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HOW TO OUTWIT OUR GOOD INTENT

January 20, 2016 By Mikki Jo 8 Comments

“One last box and I’ll be done, and my New Year resolution will transform this spare room into a wonderful exercise room! I’m on my way to a healthier and skinnier me!” That’s what I’d said to myself last year. And here I stand in the middle of a once again cluttered room with boxes and bags all around me.

The treadmill was decorated with an old coat, an afghan, a pair of “too small” jeans, and a wooden back-scratcher. (I wondered where that back-scratcher had ran off to.) The weight lifting bench held a pair of boots, a wore out pair of Nikes and a pair of blinged out sandals I couldn’t live without.

Once again, the room was filled with even more clutter AND exercise equipment. And I was still unhealthy, overweight and disappointed in myself. How did I allow this to happen?

I had good intentions but I was never committed.

Good intentions.

There’s more than one sad song about people with good intentions.

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Sometimes our spiritual life can get cluttered. The Holy Spirit comes and cleans us out and we fill ourselves right back up with junk. Instead of reading the word of God, we binge watch The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Instead of meeting the Lord in prayer we ease our conscience with a “now I lay me down to sleep” poem. Instead of going to church and being part of a local body of Christ, we watch TBN. And we wonder why we feel so undone and so empty inside.

How do we make a real commitment and a real change?

 

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We need a new heart. Ezekiel 36:26 (NIV) I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

When we make no real commitment to Christ after we accept Him, we are in danger of being filled right back up with things of the world instead of a Christ-like attitude. Luke 11:24 (NIV) “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.” These are some pretty scary words Jesus spoke in this chapter about our spiritual condition.arrow-945271_1280Some people feel they don’t need to commit to a local church body, but God’s word says otherwise. Just like physical exercise strengthens our physical body, spiritual exercise strenghtens our spiritual body. The body of Christ are the church members, and we need each other. We have a responsibility to each other. Hebrews 10:23 (NIV) Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Let us become committed to Jesus Christ and our local church body. We can’t allow ourselves to be cluttered up with junk after we’ve been cleaned out! Be committed! Proverbs 16:3 (NIV) Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.

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Filed Under: Devotionals Tagged With: be committed, body of christ, change, church, good intentions, jesus christ, new heart, prayer

Comments

  1. Meagan says

    January 20, 2016 at 11:55 pm

    Your grace is beautifully shown through your writing.

    Reply
    • Mikki Jo says

      January 29, 2016 at 4:11 pm

      Thanks so much Meagan

      Reply
  2. Sheri says

    January 21, 2016 at 8:27 am

    . Ezekiel 36:26 of my did i ever need to see this verse today. Thank you, thank you!

    Reply
    • Mikki Jo says

      January 29, 2016 at 4:12 pm

      Thanks Sheri, God is good!

      Reply
  3. andrea says

    January 21, 2016 at 7:46 pm

    i like (and pray) Psalm 51:10 – “create in me a clean heart and renew within me a right spirit”…

    Reply
  4. ally j brown says

    January 23, 2016 at 12:57 am

    Great post and so true, everything you said. If we commit ourselves to jesus first He will take care of everything for us!

    #againstallhope

    Reply
  5. Tara says

    January 23, 2016 at 10:50 pm

    This is a wonderful post for me. I am really trying to commit to the the things I feel God is calling me to focus on. Our Bible study recently studied the passage you mentioned in Luke. I had never paid much attention to it before, but it is really interesting. We can commit with God’s strength!

    Reply
    • Mikki Jo says

      January 29, 2016 at 4:11 pm

      I try every day. Thankful for His mercy!

      Reply

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