The Battle Between the Old and New Me

Why is it so easy to fall back into old patterns and behaviors? If the 2 Corinthians 5:17 declares that I am a new/fresh creature, why is it so easy for me to live in the ways of the old, but so difficult for me to live in this new life, this newness to which I have been reborn? Why can I still find myself so easily reverting back to old ways of life? Have I truly had a rebirthing experience? Have I really allowed myself to be transformed?

Though I have come to accept Jesus Christ as my savior, why is it so easy for me to crucify him again by my actions? If I truly love God, why is it so difficult for me to obey his commands?

I think this is a condition from which many “Christians” today suffer. We spend so little time invested in our new way of life that it is difficult to live out in the new life. Therefore, it is easier to do things as I have always done them. See, in order to live out a new life, doing things a different way, there has to be a process of relearning. I have to be willing to be a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) which doesn’t fight to run off the sacrificial pyre when it gets too hot or too uncomfortable.

I believe there is a two part answer to my question. Why is it so easy to fall back into old pattern of behavior? First, because we have not transformed our minds as we are told to do in Romans 12: 2. We are trying to live a new life with old patterns of thought. What does it take to renew your mind? It takes a complete reprogramming which begins with a daily commitment to read the Word of God and to pray or talk with God on a daily basis. How else do I reprogram my mind if not by learning first hand from the One who is reprogramming me? I need to allow the Holy Spirit to do a work in me of complete transformation, so that I am able to live my life with new thoughts following after Godly patterns. Second, I must do as Epehesians 4:24 commands; I must put on my new self. I have to daily wake up and decide to take up the new person that I have been transformed into.

I am sure the problem lies in not beginning the day correctly. Many of us think to talk to God at the end of the day, when the printer doesn’t work, when the street lights aren’t changing fast enough, or when we check our bank account. However, few of us remember to start off our day talking with God, dialoguing with Him, having a two way conversation, so that I am equipped with the new me before I walk out of my bedroom door. Oh! That we would all decide to effectively walk in the new creature that God has transformed us into on the day of our conversion! That we would all decide to live according to his principles, obeying his commands, loving God and each other!

Be the Seed

As I read John 12:24, I wondered about the kernel of wheat about which Jesus speaks. You see, He mentions that the kernel of wheat must fall to the ground and die in order to produce a harvest. This prompted me to do some research. As I studied seeds, I could not find where it described the process of a seed including death. In fact, it mainly concentrated on a seed being dormant. Of course, dormancy and death are two completely different ideas! Therefore, I knew that there was something I was missing.
I continued on my search and continued to find that seeds usually will go through a dormancy stage if the weather conditions are not favorable to their growth.
In fact, a seed can remain dormant for thousands of years! Incredible! This means that a seed, intended to produce an apple tree can remain asleep without any type of production for thousands of  years, just because the conditions around it are not to its liking! How much like us is that?? If we don't have the right type of job, the right relationship, the right house, the right car, etc, we remain "stuck" or asleep waiting for something better to come along instead of moving forward and producing the harvest to which God has called us.
This prompted me to look at my own life. Am I living life like the apple seed which will not produce if the conditions are not right?
Yet, if this process of dormancy happens to the average seed, how can Jesus ask us to be a seed, if He knows this will mean some of us will not produce harvest?
Easy! See, he doesn't call us to be an ordinary seed; he calls us to be a kernel of wheat. A kernel of wheat is different from the average seed. Not all seeds function like a kernel of wheat. A kernel of wheat doesn't experience a stage of dormancy because it dies. Since the seed dies, it doesn't matter if the weather conditions around it are just perfect or not; it is not affected by its surroundings. Therefore, the kernel of wheat is able to produce its fruit regardless of the conditions that surround it. I am convinced that this step of death is part of the reason why a kernel of wheat can produce wheat in so many different areas. I believe this is why wheat is produced every month of the year in different parts of the world.
There are many different types of wheat, all usable for different products because a kernel of wheat still produces its crop regardless of the conditions around it. It still produces a usable harvest.
Oh! To be like the kernel of wheat that regardless of the opposition it still manages to reach its destiny and moves forward to produce a usable harvest!
That is my challenge this year. Be the seed! Don't allow the circumstances in life to be a factor. Instead, plant yourself, die, and produce the great harvest God has destined!

Dream

How long has it been since I had a dream? Wow! I remember a time when I held so many dreams in my hands. In fact, I remember dreaming, waking up excited, sharing my dream, and then beginning to plan with God's help in order to make that dream become a reality. Yet, life happened.
Ever notice that when you have a dream, opposition for that dream comes from a multitude of places? From where does most of your opposition derive?
Well, the first battle in maintaining a dream alive begins in your mind. The devil has a mine-field set up in your mind, when you give him a footstool in your day to day living. The devil and his cohorts begin throwing thoughts in your mind against your dream. Not only do we face opposition from the devil and his cohorts, we also encounter opposition from our well-meaning friends and family, and from life itself.
However, you have to hold-fast to what God has spoken; hold-fast to your dream!
Hebrews 10:23 tells us to hold-fast to the hope we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy. Hold fast is to hold unwaveringly; it literally means to sit on your dream and don't let it escape. Don't let it out of your hands regardless. Understand that opposition is going to come. Understand that you will face many voices from different places. Understand that it may not be an easy road to travel. However, if God gave you the dream, then hold on to the hope because He will make it happen.
Do not give play to the enemy in your mind! Do not allow well-meaning friends and family to drown out the loud thunderous excitement of your dream! Do not allow life's situations to determine the completion of your dream!
Yes, there was a time in my life when I had many dreams. I was pregnant with hope because of those dreams; yet, life came in with the swiftness of a tornado and destroyed the possibilities of such dreams ever coming to fruition in my life.
Nevertheless, it is ultimately my choice if I am going to allow life's circumstances to alter what I know God has spoken over my life. If there is one thing I have come to understand, it is that while there is breath in my life, there is hope of those dreams coming to pass. I must hold on with every fiber of my being to the words which God has spoken to me and understand that if HE said HE will do it!