The New Nature

Genesis 1:26 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
[NIV at IBS] [International Bible Society] [NIV at Zondervan] [Zondervan]

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

You and I resemble the Lord.
We are perfect because God made us in His own image and likeness.
When God made you, He broke the mold so that you'll be one of a kind.
One of a kind. Not anyone of us resembles somebody else because we are one of a kind.

Ephesians 1:6 (New King James Version)
New King James Version (NKJV)

Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
[NKJV at Thomas Nelson] [Thomas Nelson, Inc.]

6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

In Ephesians 1:6, The Lord said that He accepted you just as you are.
So you should accept yourself and love yourself the way that you are because God made you PERFECTLY the way that you are.

If somebody rejects you for being imperfect,
it does not matter because he is also imperfect.
What matters most is that how God sees us because He is the PERFECT BEING.

the truth here is, YOU and I are perfect. Its just that we do things imperfectly but at the end of it all, it does not really matter because God sees us perfectly!

Before we recognize our new nature in Christ, we should first determine where do we belong in these group of people...

1.) people who let things pass by
2.) people who does things
3.) people who make things happen

The following are the characteristics of each group:
1.) people who let things pass by - are the people who are passive. They are the ones who die at 20 and get buried at 80. They do nothing active in their lives and they just wait for opportunity after opportunity to pass them by. They give themselves by parts and not the entirety of themselves.

2.) people who does things - are the people who does SOMETHING and fulfill SOMETHING and achieve SOMETHING. They do things because they have to do things. They dont go the extra mile and strive hard to do, fulfill and achieve things they dreamed of.

3.) people who make things happen - are those people that triumph the most. They want more, desire more, do more that is why they receive more. They make things happen and they change the course of history!

(kindly refer to Genesis 32 for Jacob's story)

Jacob was a man who had problems with his characters. As you can observe, He had these said problems because He did not worked on his character.Jacob forgot that He was made in God's nature during the first part of the story. He gave only parts of himself to Jesus.
Most of the time, we are like Jacob, we give God only portions of our lives but not our entire being. We must remember to give Jesus our all because He gave His life entirely for us when He died on the cross.

There came a time when Jacob wanted to change his nature and just like Jacob there is also a time when we will feel the urge to change for the better..from natural to supernatural...from ordinary to extraordinary...
If we want to change, all we have to do is to come to Jesus and get a new nature with Jesus.
Live a victorious life!
That's what Jesus wants for your life!

Mark 10:46-52
Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight
46Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"48Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"49Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." 50Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.51"What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see." 52"Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Like Bartimaeus, now is our opportunity to be noticed!

"Today is my day...to be transformed! I wanna be healed!
NO WAY TO ANOTHER DAY!
We'll CHANGE the HISTORY of our NATION..
But I must change ME first."

To have that new nature, we need CONVICTION more than EMOTION.
Just like Jacob, we need to observant of the following:

1.) Spend time alone with God

Genesis 32:24 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.

*It is good to be with friends and families when we worship the Lord but we need to be alone with God for us to be transformed.
We need to climb to the mountain of God every single day! Devotional life should be done eveyday! Every single day is non-negotiable.
We should be tired of that same weakness, of that same habit, of the same things that keeps us from being victorious and the thing that keeps us from being with the Lord.
God wants us to have RADICAL and VIOLENT HOLINESS just as Jeremiah(chapter 13) talks about radical change and John(chapter 2) talks about violent holiness.
Jacob's dislocated hipbone is a mark of holiness. All his life, he needed to use a cane for him to walk properly. And this cane reminds him, every single day, of that time when he had been broken before the Lord.

Just like Jacob, we must remember of the time that we have been broken before the Lord so that when the climb gets uphill, or when we don't understand that is happening around us, or when we despise life...WE WILL REMEMBER OF THOSE TIME WHEN WE WERE BROKEN BEFORE THE LORD!WE WILL THINK OF THAT "DISLOCATED BONE", OF THAT "CANE" AND THIS WILL REMIND US THAT WE HAVE ONCE ENCOUNTERED THE LORD, OUR GOD!

2.) Be Persevering
G

enesis 32:26 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
26 Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak."
But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."

"PERSEVERANCE is not doing things PERFECTLY
rather is is doing things CONSISTENTLY."

*When we are sincere, God hears us. Just like Jacob who persevered and even battled with the God's angel.

3. Start seeing yourself the way God sees you.

Genesis 32:28 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
28 Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, [a] because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."

"Don't look at yourself the way you are
but look on the things that you can do.
Do not look at the battles you live
but with the way how you can win them."

*Start seeing things the way God sees them because GOD will mark a difference in YOU!

Genesis 32:30 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, [a] saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."

* Things will change in our character. Our fears, doubts, lack of purpose, God will remove all of them.Just always pray to God with an involved HEART.

Change you nature!
Because when you change, everything changes...
Because when you change, God puts everything into your favor!

-excerpts from my personal notes on Pastor Ricardo Santiago's talk about "NEW NATURE" in the event of SUNOG MINDANAO 2 held at CAP AUDITORIUM, DAVAO CITY