"Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us..." (Ephesians 2:20)
It came to my attention this week that the source of all misery in my life is when I hold onto my sense of self-entitlement regarding some aspect of my life. For example, if I workout consistently, I think I deserve to be in shape or lose weight, even though I am still indulging in high-calorie sweets. I say to myself, well my skinny friends can eat whatever sweets they want, so don't I deserve to also? Then when weeks go by and I haven't shed a pound, I get upset. Or if I look around me and see people in my life living according to a certain standard of living, I can easily convince myself that I deserve to live according to that same standard. When life hits me with curve ball, I get bent out of shape because somehow I have allowed this demonic sense of self-entitlement to enter my soul and squeeze out the life from me.
How do we rid ourselves of such a subtle but demonic influence? Just telling yourself to let go of your rights is not going to do it. You must go to the Lord and surrender your whole self to Him and let His power cleanse you from this evil influence. You cannot create Jesus' nature in you but you can let Him do it.
"The Holy Spirit is the deity of God who continues to apply the power of the atonment by the Cross of Christ to our lives. Thank God for the glorious and majestic truth that His Spirit can work the very nature of Jesus into us, if we will only obey Him." Oswald Chambers (from Apr 8 devotional)
Jean Chang
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