Thoughts for the Day

Tag: New Creation

  • Cleanse the Inside First

    Cleanse the Inside First

    I was washing dishes a while back when one greasy bowl reminded me of something Jesus said in Matthew 23.

    “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence… First cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.”

    If I had washed only the outside of the bowl, it would have looked clean sitting upside down in the dish rack. But I would never have trusted it to hold food. The inside would still have been coated with grease, contaminating everything placed into it.

    Then another thought struck me.

    While I could wash the outside without ever touching the inside, I couldn’t wash the inside without also washing the outside.

    As I scrubbed the inside of the bowl, it turned continuously in my hand. The soap covered both surfaces. The water rinsed both clean.

    Jesus said our lives can be much the same.

    We spend enormous effort polishing the outward parts of our lives—what people see, what people hear, and what people think about us. Yet God isn’t fooled by a clean exterior wrapped around an unchanged heart.

    Real transformation doesn’t begin on the outside.

    It begins within.

    We cannot cleanse our own hearts any more than a dirty bowl can wash itself. But when we surrender ourselves to Christ, He does what we could never do for ourselves.

    He doesn’t simply improve the old life.

    He makes us 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)

    That is the difference between reputation and character.

    Reputation is what other people believe about us.

    Character is who we are when no one else is watching.

    And integrity is choosing to do what is right, even when it costs us something.

    The Pharisees spent their lives polishing their reputation while neglecting their character.

    Jesus wasn’t calling them to improve their public image.
    He was calling them to receive a transformed heart.

    A clean bowl isn’t pretending to be clean. It is clean.

    And because it is clean, everything about it changes.

    As Christ changes the heart…

    Our attitudes begin to change.

    Our words begin to change.

    Our priorities begin to change.

    Our actions begin to change.

    The outside becomes different because the inside has been made new.

    God never intended Christianity to be spiritual cosmetics—a cleaner version of the old person. His purpose is transformation. The life that reflects Christ outwardly is the life He has first transformed inwardly.

    Thought for Today:

    Don’t spend your life polishing the outside while neglecting the heart. Bring the whole vessel to Christ. When He makes you new on the inside, the change will become evident on the outside.

  • The King Remembered

    The King Remembered

    One of my favorite stories in Scripture isn’t about a battle.

    It isn’t about a miracle.

    It isn’t even about David’s greatest victory.

    It’s about a promise.

    Years earlier, David and Jonathan had entered into a covenant with one another. They pledged loyalty that would outlive them both.

    Then life happened.

    Jonathan was killed in battle.

    Saul died.

    David became king.

    Years passed.

    The kingdom was established.

    The promise could have quietly faded into history.

    No one would have questioned David if it had.

    There was no public pressure to fulfill it.

    No one was reminding him of his obligation.

    There was nothing politically or personally to gain by honoring it.

    In fact, the last surviving heir of Saul’s house represented the former royal family. In many kingdoms of the ancient world, such a person would have been viewed as a threat to the throne, not welcomed into the palace.

    Yet one day David asked a remarkable question:

    “Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”
    — 2 Samuel 9:1 (NKJV)

    That single question reveals more about David’s character than almost any battlefield victory.

    He wasn’t remembering a debt.

    He was remembering a covenant.

    And he wasn’t merely remembering it.

    He was looking for an opportunity to keep it.

    David sent for Mephibosheth.

    He called him by name.

    Mephibosheth came expecting judgment.

    Instead, David’s first words were,

    “Do not fear…”

    He restored his family’s inheritance.

    He gave him a permanent place at the king’s table.

    David kept his word long after everyone else had forgotten it.

    That is faithfulness.

    Faithfulness is keeping your word when there is no longer any earthly advantage in doing so.

    I’ve often said that character is doing the right thing when no one is watching.

    I’ve also come to believe that integrity is doing the right thing even when it may cost you.

    David displayed both.

    But as beautiful as this story is, it was never meant to end with David.

    It points us to a greater King.

    Before we ever remembered God, God remembered His covenant.

    He did not forget us in our Lo-debar.

    The King came because the King is faithful.

    Like David, the King came looking for those who had nothing to offer Him.

    He called us by name.

    He spoke peace where we expected judgment.

    He restored what sin had stolen.

    And then…

    He invited us to His table.

    That is the gospel.

    We were separated from God by sin.

    We had no claim upon His mercy.

    We brought nothing that could earn His favor.

    Yet because of the covenant established through Jesus Christ, mercy triumphed over judgment.

    The King sought us before we ever sought Him.

    He remembered us before we ever remembered Him.

    He remained faithful even when we were not.

    Faith begins by trusting God’s promises.

    But as faith matures, it produces something beautiful.

    Faithfulness.

    Not merely believing when it’s easy…

    …but becoming people whose lives reflect the unwavering faithfulness of the King we serve.

    ⸻

    “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.”
    — 2 Timothy 2:13 (NKJV)

    ⸻

  • The Verdict Has Already Been Rendered

    The Verdict Has Already Been Rendered

    One of the enemy’s greatest weapons isn’t temptation.

    It’s accusation.

    He reminds you who you were.

    He reminds you what you did.

    He reminds you of every failure, every regret, every moment you’d rather erase.

    Sometimes he doesn’t even have to speak.

    Our own hearts do it for him.

    We replay old chapters as though they are still being written.

    We introduce ourselves by our failures.

    We define ourselves by battles Christ has already won.

    But God tells a different story.

    When Jesus cried, “It is finished” (John 19:30), He wasn’t announcing that He had merely made forgiveness possible.

