In this devotion, we are extending our discussion on the inward and outward expression of our faith. This daily devotional looks at how we renew the inward us daily.
Nuggets
- Our inner self is more important than our outer self.
- God renews our peace when we face life’s trials.
- God renews our self-esteem when our baggage-wagons get too full.
- God renews us when we face death looking to Him.
To read devotions in the Redo for Godliness series, click the appropriate button below.
Devotions in the Growing Our Soul series
We’ve been talking about becoming new creations and influencing our souls through sanctification. We are going to talk in this devotion about how we are made new creations — and how we are renewed daily.
Only we are going to call it the inward us now. That is really what is become new, right? We don’t get new physical bodies. We get new souls.
It is still us after conversion. God doesn’t flip a switch and make me Sally. I am still Elaine.
But He does renew us every day. What does that mean?
Program note: my one three-point devotion is looking like it is going to turn into a three-devotion miniseries within the series.
Well, God is in control. I just go with the flow.
Let's Put It into Context
Here is a running list of what we’ve discussed previously.
Getting in Touch with Our Inner Us
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day” (II Cor. 4: 16 ESV)
Our inner self is more important than our outer self.
We discussed in the last devotion that we are being sanctified in order to be perfected when we are called to Heaven. If we are not changed, we cannot live with God for eternity. Only those who have been changed to perfection will be admitted to Heaven.
Paul echoed the first part. Our bodies are dying. It is a consequence of sin. This is termed as the outward us.
The outward us is not what is going to last. “Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end” (I Cor. 13: 8 CSB).
The apostle isn’t trash talking our bodies. He is just telling it like it is.
One day, time is going to be up.
The outward us isn’t what is important. The inward us is.
When we ABCD, we are changed from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive. That means we get a new inward us.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Brown described the inward us as, “In the outward man there dwells an inward man, invisible to the eyes of sense; it loves, believes, hopes, etc., and accomplishes many acts which the outer man cannot do.”
Resource
Huntington described the inner us as simple. This is where faith lives.
It caught my eye when Huntington said that inner life growth helps Heaven start here. He described that as “never satisfied with the holiness attained, its large expectation is that of an unbounded faith, and according to its faith it is done, till this worn-out body is exchanged for the resurrection body, awaking in the Lord’s likeness, and satisfied with it.”
Resource
That gives us hope.
When we think of new every day, we think of God’s mercies (Lam. 3: 23). It is more than that.
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.
Horne gives us a good reminder. It is us that is renewed daily, not the Scriptures. They never change.
Resource
To read a related devotion, click on the appropriate button below.
What does God renew in us daily? Statham gave us a good list. His words are the purple headings.
Resource
That Christians fret, but do not faint.
God renews our peace when we face life’s trials.
We read that we are to “cast all [our] anxiety on him because he cares for [us]” (I Pet. 5: 7 NIV). Then when our anxiety goes through the roof, we think we are a failure as a disciple.
That isn’t what this verse says.
It doesn’t say we aren’t going to have anxiety. It says, when we do, we are supposed to give it to God.
Let’s look at it this way. If we connect inward us with new creations, that means we may be plowing new ground here. We could be doing things we’ve never done before — or trying not to do things we’ve always done.
We’ve opened ourselves up to a lot more possible bad stuff than we had been exposed to before.
If being successful at following God’s laws and commandments wasn’t an issue, we wouldn’t feel any pressure.
We want to follow God’s Will! Enter anxiety. That shows how much it means to us to be God’s children.
Since we are God’s children, we don’t have to face the anxiety alone. We have our Heavenly Father renewing our peace.
Glossary
That Christians fail, but do not faint.
God renews our self-esteem when our baggage-wagons get too full.
Sometimes we think disciples have to do everything perfectly. We have to be 100% fruit-of-the-Spirit perfect without breaking any laws or commandments.
Not going to happen, folks. We will still have our share of failures. Statham said that there will be baggage-waggon (sic) captures.
Do we have a little red wagon that we are carrying our guilt around in? Have we not done a mission project we were supposed to do? Did we do a sin that was really a don’t?
Satan is going to just jump right on that and milk it for all it is worth.
Or he will try.
God renews us daily, so we can’t quit trying. If we give up, Satan has won this battle. We know he won’t win the war against God. We can’t let him capture our baggage-wagons, so that we take our eyes off God.
Those baggage-wagons are also — many times — going to hinder us from changing our character to be like God’s. We are going to feel unworthy, like we aren’t making enough progress, or that we aren’t making any at all.
We’ve got to keep our eyes on God. He will tell us if we are making enough success to please Him.
We have to give our baggage-wagons to God. He will lighten them.
That Christians die, but do not faint.
God renews us when we face death looking to Him.
Back to this physical body is dying. It was really hard to give up my Springfield dad a week and a half ago. His physical body gave out.
He felt the pain. He experienced frustration. But he kept his eye on His Savior and Lord.
I know where he is right now. He is at the feet of Jesus, gazing up at our Heavenly Father on His throne. (Hopefully, he gave Mom and Dad a thumbs up for me.)
Dying is not fun. Losing a loved one is hard.
But it is the stepping stone to something else that is much better.
Making the Connections
Statham made another good observation. This renewal isn’t a Sunday-and-done-for-the-week thing. It is a daily renewal.
It also isn’t a once-and-done renewal. It is a gradual, daily renewal.
The kicker, too, is it usually isn’t accomplished by some momentous occurrence. We are called to walk in the Spirit. Walking is the term used to describe how we live our lives.
Yep, as we do our job. As we raise our kids. As we comfort our friends and family.
When we share God with whomever we come into contact.
That is how we renew ourselves. We make the inward us God has turned us into visible through the outward us.
See, it really isn’t about us. How did we say we gain perfection?
- By being the best disciple God has ever had?
- By being the only disciple who did everything right?
No (especially on the last!).
We’ve talked about the equation before.
Love God is righteousness + Love others is mercy = perfection/godliness
The focus has to be on God and on others, not us. We renew ourselves by becoming more like Him and serving others.
How Do We Apply This?
- We grow when we make seeking God a habit. The constancy stimulates growth.
- Watkinson said that we must daily “… purify our soul in fellowship at God’s throne.” That way we grow toward God’s righteousness and holiness.
- We have to make the correct choices as we walk through life.
- We need to serve others in whatever way God calls us. We need to lead people to Him.
Resource
Gamble made a great statement. He wrote, “Conscientious obedience to the will of God will be followed by the advancement of the spiritual life.”
Resource
God knows how much work it is going to be to diligently follow Him. He will reward us when we succeed in obeying Him.
Father God. You accept us even when we do not have the character You require of us. Every day, You work to mold us into the person You want us to be — one who has Your character. Renew us every day. Help us to not faint. Strengthen us when we fret and fail. Carry us home to You when our lives on this earth is finished. Amen.
What do you think?
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