Being Changed Into His Image

"Life is not fair, but God's love never changes. Life is not easy, but God's grace is always sufficient. Life is confusing, but God's purpose is always Christlikeness. Life's challenges are at times insurmountable, but God's power is always available." - Rand Hummel in his book Fear Not

It has been a long time (4 years) since I have written in my blog, but I am bringing it back again because God has been changing me from who I was to who He is making me today and I feel the need to share and pray that it can impact others for Christ. Many things have changed in my life over the past couple of years. I earned a Grad degree in counseling (which is a miracle in and of itself ha ha). Last year I was sick for 8 months. That was one of the greatest trials of my life and I learned so much about myself and about my God. I struggled greatly because no one knew what was wrong and I was alone and had to learn to how to trust God.

Now yet again I am going through another struggle that seems even greater than any I have faced. I believe God brought this struggle into my life to get a hold of my heart and show me things that I must change to be the man He wants me to be. God has used close friends and family to show me ways I have been living in SIN and how that is not who I should be as a believer. He has shown me how my SIN affects others and it hurts those I care about most dearly.

As I realized the vileness of my sin it felt like I got hit by a semi. It hurt so badly to realize how deeply I had wounded those most closely to me. I was not leading others in godly way, I was not relying on the Lord for everything and I was choosing to do what I wanted. I was choosing to live in Sin and not in the Spirit. I said so many things I regret, I gave into foolish anger, holding onto my perfectionism and wanting to control little things when I must give it to God. I made many mistakes that I should have never done, and God has broken me and shown me I must change now. I must be a better leader, which means I must depend on the Lord so much more, and I mean truly depend on Him. I must not be easily angered and the Lord must help me calm my Spirit. For anger only drives those you care about away from you (something I learned in Turn Away Wrath by Rand Hummel). I must let God have control over my entire life not just what I wan Him to have. All of this by meditating in His Word, memorizing His Word, having godly accountability and have others that encourage you and challenge you.

Living in sin changes everything about who you are. You are making selfish choices and focusing on what you desire and not God. When you let sin dominate your life as a believer, you are acting as an unbeliever. Romans 6:14 tells us, "For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." We should never live in sin, as a true believer in Christ we are sinners saved by grace (Eph. 2:8-9) but we are no longer slaves to in but slaves to righteousness as Romans 6 tells us.

Today, so many believers, like myself, may not realize that they were/are living a life of living in sin. As a true believer in Christ this has NO PLACE in our lives, AT ALL!!! So now Christ is using His Word, His Spirit and His people to help me change to stop living in the flesh and to live in the Spirit. I need to put off the old man/ways, renew my mind in scripture and in Christ and then put on the new man/Christ. It may seem odd to say, but I am thankful for trials which are teaching me to grow. They are hard, this new trial is so hard and I have to go to battle with it every single hour of every day. But God is using it to grow me and change me completely to be more like His Son. No more making the selfish choices I made and acting however I wanted. No, I now am being continually transformed into His image and will leave the way I acted and who I was before this in the past and embrace who I am becoming now in Christ. I believe with all my heart that God can completely transform His children out of living in sin and change them completely in who they should be in Christ. God really struck me by the quote I posted up top. I really needed that in this time in my life and God is using many things to encourage me and challenge me. Even when I don't understand, eve when nothing makes sense, God is in control and He loves me even through my sin.

So what does this matter to those reading this? Examine your life. Don't just take a moment to think about this, meditate on your life. Are you living for God or for yourself? Have you hurt others because of your sin? Are you looking to change and grow every day? As believers we shouldn't be afraid to confront our sin and we must learn to be humble before God and be honest with our struggles before God. We must pray that those we have hurt can heal in Christ and we must earn there trust back by showing them how God has changed us. We cannot change overnight, it is a marathon not a sprint. We must be growing every day, for change isn't a one time thing. It is making godly choices every day and even though we will mess up because we are sinners and we will sin, we should not live in it and let it dominate us. If that is the case something is wrong and we must repent (to turn away from) immediately.

So examine your life honestly and find how you must grow and trust God. Ask others to be honest with you and help you as well. God does everything for a reason. But remember you choose you sin, but you can't choose your consequences. I am not some super spiritual person, for I am the chiefest of sinners as Paul says. But I am striving to grow and be more like Christ everyday. I am not changing for people, I am changing for my Savior Jesus Christ. I am praying for those I have hurt and praying that my sin has not ruined things that could be. But He is good ALWAYS and is greatly to be praised.

Be of Good Courage, God knows best! Let go of your will and give it all to God. Not easy to do but possible with His help.

"Cast you burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved." - Psalm 55:22


In Christ,
Mark Cannon
Ps. 27:14