When I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I expected that my life would like that of Christ. I thought I would be a loving, obedient, faithful Christian. I would be a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). Boy! Was I wrong. And for most of my forty years as a believer, I have lived a life of disappointment. I see myself constantly falling short of the example of Christ. I had expected that I would be like most members of my church, filled with spiritual love, joy, and peace. Then, as I got to know those folks, I discovered that most of them were struggling with the same failure and self-loathing that I was experiencing. It didn't make sense.
But as I studied God's Word, I began to discover that my expectations of myself were not only wrong, but were nothing more than ignorance and pride. Once I began realizing that even the Apostle Paul struggled to live a holy life (Rom. 7:14-24), for me to believe I could, was nothing short of pride. If I should have become perfect the moment I received Christ, then the New Testament wouldn't repeatedly need to encourage us to grow in Christ; that is, to be transformed into Christ-likeness (Rom. 8:29; 12:2; Eph. 4:23; Phil. 2:5-13; 1 Thes. 4:3; etc.). If I should already be like Him, the Apostle John would not say "we shall be like Him" in the future when we see Him face-to-face (1 Jn. 3:2).
Of course, I could do much better, but how, I did not know. Then I heard my preacher say that if Jesus was sitting next to us, no doubt our words and deeds would change. That got me to thinking. Jesus IS CLOSER than that; JESUS IS IN THE BELIEVER! I simply needed to change my way of thinking. I now focus upon these verses, and living for Christ is much easier.
"I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Heb. 13:5).
"I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me" (Psalm 23:4)
"And the LORD, He it is that doth go before thee; He will be with thee, He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed" (Deut. 31:8).
"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness" (Isa. 41:10).
"Immanuel...God with us" (Matt. 1:23).
"...Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" (Matt. 28:20).
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me" (Gal. 2:20)."To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27).
"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" (1 Cor. 6:19).
"But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness" (Rom. 8:9-10).
"At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you" (Jn. 14:20).
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