth areas (Growing in Godliness).
• In order to grow, we need to remember the past experiences God has taken us through to know what is in our hearts (How Do We Go from Milk Baby to Steak Adult?).
• As we focus on Him, we can see the areas in which God is working (What Affections Are We Talking About?).
• Our relationship with God is the highest we can have. Some non-believers argue they don’t have one. But they do. We all do — even without knowing it. God knows all of us before He formed us. God has a relationship with us — even if we don’t acknowledge it. That means we have obligations to God (The Morality of Being Just).
• We have to have a genuine relationship with Him. We have to be diligently seeking Him. We have to be committed to doing what God calls us to do, beginning with repentance that impacts how we live our lives (What Is the Power That Can Make Us Godly?).
• True godliness can only come from an inward relationship with Him bubbling out to an external expression (What Is the Power That Can Make Us Godly?).
• Gaining the character of God begins with our choice. Yeah, it is going to take work. But if we are diligent, our character does become like His (Growing in Godliness).
• God always intended to give us free will (What Are the Causes and Effects of Evil? (Part 2)).
• Our hearts will only be softened and receptive when it is our choice to seek God. We seek God by searching His Word. That gives us wisdom. It has to impact our minds and our lives and become our source of life (A Three-Step Approach to Knowing God).
• God requires us to choose to live the way that honors Him (Attributes of God: Faithfulness).
• We are to choose God because of Who He is, not what we gain from Him (Attributes of God: Faithfulness).
• We love God by showing that we want to please Him. We love God by enjoying being in His presence (Learning about Love).
• We can’t rely on religious ceremony to secure God living within us. It has to be a redo for godliness — changing our character to be like Him. That means: fixing our minds to acknowledge we are not great, learning to truly worship God, getting God to our heart level, and kicking out the doubts through prayer (Attributes of God: Transcendent).
• The product of our declaring and entwining the gospel with our lives is the change of character to godliness (Attributes of God: True).
• We don’t get to keep old sins while we get the hang of being a disciple. We have to make a conscious decision up front as to whether we are all in for God or are we keeping with the worldview (Growing Our Souls).
• If we do not put on our new selves, we haven’t made a genuine profession of faith (Growing Our Souls).
• We look at things through the lens of our own experiences, knowledge, and opinions. He has to start where we are and grow us. We have to flip that. We really need to look at God as Who He is in Scriptures and as He reveals Himself to us (What Are Acts of Mercy?).
• If we are to grow in grace and knowledge (II Pet. 3: 18), that means we don’t know everything today. That means we haven’t gotten a full understanding of His mercy (What Are Acts of Mercy?).
• Instead of being content in the knowledge of Jesus, we sometimes get hung up on what we don’t understand. It doesn’t matter what we know or not know. What matters is that we know the One Who is all-knowing (Reasons Why We Should Not Set Affections on Earthly Things).
• God wants us to make conscious decisions to follow Him. In order to do that, we need to know all we can about our relationships with Him (How Do We Go from Milk Baby to Steak Adult?).
• In order to grow, we have to prove we are making a genuine profession of faith (How Do We Go from Milk Baby to Steak Adult?).
• We have to prove that we genuinely believe in God as our Heavenly Father and Jesus as our Savior. We believe it enough to change our character to reflect Them (How Do We Go from Milk Baby to Steak Adult?).
• We’ve got to imitate God’s character. We have to be Him, not do to earn or perfection (Jesus’ Prayer of Submission).
• God’s laws and commandments aren’t a strict checklist to determine how many of the do’s did we do — and how many of the don’ts. They are to show us God’s character. We are to use what we learn from them to aid us in determining our actions in other situations (Jesus’ Prayer of Submission).
• It is all about the submission. It isn’t about understanding. It isn’t even about feelings. It isn’t about religious affiliation. It is about letting God have His way. Even if He is calling us to do or give up something we don’t want. Even if it is going to hurt (Jesus’ Prayer of Submission).
• Submission to God has two elements: follow God’s Will perfectly and, if something is not His Will, not making it our will (Jesus’ Prayer of Submission).
• We cannot, however, gloss over the fact that seeking Him is a command. It doesn’t say seek when we feel like it. It doesn’t say seek when we have everything figured out. It says seek to find knowledge of God. Seek to find Him (A Three-Step Approach to Knowing God).
• We can’t be a regenerated new creation when we are hanging on to old sin (What Do Morality, Grace, and Regeneration Have in Common?)
• So, we are supposed to seek God for answers even if we may not understand them and even though He may or may not tell us? Wait a second. Jeremiah 29: 13 doesn’t say anything about seeking for answers. It says seek God. God instructs us to seek Him, not understanding. It means seek a relationship with Him. It means seek to imitate His character. All the other answers we seek are inconsequential. Everything else is second tier to getting our spiritual condition right (Attributes of God: Mysterious and Incomprehensible).
• The Scriptures are a big reveal to us. However they are only — really — an introduction to God. He reveals even more of Himself to His children through the Holy Spirit. He is going to save the explanations for those who have communication with Him and those who have His character (Attributes of God: Mysterious and Incomprehensible).
• We have to approach God with humility. We can’t lead with arrogance (Attributes of God: Mysterious and Incomprehensible).
• But what is God really looking for when He looks inwardly? He is looking for motivation. Have we really submitted our lives to Him? Are we using the Sanctification Road to change our characters to be like His? (Prayer the Wrong Way).