    He was declaring that the price had been paid.

    Completely.

    Fully.

    Forever.

    Three days later, the empty tomb became Heaven’s declaration that the sacrifice had been accepted.

    The resurrection wasn’t God changing His mind about Jesus.

    It was God announcing His verdict over everyone who would believe.

    Paul declares that verdict in one of the most powerful verses in all of Scripture:

    “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…”
    — Romans 8:1 (NKJV)

    Notice what Paul doesn’t say.

    He doesn’t say there is less condemnation.

    He doesn’t say there is future condemnation if God changes His mind.

    He says there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.

    That verdict changes more than your eternal destination.

    It changes your identity.

    “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 (NKJV)

    God doesn’t simply clean up the old life.

    He creates a new one.

    That’s why Paul says:

    ”…even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
    — Romans 6:4 (NKJV)

    We don’t walk in newness of life to earn God’s acceptance.

    We walk in newness of life because, through Christ, we already have it.

    The church at Corinth understood what it meant to have a past.

    Some had lived in immorality.

    Some in idolatry.

    Some in drunkenness.

    Some in greed.

    Yet Paul reminds them:

    “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”
    — 1 Corinthians 6:11 (NKJV)

    Did you catch that?

    Such were some of you.

    Not, “Such still are you.”

    Were.

    The gospel never asks us to deny where we’ve been.

    It tells us we no longer have to live there.

    Now, does that mean Christians never struggle?

    Of course not.

    The New Testament calls us to daily repentance, continual growth, and lifelong sanctification.

    We still battle the flesh.

    But the flesh is no longer our identity.

    The enemy wants you to keep introducing yourself by your old record.

    God introduces you by His Son.

    The enemy calls you condemned.

    God says, “No condemnation.”

    The enemy calls you broken.

    God says, “A new creation.”

    The enemy calls you your past.

    God says, “Walk in newness of life.”

    The enemy says you’re still who you used to be.

    God says, “Such were some of you.”

    Whose voice are you going to believe?

    ⸻

    Final Word

    The enemy keeps reading from your old record.

    God has already written a new one.

    So don’t stop reading too soon.

    Don’t live like Friday has the final word.

    And don’t keep introducing yourself by a name that Christ has already buried.

    Because the empty tomb didn’t simply prove Jesus conquered death.

    It declared that everyone who is in Christ has received Heaven’s verdict.

    No condemnation.

    A new creation.

    A new life.

    A new name.

    The verdict has already been rendered.

    Now…

    Live like you believe it.

  • “Such Were Some of You” Isn’t a Shameful Reminder. It’s a Victory Cry.

    1 Corinthians 6:11 (NKJV)“And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

    Some of y’all are walking around like you’re still wearing prison clothes—but the chains fell off ages ago.

    There’s a lie floating around modern Christianity that says once you’re saved, your past should be hidden.

    Buried.

    Never brought up again.

    That it’s somehow more “spiritual” to keep your testimony locked away like some forgotten file in heaven’s archives.

    But Scripture doesn’t agree. God doesn’t agree.

    Paul didn’t pull any punches when he wrote to the Corinthians. He gave a laundry list of what they used to be—idolaters, fornicators, drunkards, homosexuals, thieves, revilers. And then, with that bold fire only the Spirit gives, he said: “And such were some of you.”

    Not “are.”

    Not “struggling with.”

    Were.

    That one word is a declaration of war against the idea that we’re forever stuck in our sin. That one word is a line in the sand that says, “Yeah, I used to live like hell—but I met the One who kicked hell’s teeth in and bought my freedom with His blood.” And I refuse to be ashamed of that.

    Deliverance is not a dirty word. It’s a reason to rejoice.

    But we treat it like it’s taboo. We whisper around it. We sanitize our testimonies. We try to pretty them up like we’re trying to win a Christian PR award.

    Why?

    Because the enemy wants us quiet. He knows your testimony is dangerous. He knows someone drowning in the same pit God dragged you out of might finally believe there’s hope—if only they heard your story.

    Psalm 107:2 doesn’t suggest we speak—it commands it:

    “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy.”

    You were snatched from death.

    Rescued from addiction.

    Restored from sexual sin.

    Pulled from bitterness, pride, perversion, or whatever else had its claws in you.

    Why in the world would you keep that to yourself?

    That doesn’t glorify sin—it glorifies the God who crushed it.

    Hear me on this: your past is not your identity, but it is part of your testimony.

    And your testimony isn’t just for you—it’s for the broken, the bound, the bitter ones who think they’re too far gone.

    It’s for the teenage girl convinced her worth is in her body.

    It’s for the man trapped in pornography who thinks God’s done with him.

    It’s for the alcoholic, the self-harmer, the self-righteous, and the silent.

    And maybe—just maybe—it’s for you, too.

    To remind you that your “were” didn’t win.

    To remind you that deliverance wasn’t a moment—it’s a lifestyle.

    And to remind you that you’re still free.

    Romans 6:6 says,

    “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with…”

    Done away with—not managed. Not hidden. Dead and gone.So what are we doing trying to resurrect the silence?

    Speak up.

    Someone needs to hear what you’ve been through. Not to compare scars, but to point to the Healer. Not to dwell on your mess, but to declare the mercy of the One who brought you through.You’re not who you used to be. And you’re not the only one who needs to know it.

    Here’s a challenge for you today:What part of your story are you still ashamed to share? Ask the Lord to redeem that silence. Pray for boldness. And then look for someone who needs to hear what God has done for you. Because deliverance isn’t meant to be buried—it’s meant to be broadcast.