CB86

All Things New

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have
become new.

                                                                                                      2 Corinthians 5:17

My dad would tell me, “Cindi, if you look at yourself and you look like everyone around you, unless you’re with
Christians, you’ve got a big problem!” That is so true. If we claim to be Christians yet look just like those in the
world, we’ve got a big problem. We told Jesus we wanted Him to be our Savior and we told God that we wanted to
follow Him yet never changed our lives to become new or quickly slipped back into our old worldly ways and did not
allow God to transform us into a new creation.

The only way to be blessed by God is to follow His plan for us. We must present our bodies (both physical and
spiritual) to God as a “living sacrifice”. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed
to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and
acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1-2)

We must change our minds. What the world considers as most important will not be what is important to a
Christian. What characteristics will a Christian have? Read Romans 12:9-21. These attributes and actions are
foreign to the world.

•        Truly love (vs. 9)
•        Hate evil (vs. 9)
•        Be kind (vs. 10)
•        Prefer others above yourself (vs. 10)
•        Serve the Lord (vs. 11)
•        Rejoice, be patient, pray (vs. 12)
•        Give, be hospitable (vs. 13)
•        Bless those who persecute you (vs. 14)
•        Rejoice with people who do well (vs. 15)
•        Cry with those who mourn (vs. 15)
•        Be united instead of fighting against each other (vs. 16)
•        Associate with the humble (vs. 16)
•        Do not be wise in your own opinions (vs. 16)
•        Don’t get back at those who mistreat you (vs. 17)
•        Live at peace as much as possible (vs. 18)
•        Do not seek revenge (vs. 19)
•        Overcome evil with good (vs. 21)

Look at the above list. Does your life reflect this kind of life? Change to live the new life made possible for you by
Christ. Make all things new.

Answered Prayer

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we
know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

I John 5:14-15

Sometimes we wonder if God really hears our prayers. And we surely wonder if He answers them. Yet, if we are
Christians, we have the promise above. We should never question whether or not God hears us. The problem we
usually run into is the fact that there are conditions place on our prayers. Many want God to answer them and give
them anything they want but they don’t want to give God anything. It just doesn’t work that way.

Look at the verses above. We must ask according to God’s will. What is that? You ask and do not receive
because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. (James 4:3) I know that we don’t always know
where we need to go in our lives, but we do know how to go. God has given us His Word to guide us and tell us how
to live. We know that our prayers should be for what will benefit us in God’s kingdom.

We also know what when we pray we must believe that God can answer. But without faith it is impossible to please
Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
(Hebrews 11:6) That is why faith is so important in our lives. God cannot bless one who does not believe. But let
him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. (James
1:6)

God will hear and answer those who have given their lives to Him. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. (I Peter 3:12) A
person who chooses to live away from God does not give themselves any hope of having God on their side. He
cannot be with them. David said, If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. (Psalm 66:18) We must turn
our hearts over to God so that He can hear and answer our prayers.

Do you want God to answer your prayers? Live for Him, believe in Him and live according to His will.


	A Prepared Heart For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel. Ezra 7:10 What a lesson from Ezra. We should follow his example when we follow God. The first step is to seek God’s will. We should begin with praying that God would help us to understand what we read. We should pray that all the time. At the same time, we should spend time in God’s Word. That is the only way we can begin to “prepare” ourselves for the life we need to live in order to have a home in heaven at the end of this life. All of this must be approached with a heart that is ready to accept what God wants for us. Ready to accept what God wants us to do. This leads to the second step. It is to do what we find in God’s Word, whatever it is. It is not for us to tell God what He will like. We must be willing to give in to God’s will. Have you been fighting God’s will for you? The only way to have true peace is to submit totally to God. Then, we should teach what we know about God to others. We do that in many ways. One way is by our example. People will learn about God by how we live. They can also learn when we share with them what we have learned through our study and through our life. Doing this will prepare our hearts to be with God through eternity. Do you want to be in heaven one day? Prepare your heart.