• It isn’t enough to just know of Him. It isn’t enough to just say we love Him. We have to make a conscious decision to live our lives in the way He wants us to live (Attributes of God: Faithfulness).
• God wants to know that we’ve had a changed heart. He needs to know that we are submitting to Him. Anything less, we would still be saying, like Adam and Eve, that we don’t have to listen to God. We would be implying that we are — at a minimum — His equal. God is our Creator. He does not have to settle for anything less than our complete obedience (Attributes of God: Faithfulness).
• We are renewed every day. This helps us to grow because we never reach perfection here. There is always something new to learn about God. He is always working on our character to make us more like Him (Renewing the Inward Person).
• We put off our old self through regeneration — by saying we believe in God. But there is more to it than that. If we only take off half of the old self or put on half of the new self, we still aren’t where God wants us to be. He wants us to totally submit to Him at conversion. It is to be a complete break from our old sins (Growing Our Souls). - As we focus on Him, we can see the areas in which God is working (What Affections Are We Talking About?).
- Instead of being content in the knowledge of Jesus, we sometimes get hung up on what we don’t understand. It doesn’t matter what we know or not know. What matters is that we know the One Who is all-knowing (Reasons Why We Should Not Set Affections on Earthly Things).
- God wants us to make conscious decisions to follow Him. In order to do that, we need to know all we can about our relationships with Him (How Do We Go from Milk Baby to Steak Adult?).
- In order to grow, we have to prove we are making a genuine profession of faith (How Do We Go from Milk Baby to Steak Adult?).
- We have to prove that we genuinely believe in God as our Heavenly Father and Jesus as our Savior. We believe it enough to change our character to reflect Them (How Do We Go from Milk Baby to Steak Adult?).
- We’ve got to imitate God’s character. We have to be Him, not do to earn or perfection (Jesus’ Prayer of Submission).
- God’s laws and commandments aren’t a strict checklist to determine how many of the do’s did we do — and how many of the don’ts. They are to show us God’s character. We are to use what we learn from them to aid us in determining our actions in other situations (Jesus’ Prayer of Submission).
- It is all about the submission. It isn’t about understanding. It isn’t even about feelings. It isn’t about religious affiliation. It is about letting God have His way. Even if He is calling us to do or give up something we don’t want. Even if it is going to hurt (Jesus’ Prayer of Submission).
• Submission to God has two elements: follow God’s Will perfectly and, if something is not His Will, not making it our will (Jesus’ Prayer of Submission).
• The will of God is that we change our character be like His. We are to become holy and set apart so that we can be perfected. If we don’t, we will be the ones saying, “Lord, Lord” (What Affections Are We Talking About?).
• Knowing Christ and striving to imitate Him produces His character in us. That means we see ourselves as we really are (Reasons Why We Should Not Set Affections on Earthly Things).
• We are to grow in the knowledge of God and produce good fruit (Reasons Why Should Not Set Affections on Earthly Things).
• Living for God means that we live in a sinful world while trying to not sin (Reasons Why Should Not Set Affections on Earthly Things).
• If we put God first, then we must put Him above the things of this world. This includes our jobs, our relationships, our hobbies, etc. (Reasons Why Should Not Set Affections on Earthly Things).
• What we are going for here is more than just a head knowledge. We can’t just know that Jesus lived as a man. We have to know that He came to redeem us (Reasons Why Should Not Set Affections on Earthly Things).
• We are to make God our priority. That is putting Him first in time and attention (How Do We Set Our Affections Above?).
• Renewing our minds is a redo of our thoughts. After conversion, disciples are to concentrate on being a new creation. We concentrate on thinking right (Transformed to a New Mind).
• The renewed mind must lead to a transformed life. It is still us and our personality. We transform to be like the Perfect God (Transformed to a New Mind).
• The transformation brought on by renewing our minds should lead to perfection (Transformed to a New Mind).
• While we have to evaluate how far we have come, it is also detrimental to compare ourselves with the old us. If we are growing as we should, the evaluation won’t highlight areas in which we need to continue our work (Transformed to Humility through Grace).
• We must be open to where God will grow us. He has a plan for our lives. He has a job for us to do (We Are All Ministers).
• Aren’t we always trying to build and grow? Haven’t we said that is what the Sanctification Road is about? What if it isn’t a continuum leading us to be closer to God? What if it is the circles of being, doing, and suffering, and we being the circle again each day? When the circles interlock like the picture shows, the doing and the suffering does kick us up to the being. The being invites Satan to tempt us, kicking us down to the suffering. The doing is probably something different than we would think. It isn’t works based — although we have to show through our actions that we are disciples of Christ. The doing, in my opinion, is us showing we have made the choice to join the living. We have to show we are doing for the right reason — because we are honoring Sovereign God (Joining the Living).
• God wants to be the priority in our lives with us being humble (Guarding Our Hearts from Prideful Thoughts).
• Jesus chose us; we have to choose Him (Focusing Our Thoughts Off of the World).
• We must make a choice to fully change our character to be more like His. We can’t ABCD, and then not start on the Sanctification Road (Joining the Living).
• We don’t know that we are spiritually dead until we realize we need Jesus as our Savior (Joining the Living).
• God is only asking us to do what is the very best for us. He isn’t being some meany. He is loving us (Living the Life).
Father God. The process of sanctification is not easy. It can be confusing. We can feel separated from You. It can downright hurt. But it is how we gain Your character. It is how we get to godliness. Help us to navigate it so we can become perfect when You call us home. Amen.
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