An ever-increasing conformity to Christ in the inner recesses of the heart and mind – this is the only asset worth clinging to in this ruined world. It is surely the only thing worth fighting for; transcending the interests of politics, wealth, power and sex. There is nothing in the world the devil can use to bargain an exchange for the partaking of Christ’s divine nature. Gold becomes ridiculous; money is worthless trash; the finest palace on earth is a slum; the most seductive women are to be pitied on account of their lost souls. If you aspire to make anything out of your life for God, and to live at a level as never an earthly king dreamt, then allow the Holy Spirit to sculpt the image of Christ into your soul by yielding to His mortifying chisel day after day.
Let him correct you, and bow to His correction. Bow to it immediately when God convicts you of sin in the inward parts. Every wayward thought; every impulse of lust; every critical thought; every selfish motive must be garnered and then diffused through God’s grace. Intentions – no matter how noble – must come under the microscope. A yielding must take place to where our thoughts are first run through a filter of grace before they are verbalized and released. Power is offered to us by God for this! But this power must be asked for, and the application is accomplished by importunate prayer. If you begin this prayer today, you will have put something in motion so tremendous that it makes even the angels in heaven peer at God’s children in awe.
The nature of Christ living through redeemed man is the greatest treasure in the entire universe, and, even more amazingly, it is but the down-payment of something even greater that awaits us: the earnest of glory in a perfect, sinless body and mind with our Father for all eternity. He affords us a foretaste here. Many are the afflictions of the righteous on earth, but God delivers us out of them all. We get sick, our loved ones die, we are mistreated by unbelievers, we are maligned by false brethren, and, above all, we are attacked daily by spiritual evil through our flesh and the world's system. But despite all this, we are still more than conquerors and need never lose the joy of the Lord, for He alone has overcome the world; He alone has risen from the dead; His Spirit breathes life into ours and animates the life of God within our vessels of clay.
God’s grace is given unto us to fight and win the race. The true grace of God is employed through the Holy Spirit so we make no fleshly provision, or become unequally yoked with the subjects of darkness. Grace is waiting to be won by our prayers to protect our hearts and minds from the inauguration of strongholds. The victorious life of God is rejuvenated and renewed in our own spirits through prayer. Pray, then, often for this power; pray throughout the day in your heart with spontaneous desire, with thirst and craving, as the single most coveted blessing you can possible ask for. From the overcoming ocean of God's grace in your life, all the other rivers of life will automatically flow: rivers of ministry to bless others; rivers compassion for the small and weak; rivers of gentleness and humility toward your neighbor; and rivers of unfeigned love for a lost world.
Perhaps you have been taught that full victory over the lusts of the heart, over anger and critical thinking is not possible in this life, but I want to tell you in Jesus’ Name that victory is assured if you can but lay hold of God’s New Covenant promise through faith. Victory, however, does not mean that there will not be a struggle. You will still fight the flesh and devil every day, but you will begin to battle them from inside the strength of God and gain the victory through the power of grace. You will be blessed in enduring temptation, where in the past you were accustomed to yielding and defiling your conscience.
The Word of God is like a grain factory where seeds are made available for the baking of Bread. This Bread is Christ, and it is His Life in us which sustains the inner man. The holy grain is gathered and brought into our hearts for baking through meditation and our inward obedience to the light of the Spirit’s voice. This baking process produces Bread which nourishes and protects our spirits from the entrapments of wickedness through the impartation of Christ’s glorious nature. This is why we should read the New Testament slowly; we need to take our time with the baking; we must give the Bread of Life allowance to rise within our hearts and season us with grace.
The power of God is given to overcome sin at the heart-level and become progressively conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. This is His ultimate will for you. This is what He wants you to pray for. It is far greater than any conceivable item of creation; it is the pearl of great price, and it is worth your entire life to aspire toward. Do not waste another day! Ask God to begin the process of fostering Christ’s divine nature in your life today. Come with all your weakness and failure and misery. Your only requirement is poverty in spirit and a thirst to have your heavy burden removed. A river is waiting to burst forth from your bosom, and God is impartial as through whom it proceeds.