07 22 08 He’ll Do His Part

“God is working in you. He wants your plans and your acts to be in
keeping with his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13 NIrV)

The Holy Spirit is responsible to produce Christ-like character in us. It’s not what we do after we accept Christ as Lord and Savior; it’s what the person of the Holy Spirit begins to work within us at the moment we call on the Lord to save us from our sinful nature. Well, we do have to do one thing; surrender. We must surrender our will. We must surrender our attitudes. We must surrender some relationships. As we surrender our desires, we allow the Spirit to work. This process is called sanctification and it is a process. This does not happen overnight.

We cannot reproduce the character of Jesus on our own strength. New Year’s resolutions, willpower, and best intentions are not enough. Only the Holy Spirit has the power to make the changes God wants to make in our lives. HE’LL DO HIS PART! Yet we still want to put the blame on God at times.

“Why won’t You change things Lord? How long will I have to put up with this God? Just take it away Jesus!”

Well, truth be told, the Holy Spirit wants to do these things, but we won’t surrender. We want to be in charge. We can’t simply imitate Christ. We must allow His Spirit to inhabit us…fill us…control us. Love, patience, kindness, peace; all these fruits are attainable each and every day, if we allow the Spirit free reign within us. If we do our part, HE’LL DO HIS PART! We just have to get off the throne and give God His rightful position in our lives.

It’s an idea that goes directly against the culture we live in today. But then again, hasn’t Jesus always been rather counter-cultural? Let’s dive in and swim against the tide… HE’LL DO HIS PART!