No Longer Flesh Bags, Pt. 5 (Conclusion)

In concluding my series about the flesh, I want you to consider another angle on the gift of Jesus, one indispensable for you and me.

When you received Jesus, you received the gift of everything you want to be—the best of it all. That’s really His gift to you.

Think of some of the ways you want to be: more loving, more joyful, more faithful, more self-controlled, more patient, more kind, more gentle, more peaceful, . . . more better. Have you ever asked God to make you more like one or two or maybe all of those? I have. Maybe you too.

But where did you look after you asked God? Did you look at yourself? Did you start a self-improvement vigil and regimen? That’s what I’ve done, and when I didn’t see what I wanted to see, I eventually stopped asking. And gradually, I stopped expecting.

Here’s my point: can you believe that all of the way you want to be, all of it, is the gift of Jesus?

Some of the best news of my life is that I don’t have to become anything more than I am right now, I’ve only to believe everything I want is in the gift of Jesus. It’s all there. It’s Him. Really.

Want to be more loving? Follow your desire to know Jesus and He’ll give you His love for others. Want to be more joyful? Ask Him to be that way in you. Soon there will be no room for Grumpy Gus or Gloomy Glenda. Short on the faithfulness scale this year? Ask the Spirit to produce Jesus’ faithfulness in you. You’ll be amazed. Lacking in self-control? Talk with Jesus about how much you want Him to do that in you – He will. In other words, pay attention to receiving the Gift, to knowing and enjoying the Gift, and He will pay attention to being in you everything you want.

Every way you want to be – He’s all that.

I know it sounds simple. But if you and I can grow in receiving from Jesus all that He is, if we can raise our expectation of what the Gift can do for us and in us, we’ll walk by the Spirit and not fulfill the desires of the flesh.

And for me, that’s it. That’s my hope – Jesus in me. That’s where the Gift is in every Christian. It’s incredibly satisfying to find Him there.

Have a look.